Ballard Street by Jerry Van Amerongen for August 11, 2012

  1. 220px charles bowles aka black bart
    Steve Bartholomew  about 12 years ago

    Didn’t know there was anyone left who could use a slide rule.

     •  Reply
  2. Emerald
    margueritem  about 12 years ago

    Slide rule, for geometry? Just memorize the theroms.

     •  Reply
  3. Cat29
    x_Tech  about 12 years ago

    Maybe they’re using them as extendable stir sticks.

     •  Reply
  4. Sunshine   copy
    SusanSunshine Premium Member about 12 years ago

    Hey, it never hurts to know all the angles.

    _Slide rule for geometry?

    Back in the days before calculators some people, especially students trying to look ultra brainy, ostentatiously pulled out their slide rules for simple multiplication and division.

    I knew how, but thought that was funny…

    you have to switch upper and lower scales, depending on whether the number was on one or the other, approximate or interpolate some results, and stay aware of where the decimal point should go…

    Seemed like more work than writing out the problem on paper.

    My mad slipstick skilz completely evaporated as soon as I bought my first calculator.

     •  Reply
  5. Sunshine   copy
    SusanSunshine Premium Member about 12 years ago

    Oh hi X — haven’t seen you around!

    Hats off to you, if you can still use a slide rule…

    I doubt I could multiply 3×5 on it, but I still have my Dad’s someplace, which I used all through high school and college.Real wood with a plastic ivory veneer.

     •  Reply
  6. 654px red eyed tree frog   litoria chloris edit1
    Superfrog  about 12 years ago

    Well, if there are 43 beans in every cup, and the base of the cup has a 2" diameter and the top of the cup has a radius of 1.5 ", how high will the fluid level be when the cup has 18 beans left?

     •  Reply
  7. Sunshine   copy
    SusanSunshine Premium Member about 12 years ago

    (Plastic ivory is no longer used because fake elephants have been hunted near to extinction.

    I mean, when was the last time you saw a fake elephant with plastic tusks big enough to be useful?)

     •  Reply
  8. Sunshine   copy
    SusanSunshine Premium Member about 12 years ago

    While I’m here….I’d like to apologise to everybody for any questions unanswered,e-mail not sent, discussions skirted, and pictures not posted in the last few days, even the whole last week or two.

    Also for the lack of suitable openings for hair and “spa” appointments in my Ballard St. salon.

    The county fair that’s been taking all my time will be over in a couple of days.

    While I still have a few weeks of Wednesday markets to work, and my tiny yard is still full of tomato plants, I should be around more on Ballard St starting next week….um…. like it or not!

    I miss it when I don’t stop by!

     •  Reply
  9. Sunshine   copy
    SusanSunshine Premium Member about 12 years ago

    Superfrog — well, even without knowing the water:beans ratio, I can say that, with only a 2" base and a 3" top, unless that’s a very tall cup, the answer to your question, by my calculations….

    is “still overflowing”.

     •  Reply
  10. Missing large
    davehculii  about 12 years ago

    Does anyone notice the circular slide rule on the table? I used one in college.

     •  Reply
  11. Sunshine   copy
    SusanSunshine Premium Member about 12 years ago

    Oh … Bev … your 1st post didn’t show when I posted.

    Thank you! I’ll enjoy being back.

    And we’ve got an election to win!Well, to help the Monkey win.

    And lots of cookies and banana bread to bake.

     •  Reply
  12. Cat29
    x_Tech  about 12 years ago

    Today’s assignment: Construct a Golden Rectangle using only a straight edge and a compass.

    Yes dear, you may use your pencil too.

     •  Reply
  13. 11 06 126
    Varnes  about 12 years ago

    Looks like a bunch of squares to me…….

     •  Reply
  14. Avatar 3
    pcolli  about 12 years ago

    WOW…..didn’t have them when I was at school. Wouldn’t have been allowed to use them even if we did.

     •  Reply
  15. Pirate63
    Linguist  about 12 years ago

    The Newton Brothers, Randy, Roger, and Jeffery were always competitive ( if a little square ). In fact, all of them pursued the same girl in college, but she turned them all down, because they didn’t measure up.

