21 Sep
2000
21 Sep
'00
3:59 a.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Harrison" <harrison(a)timharrison.com>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2000 10:39 AM
Subject: Re: PDP-11/34a (was: NYT on...)
Man, I can't wait until I can afford to buy a real
house, with real
power, and a real lawn. I've been thinking of putting Astroturf[tm]
on
the balcony, to simulate a lawn. :)
Lawns are a novelty that soon wears off. Trust me. You will find
yourself
pushing a noisy lawnmower around or manicuring the weeds when you'd
rather be tinkering.
BTW, riding the elevator with three other people, and
a 6' rack of
PDP-11 is an interesting experience.
I once transported a Vax cluster, 2 x Vax 6000's, a couple of HSC70's
and some drive cabinets
from Adelaide to Pirie (around 140 miles by road) in a
one ton ute, er,
pickup to you yanks, with a
8x4 trailer carrying the excess. Stopped for something to eat and drink
at a place called Port Wakefield
around 60 miles into the trip. Small place, consists of around 500
people and 5 or 6 roadhouses, catering to
long distance truck drivers and the like. Got some very strange looks
and spent some time between sips of coffee
explaining that to numerous people that it was a computer system.
It's amazing how many people think computers ALWAYS fitted in a box on a
desk. Those under the age of 20 particularly have great
difficulty accepting this....
Especially when you live on the
25th floor. :)
And I thought a second floor flat was bad. Do you need oxygen?
A high rise around here is defined as any building with more than 1
floor.
(I live in a modest 4 BR single floor home attached to my shop these
days)
Cheers
Geoff Roberts
Computer Systems Manager
Saint Mark's College
Port Pirie,
South Australia
geoffrob(a)stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au
ICQ: 1970476