Optacon Memories
- From: <mandlcastner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 20 May 2006 09:02:49 -0700
Hello, Everyone,
Over the past few days, I have been reading all of the optacon memories with
great interest and delight.
I received my optacon training in the fall of 1977 at the Flamingo Hotel.
There were about seven individuals in the class from various parts of the
country. One of them became my husband in 1979. And we wish we could locate
Becky who lived in Idaho at that time.
We traveled to and from the hotel each day in a van and ate dinner together at
Stickneys. Group members were really nice individuals.
The optacon opened a whole new world for me, and like all others on this list I
read almost everything I could get my hands on.
In 1980, I became a word processor and used the optacon with the lense for the
selectric typewriter--though the machine was a very antiquated mag card
machine. I had to use the optacon in a very unusual way. As the mag card
machine would not justify the right margin, I had to use a half space between
some words and an expanded space between other words to make the margin look as
even as possible. All of the operators who used the mag card units spent more
time making the right margin look beautiful than doing the actual typing.
Because the letters appeared larger with the lens than they were in reality, my
attempts to make the right margin tactily even resulted in a margin that to the
eye was virtually justified. My supervisor, who loved these even margins, and
other operators could not believe that the margin could look so beautiful, and
what a waste of time that process was. I did that every day until we got more
up to date word processing equipment in 1983, and then the university purchased
a CRT lens for me, which I left behind when I left that job in 1985.
After that time, I still used the optacon at home for all the tasks mentioned
and later purchased the optacon II. I always lived with the dread that these
units would quit and that the optacon would be gone forever! I was so glad to
learn about Richard Oehm and his repair of the units and now feel confident
that I can continue to use the optacon for sometime.
It is wonderful to be with a list (group) of people who understand the value of
this device!
Lori Castner
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