22 Jun
2000
22 Jun
'00
1:16 p.m.
Not exactly tech support but...
When I was an intern at the Social Security Administration, we
had an evening "operator" who was responsible for doing database
dumps to 9 track tape from a Wang VS100 system. I'm not sure
whether he had actually managed to graduate from high school or
not... Anyway, the tape drive was semi-autoloading with a
permanently attached take-up reel. Each dump was to be done to
new tapes, straight from the box. One morning, I come in to
find 6 tall gray plastic trash cans full of tangles of loose mag
tape. Apparently, the last shipment of tapes we got didn't have
end markers on them. The tape wound completely onto the take-up
reel, error comes up on the console, he goes over, can't figure
out how to get it threaded back onto the supply reel so he just
pulls it off the take-up reel into a trash can. He did this to
20 tapes before he finally gave up.