Like the dodo bird, VCRs, and Jello Pudding Pops, many tools that were once staples in my professional repertoire have now gone the way of the dinosaur: extinct (or nearly so).
For those who aren't aware, I spent the first half of the 1980s earning my electrical engineering degree from the University of South Florida, followed by an eight-and-a-half-year stint at Florida Power & Light (FP&L) before launching my editorial career in late 1994.
Needless to say, the ’80s were a much different time — especially when it came to technology or the lack thereof. Back then, we didn't have access to laptops, tablets, smartphones, BIM, or the hundreds of professional mobile apps available today. Nevertheless, we always managed to get the job done (and pretty well, I might add) with the tools we had at our disposal.
I invite you to take a walk down memory lane with me as I reminiscence about some of the items I fondly (and sometimes not so fondly) recall using in college and during my early engineering career at FP&L. Click along to see if you also recall these old-school tools that are rarely, or if ever, used today.
