PDP-8/Es available

From: Wirehead Prime <wirehead_at_retrocomputing.com>
Date: Wed Jan 21 10:45:58 1998

> Ahh, that sucks! My parents have control of my money again, so I'd never get away with spending
> $50 on old computers... (They're trying to discourage me from playing with
> computers, and being about as subtle as a jackhammer...)

I'll leave this public since it might be useful to someone...I'm 29 now
but when I was 16 or 17 my parents expended GREAT energy trying to get me
to stop playing with computers because my dad thought they were a FAD
(hahahahahahahahahahaa) and my mom thought it was unhealthy for me to
hide in the basement all the time like some brain-damaged monster.

Tell your parents that today I have a college degree, have been out on my
own working productively since I was 20 (with VERY little external
support), earn twice the median income in my state, started a successful
business, own my own home, am married and honoring my parents by living
an upstanding and productive life. Playing with computers all those
years created that for me. And playing with OLD computers made me
self-reliant enough that in the last 9 years I've been unemployed a total
of about a week.

My parents realize their mistake now...my father tearfully gave me his
gold retirement watch, which I accepted reluctantly, to show how proud
he is of me. My parents are happy with me and I'm happy with myself all
thanks to my tinkering all those years in the basement.

> it'd be meeting the trashcan in a hurry. But if I tell them I got it free,
> they may not care. My parents (Esp. my stepdad) have a thing for tossing
> whatever I have that they don't like [Like my copy of Sailor Moon manga #13])

My brother tossed out a perfectly good 11/34a, some RL02s, a DecWriter
and a Franklin Ace 1200 from my parents' basement because he wanted a
weight room and my stuff was in the way. Pretty self-righteous of him
considering *I'M* not the one who's 42 and still living WITH mom and dad!

BUT I'M NOT BITTER!!! =-D

(Isn't it odd that if you get it free, they'll let you keep but if you
spent money on it they want to throw it away?)

When I was 18 I waited until my folks were gone to move an 11/23 and two
RL02s downstairs to my bedroom. I made sure it was all racked up before
they got home...so it'd look too big and heavy for them to carry outside.
=-) I LOVED that machine! I put it behind the door sort of...so that
you could only open the door about 18"...kept my mom out of my room. =)

Anthony Clifton - Wirehead
Received on Wed Jan 21 1998 - 10:45:58 GMT