I started work at Ontario Hydro in 1980. I was writing reports and doing analysis for nuclear waste disposal and an underground nuclear plant. I was a professional engineer with my Masters in Rock Mechanics.
At the time we did all our computer work on a Unisys mainframe. Our programs and input records were on punch cards and we carried them around in boxes. The size of the program was limited by what we could carry upstairs. For each run, we would trudge upstairs and load the punch cards in a reader. For any changes, we went to a punch card typewriter. We marked our decks with lines in case of the horrible situation of 'dropping the cards'. Never happened to me.
We got our output from the line printer, which was an inch thick, and we were only looking for one line. We stacked the paper in giant walls around our desk. In the new building they were very generous with space, with 10x12 cubicles and lots of lounges.
The smokers smoked at their desk, and we had a lot of garbage can fires. For the building, they had discovered the advantage of recirculated air, and everybody was sick all the time. Such fun. I was a wild bachelor and had an apartment quite close, where I went for my lunch and snooze every day.
The place was packed with paper. We were building Darlington at the time, and there were whole floors dedicated to drafts-people making huge drawings.
I was the bright young computer person for the section, and I wanted a terminal, a fabulous green-screen vt-100. I could run programs without a deck! Some of the older guys gave up running programs since they couldn't handle the new technology. :)
--to be continued.
2 comments:
At hydro were you at University Ave.
Yes, it was brand new then, at 700 University. When hydro left they put in all sorts of new ventilation.
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