In order to put the sidebar widget that gives people the link for tomorrow’s Thursday Doors post, I have to know what I’m going to post on Thursday as of Tuesday evening. Last week, I explained that I conducted my undergraduate research in a remote computer center in the basement of Stewart Hall. As I was gathering doors for tomorrow’s post, I discovered that I had a picture of the entrance to that remote center. I’m sure it’s no longer a computer center, but I remember the door.
You have to come back in time with me to 1974-1976. Computers were room-sized machines that no one but the operators and technicians had access to. For me to test a new version of my program–a program that was changing daily–I had to give my updated card deck to an operator. She would read it in and transmit it to the main frame on the other campus. Computers of that era were only capable of processing one set of instructions at a time, and my simulation was complex and demanded a lot of CPU time (A lot was about two minutes).
Getting two minutes of computer time was difficult, especially with a student account. Most days, I would work on my program for a while, submit it and it would run sometime overnight. Occasionally, I made significant changes and I really wanted to have to program run immediately, so I’d get a second shot. I asked the operator if there was any way I could get my program a higher priority. She explained that she could do that. She added:
“You know what’s funny about this center? There’s no way for me to get a cup of coffee.”
On those nights when I needed a priority run, I brought her a cup of coffee.
This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner, and would like to join in on the fun, you can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.
Two notes: I don’t usually post on Tuesday, but I did post reviews of two excellent books yesterday. Also, remember that Thursday Doors opens tomorrow at midnight, you know, in case you want to join us.
All five of my current books are now available in audio book form thanks to Amazon KDP’s Virtual Voice process. The voice is AI generated, but I can honestly say, it’s pretty darn good. The audio books are reasonably priced (all below $7 US) and, if you already own the Kindle version and want to add an audio version, you can do that for $1.99. There is a five-minute sample on the book page for each book. If you’re interested, click on any of the Dreamer’s Alliance book links below the image or on the link below for my latest book.
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