Who'd a thunk it?

[Dick Beaton]

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)
>
>