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Dreams/Technology, (sdf.org), 08/13/2018
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Most nights I remember my dreams. They're usually not
that interesting, but every once in a while they are
noteworthy. Last night's dream wasn't that noteworthy, but
it was applicable at least. It reveals a thought and
experience process that I've been having relative to
technology.
Last night I dreamed that I was in a parking lot, looking
for my car (it wasn't where I thought it should be) when I
noticed a garage sale[1]. I entered the house where the sale
was happening. It was unusually ornate and luxurious, and no
one was present. I walked through the house, not finding
anything that I was interestedin, and into the very
large back yard.
In the back yard there was a large temporary carport, the
half-round kind covered by a white tarp material. I walked
into the carport/shelter and noticed that there were piles
of old, dusty "stuff," a mish-mash of household goods, old
appliances, and yes, some old computer junk. I immediately
started working through the piles looking for anything that
might be useful or interesting.
As I searched, I noted that there were many high-quality
tools. A few other people came around, also looking for
things, including a young boy. The boy picked up one of the
tools, apparently interested in buying it, when the lady of
the house emerged. She was an older lady, and quite elegant.
To the boy's dismay, the lady informed him of the
astronomically high price of the item he was holding.
Crestfallen, he put it down and left. The people that were
there asked the lady about a few other items, and all of the
prices were ridiculously high.
As they spoke, I continued to look. Eventually, everyone
left but the older lady and me. She seemed excited for me to
find something I wanted, and kept asking me if there was
anything that interested me. I almost felt like she was
excited to burst my bubble with some insanely high price if
I were to express interest. However, nothing in the pile was
of interest to me.
That's all I'll share of the dream, as it's all that has
bearing on technology and what I want to talk about here. In
recent years, I've become a lot more interested in the
computers that were around when I was young, but which are
harder and harder to find now. For years, I've had fun
searching at thrift stores for older computing devices and
parts. It has been a lot of fun, but recently it seems like
it's gotten harder and harder.
Thrift stores- at least the ones near me- no longer seem to
have any old computer junk. I search and search, and rarely
find anything. The things from the period that interests me
have filtered through or out, and are either in someone's
hands, or in a landfill, or melted down for gold (as used to
be common.)[2]
Just recently, my grandfather passed away. He was a horder,
and I had the unfortunate and fortunate responsibility of
going through his home to find any photos or other family
history that could be salvaged. I secretly hoped that,
having been somewhat technical in radio and computers, he
might have old gear lying around. During my search through
papers, I did find a receipt for a C64, and that raised my
hopes even more. But alas, even in all his junk, he hadn't
kept any vestigates of computer years past.
The dust in my dream, I'm positive came from the experience
at my grandfather's house (it was so dusty and dirty in his
garage, though it was well organized.) The tools also, for
my grandfather was a mechanic by trade, and had quite a few
rather nice tools. The garage sale, I think, came from the
thrift stores that I search regularly. The miserly woman, I
think represents the difficulty and expense related to my
hobby these days.
Some dreams I wake from wondering how they came to be. This
one I woke from understanding that it was just my brain
mulling over things that I thought about somewhat regularly.
In happier news, I ordered a new z80 SIO/2 ic from mouser
last night, which I want to try out in my pcb-version
project[3]. If I can't find the old stuff to buy readily, I
can at least make it. It is amazing to me that I can still
order the parts so easily.
My previous attempts at the breadboard and pcb versions of
Grant Searle's CP/M computer didn't work, and I believe I've
narrowed it down to the SIO/2. I bought cheap-o SIO/2's on
ebay, and I think they're fakes. I suppose this mouser part
will tell me if I'm right or not.
Maybe I'll have a more pleasant dream in the future, after I
get some of these things out of my system.
[1]
gopher://gopherpedia.com:70/0/Garage sale
[2]
gopher://gopherpedia.com:70/0/Electronic waste
[3]
gopher://grex.org:70/1/~tfurrows/projects/z80_buildpcb/
