Well the course was interesting. While I did do quite well with the Z80 assembler, this was quite different. Big machine with real multitasking OS, the virtual memory (as in "you got all of 4G at your disposal wherever you want; if you want to shoot some location which doesn't physically exist, we'll move a bit of the real memory there just in time", not calling the swap file "virtual memory", which became fashionable few years later).
There was a guy who looked nothing like a programmer - slightly bald, bespectacled, suited, kept to himself. Face of an accountant or bank clerk. But during the screen IO exercise his screen was a real light show, albeit in green. It kept flashing, dancing, perhaps even beeping. A real geek in sheep's skin, surname Nastran (means perverse).
Apart from getting to know the innards of the OS, the best part was the camaraderie among the attendees - programmers back then were one big gang. My roommate was a guy from INA (croatian oil); my best friend for the duration was one girl from Sremska Mitrovica.
The classrooms were next to the hotel; there was a door to connect the halls, on 2nd floor only, the other floors being shorter and shorter as you go up. There was a big pot with a 2m tall ficus in the middle of the hall connecting the upstairs classrooms. There were ashtrays around, but during breaks (large turkish coffee and squeezed orange juice twice a day!) my group somehow gathered around the plant and used the pot as an ashtray. There were dozens of cigarette butts and a layer of ash in it already, from previous courses. The windows were kind of sufficient, but I don't see how the plant got enough light. Regardless, it was thriving.
On tuesday or so I got a phone call in the room - Lidija called about something I set during that all-nighter the other day. I did leave instructions, but they got lost or not passed to everybody or not quite understood. I think it was something about the name of the virtual directory for one of the member oours, or I didn't give them enough rights. From her first two sentences I remembered what happened and gave exact instructions how to solve it. Much later, when she was already gone, I heard that she was very impressed and started taking me seriously... and probably thinking she'd be leaving the shop in good hands if she left. Which she soon did.
On friday noon everybody leaves, so the comrades' evening (a custom not only here but in many places in SFRY) is always held on thursday evening. Big dinner and lots of local wine, from ceramic jugs. Lesson taken: from the first jug, drink as much as you can, it's good. From the second, sip a bit just to maintain the mood. Leave the third and later to your enemies, it's sour and gives you a solid headache.
16-V-2017 - 1-VIII-2025