The IT Skips!

[Michael Alexander]

In the 70's , opposite the Admin block, next to the guesthouse, in the parkinglot, was a treasure trove of good rubbish to be found in the skip.That skip was full of discarded office supplies, old pens and kokies, tippex and blank papers, and above all, computer punch cards.... thousands of them,

we took those cards home by the bucketfull, folded them in half and they made the most amazing building bricks, we built card towers that touched the roof in our lounge, only to have my hungover father stumble through our card city....

The skips behind the old Fruit and veg also used to be full of treasure.....

No we were not hungry kids, just kids that found our imaginations in every skip in town....

;D

[barb (Fry)]

Computer punch cards for programme running, early computers that needed whole rooms.
They were so weird, and not very useful for much but we sure did collect them.
Card towers etc would be destroyed by my Dad lobbing his lighter at them, after encouraging us to build them higher.  We fell for it every time and were quite indignant every time his aim was true.  Big kids and small kids.  Poor man living in a house with 5 females.

As mentioned elsewhere the carpentary shop skip, I have been mulling it over and the vision of it came to me today, a bin with a lid like a coal storage bin just inside the gate.   

[Michael Alexander]

Thanks Barbara, for years (decades) I thought it was just my brothers and I that were into Punchcard structures, unbeknown to us , just 4 alleyways away, the Frys' where building towers.... Damn, I wonder what the record was..... stooooopid fathers , always ruining things!

:D

[barb (Fry)]

Agh well its like the power of 100,
it only takes one monkey to use a stone to open the melon and soon they're all doing it.
somethink like that.
 

[bobbysmith]

barbara was the bin you talking about ,the same bin that collected all the saw dust and wood shavings,you could open the lid and grab handfulls of that stuff and shower your mates with it,gave you sticky hands from the wood glue,smelt wonderfull.

[barb (Fry)]

ja boet it certainly was and i can smell it now, thanks for that memory, bobby.

[barb (Fry)]

Michael,
4 alleyways ? as in back wards towards 1st ave. Or sideways cos i can't remember too many alleys down the next block .....towards gm house.

[Michael Alexander]

We, the professional punchcard society, lived at E7-1st Ave, there were exactly 4 alleys between our houses....

;)

[Michael Alexander]

how many of you stole the empty cooldrink bottles at the back of the Veg market and then took them back to return them for the deposit......?

[Rhona]

You promised you wouldn't tell..........I mean.........uhm!..........you made me do it....... 

[Michael Alexander]

...and you still owe me my cut for the deposit money..... 

[Rhona]

Well - you know where I am if you want to come and get it......

[Michael Alexander]

Remind me again, how much money it is again?

[Rhona]

Okay - I've just broken the piggy bank and spilled all the coins out in front of me.........and it comes to the grand total of R2.10..........a small fortune in the day, so if we divide that by 6 - I make out you are owed 35c

[Michael Alexander]

Wow ! 35cents.... thats  70 Wilson toffeeeeeee's from the 70's...Oh Whatever shall I do?