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Ambassador 2-6691

Kept the number for decades after the Ambassador exchange ceased to exist.

Most people don't even remember exchanges any more.

02/16/21 02:13 PM

#1256

Gregory R Znajda

AR 6- 2876

02/16/21 09:59 PM

#1257

Per C Pearson

LA5-9297

For extra credit do you rember the last digits of the Police and Fire department phone numbers?

Police PO5 **** (1313)?

Fire FI7 ****

How do I remember this and not where my car is parked?

02/17/21 12:31 PM

#1258

Marie Costa (McJilton)

If I remember correctly it was 1313 for both the fire and police.

02/17/21 06:20 PM

#1259

I don't remember police or fire, but I DO remember singing the number: HUDSON 3-2700. What was that?

02/17/21 09:47 PM

#1260

Wasn't that some cleaning service? Hudson 3 2 700. I am singing that now.......

02/17/21 09:51 PM

#1261

I fell off the steel monkey bars onto a concrete base far too many times.........and then rode home on my Schwinn Apple Crate bike with no helmet.....in the dark with no light. And sometimes hitch hiked. Tell me again how we survived to adulthood?

I too forget where I parked, or what I said a week ago, yet, I recall all those childhood TV and radio jingles..

02/18/21 11:27 AM

#1262

Timmy Wong

Hudson 3-2-700 was a carpet cleaning service in Chicago. I remember seeing the commercials on TV. OK, my mom told me I watched too much TV!!

Check this out http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/multimedia/video/1902-hudson-3-2-700

02/18/21 02:29 PM

#1263

Ken Ortiz

So cool to think back on what our earlier phone numbers were. During my high school and college years, our phone number was 342-0204. I found that number in an old document I had that was from 1971. I don't think we referred to that one with letters, but I think I remember a number we had before that one that started with 2 letters. We lived in the Humboldt park area but I can't recall a number we had starting with HUM. I do remember my Aunt Lucky (who lived in Wheaton having a number beginning with MO5-xxxx.

I started in the Telecommunications industry back in the early 80's when cellular was starting to ramp up and people never thought that we would need to expand the area codes for the USA (and Canada) beyond those original ones. Chicago (and the immediate area around it) was initially 312 and the original area codes for the USA had certain rules. (For example, the 2nd digit was either a 0 or 1 initially and I believe it was referred to as the North American Dialing Code). Then because of the Cellular explosion, the USA had to add area codes and thus, there was a lot of technical work to plan out and expand the telephone exchange switches (and other network equipment) to incorporate these new area codes.

Trivia question: what was the original area code that covered the area beyond our Chicago 312 area code? Hint: The second digit was either a 0 or 1.

Here is a link to the USA area code map in the 1970's.:

https://www.lincmad.com/map1970s.html

Here is an area code map of Illinois now:

https://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/area-codes/illinois/

02/18/21 02:31 PM

#1264

Oh yah Timmy....and we sat way too close to the TV screen. Yet, when the first generations of computers came out, all using CRT's, ( cathode ray tubes ) we sat dangeroulsy close to those at our desks....starring at that monochromatic screen all day long. Color monitors only made it more fun to stare all day at those screens but did not reduce the radiation. A wonder that we are not all brain dead or blind. The flat screens and retinal displays finally gave us something safer. I recall my first work computer in 1987, an early IBM model, had a 20 meg hard drive. Yes, you read that right......20 megs. I had Lotus 123 and Harvard Graphics loaded. I could do some pretty awesome plotted pages with up to 12 colors ( if we had that many pens that worked ) and the Lotus spread sheets, well, a pretty packed sheet could take 20 minutes to open. And how about those dot matrix printers? Loud enough to cause hearing loss. I wish I still owned my Commodore 64 ! I still do have my TI 55 and sliderule that got me thru 5 years at U of I Champaign. I bet all of us have stories from those early tech years. How did we ever get through the day without today's most innovative tools......

02/19/21 12:00 PM

#1265

Timmy Wong

OMG, Ed McCarthy! That brings back a lot of memories as I worked for IBM in the 80's. It was my first job out of college and I was there when the IBM PC was introduced. The displays were monochrome green screens using CRTs. The PC-XT had a 10MB hard drive otherwise you got two 5.25 inch floppy drives on the regular PC. That was a long time ago and a lifetime in technology!!

I also wanted to tell you, from an earlier post you put up, that I was in that study hall at LTHS when the kid tried to throw the firecrackers out the window. I can picture what he looked like but I can't remember his name. His last name started with a Z because he sat behind me (we were seated alphabetically).

02/23/21 05:26 PM

#1266

Hey guys... the athletes at Lane have returned to play but without fans in the stands. :(

If you are interested in watching a Lane basketball game, they will be live-streamed starting tonight on YouTube BUT... they need at least 1,000 subscribers. Please consider subscribing to their channel and sending out a little L-A L-A L-A-N-E T-E T-E T-E-C-H L-A-N-E-T-E-C-H GOooooooo LANE!

https://youtube.com/channel/UCNF40kaDL_lo9w104aCCilw

02/24/21 10:11 AM

#1267

Timmy... I too worked for IBM right out of college. In a development lab in Kingston, NY. Got to play with all the cool toys bfore they were introduced!

