About

Many years ago (twenty? twenty-one?) I worked with an unorthodox group of computer programmers, systems analysts, testers, technical writers and a few assorted hardware engineers in a three story building on the corner of Milvia and Center in downtown Berkeley.   Back then email was a new way of communication, requiring knowledge of keystrokes, thus upper management scorned use of the tool, preferring to distribute piles of largely unread memos.  Email was the domaine of the workers, a way to freely offer opinions which often flamed into long winded diatribes, sermons, drunken rantings and well, you get the picture.  A group of the regular contributors soon decided to create a special email account for anyone who wanted to take part in these wanton wastes of company time.  After soliciting names, they voted on “the Forum.

I was cleaning out a file cabinet so full of the stuff of life that nothing more could be added, when I stumbled upon a stack of email strings from those days.  They are full of impassioned, poetic, absurd, and hilarious meanderings that could have only come from brilliant minds on recess.  I was amazed by the uniqueness of each voice.  I decided to share them – thus the reason for this blog.    I’ll get it started by posting the stuff that I have: pictures, email strings, poems, vignettes.  But I hope I’m not the only one.

If anyone has memories from that time they would like to share, please let me know and I’ll post them to the Stories page.