matter is conserved

When I first started employ at the mighty Mezz in 1996, it was still pasted up; i.e. not fully computerized, as it is now.
Reporters, staff, etc. each had dumb terminals networked to a giant mainframe computer.
They’d key in copy, or get Associated Press copy off a satellite dish, and send it to the mainframe.
We had to sweep snow out of the satellite dish.
The mainframe thereafter sent copy to two typesetters, which projected the copy onto long strips of photographic paper.
The copy-strips would coil into sealed cassettes for developing in a photographic processor.
The processor also dried the copy-strips, so what we were left with was long galleys of story-copy that could be cut and trimmed and pasted to page-sized cardboard page dummies.
We’d wax one side of the copy-strips, so we could paste to the page dummies.
Once completed, the page dummies were taken and photographed by a large camera.
That camera produced full-sized page negatives a printing plate could be burned from.
Since then, paste-up was dispensed with, and newspapers pages are “paginated” in a computer.
The completed page is thereafter sent to another computer, that projects onto page-size film as a negative a printing plate can be burned from.
This takes out paste-up and that giant camera.
So paste-up is gone — good riddance.
I always felt it could be imprecise.
The verticalness of page galleys had to be eyeballed.
On a ‘pyooter it’s exact.
Despite that, poor alignment of pasted-up copy usually wasn’t noticeable.
The page dummies had invisible column lines you could align to.
That is, invisible to that camera.
Anything that color the camera didn’t see.
We also had marker pens the camera didn’t see.
“I need four lines cut,” we’d yell.
The page editor would come over with that pen and mark four lines to be cut.
At this point we paste-up people would take out our Xacto knives and cut out the four lines.
I used to bring two Xacto knives to work, since one might disappear.
We pasted up on angled easels, perhaps 30 degrees from level.
An Xacto knife could roll down that easel and disappear, or get misplaced.
One day my Xacto knife rolled down that easel and disappeared on the floor, right as the final pages of that newspaper were being pasted up.
I was all set to get out my second Xacto knife, when my supervisor bellowed “Nothing just disappears!”
He got down on his hands-and-knees, and started tearing up carpet.
My errant Xacto knife reappeared, wedged behind a carpet, and was handed to me, thereby proving that matter was indeed conserved.
Meanwhile, the final pages of the newspaper were delayed while he poked around for my Xacto knife — but only a few seconds.

The other day I was reconciling my Visa statement, at this computer, when a paperclip popped off and disappeared onto the floor.
No sign of it at all.
“Things don’t just disappear,” I bellowed.
Where is that supervisor when I need him?
Groveling on his hands-and-knees under my ‘pyooter-desk proving that matter is indeed conserved.
Well, sooner-or-later that paperclip may reappear, or get sucked up in our central-vac.
But matter is indeed conserved; I learned that in college Physics.

• The “mighty Mezz” is the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger newspaper, from where I retired four years ago. Best job I ever had. (“Canandaigua” [“cannon-DAY-gwuh”] is a small city nearby where we live in Western NY. The city is also within a rural town called “Canandaigua.” The name is Indian, and means “Chosen Spot.” —It’s about 15 miles away.) —The Messenger was a small newspaper; it was in no financial position to upgrade when larger newspapers did.
• “‘Pyooter” is computer.
• An “Xacto knife” is a razor-sharp straight cutting edge on a pen handle.
• A “central-vac” is a central vacuum system; a system of wall-mounted pipes and outlets plumbed to a big vacuum-cleaner unit in our basement. Such a system is not portable, but you’re not moving around a vacuum-cleaner; just the hoses, etc. Recent house construction often has a central-vac system.