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Happy Birthday, Micom 2000

D

Druid6900

Veteran Member
Joined
May 7, 2006
Messages
3,809
Location
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Well, L, it's that time of year again and, despite what you say, you're gonna be around until you are not only antique, but, HISTORICAL LMAO.

Here's to the Patriarch of Vintage Computers, long may he reign !!!!

Hope it's a good one, my friend
 
I was about to start the HBD thread, but Druid beat me to it!!!
Well Micom....best of birthdays to you, and many many more... :hbd2:

ziloo :biggrin:
 
Thanks all. I must admit birthdays don't give me much of a thrill after 73 of them. Kind of like anniversaries to an old couple. Except I don't have to apologise to a SO. My only fear is the possible blight of dementia. As the old saying goes, "Had I known I was going to live this long, I would have taken much better care of myself." According to all research an active mind is the best defense. VCF does supply me with that, altho there hasn't been many controversies on VCF lately. C'mon guys, stir it up. Help me avoid Reagans end.

The resident comedian M. Stein does supply me with many belly laughs, but I think he lies about his age. He had a celebrity paramour on a computer TV show called "Bits and Bytes" in the 70's and I'm sure she is older than I, unless she was a cougar into young men. But of course he should have been an accomplished stage comic instead of a purveyer of now ancient canadian computers. :^))

Lawrence
 
Hey there was a lot of skill in fluffing up the "Do not bend, mutilate, or spindle the cards", for the IBM 101s of the Workmen's Compensation Board, most of them returned checks from pissed off injured construction workers, or miners dying from Black Lung or Silicosis afflictions. The worst cards couldn't be duplicated and would take me into the card entry room full of nubile young ladies where I could exhibit my charms, and bless the angry workers who had "bent, spindalled or mutillated" the IBM cards on which their checks were issued. On occasion I would "bend, spindal, or mutillate a card myself when putting on a move to an exceptionally attractive keypunch operator. Ah, those were the days, my friend.

But you're the only person I know that has a knowledge of those IBM card sorters. Damn. You could have 5 to 10 years on me for all I know. That would explain your slowness in sending out certain keyboards. But Druid called me a "Patriarch of Vintage Computers" so I won't push the issue.

Lawrence
 
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Micom 2000 said:
Hey there was a lot of skill in fluffing up the "Do not bend, mutilate, or spindle the cards", for the IBM 101s of the Workmen's Compensation Board, most of them returned checks from pissed off injured construction workers, or miners dying from Black Lung or Silicosis afflictions. The worst cards couldn't be duplicated and would take me into the card entry room full of nubile young ladies where I could exhibit my charms, and bless the angry workers who had "bent, spindalled or mutillated" the IBM cards on which their checks were issued. On occasion I would "bend, spindal, or mutillate a card myself when putting on a move to an exceptionally attractive keypunch operator. Ah, those were the days, my friend.

But your the only person I know that has a knowledge of those IBM card sorters. Damn. You could have 5 to 10 years on me.

Lawrence
Click to expand...
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Hey, anybody could run a sorter; these were not just mere sorters, but Statistical Sorting Machines that "...combine in one unit the functions of sorting, counting, accumulating, balancing, editing, and printing of summaries of facts recorded in IBM cards."

I don't recall much nubility in my keypunch department, just a room full of cranky overweight middle-aged harpies who delighted in making you grovel and beg before they'd condescend to punch a few cards for ya. Evenings were much better, when I had the whole room to myself if I needed to repunch some cards, especially after a jam when you had to sort and tape the pile of torn scraps of cards back together in order to repunch 'em. Then again, being a budding musician perhaps you just had more charm going for ya...

Ah, those were indeed the days... and of course we had to walk to work, 5 miles through 3 foot deep snow, uphill both ways...
 
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I was annointed by the computer room boss to produce the Statistical report for 1955 of the Ontario Workmans Compensation Board. Somewhere in all the data retained by the government of Ontario is one of my work of arts. I used the Statistical Sorter. The plus of the situation was that it was in the keypunch room. Me and about 50 pulchitudious ladies.
I don't remember any cranky overweight harpies, although some were indeed married women. Perhaps the personel person only hired women under 30. 35 was about the top age.

As the "skilled" operator of the Statistical Sorter, I also had a certain status in the room. As well as the only person standing up, for an unfettered view. Damaged cards gave me an opportunity to kid around as I had them replaced. Life was sweet.

Mind you, I was only making $37.50 a week, as a result of an increase in pay from my starting wage of $35.00.

IIRC The Statistical Sorter had a wired-card board, which you would rewire according to what you wanted to read add or compile. I worked on it about 2 months producing stacks of paper reports.

Strangely enough I don't remember becoming bored with it. Possibly because of my "fellow-workers". :^))

M.S. is very clever Druid. He likely brought up this topic, cause he knew I had worked on a Statistical Sorter from an earlier discussion and knew I would have to brag about it. That way it avoided continuing mention about a 2-year wait for a particular keyboard. The thing is, as you get older time goes whipping by you so fast, that 2 years is like about a month for a 20-year-old. One has to be patent with these old fellows.

Lawrence
 
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LOL, several times over...

For an old geezer, you're still pretty sharp; ya got me pegged pretty well...

Keyboard? What keyboard? I don't remember no keyboard...
Servers? TP600s? Eh? What?

As to statistics, mine were much more mundane and ephemeral; preferences in toothpaste, chewing gum, shampoos, that sort of thing.

For those unfamiliar with a 101, these babies had a typewriter-like carriage that was about 5 feet wide, printing on two 24"+ sheets of paper side by side; calculating and printing just one line could take two or three minutes. One day I thoughtlessly put a cup of coffee down for a moment while the machine was busy printing the last few columns; when it did its fairly quick 5 foot long carriage return it sent the cup of coffee about ten feet across the office and out into the keypunch room. Quite spectacular...

Ah, memories...
 
Memory isn't the problem.. it's the memalloc function we all seem to have a problem with. Didn't we already wish you a happy birthday like a year ago?

;-) Hope you have a happy one and get a nice sweet, maybe a brew, and relax to a comfortable evening.
 
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