Chapter 42

SANDY — Wednesday, March 14, 1962

What a busy week it had been! Monday after work, Mom and I had gone over to the old house to clean out the refrigerator and the kitchen and make sure we had everything ready for the movers to pack. Yesterday, while Mom was at her lawyer's office for the closing on the house, I had to leave work after lunch to supervise the packing of everything that was going to be moved to Washington. I was glad that this move was being paid for by IBM! Today I left work shortly after lunch for the drive over to Owego. As I drove through the Shawangunks after I had crossed the bridge, I remembered the time, almost three years back now, when I had first driven to Poughkeepsie from Ithaca. Today I was retracing this route for most of my trip.

Since then, parts of Route 17 had been improved, and there were several spots where there was serious construction, but a lot of the road was still only two lanes as it wound through the mountains, along a small stream for a while, and a few small towns. Much of the country was extremely sparsely populated, and there were stretches on the road where there weren't any radio stations that I could listen to, although I still heard Patsy Cline singing 'I Fall to Pieces' several times. Finally I got to Binghamton and, following the directions that I had been given, crossed the river and continued west on the Vestal Parkway, where I had a reservation at the Royal Coachman motel. It was almost six o'clock when I checked in, so after I had unpacked and hung up my clothes, I picked up the phone in the room and used my telephone credit card to call Steve.

"Hi, Tigger, how are you?"

"Sandy, love! I miss you already! Are you in Owego?"

"I miss you too, dearest. I'm almost at Owego; I'm staying in a nice motel about 15 miles from the lab; it was strongly recommended that I not try to stay in Owego, although there is what's supposed to be an excellent restaurant — Berry's — there. The Red Lion is next door to my motel, and that's also supposed to be very good. Since I'm on expenses, I might as well eat well while I'm here, even if you aren't here with me."

"When are you going to Ithaca?"

"Friday, when I get done at the lab here. It's a little bit over an hour from the lab to Mary's house; I'll call you again when I get there."

"What's the number at the motel? I may just decide to give you a wakeup call tomorrow or Friday morning."

I gave him the number, told him what would be a good time to call, and we talked for a few more minutes. When we got done, I freshened up and then walked next door to the Red Lion, where I had a delicious steak and washed it down with a large mug of ale. I was back in my room by nine, crawled into bed, and read a few chapters of my book, an epic novel about Hawaii by James Michener, before I yawned and realized that it was time to turn out the light and try to sleep.

Friday, March 16, 1962

The next two days went by quickly. When I got to the lab yesterday and signed in, Morris Mort appeared and asked me if I wanted coffee. I had just finished breakfast at the motel, but agreed that another cup would be nice to carry me through the morning. After a quick stop in the cafeteria, we went on to a small conference room. He said, "We'll be meeting here today and tomorrow; basically, we need to pick your brains about microprogramming and what you know about the NPL instruction set. Most of the engineers in my department will be coming in shortly, and also Mark Martel from FSD Bethesda; I think that you are going to be working with him soon."

"Yes, I'm getting married in three weeks, and after that, I'll be working in his group in Bethesda. But, I'd also like to pick your brains while I'm here; I understand quite a bit about designing for a standard computer that lives in a climate controlled glass house, but designing for the space environment is new to me. I'd really like to learn a little bit about the challenges and constraints you face."

"Fair enough. Let's plan to cover that tomorrow morning, and I'll make sure that the right people are here then. Mark also knows a lot about this."

Just then a group of five engineers came into the room. Morris made the introductions, but before we could get started, the phone rang. Morris answered it, listened for a few minutes, and said before he hung up, "OK, but make sure that from now on, he's approved for access to this facility with his Bethesda badge."

"Please excuse me for a few minutes. I need to go down to reception to escort Mark to this room."

He left, and for a few minutes, nobody spoke, until I took the bull by the horns and started asking questions about the performance objectives for their system. I quickly learned that, similar to NPL, they planned a line of compatible machines sharing a common architecture that would be heavily based on the NPL. I hadn't realized that more than one model was planned, but said, "OK, we'll have to keep that in mind. Right now, let's see what you think your high end machine should look like, and what you need in the way of performance."

