Was My Grandpa an SRE Ahead of His Time?

I am absolutely astounded. I found some cassette tapes from the 1980s in my family home after my mother died. The tapes were cryptically labeled in my Grandpa Norm’s handwriting: “Memories and Family Facts”.

I couldn’t bring myself to throw them out, but I didn’t know how I was going to get the audio off those tapes in 2021 in Ireland (a pandemic on and no tape deck in sight). Fast forward (no pun intended) to 2022.

I visited my aunt, uncle, & cousins this weekend in suburban Washington, D.C. I learned that my cousin had an old tape deck so I brought the tapes with me. What we found was pure gold! My Grandpa’s voice streamed out of the player and it was like traveling back in time.

It took a bit of MacGyvering to get a workable set-up to capture the audio. I connected the tape deck to the clock radio in my hotel and then used the recorder app on my Android phone to capture the audio and transcript.

Let me say a few words about my Grandfather. He was a member of the “Greatest Generation” and was born in 1917. He was definitely an early adopter of technology. My Grandpa bought a Vic-20 and then a Commodore 64 back in the 80s before building his own computer.

Grandpa Norm died in 1991 so didn’t have a chance to use a smartphone or the internet (beyond dialing up on a really slow modem). If he were alive today, I think he’d be active on social media. I could imagine some of his opinionated rants going viral, to tell the truth.

I think he would actually be delighted to be remembered by “The Future” and for the world to hear his voice more than 30 years after his death and 40 years after he had put his memories on an audio cassette in a recording set-up that he rigged himself.

I actually found evidence that my Grandpa had a true SRE mindset in this audio clip which you can read or listen to.

Automating changing the record on an old victrola? Now that’s busting toil in the 1920s!

My Grandpa Norm recorded that clip in 1983. What a blast from the past and how amazing to have the gift of technology to be able to rewind nearly 40 years and bring his voice into the present.

Finally, how amazing is it that I was able to create a video homage to his legacy in less than 15 minutes using an app on my phone?! I am definitely Norm’s granddaughter!