This page was reconstructed from memory starting in October 2006.
Today I started real, full-time work, as a systems adviser (Systemberater) at UNIVAC in the
Burgstraße 106,
Frankfurt-Bornheim.
In an office with two others, dingy because the blinds were always drawn. One of the
others, Bernd Doroschan, was also new. Our boss, Mr. Schmidt, gave us each a copy of the
UNIVAC 1100 Series Operating System Programmer Reference Manual (PRM), UP-4144, and
told us to read it, in particular the @ASG statement and its myriad options. Bernd
had just graduated from the University of
Frankfurt in a discipline he said was
called “Informatik”, which didn't make
much sense to me. It took me some time to believe what he said, that it translated into
English as “Computer Science”.
Today I moved into my new flat
in
Langenbergheim. It involved buying a lot of furniture, mainly in Frankfurt am Main, and
transporting it in my Citroën Dyane, not the ideal vehicle for transporting large objects.
Somewhere near the Fressgass—I'd
guess
the
Kaiserhofstraße—I had identified a double bed for a reasonable price. I went to
pick it up, and the woman who was selling it greeted me with the question, “Are you
part of a commune?”. I said no, and commented that it was the first time I'd been
asked that question, especially when I was just buying furniture. She apologized and
explained that she had also advertised the flat for rent, and the landlord had insisted that
no communes be established there.
Somehow I got the thing—two mattresses and frames—into my car, letting it all
hang out the back. I made it about as far as
the
Saalburgallee before I got stopped by a policeman who expressed grave doubts about the
safety of the vehicle. I told him that I was very much aware of the reduced safety and was
taking appropriate precautions. To my surprise, he said “Good. Drive safely, and
next time put a red flag at the end of your load”, and let me go.
