Revisiting the past

The recent turn of events seem to have awaken my depression. Well, just partially, I guess. I remember being a child and having no worries. I remember reading childhood books and then just letting my imagination wander.

I remember reading the science magazines of the times and wondering at what was discovered back then and what the future might bring in that field. Information was scarce. The Internet was still being conceived and unheard of behind the Iron Curtain. Heck, we still had black and white TV transmissions. This is not a political text however and I'm not advocating for one system or another, I'm just writing my own views on what my life was like back then.

Every year most of the technical and non-technical publications would issue an "almanac". Almanacs issued by technical/scientific publications were considered valuable items as they would be filled with lots of novelties. There were lots and lots of DIYs: from how to repair household items to how to build things you needed or things that made your life better. Actually doing those projects was harder in real life than on paper as resources were scarce, but you had the guarantee that it was built by the author, it was not just a project on paper. Mistakes were made when printing the articles. Sometimes numbers would get mixed up or missing, but that would only make one persevere in completing the project. You just could not afford wasting the resources. Parts and materials were expensive and hard to be found, but it would make you think how to manage with what you had at hand or how to source or perhaps build the missing items.

There is no time machine and so I can't really return to the past, but as this Sunday I'll be alone and with time to spare I'll dive into my collection of 25+ years old almanacs and relive the pleasure of reading it and discovering the news of the past.

ctrl-alt-delete.ro

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