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My FIL was a university professor in the 50s, 60s and 70s and did a bunch of programming on punch cards for statistical analysis. He keep all the punch cards and the family has been using them for book marks, card house building and other various and sundry uses ever since. We got two boxes of them when he died and haven't gone through them all yet.
PUNCHCARDS! OMG, another nightmare from Engineering School in the mid-70's!
The printer which wrote the words and symbols across the top of the card which was the equivalent to the punches in the card, was of such poor quality (less than a 9-pin dot matrix) that you couldn't read it to do any de-bugging when the program wouldn't work.
( < [ { all looked identical but were not interchangeable in Fortran.
Actually it’s not. Lots of buildings fall under that code book and it’s always good to have one if you’re in the industry. Give it to a electrician. It’s great for reference. I kept all my NFPA, NEC, and building code books. Even the expired ones
I’ve been cleaning stuff out and going through things. I’m not close to retirement but I have a ton of tools I no longer use as my job has changed in its duties I no longer have to supply all these tools. They are now supplied for me. So I’m slowly selling the specialized ones I don’t use anymore. Fiber optic stuff, hydraulic knockout kits, pipe benders, jackhammers, etc
I kept a lot of my college textbooks, well past the point that I could still understand them. Advanced Math is like a foreign language- if you don't use it, you lose it. This are gone now. I've got some company logo paraphernalia scattered around- coffee mugs, a crystal paperweight, one made with a slice of a geode for perfect attendance in 1997, plaques commemorating 2 terms on the Board of Directors of my professional society and an award I received last year for lifetime volunteer work to the society. I also saved and framed the certificate I got when I qualified for membership in the society- that took 8 years of studying. That will be the last to go!
One of my degrees was in English Literature so with that I've got a veritable treasure trove library. Everything else is in the attic. I went up one day and tried to sort. Ended up reading some of my old papers and was gobsmacked. Did I really write that?
Back when I was still networked I was lucky enough to have newer people ask me for resources so I was able to donate a lot of my working materials.
I'd love to donate the rest but have no idea of what significance any of it would have in today's field.
I kept a lot of my college textbooks, well past the point that I could still understand them. Advanced Math is like a foreign language- if you don't use it, you lose it. This are gone now. I've got some company logo paraphernalia scattered around- coffee mugs, a crystal paperweight, one made with a slice of a geode for perfect attendance in 1997, plaques commemorating 2 terms on the Board of Directors of my professional society and an award I received last year for lifetime volunteer work to the society. I also saved and framed the certificate I got when I qualified for membership in the society- that took 8 years of studying. That will be the last to go!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lodestar
One of my degrees was in English Literature so with that I've got a veritable treasure trove library. Everything else is in the attic. I went up one day and tried to sort. Ended up reading some of my old papers and was gobsmacked. Did I really write that?
Back when I was still networked I was lucky enough to have newer people ask me for resources so I was able to donate a lot of my working materials.
I'd love to donate the rest but have no idea of what significance any of it would have in today's field.
I think I'd have a similar reaction if I could get my hands on some of my old calculus, coding theory, linear algebra or diff equations homework or tests.
Wait - did I really solved that?
For someone who had essentially no upper level math classes in high school and didn't go to college until after the service, I'm damn happy to have graduated "Lordy How ***/come" and be employed by a major Fortune 15 company for over 35 years. I don't need books, awards, or really, anything else to remind me of that.
Besides, a generation after I die, it won't matter to anyone else.
Some books are a window on the past. I have a book on aviation that I have owned for 70 years. I have my mother's high school science book from 1919. There are a couple of others that date to the 1800s. Kipling lived in a different time and place. The "Bluejackets Manual" was issued to men who joined the Navy. Mine is from 1952.
Others can be donated to the local library where they hold book sales regularly.
I graduated from Engineering School 45 years ago with arm loads of text books. The useless ones were sold or donated, reference manuals took their place, job responsibility changes thinned the pile but many still remain.
I cotinnue to dispose of unnecessary tomes as retirement day approaches (6 to 9 months out) but the emotional attachment to the survivors remain. I know what has to be done and I keep marching in that direction in spite of the pain.
Am I alone in this reluctance?
Hell I'm ten years away from that, and I feel the pull/pain now. Was just looking at my bookshelf yesterday evening: it's mostly decorative. I haven't pulled Groundwater and Wells, best book on the subject ever, in 10 years. Principles of Physics (ditto), 15 years. Optical Mineralogy, 25 years. All brilliant works and well worth every cent at the time. I just about wore out the pages on those three, I have tons of yellow notes bulging out each, I see. Ah, pre-Internet!
Doubt they have monetary value, and WHEN I have a firing solution to retirement in either ten or 15 years (age 62 or 67) in sight, I'll game-plan what to do with them. That will be hard...as will leaving this house, but we'll see if I have the guts to do both for what I call "Fourth Quarter," last of my so-called Four Score in life most of us get. First three quarters (not quite) have been a gas, with big pitfalls and equally big wins, and "life is hard" (= yes), so who knows what the Fates have my for my Fourth Quarter.
I graduated from Engineering School 45 years ago with arm loads of text books. The useless ones were sold or donated, reference manuals took their place, job responsibility changes thinned the pile but many still remain.
I cotinnue to dispose of unnecessary tomes as retirement day approaches (6 to 9 months out) but the emotional attachment to the survivors remain. I know what has to be done and I keep marching in that direction in spite of the pain.
Am I alone in this reluctance?
A termite invasion resolved this for me. They seemed to prefer the engineering books and wrecked so many I just threw them out, and then donated the rest.
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