Friday, January 21, 2011

travellers aid






“I've been havin' some hard travelin', I thought you knowed
I've been havin' some hard travelin', way down the road
I've been havin' some hard travelin', hard ramblin', hard gamblin'
I've been havin' some hard travelin', Lord.”

~ Woody Guthrie, Hard Travelin’





























Above: A careful oiling of the carriage bearings and typebars
Below: Loosening the carriage along the outside "track."




Below: Cleaning out the keys, the Traveller De Luxe appears to be in a spiritual renewal.









All shined up for more journeys.
____________________________________________




Boston Athenaeum












On Casco Bay. It was 4°F on the mainland.








(for further reading, here's my essay, the light traveller.)

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7 comments:

  1. AdwoaJanuary 21, 2011 at 11:58 AM

    Your posts are always so soothing. Thanks for the great pictures of the repairman at work; great to steal a few oiling tips I shall be sure to put into practice!

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  2. deekJanuary 21, 2011 at 12:40 PM

    He does have such a soothing style of writing, doesn't he?

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  3. deekJanuary 21, 2011 at 1:49 PM

    Oh, and I have to ask, since you do feature your traveller deluxe a lot, how you like the "feel" when typing?

    I had one for a few months and found typing on it to be a bit hard and tiring. The typer was really clean and I oiled it a bit to fix any sluggish keys. The tension control worked, but even at the lowest setting, it still didn't feel good to type on for more than a page.

    Just curious to how it compares in your experience. I may have just had a bad one...

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  4. speculatorJanuary 21, 2011 at 3:29 PM

    Thanks very much.
    Glad to know people are reading the words in between all the photos I post.

    Deek, the Traveller de Luxe I have is very smooth. I think it's great- and very portable. It's been well broken-in by the previous owner in England (Tom at Cambridge Typewriter thinks it was made there, too), as well as extremely well-serviced by Tom.

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  5. Cappuccinoandartjournal.blogspot.comJanuary 21, 2011 at 4:28 PM

    Lovely post (as usual). Looks like an interesting trip too. I just love the way you tote your typewriter all over.

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  6. Richard PJanuary 22, 2011 at 1:10 PM

    What a fine story. Evidently you're the right person for that big job, if you have the knowledge and eye to recognize streetcorners in old negatives -- and the patience to do it.

    I like the pace at which you seem to live. We tend to rush through our experiences so we can get more of them, without realizing that we're diminishing them all.

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  7. StrikethruJanuary 22, 2011 at 11:45 PM

    Great post! Indeed Tom is a rare and cherished traveler's aid for typists, how lucky we are that there are a few people like him to help us on our way.

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