     •  Reply
  16. Tornado clip art tornado clip art 14
    Storm F-1/4  about 12 years ago

    Woo hoo, you sound like a gal who knows how to party hearty!! I’ll bring string cheese, but I’m out of whiskey too. However, I have about 4 families of wild turkeys living very close by and they are wondering if they could come along for the fun. They’d be very entertaining. We can just sit there and watch them walk around. It’s hilarious. I tried to find a good video of that, but no luck with one that really shows it. I also, for about 2 min. thought of a perfect music link to send you, but then I forgot it!!!! Oh well, I’ll prob. think of it again and will post it later. Then I’ll blame gocomics for a weird delay and I’ll get by with it because weird things have been happening here. Well, not just here on BS (Lord knows that’s true), but here on gocomics!-————————————————————————————————-Well of course they can come! the more the merrier. They don’t call it a light house for nothing! Turkeys are so cute. Just keep them away from Sonny. He is kind of weird.

     •  Reply
  17. Tornado clip art tornado clip art 14
    Storm F-1/4  about 12 years ago

    you have to switch upper and lower scales, depending on whether the number was on one or the other, approximate or interpolate some results, and stay aware of where the decimal p-————————————————————————————————

    You made my brain leak.

     •  Reply
  18. Tornado clip art tornado clip art 14
    Storm F-1/4  about 12 years ago

    I remember my first year in college when we first went to the physics lab. The instructer pointed out the plastic boxes on the tables and told us to be real careful not to drop them, push them off the table or trip on the power cords cause they were VERY expensive! The were these brand new things called calculaters and they could multiply, divide, add and subtract and had a memory function. They cost about $500.00 apiece, were the size of a clock radio (apx 6″ × 4″ × 3″) and now-a-days you can buy a much better one for buck.-—————————————————————————-I remember the first video game. I am old.

     •  Reply
  19. Chai
    Perkycat  about 12 years ago

    When my husband talks to school age kids he always likes to ask them if they know what a slide rule is. The response he gets is " a what?".As far as the coffee beans – I don’t do math. Never did like geometry but did good in it.I’ve seen old men sitting around in a coffee shop and can really picture this happening.

     •  Reply
  20. Ca411d48 e35e 4a21 b058 f79259484708
    Dr Sheriff MB esq PhD DML   about 12 years ago

    Owwww mah hed…..

     •  Reply
  21. Avatar 3
    pcolli  about 12 years ago

    I take it that you are in the US. In the UK I went to school until I was 16. My school had no 6th form, as we called it then so I left with a basic education (which I have augmented since). Had I attended a decent school I would have left at 18 then have had the opportunity to attend Uni..So it was 1969 when I left school and calculators weren’t around then.

     •  Reply
  22. Fang
    Chewiek9  about 12 years ago

    I used to use one of those round protractors for my work.

     •  Reply
  23. Tornado clip art tornado clip art 14
    Storm F-1/4  about 12 years ago

    Pong?…. I remember those days we thought pong was just so cool…..lol-——————————————————————

    I remember pong well. Thought we were hot. Never guessed graphics would one day look life like. Back then we had to use our imaginations more. Thank goodness for Ballard Street!

     •  Reply
  24. Cat29
    x_Tech  about 12 years ago

    1970 was the year I got my first handheld calculator (HP-35). The instructors wouldn’t me let use in the classroom. Had to use the same 12" slip stick as everyone else.

     •  Reply
  25. Sunshine   copy
    SusanSunshine Premium Member about 12 years ago

    …. (puff puff… ) Hi….um…. everybody?

    Wow, everybody went home already?

    It’s Saturday night!On Ballard Street!

    Oh…. maybe Storm’s having another party….or everybody’s at Red’s or the Linguist’s…probably not the Tiki, cos I think the Monkey has a gig….and maybe his Dad’s still there….

    But I’m so tired I think I’ll just go to the salon and get some sleep….

    I have to do so much walking when I get here after midnight…. well, actually after 10pm my time…. on a Saturday night/Sunday morning….

    SOME day this street will be open seven days a week!

     •  Reply
  26. Sunshine   copy
    SusanSunshine Premium Member about 12 years ago

    Sounds good Red…..

    I do loves me some Traffic…. maybe I’ll wake up a bit….can I mosey over and listen?

