Some people still have someone playing that role, typically called an Executive Assistant, but it doesn’t go as far down in the organization as it used to, and I believe that had actually been harmful to productivity.

There has lately been a vogue for execs having a ‘chief of staff’, and such roles have even been created in some fairly small startups. I’m dubious about this latter trend.

Some of the people here MADE some of those comments!
Gerard Vanderleun is a treasured member of Neo’s salon, and the memorial essay for his brother is one of the best of many excellent posts on his site.
Thanks for reminding us.

Our HS band played that in the final concert every year.
Someone was called up from the audience, who just “happened” to have a daughter in the band, and she sat in Dad’s lap and “played” the typewriter.
It was always the star turn of the show.

How many coders know that the ASCII characters for “carriage return” and “line feed” that were (are?) used to instruct printers on how to format text actually had a physical meaning once upon a time?

You wrote:

“I hate to judge on limited information, but I highly recommend pushing your Ex to get rid of everything in the storage locker(s).”

That made me laugh. Indeed, your information is limited (not your fault). I’ll augment it by adding that I’ve been doing just that for close to 50 years (that’s how long I’ve known him). He is a hoarder, although not the worst hoarder I’ve ever known. Hoarders are very very very difficult to change in that regard. Very. They do not listen to advice.

I don’t really have much, comparatively speaking, and one of the reasons I haven’t been able to get rid of some of it is that it is so covered with his stuff that it cannot be found until he deals with the unit. He seems determined to do so now, but it’s like pulling teeth, and that’s why he’s enlisted me to help.

I quickly learned writing with a word processor was all about editing. Type a bunch of stuff quickly. Get a lot of words on the screen. Then read them and move them around. Get rid of what’s not needed. Expand and expound where necessary. I often find my third or fourth idea (usually third) is more relevant than what I started with, so I’ll copy and past the third section to the beginning then use the former first section as filler. I imagine I would now struggle with writing a first draft in real time if I knew I could not quickly rearrange and edit it.

“She who owns little is little owned.”

As many have pointed out here (including yourself) there is a good chance none of your relations will be interested in the things, but there are people who would make use of them. Why keep them hidden away in a locker when they can be out in the world, being useful to others? And, regarding any value, what is your ex-husband’s time worth? I know several people who are convinced this or that thing is worth something, or important, and they just need to find time to dedicate to researching it, or fixing it, or getting it ready, or listing it on-line… Years go by as the owner of the storage facility gets rich off the monthly payments…

That gorgeous crystal and china aren’t gorgeous in the dark, covered in spider webs and eggs. Get them out in the light and in the hands of someone who will cherish them, as your mother and grandmother did. Bring them to a woman’s shelter. Drop them off at a charity drive. Offer a niece or nephew half of any proceeds if they clean them up, research them and list them on-line. The niece or nephew will learn something about their ancestors, learn how auctions work and be excited to make some money in the bargain.

I can type what people speak, in real time. Without looking at the keyboard at all. Freaks some people out. My wife is in the medical profession and all her reports have been typed by me as she speaks the words.

The people who really amaze me are U.N. translators who listen to a speech over headphones in real time and orally translate in a different language through a microphone. In real time. I knew a Japanese woman who was going to school to learn that as a profession but gave up because she felt it was driving her mad.

I am a helluva typist. My mother was a keypunch operator and taught me to type at an early age. I also took a class. I’m sure my mother typed 120wpm or more, I probably was close to that pace in my prime. On a manual.

In High School I helped a friend’s family move his grandmother’s belongings when she passed away. His mother noticed that I seemed enamored of the grandmother’s typewriter when I carried it to the moving truck and the family later gifted it to me. An L.C. Smith manual circa 1910? 1920? I typed all my High School and Undergrad papers on it, as well as many for friends. I still have it.

I also taught myself shorthand from a book.