It's funny Mark, I saw most of those things bought back to someone from stores (ok, maybe not the helicopter), almost like the stores guy had heard them all before.
whilst I'm not old enough to remember punch cards for real, I did work in a printers that still had one machine that ran on it for specialist jobs. the foreman sent a work experience lad to the office for "a bag of punch holes" to adjust the program, sure enough the lad comes back with a bin bag full of punched out little circles, "no lad, we need square ones for this machine", off the lad runs again (can't have been older than 16). comes back 10 minutes later with a bag full of rectangular ones (ring binder punch outs) "no lad, I said square ones, if they haven't got any ask for some paper and pair of scissors will ya". guess what his job for the rest of the day was. Boss took pity on him eventually and made out to be using the perfectly cut bits of square paper on an old ream, don't think the lad ever knew.
anyways, old wifes tales aside.
squeek detector
tapered rule
leg extender (as in your pulling it)
loose gusset (go ask the girls in procurement if they can get you a loose gusset)
3 way flange
to much time on site or the floor me thinks, I tried not to get involved and had a few done to me too, these days it doesn't seem to happen but maybe because I don't do that sort of work anymore.
