Meet You at the FAB in LGP

Technologists are very deliberate about choosing the right acronym as shorthand for complex concepts and technologies. Like a primary key in a database, the acronym should be unique else risk confusion in the shared language among technologists.

As an infrastructure technologist, we spoke in acronyms.

If someone said -- "The graphics design pit is experiencing network issues. We need to check the run on the DEMPR" -- that meant one thing. Ray had rolled his chair over the thinwire 10Base2 Ethernet cable in his cube. It meant grab the ladder so we could disconnect the BNC connector of the run to the pit while we replaced Ray's segment. Ray preferred to roll his chair around to talk with people rather than walk to them. When Ray was in a talkative mood, we had isolated network issues.

When Ray was in a talkative mood, we had isolated network issues.

Digital Equipment Multi-Port Repeaters (DEMPR) were early Ethernet network components that provided a backbone connection to a group of workstations on a run of daisy-chained 10Base2 network connections. DEMPRs connected thinwire (10Base2) clients to the thickwire (10Base5) backbone. Issues on one run could impact all the other runs on the one DEMPR or beyond on the backbone. We needed to isolate that run quickly while we troubleshot the issue. The ladder was our primary troubleshooting tool. We needed it to reach the port on the DEMPR. We kept a supply of thinwire cables close to Ray's cube.

I laugh at this now, but building out an Ethernet network in an office building designed to support a workflow that moved creative objects around the office by hand is comparable to converting a commercial office building to a residential building. The original design didn't include consideration for the piping where it needed to be located or maintained. Note to self: Potential retrofitting possibilities (predictive extensibility) should be considered.

building out an Ethernet network in an office building designed to support a workflow that moved creative objects around the office by hand is comparable to converting a commercial office building to a residential building

Acronyms were earnest for far too long. SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), BNC (Bayonet Neill–Concelman connector), ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) and EBSDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code), ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface), and ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), a DEC VAX (Digital Equipment Corporation Virtual Address eXtension); a shorthand language of science and technology. We spoke that language, and it wasn't much fun. That is, until TGV.

Two Guys and a VAX was a software company that built TCP/IP communication solutions for VAX/VMS computers. They provided the IP stack, NFS, FTP, network printing services, et al for our VAXcluster. They were technologists with a sense of humor. Apparently, the two guys had one VAX.

My friend Paul and I may have been the only two folks on the team who knew what TGV stood for, at least for a bit. It sparked our sense of humor. We started to develop our own language of three-letter acronyms (TLAs).

When we would grab a sandwich and head to the Boston Common to eat, we would agree to sit at the FAB (first available bench). On days we felt like pizza, we would head to the North End and sit in LGP (little guy park). Quick explanation: Christopher Columbus Park sits on Boston Harbor and separates the North End from the New England Aquarium. The statue of Columbus was not to scale. It was not a stature statue.

So, when Paul and I felt like pizza, we would sit at the FAB in LGP talking about TGV implementations and how we could best migrate from a 10Base5 to a layer 2 switching network and standardize on the OSI network model.

One final observation about an attribute of a good team -- a shared sense of humor. What we found funny (meet you on the Common at the FAB) was mostly a subculture of the team.. The humor provided the salve for the stress of the job. We laughed at our mistakes because we all knew each of us was doing our best, and then worked together to fix them. It seems that people that struggle and succeed together find a way to laugh together.

I laughed a lot with Paul, Jimmy, Vanessa, Kathy, Linda, Laurie, Maura, Kate, Ray, Fred, Howard, and our boss, Brian. I still do.

LOL -- Thanks TGV

Beavis and Butthead on SNL