Re: advantages of forth over other languages

Jerry Avins wrote:
> I still keep one in my pocket. I had it when I paid $400 for my hp-35. 
> That no longer works, but my little Pickett does.

I have a slide rule too, and in fact, I used it just a couple days ago.

I dropped a tiny screw in a narrow space.  I couldn't get my fingers in 
that space.  So I opened up my junk drawer and saw two old slide rules I 
keep there.  I picked the longer of the two (I needed the precision), 
put a loop of adhesive tape on the end, and then carefully used it to 
pick up the screw.  Success!

I'm sure in some abstract way, knowing how to use a slide rule has 
helped me and my career.  For example, the primary benefit of knowing 
how to use a slide rule was that it enabled me to gain some instant 
respect from older engineers who spoke with sentimentalized nostalgia 
about how great slide rules were.  Had I not known how to use a slide 
rule, I'm sure that I would have been treated the same way I now treat 
junior engineers-- with a cynical sense of "you kids don't know 
anything."  Instead, I was able to bootstrap professional relation****ps 
with older engineers based on being able to be as pretentious as they
were.