Barbara J. Hamby

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Computer Maintenance and Reminiscing

As I may have mentioned before I’m lucky to have my son as my webmaster and my son-in-law as my computer consultant. Richard came over today and shot down the nasty little virus-infected files that turned up in my desktop. While he was deleting them, two new virus-infected files were planted, but this time my anti-virus software killed them automatically.

My son Kurt is working on a problem with posting Chapter One of Find Romance in Later Life to my website, so I’m definitely in good hands.

I may even get back to writing on my memoirs tomorrow. My sorting has turned up stories and poems that remind me of events that need to be included.

The other night I remembered a job I held for a year or two that I had totally forgotten. I was an Accounts Payable clerk for the Benson Hotel, now the Westin Benson.

In the interview, I was told that ten-key-by-touch operation was required. I didn’t fake it, but told them I’d never operated a ten-key. Nonetheless, I was offered the job and took it. I bought a book to teach my self ten-key and learned the keyboard by touch. I was so slow in the beginning that I was working late many nights. Every invoice had to be checked every day. You can’t believe how many things a hotel purchases in one day.

I only handled the food and beverage payables, but with three restaurants, there were many of those. The oriental supplier of vegetables wrote invoices with a brush, which didn’t help to read them, even though they were in English.

Hotel work doesn’t pay well, but has great perks, such as complimentary deluxe rooms in affiliated hotels in other cities.