Before The Electronic Calculator....

THE SLIDE RULE!!!

What is a slide rule?

        It's a tool used to perform mathematical calculations. Tools similar to this one (but not nearly as advanced) date back to the seventeenth century. It became increasingly important for us during the space race. Engineers were using the slide rule for a multitude of  calculations, eventually leading to the success of Apollo 11.
        Using the slide rule is actually more complicated than you would think. Using a slide rule was at one point very effective. Older generations (including my grandparents) will probably tell you that they know how to use a slide rule, and maybe even say that they had used one in school. So in general, this slide rule functioned just as well as the electronic calculators seen today.
        My dad found this particular slide rule at a garage sale and what I found very interesting about this was that there is actually a name etched into the leather case.  The former owner's name is Saul Vela. Obviously I didn't go looking for him considering how many people have that same name, but it was very interesting to imagine what this person used the slide rule for and it was exciting to know that someone had put this object to good use.
        I honestly have no earthly idea how to use a slide rule but I plan on asking my grandfather, my grandmother, my dad, and the good old internet to help me figure it out. I believe that knowing how to use the slide rule would be an interesting skill to have.

BROWNIE JUNIOR!....A small brownie? NO!!!

Brownie Junior Six-20

         This is my dads old Brownie Junior six-20. He found it at a garage sale about two years ago and has been saving it in a glass case ever since. The finders of the camera are rusting on the edges and foggy but still you can see a rather faint image through them. The vinyl on the outside of the camera is actually intact but the leather strap on the top is deteriorating. This camera isn't really worth much today and I doubt it will be worth very much to many people in the near future, but I just fell in love with it. It's such a simple camera and although I'm the only one who cares about it, I would like to some day restore it to the best of my abilities.

          First I guess I would look for a camera (Ebay) of the same model that has at least the strap in tact and replace that strap onto my camera. I would take my camera apart (which my dad can't wait to do) and see if I can find a non abrasive solution with which to clean the lens and the horizontal and vertical finders. The face plate also has a few abrasion on it, but it's held onto the camera by only four small screws so I'm sure that can also be easily replaced. I know that with all of the imperfections of my camera, that it would be easier just to by another Six-20 in better condition but the case of this brownie is so well intact and the cameras that I've seen online have the most imperfections on the case. In the long run, it's going to be easier for me to clean the internal parts of this camera and add a new face plate and strap. Hopefully, I will find some film for the restored camera and take a picture. That, to me, will be the most satisfying part of the restoration. 

     

Grand Canyon

My brother and I made a trip to the Grand Canyon and back. We got there at about seven or eight in the morning, looked at the Canyon for about half an hour, took some pictures in front of it, and then headed back home. My brother was not a big fan of staring at "a big hole in the ground", as my dad so lovingly describes it.

I had never been to the Grand Canyon or out of the state of Texas really and I just couldn't fathom that the images seen on TV really were real somewhere, untainted by (much) smog and noise from bustling city life. I absolutely loved it...and if I had it my way, I would still be out there by the railings of the canyon, watching the sun rise.

The Shipley Church Cemetary

       




          My Grandparents and I, during our trip to  Tennessee during the summer, stopped at an old cemetery  that I soon found out held many of my family members. Unfortunately, I had no idea at all how these people were connected to me and in reality, I'm still not sure about how I'm related to them. My family is rather obscure on both sides. I have never really been proud of my heritage, partially because I didn't know much about it, and partially because I had heard mostly of a history of drinking, bigotry, and domestic abuse. My great grandfather's name, Andrew Jackson Riddle, was the only name I could find a connection with among the graves and only because I knew my great grandmother's name, which was carved in the tombstone along side his (at the time she was still alive).