Page 552 - Demo

Fools%u2019 Journey546I found a number of individuals online who worked on old typewriters. One had a website that bragged, TYPEWRITER PARTS ANDSUPPLIES. LARGEST INVENTORY IN THE MID-WEST! Hard to find Parts a problem? Not Anymore. Mr. Typewriter can Help! So I sent him an email asking if he had the small link and the roller I needed. But he never emailed back, so after a week of no reply, I contacted another place, and they emailed back quickly%u2014but didn%u2019t have the parts I was after. On my third try, I received a very quick reply, was able to get just what I needed, and when the parts arrived they worked perfectly. There were three decals on the old Underwood that were in decent shape%u2014until I tried to clean them with rubbing alcohol, which removed most of the detail. There was also a printed scale that ran across the front where you set the right and left margin that looked fairly good when I started, but flaked off when I hit it with a blast of air from my compressor. Fortunately, I was able to find replacements on eBay from a guy in Peru%u2014not the Indiana city, but the South American country, of all places. After using ultra-fine sandpaper to remove the remnants of the old decals and the scale, I decided to do something that would be considered a sacrilege by an historical restorer. I went with a twotone paint job. Like Henry Ford%u2019s early automobiles, early typewriters were all black. But like aficionados who painted their restored Model As in two colors, Lynn and I decided that three panels, along with the repaired front part of the frame, needed to be painted in a dark red color. When it was dry, I added the new decals and sticker, and my Underwood No. 5 was transformed into a showpiece. Now, with the shift (and everything else) working smoothly, I could actually use it. And I did it all without my dad teaching me a thing.%u2022%u2022%u2022%u2022%u2022While Lynn and I could imagine our own lives working out, we didn%u2019t have much faith in what was going on around the country%u2014or in the rest of the world. During the summer of 2024, Lynn again brought up the dream she%u2019d had back in the 1970s, which contained the words, %u201cDo not fear when Earth%u2019s peace has ended. You