A try and a fail

Of things past

 

Old way - new way

Too fried to typecast tonight. Spent the a.m. typing for work and then all p.m. doing training for a new dictation system coming into use. Basically, we will now be editing dictations that have been "typed" with voice recognition software rather than typing from scratch. The pay rate is half that of straight typing, on the theory that one can get through twice as much work in the same time. We shall see how that goes! Then in the evening one of our dogs ate some string, necessitating an emergency phone call to our vet and the administration of hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting, fortunately successful. Not sure where the mouse that also came back up originated from, lol. Never a dull moment. Both dogs have to be at the groomers at 8 a.m. tomorrow to be made presentable for Christmas, so it will be a very early morning and then starting work on the new system. I think I would like to skip tomorrow and go directly to Thursday! On the plus side, the new ribbon for the Hermes arrived today, so the day did have something nice in it. Hoping for not freezing rain in the a.m. I'm starting to sound like Eyore, lol.

Analog photograpy

3 for 3

Hermes fun

Well, I got the bottom off the 3000 and followed the linkages for the backspace key. It looks like there is a small lever at the end that is maybe supposed to key into a cogwheel, but it doesn't, it is loose and floppy; however, it is  deep in the bowels of the beast and not accessible without major surgery which I am not qualified for, lol. I would rather just bump the carriage back a space and still have a functional machine than have one in pieces! Maybe someday I will find a typewriter doctor.

The Hermes has landed!

Even more retro than typing!

Mash-up

Over the edge?

Okay, am I finally losing it? I'm sure I saw a post about a Gromma Kolibri with a cursive font. Does this unicorn actually exist in the wild? I DID see one with a QWERTY keyboard. Has anyone seen one with both? I think I need to go lie down and have a rest now. Soon the little men in the white coats will appear and speak to me in soothing tones as they lead me away.

Spinning my wheels

Ribbon wars

I love it when a plan works out!

Cleaned the Skywriter and it types much smoother. Only thing wrong was 1 of the screws that holds it in the case is not gripping.Will work on that. Lots of grime came off. There is some glue residue from an old label that I did not want to be too aggressive about.

The Sterling looks like it came from the factory, and types that way too. Couldn't even get any dirt off the outside, it was so clean. The case doesn't have a mark on it. 

Touchdown!

Both the early Skywriter and the Smith Corona Sterling from the 60s arrived today, well packed and all in one piece. Woot!  Everything works on both, new ribbons are on order. I am going to clean both, the Sterling is cleaner than the Skywriter, well its younger, lol. Will try to post some pix. The Skywriter serial #2Y-52375 puts it at 1950 and the Sterling portable is 5AX-279144. I can only find 5A numbers, not 5AX for SMC and that would also be 1950, which does't seem right, as it is a 60's machine. Confused! It is the same as illustrated on the USB Typewriter page for the SMC 60s Sterling for which I ordered the USB kit.