Hi Bill,
I'm curious, as perhaps others on the list may be, as to why there is *no* occasional information on the status of Pat Townson?
Over the years on the list we heard *so* much about his personal life...Maple Street, Elm Street, the cab service, meals on wheels, the bank, the Wal-Mart, the local phone company, etc, that some of us felt we 'knew' him. Although sometimes his 'concerns' over things business and politically related sometimes entered the discussions to possible excess, it is indeed a different place without him.
After he was most recently stricken, the list has returned to *nearly* strictly business. It would be nice to hear from time to time what his status might be. For instance, does he still read the list? Although I certainly don't miss his politics, I do miss his occasional fact-filled stories from the "telcom past".
An occasional status report or a transcribed message from him might be nice, other than the message we all know will come some day in the future that simply states he is no longer with us.
On another note, and perhaps more importantly, bravo on your efforts to keep the list alive, relevant, and politically neutral. You are doing a fine job!
Last, an extra bravo on your increasingly frequent remembrances from the telecom past. You are more and venturing into such historic data, and I applaud it. I think it should be encouraged here on the list, for we can get CURRENT data almost anywhere. The stuff from the past will be lost if not recorded, and the archives here are perfect place for doing so.
Regards,
Ken Hoehn
***** Moderator's Note *****Ken,
Thanks for your compliments: one sentence like that is enough to keep me going for a year!
Pat's phone has died, and Mike Sandman is working on the issue, but he's out of touch for a few days. My thanks to Mike, who has been funding Pat's cell phone.
Pat has told me that he rather not have details of his conditions published, and I've avoided the issue. As I said last year, recovering from a CVA is long, long process. There will come a time when Pat is able to resume his stewardship, but I can't say when that will be.
I'm glad you enjoy my trips down memory lane: I had the good fortune to be hired by Ma Bell just at the end of the electromechanical age, and I got to work on Panel, #5 Crossbar, #1 ESS, and, finally the #5 ESS in addtion to N carrier, L carrier, and a whole lot of T carrier. I also did a stint on the "Radio board", which included the air-to-ground system, the paging equipment, the IMTS mobile phones, and the ship-to-shore terminals as well: I even got to read the weather reports on the air! I can tell you all you'd ever want to know about Signalling System 7, and how I was present at the creation of the Internet.
I wish I'd had more time to learn microwave, and less putting in 236 repeaters, and a lot more time to help younger techs learn the craft: if I could, I'd put on a toolbelt and do it again. Such is life.
Bill Horne Temporary Moderator
(Please put [Telecom] at the end of the subject line of your post, or I may never see it. Thanks!)