[AusNOG] Friday question

[Karl Auer]

> > > > 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 (kauer at biplane.com.au)
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