the passed and the past

I also learned earlier this week of the passing of Harold Buchwald. I met Mr. Buchwald, a Board member of the Mauro Centre, when I was employed there, but I believe I'd first heard of him back in the late '80s, when I was a lowly office clerk at KPMG, and the partners corresponded with various law firms in Winnipeg, Buchwald Asper Henteleff being one of them.

Those were the days of the antiquated (by today's standards) cell phones, those big bulky things that took up the space where the cupholders of today rest. Not many people had them, so the ones that did usually resorted to calling the office. Here's a conversation typical of the ones that often transpired:

Me: Good morning, KPMG, Julie speaking.
He-who-shall-not-be-named: Julie?
Me: Yes, hello, Bob. (We had at least three Bobs in the office. Hopefully that's vague enough so as not to incur libel charges.)
He-who-shall-not-be-named: It's Bob. Any messages for me?
Me: Yes, there are three. (I retrieve the messages from the plastic pigeon-hole.) From [name, name, and name].
He-who-shall-not-be-named: OK, I'll be there in a few minutes.
Me: OK, see you soon.
He-who-shall-not-be-named: Bye.
Me: Bye.

I bet Mr. Buchwald owned one of those car phones in his heyday. I bet he even had similar conversations with his support staff.