Aaannnd then there’s the “library”
I have only made some small inroads into this loverly basement-type room. Main reason? It’s mostly not my stuff! How many computers can you count? I know the photoooo is a bit fuzzy but I can count three. A couple of those old giraffe-style iMacs and I *think* that old-skool thingy there is our old PowerMac/PowerPC. That thing that looks like a big industrial chimney back there is a telescope. I’m not sure what’s in the garbage bag and then there are those boxes of orange extension cords. I actually use those once in a while…
I remember how excited I was when the old PowerMac/PowerPC got delivered. It was 1996 and We had been limping along using a crippled old-skool Powerbook laptop for a while. When I say old-skool, I mean from the early 1990s. It was *not* easy to haul around like my 21st century laptops and I will never forget the day that it made the dern deep-shit sound when the neighbor’s kids that I used to “watch” before school some mornings were there and they got into a fight while I was troubleshooting the problem. Yeah, I know… Why would anyone ever trust me to watch their kids?
And then the PowerMac/PowerPC got kind of fried a few months later when we had an ice storm. That was way fun. And yes, it was plugged into a surge protector. But that thing failed. We were in brownout conditions for a few days. We could boil water on the stove — it just took forever for the water to boil. We had heat because the blower motor on our rickety old furnace could work at low amps (or whatever). We’ve upgraded since then and now we are shit outta luck when we lose power.
I don’t know where I am with this post. I could keep talking about all of the new and better computers. And then we got this! And this! And this! And yada yada. But what the heck? They (computers) just get better and better and eventually we upgrade for one reason or another but what’s the point? I mean, I now carry a computer in my pocket (iPhone) that is much more powerful than any of those old dinosaurs in the photooo.
The top story today would’ve been the plane crash at the Planet Ann Arbor airport but I am glad that it isn’t the top story. It isn’t the top story because nobody died!!! A single engine plane, like the ones my dad used to take us up for Sunday drives in, crashed after takeoff today. The pilot was the only person on board and although it took the EMTs a half hour to cut him out of the plane, his injuries were not life-threatening. The Planet Ann Arbor airport is a small municipal airport that does not (as far as I know) handle any commercial flights. It is big enough to handle some small private chartered jets. This is important to me mainly because I work about a half mile south of the airport.
April 5th, 2012 at 9:22 pm
I try to recycle my old computers at a store nearby, but sometimes the memories are too great and I keep mementos. My husband is way worse though!!
April 6th, 2012 at 1:48 pm
my old office was pretty much next to the takeoff/landing flight path. in fact, out building was limited to 3 floors because of our proximity to the flight path.
when I would be out taking a walk some planes just sounded like their engines were on the verge of quitting as they approached. in 13 years there was only one plane crash – landed short of the runway I think. until yesterday of course…
April 6th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
In the Lou lunch walks feature F-18s circling overhead at 500′, the minimum. The noise was so loud that car alarms go off. Barbara, my walking buddy would always cringe when they passed overhead. They tended to keep over company property, probably for insurance reasons. This necessitated tight banking turns that always made them look like they were about to fall out of the sky. The worse though is being inside when one passes overhead. The noise sounds like it just barely missed the building.