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The Old Timer/Young Gunner Dichotomy


ledzep59

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Jaxon' date=' I about died laughing at your post.

The quotes were great!

 

What I love about the forums is I can't tell if I am agreeing with an old fart or a 12-year-old sometimes.

Yes, you can tell when someone says, "back when rotary phones...my mom won't let me," but for the most part intelligent conversation and insight comes from many places.

 

xDeamon (just screwed up your name buddy) I had no clue he was not legal age to be president because he is SO polite and has cool responses to guitar questions.

milod just sounds like he's gone the world over and learned so much I think he's 143 years old o.o

...and I won't say who, but some act 12 xD

 

maturity and respect, cool at any age...[/quote']

 

Thanks for the mention, Izzy! Yer quite a cool lady yourself! I have to admit, though, that I need to look before I leap more often than I do.

 

I still haven't gotten used to the whole thing about not getting too fired up when someone disagrees with me...but I'm definitely getting better at it.

 

At any rate, I'm just going to say that this forum has actually taught me a lot about interpersonal interactions (even if it's just a virtual environment.) I speak with more people older than myself on this forum than I typically do in a normal day outside--and I'm grateful for it. I've learned a lot about guitars, and other things. And it's been from older ones, younger ones, people my own age. Some are right where I'd expect them to be, others are wise beyond their years, and others are, well...

 

To me, it's not age. It's depth and breadth of experience, and use of that experience.

 

Any chance to broaden one's horizons, you know?

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Jax...

 

I resemble your remarks...

 

However, after getting deleted, I guess I'm better off pretending that I'm again 12.

 

But then... I had a somewhat odd upbringing by current standards. Perhaps that would cause as many problems 'cuz Dad had me reading Plato clear back then - and worse, stuff like Flaubert and T.S. Eliot and Homer and everything on archaeology and paleontology and history of military skills I could find in a small university library while Mom went to classes until I started sitting in classes myself when they discovered that even at 12 I could be quiet and listen.

 

Ever read Vegetius or Jomini? Caesar's commentaries or Livy in Latin as a high school sophomore? At 10 or 12, Cooper's leatherstocking tales or Zane Gray's tales of early Ohio and his own family somewhat fictionalized?

 

Or Vitruvius whose descriptions of the needs of architecture require durability, utility and beauty - even as Gibson guitars meet those criteria most magnificently? Chaucer both in the older and newer versions of the language?

 

<grin> Music as physics? Differences between western vs. eastern Music? Such a childhood. Strauss waltzes - and note that the waltz was considered by some to be somewhat of a scandal in earlier days...

 

And... Both eastern and western (fencing) martial arts and arms training?

 

Whatever. We lacked Internet access, alas.

 

Ah, but I'd not truly care to be young again. Youth perhaps is indeed too wonderful to be wasted on the young. I guess I'm certainly better off not mentioning experiences as either a musician or journalist.

 

As Juvenal wrote:

 

It is to be prayed that the mind be sound in a sound body.

Ask for a brave soul that lacks the fear of death,

which places the length of life last among nature’s blessings,

which is able to bear whatever kind of sufferings,

does not know anger, lusts for nothing and believes

the hardships and savage labors of Hercules better than

the satisfactions, feasts, and feather bed of an Eastern king.

I will reveal what you are able to give yourself;

For certain, the one footpath of a tranquil life lies through virtue.

 

m

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Hey - rocketman, good call on the cashier and the quarter.....

 

We regularily use an outlet that gives trade (that's us) 10% discount.

The younger staff have to use a calculator to work it out.

 

We have a thing in Europe called VAT (Value Added Tax) - was running at 17.5% a while back.

I can do that in my head reasonably quickly (10% + 1/2 that + 1/2 that again).

I never got to University (long story). Now we've got graduates who can't do 10% on the fly.....

What went wrong?

 

And milod - check out Xenophon's book The Persian Expedition. Good read. Not Machiavelli, but hey.....

.

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Nice stuff everyone, esp Thermionik and milod for the quotes.

 

I never got to University (long story). Now we've got graduates who can't do 10% on the fly.....

What went wrong?

 

Ahh...The good old days! "When will we see your likes again?" (Sung to the tune of flower of Scotland).

 

A few thoughts.

 

For my 'O'-level and 'Higher' (sort of one-year Scottish 'A'-level equivalent) Mathematics exams I was allowed to use pencil and paper' date=' a slide-rule and/or Log tables. Calculators were strictly forbidden and would result in disqualification and expulsion from the exam. We had to understand the [u']mechanics[/u] of 'Sums'.

 

When I was applying for a place at Uni I would become, if accepted, one of only 3% of school leavers offered a place. Later on, The government (in their wisdom) thought that the self-esteem of the populus (plus the coffers of the Universities) would be raised were more pupils to be awarded a degree. They changed the rules. Nowadays somewhere over 20% can say they have a degree.....

 

I'm certainly not going to get into the 'Exams were harder in my day' rigmarole but last Summer a senior college lecturer thought that it would be a good thing if entrants to his English exams were allowed to write their essays in txt-spk. Madness (or should that be m+nss?).

