Thursday, May 29, 2014

When Typewriter Nerds Dream

Last night I dreamed I was meeting up with someone in response to a Craigslist ad. I don't remember the ad itself (as is so often the case with dreams, this one started abruptly at a given moment, with no history), but I do remember I was expecting a portable. Instead, she showed up with a HUGE Hermes Ambassador.

Or...kinda. Really, it was as if my subconscious took all the features I like about various '50s and '60s standards, slapped them together, and painted them Hermes green. It was sort of like a broad-headed Olympia SG-1 with Hermes keys.

Being me, instead of examining it poker face and coyly leading into a discussion of price, I gushed on and on about all things Hermes first, and then asked how much. "$73.58," I was told, and even as a dream price that seemed ridiculously specific. But I also realized that a) it was way out of my price range, and b) I hadn't brought any cash along anyway. I told her I had friends who sort of collected typewriters, and wanted to take pictures of it so I could show it to them, and she agreed.

But then I noticed a wall-sized mainframe thing in the back room and got obsessed with taking pictures of *that*, which was tricky because the lighting wasn't good and I couldn't get back far enough to get the whole HUMONGOUS thing into the frame. When I finally got enough decent pictures to satisfy me and went back to look at the Ambassador...it was gone. She'd taken it away somewhere. So, sadly, I have no proof and cannot promote the sale of this rare beast.

I think all this was brought on by the fact that we currently have some server room equipment (primarily a large enclosed rack) for sale on Craigslist, and said rack currently resides in a storage cage in the basement of a building where we used to have offices, and the last time I was down there, an IBM Selectric (III?) languished in another cage, and I coveted it mightily. Probably long gone, poor thing.

6 comments:

Richard P said...

Someone needs to invent a brain implant that will allow us to take snapshots in our dreams and e-mail them to our waking selves.

Elizabeth H. said...

Indeed!

MTCoalhopper said...

Also, there is a lesson to be learned, there: Don't let fancy technology distract you from what really matters. At least, that was my interpretation. Maybe I had too many philosophy books to shelve, today. :)

I am so jealous. I never dream about typewriters, anymore.

notagain said...

I love the story. So the typewriter thing wasn't by chance a keypunch for the mainframe...?
And Richard, they'll let us have that dream recorder when they are able to push ads into them first.

Bill M said...

Now that is real dedication to typewriters -- dreaming about them. Neat dream price. Maybe the lady was like one of my electronics profs...he had an HP1000 in his living room!

Elizabeth H. said...

There are those who use old typewriters strictly for decoration, so I guess that *almost* makes sense...but typewriters (even standards) are rather more portable! Eep....