[R-390] Industrial Arts

[Guido Santacana]

Today's young adults are not trained in any of the formerly called 
"industrial arts" and video games and "safe toys" have zapped a lot of the 
imagination. Sometime ago while in college I found that a friend of mine was 
quite capable of building furniture and I mean doing a professional job at 
that. His mother, a german immigrant after WWII, told me that she had 
encouraged all her children to learn a trade as well as to have a university 
degree. Her reasoning was very logical. After the war Germany was utterly 
destroyed, university professors had nothing to do and what was needed were 
carpenters, electricians, plumbers etc etc. As a immigrant of 45 years in 
this country I can say the same thing. My father was saved by what he 
learned from his father about photography and that kept the family over 
water until, as an entrepeneur he was able to establish a business again.So 
even if one continues toward a professional career it is a good idea to 
learn something extra. Well back to R390 stuff. I had to say something since 
this topic touched home.

Best 73s
Guido KP4FAR
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "wli" <wli98122 at yahoo.com>
To: <R-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Cc: <W8KXR at neo.rr.com>; <nu4g.radio at gmail.com>; <ec.rr.comanchor at ec.rr.com>; 
<tisha.hayes at gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2009 4:27 PM
Subject: [R-390] re: Safety and PFY-EEs


> Hi
>
> Recently, I have been tutoring a newbie. He has been an office type for 
> over 30 years shuffling papers, and was intrigued to learn more about my 
> hobby as a future *retirement* activity. His interest was triggered by an 
> evening cruising through the international SWL bands on the R390A.
>
> In regards to the *new* solder, I suggest stockpiling a few rolls of the 
> old Ersin Multicore 60/40 tin-lead 5-core rolls seen at hamfests. Three 
> pounds will last us decades.
>
> After many hours, he can solder moderately well, but still has a hard-time 
> understanding simple  concepts such as layout and mechanical alignment. 
> After a while, I realized that he does not think in three-dimensions... 
> something that Tisha's newly minted PFY-EE's clearly lack as well.
>
> I was astounded to see how today's adults have NO concept re electrical 
> and mechanical safety. Since *shop* is no longer taught in schools (under 
> the mistaken belief that their  students were all gifted and destined for 
> careers in politics and finance), today's adults are woefully ignorant of 
> the basics.
>
> So my plea to all of us is to teach our kids and grandkids the rudimentary 
> basics of doing stuff with our hands..   something sadly lacking in 
> today's educational system.
>
> Thanks
>
> W. Li
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