 

If I may be allowed to share a few quotes as well;

 

On Polititians : "A polititian is a man who learns less and less about more and more until he arrives at the point where he doesn't know anything about everything"

 

On Learning : "Homer passed from mouth-to-mouth; and it is quite something to be able to recite a sixteen-thousand line poem or two. Nowadays people have to watch the ten-o'clock news to remind themselves what was on the nine-o'clock news".

 

On Growing Old : "We are not now that strength,

which in old days

Moved Earth and Heaven;

That which we are, we are;

 

One equal temper of Heroic Hearts

made weak by Time and Fate, but Strong in Will.

To Strive, to Seek, to Find,

and not to Yeild."

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.

.

and there's the thing, fast fret. Whilst you were busy "running rings round us on the guitar".....

.....we would be playing music . I'd trade a thousand technical notes for one single note from the heart.

Music should not be a competition, but a sharing and a coming together. Only good sex beats good music.

.

.

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Hey - rocketman' date=' good call on the cashier and the quarter.....

 

We regularily use an outlet that gives trade (that's us) 10% discount.

The younger staff have to use a calculator to work it out.

 

We have a thing in Europe called VAT (Value Added Tax) - was running at 17.5% a while back.

I can do that in my head reasonably quickly (10% + 1/2 that + 1/2 that again).

I never got to University (long story). Now we've got graduates who can't do 10% on the fly.....

What went wrong?

 

 

[/quote']

 

Ok, I'm 28 but I can do percents in my head. Am I old? [cool] I weap for my generation and those after me sometimes.

 

also bad sex = good music? To guys sex is sex.

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See - you learn something new every day..... a weap.

 

A long time ago somebody said weap. Spelled weap. You obviously knew that it wasnt spelled weep by the way they said it. They came to the conclusion, that weap is a noun. A weap is a small homeless man wearing but one sock and underdrawers on his nose. I don't know how he does it, but he manages with the help of the good lord. Now it means someone who is scared, cheap, dirty, a loser, trys too hard.. a weap is someone who is for lack of a better word a square. (Thank you Urban Dictionary.....)

 

But you are so wrong to generalise about stuff man - there are many men out here (and I am honoured to number myself amongst them) to whom sex is NOT JUST sex. It is an incredible sharing of something precious and special between two people, it has meaning and significance and is intensely pleasurable - like I said, the only thing better than good music. Otherwise you may as well just jerk off.....

.

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it has meaning and significance and is intensely pleasurable - Otherwise you may as well just jerk off.....

 

But Nik; you speak about the two as if they were mutually exclusive..............

 

[cool]

 

Just Kidding; and DONT tell the wife I said that.

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.

 

 

 

But you are so wrong to generalise about stuff man - there are many men out here (and I am honoured to number myself amongst them) to whom sex is NOT JUST sex. It is an incredible sharing of something precious and special between two people' date=' it has meaning and significance and is intensely pleasurable - like I said, the only thing better than good music. Otherwise you may as well just jerk off.....

.

 

It was a joke [cool]

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I have a problem with all the new technology' date='

I was in the restaurant yesterday when I suddenly realized I desperately needed to pass gas. The music was really, really loud, so I timed my gas with the beat of the music..

 

After a couple of songs, I started to feel better. I finished my coffee, and noticed that everybody was staring at me....

 

Then I suddenly remembered that I was listening to my iPod. :-k [/quote']

 

 

Well there you go....I would bet more old guys laughed at that then the young'ens....

 

Perspective colors everything and recognizing that reality becomes more apparent as one gains in years.....imo

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We have a thing in Europe called VAT (Value Added Tax) - was running at 17.5% a while back.

I can do that in my head reasonably quickly (10% + 1/2 that + 1/2 that again).

I never got to University (long story). Now we've got graduates who can't do 10% on the fly.....

Hah!

That's a misnomer if ever there was one!

What value' date=' exactly, is added for [i']you[/i]?

 

Anyhow,

I do the same thing.

Halving/doubling/and multiply/divide by ten (just move that little dot) to get into the ballpark.

Then trim it down in my head.

 

To this day, I often have my correct change calculated in my head before the person manning the computerized register is done punching in numbers.

And if the total is $15.05 and I hand 'em a twenty and a nickel to make it easy...

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Hah!

 

To this day' date=' I often have my correct change calculated in my head before the person manning the computerized register is done punching in numbers.

And if the total is $15.05 and I hand 'em a twenty and a nickel to make it easy...

[/quote']

 

 

And, as often as not, they stand there, look in their hand at what you gave them, look at their register to see what it says, then grab some change (or a fiver) from the 'till and drop it in your hand. The look on their face TELLS you they're not sure of what just happened. [biggrin]

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And' date=' as often as not, they stand there, look in their hand at what you gave them, look at their register to see what it says, then grab some change (or a fiver) from the 'till and drop it in your hand. The look on their face TELLS you they're not sure of what just happened. [biggrin] [/quote']

 

 

As someone who suffered through a retail career of a couple years, I simply have to put in on this.

