My favorite repair story WHYVAX::HETRICK "Brian Hetrick" 48 lines 2-MAR-1987 17:26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have to tell my favorite hardware repair story. In another life, I worked for a Massachusetts based US-wide retail chain. They always had the latest and greatest IBM machines. They always got the first of anything off the production line -- as a result, what they got was often rather flakey, since the first one or two of anything are always learning experiences for the production crew, even for IBM. The IBM 370 model 168 this company had was relatively unreliable -- it would crash every day or two. The local CEs (FS types to us Digits) couldn't find out what was wrong. The regional CEs couldn't find out what was wrong. The national CEs couldn't find out what was wrong. The Model 168 tiger team couldn't find out what was wrong. By the time all these folk had poked around in the machine's innards, the people owning the machine were getting pretty fed up. So, IBM called in -- The Designer, called in from his vacation in Europe. The Model 168 tiger team is carefully neutral about whether this is advisable, in marked contrast to IBM's usual attitude that whatever they's going to do is *just* what you need. [Now, I don't know if this guy actually had anything to do with the Model 168 design. But I sure hope so, 'cause if he didn't, they took an awful chance.] Came the day The Designer is to look at the machine. In through the machine room door comes this *huge* man -- at least 6 1/2 feet tall, 4 feet wide, 350 pounds if he was an ounce, and none of it slack bellied. He's wearing white buckskin with 2 foot long fringes along the arms and legs. He stalks -- that's the only word for it -- over to the console, and sits down. He watches the video display intently while manipulating the various dials and switches on the auxiliary console on his left, and flipping the multi-mode flashing lights display between several modes. After no more than three minutes of this going on, in total silence, he stalks over to one of the cabinets -- pulls the door open -- open the card cage cover -- grabs one of the boards -- pulls it out [the machine is live, mind you] -- and *crushes* it in his bare hands. He then stalks out, without having ever said a word. After we picked the CSs up off the floor, they power down the machine, replace the 18 inch by 24 inch, multi-layer board this hulk has just reduced to fiberglass splinters, and power the machine back up. No problem, then or since. Brian Hetrick