I was always impressed by how much old geezers knew. I remember my uncle fixing the tail lights of his car several decades ago and thinking "How the heck does he know all this stuff". My father too always knew vast amounts of stuff.
Now, I'm the old geezer and I think what vast amounts of stuff I know and have done. It seems so silly that little Hayes has to learn it all again - much of it new of course and much of my knowledge is obsolete. He's as keen as mustard, but human nature doesn't seem daunted by vast challenges. All the better to get stuck in it seems.
I was going to write my extensive list of things I know and have done but it would take me longer than I can be bothered taking.
A major reason people live so long must be because the value of knowledge is so huge that nature couldn't afford to just have it go to waste each time an old geezer died.
Google is going to be a great help - a brain with vast knowledge sitting there ready to go with recommendations for action. It's already pretty good with navigation for example. Pretty soon people won't have to drive at all. Pretty soon after that, they won't be allowed to drive at all. Having stupid large primates in charge of tons of flying metal with just a painted line keeping them away from the same going the opposite direction and the same speed will seem absurd.
Google won't die, so the knowledge is safe. No more having to start at the beginning again and reinvent the wheel each time a new person is born.
Mqurice
PS: Just for fun, let's see...in no particular order...
welding
scaffolder [9 stories high in the good old days before they invented safety]
truck driver
fork lift driver
driver for mentally and physically disabled [van] and supervisor too
soil testing technician [and other civil engineering materials]
civil engineer [local body work]
oil industry technical manager, marketing and sales [downstream]
machine tool operator [lathes, milling machines etc]
hay loader [running around paddocks dawn to after dusk collecting bales]
concrete worker [valve tower construction in a dam]
spray painter [before health and safety was invented]
wharfie [when it was done by hand]
van driver [parcel deliveries - Andair was fastest of all]
building labourer
typing checker
warehouse worker [Hamley's warehouse - toys in London]
delivery man [around London]
company director [Globalstar Oz,Astralink, Zenbu]
then all the DIY
brick laying,
plastering
timber construction [house construction from ground up]
plumbing [housing]
electrical work [housing not industrial]
woodwork [making various things from wood and a good job done on them if I do say so myself = lots of training when young]
painting
wall papering
tree felling
engine disassembly [vehicle and other, total - diesel and petrol]
and car disassembly [gearbox, differentials, brakes, suspension]
gardening [vegetable growing]
then all the family stuff
knitting machine operation
sewing machine
cooking
cleaning
repairs of everything [meaning everything]
and stuff. lots and lots of stuff.
and knowing how most things work from attending any industry which uses oil, which is all of them
and one thing and another.
then all the general knowledge - financial relativity theory, medical, environmental, legal [court lawyer, conveyancing, probate], political activist [successful too - got National Party out 1984, got Act in 1996 onwards]
not to mention father and grandfather [which involves a LOT more than donating sperm].
and the things I forgot...
and then, I die!! Stink one!!
...edit.... I should add time wasting cyberspace ranter. |