 

First, I suck at math. I always have. I had a terrific education. My SAT scores are still above average for admission at the increasingly-discriminating private college I got into, and my IQ is average at best. I just had some great teaching and everything but the math stuck. There's just something wrong with my brain when it comes to numbers. And maybe I'm the only one in the world, or maybe a lot of the 20-something people serving you guys in retail are working there because they're qualified for great History/Arts jobs that don't exist, and can't do math very well (therefore not working in the existing science/engineering, etc).

 

I was verbally berated more than once (by customers) for reaching for a calculator to calculate change. Neither kind nor caring. Can't see Milod doing that.

 

Also, on at least one of those occasions, I *could* have done the math in my head, because it was pretty simple. But after six or seven hours of retail sales - product ID numbers, returns, exchanges, sale prices, impatient customers, hurry, hurry... you know what? My brain was freaking *fried*. I don't know if I could have correctly recited my own phone number. But boy was that customer smug...

 

Point: The fact that you can do it and someone else can't does not mean that person is uneducated. It doesn't even necessarily mean that person is stupid - there are different kinds of "smart". Or, if you cannot help but think of us as stupid, please have a little compassion and show a little less contempt. Thanks. :-)

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But after six or seven hours of retail sales - product ID numbers' date=' returns, exchanges, sale prices, impatient customers, hurry, hurry... you know what? My brain was freaking *fried*. I don't know if I could have correctly recited my own phone number. But boy was that customer smug... [/quote']

Understood.

 

I worked night shift in a convenience store while in college - early eighties.

8 months of minimum wage janitorial work and stocking the cooler while saying "Yes sir/Thank you" to people I would just as soon knocked their teeth out. My upbringing ensured that I treated all with respect - due or not.

 

The manager harped on me constantly to punch the total and make change using the cash register to avoid money errors, and it only slowed me down. As time told the tale, my cash drawer was never off by more than a dollar - and that was because I didn't fxck with pennies.

 

Nobody else working there even came close, and this includes the one time I cheated a guy out of five bucks.

Don't know how I did that and still had a good drawer.... somebody else made five bucks off me...

He was a regular, so when he came back in a few days later, he calmly and politely said "You cheated me."

 

"Huh?"

 

"Yeah, you counted out my change wrong...."

 

He explained it, and I remembered it when he did.

His purchase was about $7 and he gave me a twenty.

For some reason, I gave him the purchase price back for change - the same $7 instead of the $12 I owed him.

He was right.

And I was using the cash register.

He said he didn't look at his change until later because I was always so quick and accurate - he trusted me.

 

I gave him a five out of my pocket and called it good.

He resisted at first but I told him right is right.

 

He remained a regular customer and joked about it often.

 

Some people just don't have a mind for numbers.

I'm lucky, even as a child I did. I'll take the advantage God gave me and use it where I can.

 

Now if I just had a mind for scales and musical theory.... [angry]

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As someone who suffered through a retail career of a couple years' date=' I simply have to put in on this.

 

First, I suck at math. I always have. I had a terrific education. My SAT scores are still above average for admission at the increasingly-discriminating private college I got into, and my IQ is average at best. I just had some great teaching and everything but the math stuck. There's just something wrong with my brain when it comes to numbers. And maybe I'm the only one in the world, or maybe a lot of the 20-something people serving you guys in retail are working there because they're qualified for great History/Arts jobs that don't exist, and can't do math very well (therefore not working in the existing science/engineering, etc).

 

I was verbally berated more than once (by customers) for reaching for a calculator to calculate change. Neither kind nor caring. Can't see Milod doing that.

 

Also, on at least one of those occasions, I *could* have done the math in my head, because it was pretty simple. But after six or seven hours of retail sales - product ID numbers, returns, exchanges, sale prices, impatient customers, hurry, hurry... you know what? My brain was freaking *fried*. I don't know if I could have correctly recited my own phone number. But boy was that customer smug...

 

Point: The fact that you can do it and someone else can't does not mean that person is uneducated. It doesn't even necessarily mean that person is stupid - there are different kinds of "smart". Or, if you cannot help but think of us as stupid, please have a little compassion and show a little less contempt. Thanks. :-)[/quote']

 

Dear friend, I worked retail from the time I was 12 until I graduated high school. The FIRST thing I was taught was how to make change. That was back when cash registers had a big ol' crank handle on the side and would punch you in the belly when the drawer opened if you didn't put your hand in front of it. What they didn't do was tell you how much change you owed the customer. [cursing]

 

By the time I was 14 I could run the whole store if necessary, including the inventory control, pricing, ordering, work schedules, etc. I find it difficult to believe a retail clerk today is less capable than a 14 year old was in 1964.

 

I've never berated a clerk or a cashier so it wasn't me that did you. [angry]

 

If you can't make change, don't work the register. If I need something from a retail store, I don't really give a damn whether the cashier had a good day yesterday or can't count or got his butt chewed out on the way to work. That's not my problem or my business. I'm always friendly and courteous and expect the same in return. I generally get it, too.

 

With respect: Perhaps you were in the wrong line of work?

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