Aunty Acid by Ged Backland for April 02, 2016

Many years ago the Bell system used to have a class 5 switching system called “panel”. It had aisles and aisles of panels with motor and clutch driven contactors riding up and down rods. Every so often the rods would need to be cleaned and lubricated with a special oil supplied by Western Electric company, the manufacturer of the switching systems. In one of the Chicago offices a tech was cleaning/lubricating the rods with tampons soaked in that oil. An executive came thru the office with a group of girl scouts showing them the place when they happened upon that scene. It was embarrassing for all involved.