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Fandango, v. 3, issue 4, whole no. 12, Summer 1946
Page 4
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[? TEUR.] Sinatra crossed with Bing, eh? That isn't fantastic, my friend; that's Perry Como ! . . . I am rather strongly inclined to doubt if maintenance and repair can legitimately be considered as disagreeable jobs, even though in many cases they are "dangerous or arduous". Danger per se will certainly never keep a job from being filled. Some of the jobs in the woods, for example, such as topping trees, give me the heebie-jeebies even when I think of them in the confines of my armchair. I wouldn't tackle that kind of job for all the money in the world. Yet I have been casually acquainted with several men who do that kind of thing professionally; not only are they unbothered by the dangers, but they actually tend to regard themselves as a sort of guild, an aristocracy among lumberjacks. Since he came to work in the same shop where I am employed, I have discovered that Burbee is scared of the saws. I'm a timid little feller myself, but I'd just as soon saw plastics as perform any other operations on them--don't even consider the saws to be especially dangerous if one keeps his wits about him. And so it goes. Not only is the job one man regards as dangerous tame stuff for someone else, but there is no job so dangerous but what someone will willingly undertake it. And I rather doubt if arduous is an apt description of the average maintenance job. It is true enough that the maintenance man periodically has to work unusually long hours doing something unusually difficult, but it must be remembered that he also spends much of his time in pretty much of a standby status, puttering around with an oilcan or greasegun. In most cases, it averages up pretty well. It must also be remembered that many men definitely enjoy tinkering around with machinery and equipment, and in many cases derive sufficient pleasure therefrom to go a long way towards nullifying any hard work which might be involved. I am inclined to think, on the basis of the specific suggestions I already made, that very few jobs I didn't actually name but could either be shown to be pleasant enough to someone to warrant their retention in my utopia (!!) or else could be eliminated. And though Don mentions moving heavy objects by hand as being "simple", a little thought will show that the elimination in one way or another of manual weight lifting will also eliminate the arduousness from most industrial jobs. For instance, if the machinist has the proper lifting equipment he'd as soon fit his lathe with a 34" chuck as an 8" one. One very unpleasant thing I did neglect to consider was heat, and I suspect that it may be one of the knottiest problems of all to solve. While the less exact applications of heat, such as smelting or brick-baking or industrial "cooking" could very likely be taken care of through a mixture of remote controls such as I suggested for mining, and air-conditioning coupled with protective suits, it is difficult for me to see how many operations--such as plastics moulding or forging or welding or heat treating--can be adequately performed without the presence of one or more skilled workmen.Can any of you gentlemen suggest suitable techniques? ---oo0oo--- LIGHT. Is there room in the Society of Pollyannas and Optimists for an old pessimist? I'm going on, just as though things were not going to be blown all to hell in another decade or so at most--perhaps a little more intensively than I would if I figured on a lifetime's normal span---but am most certainy not giving anything away and preparing for The End. I'm going to get my money's worth out of what time I have left, even if an atomic bomb does interrupt me. -- 4 --
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[? TEUR.] Sinatra crossed with Bing, eh? That isn't fantastic, my friend; that's Perry Como ! . . . I am rather strongly inclined to doubt if maintenance and repair can legitimately be considered as disagreeable jobs, even though in many cases they are "dangerous or arduous". Danger per se will certainly never keep a job from being filled. Some of the jobs in the woods, for example, such as topping trees, give me the heebie-jeebies even when I think of them in the confines of my armchair. I wouldn't tackle that kind of job for all the money in the world. Yet I have been casually acquainted with several men who do that kind of thing professionally; not only are they unbothered by the dangers, but they actually tend to regard themselves as a sort of guild, an aristocracy among lumberjacks. Since he came to work in the same shop where I am employed, I have discovered that Burbee is scared of the saws. I'm a timid little feller myself, but I'd just as soon saw plastics as perform any other operations on them--don't even consider the saws to be especially dangerous if one keeps his wits about him. And so it goes. Not only is the job one man regards as dangerous tame stuff for someone else, but there is no job so dangerous but what someone will willingly undertake it. And I rather doubt if arduous is an apt description of the average maintenance job. It is true enough that the maintenance man periodically has to work unusually long hours doing something unusually difficult, but it must be remembered that he also spends much of his time in pretty much of a standby status, puttering around with an oilcan or greasegun. In most cases, it averages up pretty well. It must also be remembered that many men definitely enjoy tinkering around with machinery and equipment, and in many cases derive sufficient pleasure therefrom to go a long way towards nullifying any hard work which might be involved. I am inclined to think, on the basis of the specific suggestions I already made, that very few jobs I didn't actually name but could either be shown to be pleasant enough to someone to warrant their retention in my utopia (!!) or else could be eliminated. And though Don mentions moving heavy objects by hand as being "simple", a little thought will show that the elimination in one way or another of manual weight lifting will also eliminate the arduousness from most industrial jobs. For instance, if the machinist has the proper lifting equipment he'd as soon fit his lathe with a 34" chuck as an 8" one. One very unpleasant thing I did neglect to consider was heat, and I suspect that it may be one of the knottiest problems of all to solve. While the less exact applications of heat, such as smelting or brick-baking or industrial "cooking" could very likely be taken care of through a mixture of remote controls such as I suggested for mining, and air-conditioning coupled with protective suits, it is difficult for me to see how many operations--such as plastics moulding or forging or welding or heat treating--can be adequately performed without the presence of one or more skilled workmen.Can any of you gentlemen suggest suitable techniques? ---oo0oo--- LIGHT. Is there room in the Society of Pollyannas and Optimists for an old pessimist? I'm going on, just as though things were not going to be blown all to hell in another decade or so at most--perhaps a little more intensively than I would if I figured on a lifetime's normal span---but am most certainy not giving anything away and preparing for The End. I'm going to get my money's worth out of what time I have left, even if an atomic bomb does interrupt me. -- 4 --
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