[rescue] WWWIIIRRRESSS!, was Re: Cray listing on E-bay

[Dave McGuire]

On 12/08/2017 10:15 AM, Stefan Skoglund wrote:
>> Heh, memories! :)
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 04, 2017 at 06:41:42PM -0500, Steve Sandau wrote:
>>> On 12/04/2017 05:45 PM, Dave McGuire wrote:
>>>>    Sigh, yes. ;)  Let's please let that drop, though.  That crazy bitch
>>>> brought the cops to my house and demanded that they haul me away.  Even
>>>> though the the officers left peacefully with a handshake and an apology,
>>>> the memories of that day are not at all pleasant.
>>>>
>>> I remember that, but maybe not for its original posting here. That phrase
>>> still does go through my mind every once in a while when I'm dealing with a
>>> large mass of... well... wires.
>>>
>>> So even if it's not brought up again, Dave, you can know that it makes me
>>> chuckle from time to time.
> 
> references ?

  Sigh.

  In early 2001 or so, I was renting a house in Laurel, MD, from a
couple, who were two of the most ordinary people I've ever met.  Neither
was terribly intelligent, and they were both very big on being and doing
what society expects of them.  They valued conformism to an very high
degree.

  And here I am, working for a string of tech startup companies, with an
electronics lab and racks and racks of computers (even some Crays)
running in rooms that they insisted could only be used as a formal
dining room and a living room, because that's...just the way things were
supposed to be.

  What productive person has any use for a formal dining room in 2017?
Seriously.

  Anyway, since I was renting, the landlord has the right to come in
periodically and inspect the condition of the house and property.  So
one day the wife did, and the older ditzy airheaded blonde FREAKED THE
HELL OUT because there were "WIIIRRREEESS!!!" in the house.

  You see, in their little minds, all anyone is "supposed" to do in a
house is eat, sleep, poop, and watch television.  You know, like good
little well-trained consumers.

  She immediately called the police and said there was an emergency and
that she needed help right away.  When they arrived, four cop cars in
three minutes flat with lights on, she demanded that I immediately be
TAKEN INTO CUSTODY because I was "doing things I wasn't supposed to be
doing" in the house.  Being professionals, they wanted to know exactly
what it was that she thought I was doing in there that was so bad.  They
asked, and she said, gesturing around, "All of these...THINGS!
And...WWWWIIIIIRRREEEEEEESSS!!"

  The police asked us who we all were, determined that she was the
landlord and I was the tenant, and then asked me for permission to look
around the house, which of course I granted without hesitation, given
the situation, and thoughts of handcuffs.

  They looked around for about ten minutes, found nothing amiss, but
said "Hey, you do have some unusual stuff here, what do you do for a
living?"  I explained, they told her there was nothing at all wrong
about what I was doing, apologized to me for the intrusion, wished me a
good day, advised the crazy landlord to go home and not hassle me
further, and left.  With no small amount of objection from the crazy
bitch, of course.

  Of course it was immediately turned into a big joke around here and a
few other mailing lists, but I assure you there was nothing at all funny
about it.

                -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA