People born before 1990 - what handy skill do you have that no one uses anymore?
Robot
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ArishMell · 70-79, M
I can remember how to use a pay-on-answer, rotary-dial, public telephone - I forget when I last used one though!
Replacing and adjusting the contact-breakers on a conventional petrol-engine... I've decarbonised engines, too. (Obviously owners of vintage vehicles will have all the servicing skills necessary.)
With some revision, Compound Multiplication - finding the cost of a given quantity of a commodity of stated bulk price; in Imperial units of measure, and duodecimal currency. On paper, not a calculator, too!
Using logarithms or slide-rule for multiplication, division and powers "sums". (Logarithms are still important in other ways, in many scientific areas.)
Use a fountain-pen with bladder-type ink reservoir. Not these new-fangled cartridge pens, still less ball-point pens my Primary School form-teacher called "pig's grease" and alleged would ruin our handwriting. I managed to ruin my writing irrespective of writing instrument!
Being able to live perfectly happily without a television.
Using paraffin lamps, both wick and pressure types.
Mental Arithmetic - though I'm not very numerate and never managed any Arithmetic, let alone Mathematics, to a very advanced level.
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"before 1990".... Before 1960, for me!
Replacing and adjusting the contact-breakers on a conventional petrol-engine... I've decarbonised engines, too. (Obviously owners of vintage vehicles will have all the servicing skills necessary.)
With some revision, Compound Multiplication - finding the cost of a given quantity of a commodity of stated bulk price; in Imperial units of measure, and duodecimal currency. On paper, not a calculator, too!
Using logarithms or slide-rule for multiplication, division and powers "sums". (Logarithms are still important in other ways, in many scientific areas.)
Use a fountain-pen with bladder-type ink reservoir. Not these new-fangled cartridge pens, still less ball-point pens my Primary School form-teacher called "pig's grease" and alleged would ruin our handwriting. I managed to ruin my writing irrespective of writing instrument!
Being able to live perfectly happily without a television.
Using paraffin lamps, both wick and pressure types.
Mental Arithmetic - though I'm not very numerate and never managed any Arithmetic, let alone Mathematics, to a very advanced level.
=====
"before 1990".... Before 1960, for me!