$25-an-hour Jobs

www.careerbuilder.com ^ | October 2007 | Mary Lorenz

[null and void]

Yeah? Ever seen step-by-step switchers?

[Myrddin]

Yeah? Ever seen step-by-step switchers?

Yes I have. Many of my earliest central offices were still loaded with Strowger switches. A few still had panels and cord boards. I've even had the opportunity to "unstick" a few and burnish the contacts. The SXS switches are pretty noisy. You can hear when a customer seizes the lines, then listen for the center armature the click, click, click upward with each pulse. Next, it rotates with pulses to connect to the next level. Poetry in motion...and pretty noisy. The "fine motion" crossbar switches make very little noise in comparison. The electronic space-time-space switches (all electronic fabric) can switch 100,000 calls in non-blocking fashion and total silence.

The most impressive lab technology I saw in 1981 was an opto-mechanical phone. It had no external power or batteries. The laser light coming down the fiber provided the power. The handset included a "speaker" with interlaced semi-annular rings. Each ring had a surface area proportial to the bit weight of the 8-bit PCM sample. Mixing of the waveform occur in the air space between the surface of the rings and the ear of the user. The phone was light as a feather. I don't think that will ever be deployed outside of a laboratory setting. Getting fiber optic to the door step is just scratching the surface right now.

Another "cute" laboratory invention will probably find its way into big switches. It involves a 3 dimensional switching of a bitstream through a solid medium. An X-Y grid of inputs appears on one face of a cube. The incoming beam is "steered" to an outgoing face by manipulating the frequency of the optical carrier and the amplitude of the optical carrier. Refraction occurs to two planes to reach the output. No moving parts. The technical challenge when I last check up on the concept was achieving enough refraction in each plane to have a usable size of output ports.

[null and void]

I talked to and old timer who was in the central office when JFK was assassinated.

He said it was weird. The office went dead quiet. Dead quiet. Then one by one the clicking slowly started, and built until every circuit was in use.

Without knowing exactly what happened, they knew it was something big and very grave.

[null and void]

I talked to and old timer who was in the central office when JFK was assassinated.

He said it was weird eerie. The office went dead quiet. Dead quiet. Then one by one the clicking slowly started, and built until every circuit was in use.

Without knowing exactly what happened, they knew it was something big and very grave.

(That's better)...

[Myrddin]

I was sitting in school when JFK was assassinated. The school principal announced the shooting on the PA system, then dismissed everyone to go home. My grandparents had arrived from Michigan to spend Thanksgiving with us in San Diego. They were glued to the TV set to catch every detail. Apropos of nothing, I had a dream about Kennedy the night before it happened. I only remember something vague about him being in a car. Not much detail and a fairly odd kind of dream for a kid in 2nd grade. Seeing the coverage of his assassination on TV was greeted more with disappointment that he passed just as I had become aware of the nature of the political process.

[Mike-o-Matic]

This is just off the cuff, but since you mentioned Florsheims, here's their website:
http://www.florsheim.com/shop-fl/index.ep

Looks like you can order right online there.

[Myrddin]

A mechanical central office is almost dead quiet in the middle of the night. Once the morning business traffic starts, the clattering switches make it necessary to speak up if you are standing in a switch aisle. My "area" was the toll equipment. SF frames, MFT, D4 channel banks, T1/T1C repeaters, M1C muxes, sealing current generators, analog carrier (O, N) and miscellaneous equipment to support connections to radio and TV stations. Boring, but necessary. It was my "foot in the door" at Pacific Telephone. I did my time, then moved into the part of the company that cared for the operational support systems computers. That was more interesting and actually had some vertical mobility for people with technical talent.

[null and void]

Although I installed a small step by step CO, I never actually worked for Pac Bell.

I was a member of an Explorer Post they sponsored. At that time, it was the only co-ed post in scouting...

[grey_whiskers]

Where is "here"?

Your homepage did not say...

Cheers!

[Myrddin]

There are lots of SXS in the back country offices around California. Descanso and Campo have little switches in tiny rooms. During the strike in 1989, PacBell replaced all the small desert offices with 5ESS remotes controlled from the main switch in El Centro. I'm not sure whether it is/was cost effective to "upgrade" places like Descanso or Campo. It is more likely that something like a SLC96 (subscriber line carrier) device would be placed in an office that size. A couple T1C lines would be sufficient to service that device and operate all the subscriber lines from a larger office e.g. El Cajon or La Mesa.

[null and void]

It’s an amazing world...

[mad_as_he$$]

I was paying any kind of engineer $75,000 right out of school in the SF Bay area back in the early 90’s.

[Las Vegas Dave]

Click on http://zipskinny.com/ , it will show you the average earnings (US census data) of those that live in your zip code area. Also it will compare your zip code area with surrounding zip code areas.

Cleveland Ohio below as an example:
http://www.zipskinny.com/index.php?zip=44127

[BnBlFlag]

“My son received a B.A. from Miami University in Ohio and now he’s a Marine Sgt”.
Why doesn’t he go to OCS?

[Myrddin]

My son received a BA from Miami University in Ohio and now he’s a Marine Sgt. I don’t feel I wasted my money.

My dad graduated from Miami as well. He made his way through on his ROTC scholarship and working in restaurants. Upon graduation, he started his career in the Navy. He retired as a Commander with 27 1/2 years service. He served as port 5" gunnery officer on the Iowa. His crew nailed Wonsan harbor on Sept 23, 1952...before my parents were married. His last 7 years were spent as XO of 32nd St Naval Station, San Diego.

Your son could go to OCS and become a commissioned Marine officer. Might as well get all the value possible from that education. Better for him and most likely a better value for the USMC. My son just completed his 6 year enlistment with the USMC reserves. He earned his BS in Business Administration after returning from his tour in Kuwait/Iraq. The USMC promoted him to Corporal just as he was wrapping up the enlistment. He had to update his uniform out the way "out". My son wants to attend law school. The USMC has waived that carrot in front him before he earned his BS in BA.

[Recon Dad]

Was excepted, but do to a delay out of college he turned around and went to Parris Island. He had his chances to go since, but having seen what officers do, he’s not interested. He likes the action as an operator.

Also I was being a bit facetious when I sent my post. He doesn’t care too much about money.

[Recon Dad]

God bless your father and your son for their service.

My son was excepted into OCS, but they delayed his entry after graduation, so he hit a local recruiter and went to Parris Island a week later. (He graduated from the business school at Miami) He’s been in 51/2 years and has been to Afghanistan, Iraq and is back in Afghanistan right now. He’s had chances to go to Quantico but has no interest. He’s done Recon, Force Recon and is now in Marsoc (Marine Special Ops). I was being facetious about the post.

[Myrddin]

I grew up in an officer's household. The Navy I observed prior to 1970 was one that I considered as a possible career path. The political correctness that crept into the military after that time looked less appealing. While I haven't "served" in uniform, I spend most of my time crafting specialized systems for the military. Sometimes I have to deliver them in places that are anything but safe. Nothing anywhere near as dangerous as the specialty your son has chosen. God bless him and keep him safe. I looked forward to that sat phone calls from my son when he was deployed.

[RachelFaith]

Is this Heaven?

No....

It’s Iowa !

[numberonepal]

If I had it to do over again, I might learn a trade instead of a profession.

A trade is great for "retirement".