Coffee's Ready, Come and Sit on the Porch

[Mini Horses]

Up way early....to allow time to check forums and still get chores done, in time to get to stores early. Another 60 hr work week...then 2 weeks of almost no hrs. Can't wait!! . These 12 hr days are killer. I just take one day at a time, convincing myself it's the only one.

Coffee hot and good. Waiting on daylight.... Got most outside things done Saturday. Laundry and touch ups inside, too. Took a whole day off yesterday. Rested. Napped. Felt good. I deserved it

 

[flowerbug]

TAPES!!

Dates ya doesn't it?!?!

uhoh... [chatting ramble zone ahead ]...

it certainly does. i worked as a programmer for 10 years and then as a systems analyst, systems programmer and general fixit person for another 5 years before i finally had enough. so when i started out to learning the programming and for coursework it was on punch cards and card readers and you had to wait for people to bring out your printout results of running jobs. luckily i heard about that if you took a class from the computing services department that you could check out a small remote batch station (which had a card punch, reader and printer, but most importantly of all it also had two terminals) overnight after the normal hours. there were only really spots for four people and it was great as it was quiet and you could really concentrate without distractions. the terminals were often being used by older students, but we switched off at times when they wanted to read through their code or debug.

so via being around older students and listening and watching everything i could i learned how to use the terminals and ditched the punch cards. this was in my first and 2nd terms. so while most students were still waiting in lines and wasting a lot of time i was reading OS manuals for the mainframe and learning how to interface the code i was working on for a department with the OS disk IO routines. most of the code was written in Pascal but those routines were done in assembler. i enjoyed it all as it was just a big puzzle.

as time went on i was left with the entire project and did all the coding and changes and then they started talking about replacing the mainframe with a mini computer so it fit my interests well enough to change from a departmental programmer to get changed over to the central administrative computing group and so we got into that job (converting all the software and hardware and having the mainframe removed). since for most of my school work by then had been done on the mini computers and Unix type systems it was very easy for me to fit into a more general fixit and interface role for the rest of the remaining programmers and people who were helping out get all the in-house programs replaced. i did some fun things and it all went well (with major hiccups to start) but we came in under budget and on time so...

by the time it was winding down i did feel like it was time to move on and that was further influenced by yet more stuff i won't write in this note, but it was a career that worked out for me as then when i was ready to go it was also a good time to do some travelling. i just got out of computers as a career when the internet and the bubble was about to burst (i quit in fall of '96). i have done some things with computers (including paid work) since then, but mostly i've tried to stay out of being overly abused or time limited types of roles. like for about a year i was doing some computer operations tasks for a local company that was using ancient technology (including the large hammer/band type printers that i already had plenty of experience with). so all i needed to do was write up a procedures manual and i was good to go.

since then i loved the part-time library job the most.

 

[flowerbug]

Yes!!!! Having kids and a dog have SUPER messed with my production capabilities.

I prefer sitting on the floor surrounded by many stacks of paper.

you notice very few pictures of my room?

 

[FarmerJamie]

TAPES!!

Dates ya doesn't it?!?!

Can you say 8 inch floppy disks for software installs on Digital Equipment Corporation equipment?

Did the punch card thing here, too.

Did a lot of system interface programming...used to be able to do hexadecimal math in my head.

Transitioned to IT project management in the mid /late 90s.

Oh the war stories.

 

[Cecilia's-life]

Can you say 8 inch floppy disks for software installs on Digital Equipment Corporation equipment?

Did the punch card thing here, too.

Did a lot of system interface programming...used to be able to do hexadecimal math in my head.

Transitioned to IT project management in the mid /late 90s.

Oh the war stories.

What even was a floppy disk?

 

[flowerbug]

What even was a floppy disk?

i have used 8 inch floppy disks, and also the smaller versions that were common when the IBM PCs were first coming out. up until a few years ago i had a working one for any disks that people might want help getting things off of, but i've since gotten rid of about a whole closet full of old computer stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk#/media/File:Floppy_disk_2009_G1.jpg

hmm, can't get either of those to show up right so i dunno what's going on there but that should work if clicked on...

the first two versions 8 inch and 5&1/4 inch were definitely floppy so the name was apt. the smaller 3&1/2 inch had a harder shell so they weren't what i'd call floppy, but they did show up on the computers under the floppy disk drive interfaces so that name still is used for those (even if it isn't fitting).

nowadays people mostly use USB sticks or do everything on the cloud (so no physical media is required at all), if there are wireless gadgets for transporting stuff around i've not looked into those. no need for them by me...

 

[tortoise]

I remember 8 inch floppy discs, but that's because my parents were so poor (and unmotivated to use technology) that we received some truly ancient hand-me-down computers!

 

[Hinotori]

We had a Commodore 64 from my aunt. My youngest brother learned to read on it. We all learn some BASIC. My parents had saved up for a 64c when they came out because my aunt insisted that it was important for kids in the 80s to know how to use a computer. Mom used it for spreadsheets. So we had a disc drive, printer, joysticks, and the quick load cartridge that hooked into the back so Bards Tale only took half an hour instead of an hour to load. Youngest brother has it now and restored it. The games load off the floppy disks just fine still. Dry desert air for preservation.

My grade school got Commodores in the library when I was in 4th grade I think. So math and word games with the rare Oregon Trail.

Typing was a required class in 9th grade and one of the most useful I think. Took a while to learn to not double space after periods when using a computer later on. Hubby has always been a bit jealous of my typing skill even though I offered to help him and even pointed out programs we could get to teach him. I'm not a super fast typer. Last type we tested me I was only around 62 wpm. Only kept up at that speed because I played online MMOs for 20 years and typing is talking.

 

[Alaskan]

When we moved up here the local hardware store still had dot matrix printers.

They only upgraded 2 years back.

I LOVED going in there and getting my receipt from the dot matrix printer! Ah! The memories!!

 

[Alaskan]

Took a while to learn to not double space after periods when using a computer later on

I REFUSE to do anything except a double space after a period!

I will not change!!!!

Only kept up at that speed because I played online MMOs for 20 years and typing is talking.

I STILL play, every Tuesday night, on a MUD. Best thing ever to teach spelling.