April Fools joke

3 Apr 2001

...
   Sounds like
the April Fools joke I worked out with a DEC RP06 disk drive
 power sequence cable and a 75 cents coin box from a commercial washing 
 machine.  This joke requires a very cooperative customer. 8-)

 Your RP06 doesn't spin up... 
 Call field service...

 I respond and drop 3 quarters in the machine which connects the power
 sequence leads... 

 Close service call.  
 ROFL!! That's one of the best ones I've ever heard!. 
The reason for that was the emergency call I got just after easter
on all 6 RP06 drives unsafe.

You see they took the packs out at the army base for a vacation break
or some drill or something and no one noticed they weren't in the
drives and spun 'em up...

When the drives went unsafe and the machine wouldn't boot
they raised hell about service and dragged a tech cross state
(remote diagnostics be damned) to get told look through the glass
lid dummy and put the packs in before spinning them up.

Folks -- to be completely honest... 
(We never actually did the April Fools stuff because I left DEC before
I got the chance to in 1986.  But it seemed like a great war story 
and I stretched the truth here a bit...)

Bill

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April Fools joke