Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Goodbye Ol' Paint

After 29 years of faithful service, I said goodbye to an old friend tonight. I dismantled my manual drafting table and prepared to put it into storage. I bought the table a couple of years after I graduated from Architecture school at the University of Oklahoma. A contractor friend of mine got a deal on several of these tables and asked me if I wanted one. I jumped on it. Over the years, it has helped produce dozens of house plans, a few churches, and even a funeral home. Our daughter has done her homework on it, and the grandcrew have colored their pictures as well. I don't really do house plans anymore, and the ones that I do get involved with are generated on my computer. I know that I'm "old school", but there is something magic about producing the drawings for a building from the end of a pencil onto a clean sheet of paper. There is a connection to the materials, finishes and details that just cannot be recreated by the computer. Yes, the computer generates photo-realistic 3D renderings, and automates multiple tasks now, but it just all seems a bit sterile.
I'm going to miss that table, but we need the space for other furniture, since my dad will soon be moving in with us. It leaves a hole, that I designed for it, in the corner of the spare bedroom/office, that will soon be filled with an antique wardrobe. The wardrobe is much more attractive, and it's been in the family for 40 years, but it's not my drafting table. Oh well, life goes on. Maybe I'll sneak down to the storage unit some week-end and reassemble the table down there. Then I can visit it from time to time. Hmmm....maybe not.

3 comments:

  1. I hope it doesn't miss you as much as you're going t miss it. Just saying. I can so relate.

    Have a terrific day. Big hug. :)

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  2. Ooow, I am not the sentimental type, but I know my husband is. he had a desk, a solid oak partners desk, that swamped our living rooms (in three houses) for years, when we down sized, it was a very emotional day it left for good.
    Prayers of health and healing continue on my end.

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  3. I started doing accounting work on 13 column ledger pages. I don't miss that at all!

    But I do understand what you mean about old school. I can recount the progression of automation from that ledger page through dummy terminals through the nifty systems I work on now.

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