Computers aren't as evil anymore as they were in my days. You had to be a system-programmer and carry a hot soldering iron in your pocket if you wanted to change the font in a text-document. In the last millennium I was struggling to print out a report on some experiments that had not turned out well at all. I was a bit nervous as it never is a real treat to report on undeniable failure. No data. No explanations. No fame.
But it got worse.
The printer didn't like me.
With the clock ticking away it just covered page after page with astounding garble. Special characters, squares and numbers... You have seen that. That's when the fingers get sweaty and you need a new pair of socks every fifteen minutes. I kicked some boxes, replaced the printer-cable, restarted the bastard, rebooted my computer, printed again.
And the sun came out! Page after crispy page there was my report.
And after the last page, just when I collected my prose, prepared to face my master, the printer had one final message for me.
It printed a single page, covered with hearts and squares and numbers. And in the middle only three intelligible words in bold-face:
relax - do it!
And that's what I did.
Ever since.
Comments