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One old calculator...
Oct. 25th, 2015 12:54 pmAs Natalie and I were cleaning out the storage unit in Pagosa in August, Natalie suddenly perked up her ears and asked "What's that?"
I, with my less-than-perfect hearing, had no idea what she was talking about, but she stepped over to a box, reached in, and took out what turned out to be my trusty old Radio Shack EC-4075 "Programmer's Hex & Time Calculator," which I bought—if memory serves—back when we lived in Jacksonville. I used the unit as a calculator and an alarm clock until at least early November 2000, when it failed to wake me up for a late night shift at the MCC (though I suspect it was simply that I was dead tired and nothing short of a fire bell would've awakened me).
Anyway, while we were puttering about at the storage unit, the calculator's time alarm had apparently gone off, so I took the unit from Natalie's hands, hit "Clear," and put it in a box to take down to Houston.
I do not know whether it is a testament to alkaline batteries, or to the calculator, or to both working together, but from time to time since then, as I moved around my office, I'd notice that the display was on, or blank, and I always made a mental note that I'd have to change out the batteries, eventually, to see if the unit actually worked.
Eventually was this morning. I cut through the Scotch tape that holds a piece of paper napkin against the batteries to keep them from falling out (as I had long ago lost the plastic cover to the battery compartment) and removed the Duracell batteries, which were rated to last until at least 2005 and amazingly, haven't leaked yet. With a new set of AAs, the unit appears none the worse for wear, operationally (though it is something of an eyesore).
And the clock on my EC-4075 tells me... it's time to get back to work!
Cheers...
I, with my less-than-perfect hearing, had no idea what she was talking about, but she stepped over to a box, reached in, and took out what turned out to be my trusty old Radio Shack EC-4075 "Programmer's Hex & Time Calculator," which I bought—if memory serves—back when we lived in Jacksonville. I used the unit as a calculator and an alarm clock until at least early November 2000, when it failed to wake me up for a late night shift at the MCC (though I suspect it was simply that I was dead tired and nothing short of a fire bell would've awakened me).
Anyway, while we were puttering about at the storage unit, the calculator's time alarm had apparently gone off, so I took the unit from Natalie's hands, hit "Clear," and put it in a box to take down to Houston.
I do not know whether it is a testament to alkaline batteries, or to the calculator, or to both working together, but from time to time since then, as I moved around my office, I'd notice that the display was on, or blank, and I always made a mental note that I'd have to change out the batteries, eventually, to see if the unit actually worked.
Eventually was this morning. I cut through the Scotch tape that holds a piece of paper napkin against the batteries to keep them from falling out (as I had long ago lost the plastic cover to the battery compartment) and removed the Duracell batteries, which were rated to last until at least 2005 and amazingly, haven't leaked yet. With a new set of AAs, the unit appears none the worse for wear, operationally (though it is something of an eyesore).
And the clock on my EC-4075 tells me... it's time to get back to work!
Cheers...