    (Um…. Redkaycei, did you just see my comment on Get Fuzzy, by any chance?If not, the coincidence is too weird!)

     •  Reply
  27. Sunshine   copy
    SusanSunshine Premium Member about 12 years ago

    I’ll be over…LOL…Ballard St. is such a separate universe…I forget the comics world is small and somebody might have read what I said elsewhere….Except that Ballard St. must run through Crustwood, cos x_Tech and Marg and I are also neighbors there.

     •  Reply
  28. Sunshine   copy
    SusanSunshine Premium Member about 12 years ago

    That reminds me…. from waaay earlier….

    X …. how did you know I’d ask whether I could use my pencil?

    Made me laugh cos I was about to say it.

    Also made me try to remember how to do the Golden Triangle without a ruler… or Google.

    I think I still can!But I’m not sure why.

     •  Reply
  29. Tumblr mzhsk3qkeq1rj1ango5 500
    StelBel  about 12 years ago

    I’m trying to catch up, since I didn’t stop by yesterday. (Went to a baby shower/family party for the day.) RE: slide rules…

    I did well in Geometry and Algebra. I do not have the foggiest idea how to use a slide rule, although I do have one. I don’t know where it came from, but I’ve had it for decades. For some reason, I’m reluctant to get rid of it…not that there’s a chance in this universe that I’d ever use it.

    There! That is the only semi-relevant comment that I have to make about slide rules and geometry.

    Apparently, there are slide rules made out of water? And, very strict regulations regarding their use…..?

     •  Reply
  30. Sunshine   copy
    SusanSunshine Premium Member about 12 years ago

    I have to run….but I wanted to say hi to all…..“Hi to all.”

    Stel…. Brain Bleach takes away the confusion and babbling…..doesn’t help with learning computer stuff….or even with focusing on the problem, of course….but usually you don’t remember enough about it to mind.It’s happy stuff!

    Red, the yurt is still a dream….Monkey has shipped some new ones to Stel but they all look pretty big so far.

    I think I’ll have to wait till he gets back to see whether he brings any of the very small portable ones with him.

    I like the original ethnic look, but with the large interior…Maybe something I could roll up if I have to be away from Ballard St for more than a day or two….though after he gets elected Sheriff, and if BatPug is on the job and on the wagon, I shouldn’t have to worry about that.

    But I have to see whether I can even afford one.

    Last day of the fair today…. Storm I guess you have parties….

    Tomorrow is the plant sale and then I’m done…..They sell off some great stuff from the Hall of Flowers, but it’s out of my league….

    I just go to try and score a few cheap mini roses and begonias and such from the kids and amateurs.Like I need one more plant!But sometimes a bedraggled specimen or two just follows me home like a stray puppy.

    I can’t resist their big, hopeful green eyes.

     •  Reply
  31. Tigresstree  copy enh1
    Tigressy  about 2 years ago

    Knights all around…

    https://cleoandcompany.net/august-11-2022/

     •  Reply
  32. Last 9 11 rescue dog birthday party new york bretagne pronounced brittany owner and rescue partner denise corliss texas
    Dry and Dusty Premium Member about 2 years ago

    Good morning Balladeers, (((((Plods))))) and Miss Susan.

     •  Reply
  33. Sunshine   copy
    SusanSunshine Premium Member about 2 years ago

    As you can tell, we’re just getting to what was one of the most populated stretches of Ballard Street, back in 2012.

    I never thought we’d stay here so long, revisiting it for Cleo and Company in 2022… but here we are, though I don’t stop in every day any more.

     

    Kinda fun to see what we were up to, even though a lot of commenters and comments have been removed, and all the pictures and links.

    On August 21st, we’ll elect then “Inspector” Monkey Blues, aka MunkyBluz, the new Sheriff of Ballard County… and also give him Ballard Street’s first birthday party.

    There were a couple hundred comments then, including a LOT of pictures… so probably only 50 left now, and some conversations that’ll make no sense. I didn’t peek.

     

    Speaking of Cleo… just use Tigressy’s link for yesterday, but change the 11 to a 12…

    There’s a new animation, with a tiny Monopoly surprise!

    See ya there…

    Including you, Dry! C’mon over!

     •  Reply
Sign in to comment