April 2, 2021
Dear Everyone:
Once upon a time, about 1987 or so, I had a job
that involved a lot of computer work.
(Big surprise.)
The computer in question was a very large
computer, situated in Houston, Texas.
I connected with it by means of a “dumb terminal”, which simply
meant that the terminal had no functionality of its own; it just
connected with the “mainframe”.
This is how it worked in those days:
You made offerings to the High Priests of the
Mainframe and, in return, you were granted access to your data.
If you wanted to actually see your data, you ordered a report,
which was printed out on paper and duly delivered to you in a day or so.
I ordered a lot of reports.
I had many, many stacks of paper in my piece-of-an-office.
I needed a way to sort and hold all these reports so that I could
analyze the data. I was,
after all, an Analyst at the time.
One weekend, “Jeannie” and I happened to visit
an antique warehouse. By
this, I mean a warehouse filled with antiques, as opposed to a warehouse
that was so old that it qualified as an antique.
The person who ran the warehouse ransacked various locations in
Europe, obtaining numerous pieces of furniture which she first offered
to “the trade”, i.e., fellow antique dealers who might want to purchase
items for sale in their own establishments.
Once this horde had gone through, the warehouse
dealer opened the “leftovers” to the public at a price substantially
lower than that which the dealers would be requesting.
As we were strolling through the “Cheap European Antiques” (CEA),
I discovered a small “tea trolley”, a rolling cart initially made of
fine wood. It had seen
better days, but I realized that it would be perfect for holding all
those paper reports that I had at work.
It was about two-and-a-half feet tall, with a
total of three shelves. I
bought it on the spot. The
following Monday morning, I rolled it onto the BART (Bay Area Rapid
Transit) train and made my way into the office in downtown San
Francisco.
Over the years, as I was relocated by the job
time and again, the little wooden cart came with me.
Sometimes it held stacks of paper reports.
Sometimes it held books and filing folders.
Occasionally, it helped in transporting moderately heavy objects
from Point A to Point B.
There was always something for which to use it.
Even when I was squeezed into a “cozy” cubicle, I could always
find room for the cart.
When I was thrown into retirement, I took the
cart home with me.
And that’s when I found it to be the most
useful thing ever. By
placing a plastic laundry basket on top of it, I had an instant laundry
cart. It allowed me to roll
the dirty clothes, towels, bedding, whatever, into the hallway to the
“laundry closet”; and when
things were dry, I could stand on a little step stool that fit neatly
into the bottom shelf, and haul things out of the dryer (which stood on
top of the washer) and into the basket.
The cart also came in handy when I needed to
transport things like a very heavy file box from the second bedroom out
to the living room to catch up on my filing.
It has turned out to be very handy indeed.
However.
All Good Things Come to an End.
A few weeks ago, I noticed something sitting on the floor in the
second bedroom. It was one
of the rolling “feet” of the cart.
I turned the cart over and rammed the foot back into the cart.
The little darling was probably built about a hundred years ago.
I certainly don’t expect to be in as good shape should I reach
that age.
But it was clear that I would need to replace
it sometime in the near future.
I started with the Big Blue Office Supply
Warehouse Store—Online. They
had plenty of carts, but not exactly what I was looking for.
I moved on to some other online merchants and quickly discovered
a mostly-plastic (i.e., lightweight) cart in a half-dozen colors, no
less.
One of the things that I like about this
particular dealer is that they include an easy link to the online
instructions for assembling their products.
I like being able to see what it would take to assemble an item
before making the purchase.
They also offer, for a price of course, assembly services.
In this case, putting three shelves and some
casters together is not, exactly, rocket science.
It looked pretty simple except for one thing.
“Additional tools required:
Rubber mallet.”
I have plenty of screwdrivers, allen wrenches,
and assorted hammers in my outdoor closet.
But a rubber mallet?
I quickly found that the Big Orange Hardware
Supply Warehouse Store carries rubber mallets, for about $6.00.
I could even order one online and have it waiting for me at
Customer Pickup. But it
seemed rather a substantial undertaking for something costing less than
$10.00.
As it happens, I had another reason to visit
the local Big Orange Hardware Supply Warehouse Store this week.
As long as I was already there, I stopped by the hand tools
aisle. Not only did they
have plenty of $6.00 rubber mallets, they even had a choice of color!
Who knew?
Now that I had the all-important non-provided
tool for the job, I ordered the service cart.
In black. It is
expected to arrive by next Friday.
Stay tuned for further developments.
Love, as always,
Pete
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