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July 14, 1999

Hot lead, cold type and how to mind your p's and q's

I've been reading the Tribune almost from the first day I arrived in town, back in 1963. Since before I first got involved with them as a Santa Rosa Press Democrat carrier, back in 1945, I've been fascinated with newspapers. I've still got the scar on my hand from when I dropped a wet chunk of waste lead in the melting pot, and I was there the day a pressman with thirty years experience lost a finger in the press. I've never lost my fascination with the Linotype machine, or the men who could make it sing, though Linotypes have now joined the dinosaurs they resembled on the scrap heap of history.

I've even put together a few samples of hand set type while in college. The California Job Case, which was used to sort each letter back into its proper location, was for men with a delicate touch and a mind for detail. It was also the origin of the expression, "mind your p's and q's." A "p" is a backward "q" and conversely. Since lead type is read upside down and backwards, there's room for mistakes.

With computers it's a lot easier to get information into print, but the kind of information has changed very little. Last week's Tribune was a real compendium of stories and opinions that would have been interesting whether set in hot lead, Compugraphic cold film, manual typewriters or, as they actually were compiled, on Macintosh computers.

I sympathize with Kelsey Watts as he faces closer scrutiny as a driver. I'm close enough to his age to feel the driving examiner breathing down my neck, and it hurts to be told you're not as competent as you once were. I do urge all older drivers to take some time for Alive 55, a program which alerts us how to deal with our slowing reflexes and other problems that come with age. My mother, quite reasonable on most things, got very obstinate in her late eighties when I suggested she get on a first name basis with the local taxi drivers. Happily, her Sacred Heart driver's medallion and sheer dumb luck prevented a bad wreck or two before she died. I was fascinated with Dan Baker's description telling how Pacifica police handled the problems in his neighborhood. The tribute was well deserved. Baker's letter was articulate and informative.

The Pacific Ocean Discovery Center is being put forward by a number of well-meaning, talented people. I regret that, success or failure, it won't do much for what Pacifica really needs from that valuable ocean front property. I think the naivete factor looms large. Luckily, the city council is being practical, and right now the Barry Swenson concept looks the least impractical of the available possibilities. It may never fly either, but it does have feathers, something the PODC will never have.

When I read Mike Gaynes letter, I was reminded I may have been the first Pacifican to tell Tom Lantos, when he ran for Congress nine elections ago, that he didn't have a chance. I think he's forgiven me since. I expect to vote for him for a tenth time next year. Remind me to tell you some time, why I think he may have won that first election on a fluke, and for the same reason the Peace and Freedom party candidate got a highly unlikely 13,000 votes that year.

Paul Azevedo's fascination with Pacifica politics goes back to 1963. If you share his interest, his e-mail address is Paul@thereactor.net

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