> > > > What tools do you carry around for work. > > > > Whats the oldest - krone tool ? > > > > Whats the newest > > > > Whats the most useful !
A bent-out medium size paper clip. It gets lost and replaced often, but it is the answer to all four questions. Here is a short story I wrote a few years ago. See if you can guess what used-to-be-essential item is telling its tale: "I don't remember being made; don't remember the quick staccato movements of the American robots that put me together, tiny puffs of acrid smoke rising as my dozens of solder spots were placed, my twenty- five wires brought skillfully but mindlessly to their final positions, my label slapped on just before I hit the conveyor belt to the blister- packing machine. I do remember being in the blister pack though, looking out, rather mystified, over the shelves and spotty customers of a Tandy store in Civic. "And I remember being bought; how huge hands split the blister pack and threw me into the darkness of a toolbox. I remember rattling around for eternity, making the painful acquaintance of the other residents of the toolbox. "The first time I was used is clear in my mind too; spliced into some hairball cable, I saw so obviously, so properly where the bits needed to go. I recall switching them like little carts on parallel rollercoasters. This goes there; and that goes here... It all made sense and I revelled in being part of the flow, part of the functioning. "But I've not been that for a long time now. For a long while I rode in the toolbox, but then I was placed on a shelf in a workshop. I used to be able to see the workshop, but now I see only the backsides and elbows of the things that cover me, other plastics and metals, casings, cables and chips. "I have no moving parts. I don't decay. Patch me into your cable again, and again I'll bring your data through. But I guess that won't be happening. Cables are different now; standardised, correct, the right cable for the right job. I was only ever a fixer, a translator, a corrector of errors, a twister of pairs. "The future is a very long time for an obsolete immortal." Regards, K. -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Karl Auer ([email protected]) http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer http://twitter.com/kauer389 GPG fingerprint: A0CD 28F0 10BE FC21 C57C 67C1 19A6 83A4 9B0B 1D75 Old fingerprint: A52E F6B9 708B 51C4 85E6 1634 0571 ADF9 3C1C 6A3A _______________________________________________ AusNOG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ausnog.net/mailman/listinfo/ausnog