Even before the PC, I got to work with IBM's first "desktop" computer, the IBM 5100. It was probably 3 feet by 2 feet by 6 inches high. Had a BEAUTIFUL 4 -inch screen (all green, of course), and a WHOPPING 16K-64K of memory! Didn't even have a disk drive Just a 1/4-inch tape cartridge. Spent a lot of time waiting for that thing to spin. And, it sold for up to $64,000!

You could have called IBM's System/32 "personal computer" a desktop computer, if you consider it was the size of a desk!

My first "computer" wasn't even the IBM XT you mentioned. I bought a used old teletype machine. "Ka-chunka, ka-chunka" with the type cylinder and the rolls of yellow recycled paper, and an acoustic coupler (300bps... WOW!) and logged into CompuServe.

Today's watches have much more horsepower than even the computers we used to send Man to the moon!

02/24/21 05:43 PM

#1268

Maja Wiesinger (Ramirez)

MOhawk 4 - 1916 here

02/25/21 11:37 AM

#1269

Timmy Wong

Robert, that's pretty funny if you consider the S/32 a desktop computer!! I barely remember the 5100 but I did work with the System/34, System/36, Sytem/38 and then the AS/400 as I was a Systems Engineer in multiple Chicago offices. I did spend some time in the Rochester plant testing communications when the AS/400 was being developed. You remember SDLC, right???

02/26/21 10:03 AM

#1270

I was a Systems Engineer in the Indianapolis office for 8 years. 3 years in the GSD office with small accounts (cold calling!) and 5 years in the DP office working on a team serving 2 international accounts. I basically did everything that wasn't mainframe. PC's, workstations, mid-range, terminals. I was also a Branch Manufacuturing Industry Specialist and the Midwest Regional Series/1 Specialist. Probably visited a number of accounts in the Chicago area.

Before that I was 5 years in Kingston, NY doing development on the 8100 Distributed System and the 3x74 Control Units. Sure I remember SDLC. The DPPX Opearting System on the 8100 was a direct implmentation of SDLC and the rest of the 7-layer SNA model. Everything we did was in layers! We were the first in the company to develop the "peer-to-peer" model, when everything in IBM was "master-slave"... mainframes and terminals. There was really no concept of computers talking to computers. I was also on a small team that developed the first IBM implementation of a "packet-switched" network, X.25. That was before TCP/IP and the Internet existed.

It was fun. "Uber-technical", but fun! Those were the days!

03/01/21 09:03 PM

#1271

Hey even if you're not an LTAA member, (but oh I wish you were), you could help the Alumni Association recoup lost revenue due to cancellation of live fundraisers during Covid by eatin' some pizza in Chicago or Phoenix on Albert Grannis Lane's birthday! Yippee!!

03/02/21 09:29 AM

#1272

Gregory Calvimontes

Does that work for ordering their frozen pizzas and shipping them to me?

03/02/21 10:49 AM

#1273

Good idea Greg!

You could involve all the out-of-town laneites by giving us a code to order Lou's online and send the proceeds to the Alumni Assn. Better yet... create an online event where we all get together and eat our pizza together!

03/02/21 02:32 PM

#1274

Oh you crazy-smart pizza party boys! We did ask about the "frozen and ship" route but they use a third party company for that. THAT would be golden as we have so many out-of-staters but alas. We were super excited to get them to agree to Phoenix, (they typically only allow 3 stores). We might figure out a way to post everybody's pizza-eating selfies on social media. We'll see.

HOWEVER... even if you live out of range, you can share the coupon/code and encourage friends and family back in the Chicago or Phoenix area to participate.

As for our elite group of Bicentennials... I'm always happy to coordinate a zoom reunion for just us although it might be awkward with a lot of peeps. We'd have to figure out how to organize it so everyone could participate and not all talk over each other. Open to suggestions.

In the meantime... thanks to those of you who are already spreading the word. You're awesome!

Michelle

PS... Graphic was done by Carla Surma '78. She's so talented. It reminds me of the stuff Terry Gilliam used to do on Monty Python's Flying Circus, no?

03/06/21 11:23 PM

#1275

Ken Ortiz

Hello all,

It is indeed a small world. Laneites are everywhere. I try to escape them and think “I will never run into any Alumni over there" (as I happen to travel to an obscure and tiny town in nowheresville). Nope! Lane Alumni are everywhere! Here is the story of yet another sighting:

At the tail end of 2020, I had an opportunity to go “Back To School” (remember that Rodney Dangerfield movie?) and take a few classes. So I got registered and started my classes in mid-January. Unfortunately, this certificate program was not feasible (schedule conflicts) at the campuses closest to me, thus I have to make several commutes to a campus in a small town several miles NW of Lake Geneva (about 45 miles one way from my home). The commute is pretty good as it is mostly highway once I get out of Kenosha, but with the crazy weather in late January and throughout February, some of those commutes were definitely challenging. Good thing I only have to do this 2 times a week and only until late April and I hope the worst weather is behind us. But I digress.

