My love affair with technology dates back to at least when I was 4 years old. A neighbor who had been a radio man in WWII showed me how wrapping wire around a nail and attaching the ends of the wire to a battery made the nail a magnet. I went around the house trying the nail on everything. My mom put an end to my Royal Academy researches when she found me dangling her favorite silver-plated bracelet from the tip of an eight penny nail.
She didn't until that moment know that it was silver-plated, and not solid sterling. The lesson learned was: knowledge is a double edged sword; it can cut away ignorance, but there is always an emotional price to pay.
Today I am acutely conscious of both my love of technology and the weird byways it can lead me down...often at the expense of some female in my vicinity. In today's case, it would be Sara who has to anticipate the arrival of my newest Technical Foible with far less excitement than I. And my newest technical foible wouldn't inspire many people to anything than fear for their backs if they had to move it and a sense of loss of storage space where ever it might end up.
I am thinking of calling my new personal Mainframe IBM computer "Blitz." It has the connotation of speed, as in "blitzen" the Reindeer and "blitzkrieg" the lightening war. Blitz sounds a bit like bits, too...another computer resonance.
They say it won't fit in the van. I sort of bought it thinking I could get it home in the van at least, even if I couldn't personally lift the 5 foot high rack myself. They think it needs a flatbed or pickup as a conveyence.
You'd think that someone who just bought a mainframe wouldn't quibble about paying a few more bucks for a two man moving crew and a truck, right?
Not if he just bought the mainframe on eBay for $6.50.
Well, there will be more to tell of this story. In the meantime, I have to go get the bumper sticker made that says "My home computer is an IBM Mainframe."
The funny thing is, I am not sure if I would even like someone impressed by that fact.
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