Electricity for GoPro, anyone?

[Peru]

Wonder what they do for a living now!

They're retired.

[Dave McElderry]

Okay, with due apologies to Paz for a complete hijacking of her thread, I would like to post something about a man I once knew, worked with, and studied under. Paul passed on a couple of years ago. Here's his obituary. The name is pronounced Baum-gart-ee (long e).

Obit-picture1-225x300.jpg

Paul H. Baumgarte 1921-2013

Paul H. Baumgarte, 91, of Delphos, died at 11:45 p.m. Monday at Vancrest Healthcare Center.
He was born July 15, 1921, in Landeck to Raymond and Sadie (Clinger) Baumgarte, who preceded him in death.
On June 24, 1945, he married Betty Byrd, who died in October 1987.

Survivors include two sons, Dennis (Beverly) Baumgarte of Batavia, N.Y., and David (Julita) Baumgarte of Mystic, Conn.; two daughters, Carol Baumgarte of Delphos and Linda (Shawn) Chesley of Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Mr. Baumgarte worked for IBM as an electrical engineer for 30 years. He was instrumental in helping build the second computer while working for IBM. He was given the opportunity to work with some top scientists including Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer and Thomas Watson. He retired in 1977, moved back to Delphos and began teaching electronics at LTC. He spent 23 years passing on his knowledge to the next generation. He was an Army Air Force veteran of World War II, where he was sent to Radio School and then later traveled the world building radio stations. Baumgarte was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Fort Jennings, the VFW, American Legion, Eagles, American Radio Relay League, Tri-county Amateur Radio Club and his call letters are WD8RJR. He was a 1939 graduate of Delphos St. John’s High School and a graduate of RCA Institute of Technology in New York City, with a communication degree. He was inducted into the St. John’s Hall of Fame for Professional Achievement in 2012. He was an active woodworker and liked to build electronics. He traveled to all 50 state capitals and traveled around the world, excluding a small part of China. He was an active member of the Delphos Veterans Council.

Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Fort Jennings, the Rev. Charles Obinwa officiating. Following the Mass, the Delphos Veterans Council and Fort Jennings American Legion will conduct military graveside rites at the church. Burial will be in St. Joseph Cemetery, Fort Jennings. Friends may call from 2-8 p.m. Friday at Harter and Schier Funeral Home, where a parish wake will begin at 5:30 p.m. Visitation is also offered one hour prior to services Saturday at the church. Preferred memorials are to Wounded Warriors or donor’s choice.

I first met Paul when I was working at Westinghouse and going to night school for my associate degree in electronic engineering. The "LTC" in the obit was Lima Technical College, now Rhodes State. Paul taught several of the tech courses that I took during my time there. Eventually I ended up teaching at Westinghouse and they also brought in some outside LTC faculty to teach courses, so we worked together. Paul was just an "aw shucks" farmboy who could take with anyone at any level. One could go for quite some time without knowing what an amazing life he had led in the field of engineering and with whom he had rubbed elbows. His wife died quite some time before him, and Paul kept busy to the end of his days doing the things he loved. He was truly one of the icons of my life too. Rest in Peace, Paul.

[_Paz_]

No apologies necessary, Dave. If we didn't have thread drift how would we learn more about this wonderful world we live in?

Sorry to hear that your friend has passed on. He sounds like a remarkable person.

[Bob]

I've known people whose job was keypunching. Wonder what they do for a living now!

The ones who actually did use a keypunch are undoubtedly retired. But, the job still exists. They are now called Data Entry Clerks. They don't punch cards with a keypunch, of course. But, they still do mass entry and verification of all sorts of business data.

[_Paz_]

It is hard to imagine one of them retired. She was one of the strongest, I guess is the best word, people I've ever known. She had a horse, a wild mustang from a horse rescue group. He would break out of whatever pasture she tried to keep him in. Always at night, it seems. We'd try to help 'rescue' him again, always hoping the horrible chance that there might be a collision between horse and vehicle wouldn't happen. Try to ride him and he'd hunt for low tree limbs to brush you off. He would bite too. I was once left holding his reins and he happened to step on my foot. I tried to elbow him gently, just enough to make him uncomfortable and want to move over - hoping desperately that he didn't realize he was holding me down. Sixteen hands this horse was.

She used to go back and forth across the country, hitch hiking if she had to. Once she went with the horse in a trailer. Broke down. Abandoned her car and trailer and rode the horse the rest of the way to San Diego. Makes sense, I guess. What else can you do?

A group of us piled into her Volkswagen and went to New Orleans once for the weekend. After chipping in for gas, Mr. B and I had $5 between us. We had no idea there wouldn't be any fast food restaurants in the French Quarter. You couldn't get a po boy for less than $8.00. It was a hungry weekend! We ran across French speaking people at a gas station somewhere near Lake Pontchartrain. We couldn't understand them and they couldn't understand us. We broke down in Biloxi on the way back and spent several hours trying to get parts. She fixed it.

I can't imagine her not being young and adventurous still.

[Dave McElderry]

What incredible stories!

[_Paz_]

Those were the days!