So, as I am back to being a student and learning how to adjust to being a college student in this era with more on-line and more computer tools and apps, compared to when we were college students in the 70’s and 80’s. I do remember punch cards and card readers and playing Star Trek on our college computers. But how many of us here are familiar with using Blackboard for school now as well as downloading and submitting assignments and using their college apps, e-books, various subject links on our phones, tablets, etc? The good thing is that my classes are in-person and that's good, as we have a hands on-lab facility and shop that we utilize. Needless to say, I had a bit of technology catch-up to do. But I digress again.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, one of my instructors, who was a long time machinist and now is an instructor (and who is around my age), was discussing how high schools nowadays do not have some of the shop facilities or teach some of the shop classes that he used to take when he was in high school, as there seems to be a need for more of those kind of skilled positions. I told him that in my high school, we had a number of shops and we even had a foundry. He looked at me and said ”Foundry?...What high school did you go to?” I told him “I went to Lane Tech, in Chicago Illinois.”

He just stood quiet for a minute and then said “Wow! I also went to Lane Tech! I graduated in 78.” I said “Wow! I graduated in 76!” He then gave me a look and said “You are older than me?” and I told him that I was a young 1976 graduate (but I was still older than him). I also asked him if he was still in touch with classmates or kept tabs on Lane news, but he has not. I think he left Chicago not too long after he graduated (he lives in Wisconsin now). I’m not even sure he even has any yearbooks, but that will be the next question I will pose for him. He did say he lived around Western and Montrose when he went to Lane and worked somewhere (a pizza place or restaurant) around there. He did ask about Heros and I told him it was still there (is it?) I also plan to show him a Lane Alumni newsletter as I still get those. I did find him in my 1976 yearbook in his division picture. Surely (<--Airplane movie quote) that young dude I saw there could NOT be my class instructor! Inconceivable! (<-- I love that Princess Bride movie quote). I am now debating if I should bring my yearbook and show him his picture. One thing I plan to ask him is if he has any Lane classmates he is curious about and maybe I could see if my Alumni connections or even our directory would have information on any of those folks. I am not sure he would be interested in joining the 1978 message forum site (I think they have one like we do) if I found the link for it, but you never know. I am sure we will have more Lane things to share next time I am in his class (weekly). I am also wondering if because we are now Lane “brethren”, if that will be an advantage, or an impediment to getting a good grade in his class. What do you think?

One thing I do know is that I just achieved another MFTE! My First Time Ever I Was A Student In A Class Where A Lane Tech Alum Was My Instructor (or MFTEIWASIACWALTAWMI). This could have happened to us before because we could have been students at Lane where an instructor went to Lane, or in College where an instructor went to Lane, but I think I hit the ultimate rarity as this was MFTEIWASIACWALTAWMI-AIWOTH/H (My First Time Ever I Was A Student In A Class Where A Lane Tech Alum Was My Instructor - And I Was Older Than Him/Her).

03/07/21 12:27 PM

#1276

Ken, or shall I say, Grasshopper. The master has become the student!

There is less that separates us than joins us, we are more alike than different.....oh the lines could go on and on. I too have bumped into Laneites is the Dairy State. Not a small world, but a tiny world. In fact, my lake home.....230 miles door to door in NE Wisconsin, on my lake is a Lane alum homeowner AND, get this, lives in my neighboorhood (Park Ridge) just 3/4 of a mile from me. In a suburb of near 38,000, imagine that. Well, actually there are many Lane grads in Park Ridge, Illinois. Stuart Eng, recent past president of the alumini assoc, is also my neighbor.

Lastly, I proudly wear my class ring quite often (more than I do my U of I ring ) and yes, like you I talk up the school. Wearing the ring has prompted many to say, " Oh, is that a Lane ring?" BAM.....next thing you know a deep conversation is going down. And for non Lane folks.....many a comment comes back to me regarding how HUGE that ring is. So it is a conversation starter. And going back many many years, in my professional life, I have run into many old timers who were successful business owners and were older LTHS grads.

This is another blessing we have as Lanites. And something that forever inexplicably joins us. A rich history of proud graduates in all walks of life. Moreover, people WILLING to talk about it. Where ever I go, what ever I do......I remember the honor of LANE and the best high school education I could have hoped for.....still paying dividends today.

I know I wished you a happy birthday Kenny....but you sharing this story is a birthday gift to us all. Thanks brother for reminding us that you are never far from a successful Lane grad. BTW, my sister graduated from Lane in '78.

03/07/21 05:26 PM

#1277