It all began when I had to go buy some new power cables. Thinking this was
going to be just another ordinary pick up operation I decided to bike down
to "The KOOP" a place that refers to itself as the Boneyard Computer &
Electronics center among other things.

I had ventured to this place earlier in the week but found that they were only
open very limited hours. An older fellow named Don looked after the place for the
owner. I greeted him as I walked in the door.

The glass and metal reinforced door clanged shut behind me. The place
was wonderful to my eyes. The eyes of someone capable of modifying and
re-purposing old hardware. With a little knowledge and a little work a lot
of this old hardware can be given new life.

I smiled as I strolled the heaps and piles of jangled cords and dials.
I was a kid in a candy store for I possessed the thing that turns junk
into magic.

Knowledge.

Don helped me find the cables in a snap and I spotted some
USB Floppy Drives. They looked familiar. In fact it turns out I might have
been looking at them a long time ago. They were exactly the same
ones HSU (Humboldt State University) had in their labs a while back.
The labels were still on them. I smile and chuckle.

Floppy drives go here to die, eh.

As I made my way around the shop my eyes fell upon a curious box.
It had 80s advertisement style printing. (I'd recognize it from all those computer
books I used to check out from the library back in elementary school.)

My eyes grew wide as I realized what I was looking at.

This was the 1982 Commodore VIC-20.

Mind you I never had it myself. (I first began programming on a
ViTech 2000 back in elementary school. I still have programs
I hand wrote from back in that era because I couldn't save anything.)

But I knew instantly that this could run BASIC. And that this was
a computer from a simpler time. A time when you could type straight
code into the machine and run it. For years I grew up with computers as
locked boxes. Forbidding me from understanding or changing their internals.

It was only in the last 5 years did all of their secrets become clear to
me.
So I was reasonably stoked to find this wondrous old fashion classic
sitting before me. A $300 dollar value circa 1982 transforms into a 20 buck
garage sale item come 2010.

Needless to say, I snatched it up after only a moments thought.
And told Don I was going to need to ride home and drive back.
I left in an excited hurry. And sped all the way home smiling
widely at my good fortune today.

And as I was driving back police sirens began going off.
I pulled to the side of the road. I cringed at the noise as they passed. This was the
first time in my life I had to do that. As my car sat on the side idling I saw Lo walking
by. She now had red hair and was strolling with some taller gentlemen I assumed was
her boyfriend.

"How odd," I thought. I waved weakly trying to decide if it was really her or not.
She waved back. Ah, I guess it is her.

When I returned I chatted with Don about the place. I asked if
they needed more help around there. We talked about how financially
infeasible it was for the place to bring on another clerk
and how in danger it was of shutting down.

The thought stuck me right in the heart.

And I mentioned I'd like to help in some fashion.
I obtained the info of the owner, paid for my prize, tipped Don 2 dollars
and shook his hand. I told him how much I appreciated his work here.
And that I hope something could be done.
I said I'd talk to CCAT and I left him my card.

We'll see I guess.

On a lighter note, I missed out on the wacky computer ads of the 80s so I decided
to ham up one myself.

Just kidding.
I love this thing. Really reminds me of my first times
writing code in BASIC.

Stuff Chris World is brought to you by:

Chris World is brought to you by....
...Thought bubbles.
...Speed lines.
...Narwals... the unicorns of the sea.

*(as seen in various movies)