On Tue Nov-22-2011 16:35, Roy Witt (1:387/22) wrote to Roger Nelson:   
      
    RW> 22 Nov 11 08:25, Roger Nelson wrote to TOM WALKER:   
      
    RN> When I went to work in a car dealership back in 1963, I was put in a   
    RN> stock receiving room where I "helped" a man much older than me who   
    RN> could outwork everybody in the building.   
      
    RW>                 How to teach an old dog new tricks!   
      
    RW> C1963, I was a Tool & Die Apprentice in a tool room that had an old   
    RW> man to run the tool crib. He didn't know what half of the tools in   
    RW> that crib were and I usually just let myself in and got what I   
    RW> needed on my own.    
      
    RW> One of his other jobs was to cut material, sometimes having to use   
    RW> the shop's band-saw. When that happened, someone had to R&R the   
    RW> blade to match the material he was cutting.   
      
    RW> I soon tired of that requirement and one day when I needed that   
    RW> saw. I changed the blade to suit the material I was cutting and   
    RW> then left the machine with that blade in it.   
      
    RW> He resumed cutting the material he was supposed to be cutting, but   
    RW> the blade was now incorrect for that material and was also running   
    RW> at a much faster speed. He stripped every tooth off that blade   
    RW> because he didn't know what he was supposed to be using.   
      
    RW> The forman was really mad about that and shouted for all to hear:   
    RW> Who used this saw and didn't change the blade back? I replied (at   
    RW> the same level of voice from across the shop) that I did and that   
    RW> he should teach the old man what blade is used for which material   
    RW> and how to check that the saw has the correct one in it.   
      
    RW> The forman wasn't very happy about that, but the old man did learn   
    RW> his lesson from that experience and we never again had to change   
    RW> the blade for him.   
      
   That is a good way for things to be done.  When I became manager of my   
   department, I wanted everyone showing some initiative to learn how to function   
   in every aspect of the department.  That could only be beneficial in the long   
   run because as the man who hired me (after I bugged him for three days) was so   
   fond of saying: "I can take a drunk off the street and teach him how to run   
   this department."  I like to think I improved on that somewhat by using the   
   material on hand.   
      
      
   Regards,   
      
   Roger    
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LA - (1:3828/7)