Jim... Thank you....I'm 83 as of a week ago and still cookin along Best wishes from Montana Dick ----- Original Message ----- From: <JIMRPT@AOL.COM> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Friday, December 31, 1999 9:00 AM Subject: Who'd a thunk it? > At the begining of this almost finished century we 'could' write a letter to > Mr. Holden way down/over yonder in NZ and 'hope' that he would get it in two > or three or four months. Now we can sit at home and contact him almost > instantaneously ! > > At the begining of this almost finished century we still relied on a sextant > and chronometer to navigate around the globe. Very accurate timepieces and > very reliable sextants were 'very' expensive and relied on the skill and > knowledge of the operator as to accuracy of navigation. Then, 'accuracy' was > considered acceptable if you came within two or three miles of an intended > destination after a journey of 1,000 miles. Today I saw an advertisement for > a 12 station GPS, accurate to within 300 feet...this thingee sells for > $139.00. > > At the begining of this almost finished century the most accurate 'computer' > was still the Abacus and perhaps the punch cards used in the textile > industry, though the latter were not 'really' computers. Today, as we end > this century, we carry more computing power around in our Palm Pilots then > was available to take man to the moon, develop atomic power, or determine the > speed of light. > > At the begining of this almost finished century average life span was aprox > 50 years. At the end, average life span is approaching aprox 80 years. > At the begining of this almost finished century disease/epidemic/early death > shaped our lives and led what is now 'history' in unpredictable ways. Now as > this century closes we have gained knowledge and changed the future by > erradicating, for all practical purposes, some of the most malevolent > diseases and controling many others.............who can say where we would be > if this were not the case? > > At the begining of this almost finished century we enjoyed music written in a > prior century and thank goodness we will still enjoy the same music into the > next century and beyond. What a pleasure it is to participate, in some small > way, in a continuum of such magnitude. One which, ignoring all the temporal > advances, remains as a constant, although everchanging, influence on our > lives and on our work. A continuum which provides us a glance into our souls, > our past, our present and even into our future. > > Thank you all and.................Happy New Year All!!! > Jim Bryant (FL) > >
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