"Joe Pfeiffer" wrote in message
...
On a shelf above my desk, I have an abacus, my high school slide rule,
my mom's Comptometer,

Hi Joe,
I forgot all about the comptometer. After we came to this county (early
1950's) my mom trained as a comptometer operator. It would certainly be
difficult to explain to somebody how these operators would sit there all
day, invoices in front of them, and, using 7 to 10 fingers simultaneously,
would blindly punch away for 8 straight hours. This is before they invented
'carpal tunnel' syndrome. They were an amazing machine. If I remember, the
only crank was to clear the 12 - 15 place register. All other actions
involved pushing keys.

Thanks for the memory, Joe

Ivan Vegvary