Before anyone had a chance to answer, Morris and Mark walked into the room. Mark said to me, "Good to see you here, Sandy. We're all looking forward to your joining our group next month, and it's good that you are getting a head start. Morris told me that you were going to be talking about the NPL architecture and microprogramming, and specifically about how it helps with the instruction set, is that right?"

"Yes, but I also want to hear from these people about the differences between designing a computer that lives in a data center, and one that lives in space."

"Well, I'm interested to hear what they have to say, also. There's a thick NASA report addressing some of the issues and requirements. Morris has a copy, and we have one back in Bethesda.

"Before you arrived, we were just starting a discussion on the performance objectives for the high end machine. I think it will be useful background information, and it will help me when I get to presenting some of my material. If that's OK with everyone, I'd like to spend maybe an hour on that, and then, after a break, I'll start in on microprogramming."

The rest of the day went quickly as I explained the concepts of microprogramming and illustrated with some examples from the NPL instruction set. We lost track of time, and it was getting close to six when we broke up. I apologized to everyone for the late hour, and said that I'd make up for it by ending early the next day; that would let me get to Ithaca in plenty of time for dinner with Mary.

Mark had mentioned a great restaurant in Owego, and I had made a reservation by phone during the lunch break. I asked him if he was going to join me, but he said, "No, I'm leaving by three and getting a flight back to Washington tonight."

I drove directly from the lab to Berry's, in downtown Owego. I parked and got out of my car. I heard a voice from behind me calling, "Sandy? Is that really you?"

I turned, and saw Sue and Jim Lampson coming down the sidewalk behind me. I hadn't seen her since they got married the summer before my senior year, although we'd exchanged Christmas cards since then.

"Sue! What in the world are you doing here?"

We hugged, and she replied, "Tomorrow is my parent's 25^th wedding anniversary. We came down early and are staying in a motel tonight until we surprise them in the morning!"

"Are you eating here? I have a reservation, but let's see if we can get a table together."

Soon we were seated at a comfortable table and started catching up with what had been going on in our lives since Syracuse. I didn't get more than two words out before Sue saw my ring and cried out, "You're engaged!"

"Yes, and I'm getting married in three weeks! It's a very small wedding, with just family and only a very few friends."

Jim said, "Congratulations. This calls for a bottle of champagne!"

While he ordered the champagne, Sue asked me, "Who is he, and how did you meet him?"

"His name is Steve McCall. He was in Navy ROTC at MIT, and they assigned him to work, essentially as a civilian employee, at a supersecret agency in Washington. They sent him to IBM in Poughkeepsie for a class on the Stretch supercomputer that I had been working on. We got to know each other slightly at the class, and then his agency contracted with IBM for some special hardware and we were working together on that. He proposed in October, and I'll be moving to Washington and transferring to an IBM office there, working on the NASA space program. That's why I'm here today; I've been meeting with some engineers at the IBM lab down the road."

"That's so exciting! What do you do besides talk about computers?"

"Actually, he can't talk much about his work. We like hiking, we both like to cook, and we've been reading a lot of books."

Just then the champagne arrived and was poured. Sue offered the toast, "Sandy, dear, I hope you are every bit as happy as we are!"

Jim gave her a tender look, and she squeezed his hand for a moment. We sipped the wine for a few moments, and then she then rose, saying, "If I don't get to the bathroom soon, there's going to be a flood!"

I got out of my chair and joined her on the trek to the ladies room. Once inside, I said, "You were so right!"

"How so?"

"Remember when I told you, back in my freshman year, that I didn't see what all the fuss about sex was about? You said that with the right guy it was really good. Steve is definitely the right guy for me!"

"Oh Sandy, I'm so glad for you."

We finished peeing and after a quick wash, went back to the table. The menus had appeared while we were gone. I saw Tournedos Rossini listed, and said, "Oh, this is wonderful! Steve and I had it in Washington, to celebrate the wonderful job offer I got from IBM to work on the space program. They have a small technical group and really needed someone with some computer design experience."

We all ordered the Tournedos, and it was my turn to catch up with their lives since I'd seen them last at their wedding. Jim was doing very well at Xerox, and was involved in the early design planning for a new desktop copier that was still at least a year off. Sue was fascinated by her work as a chemist, and had already published one paper in a learned journal. She said, "We decided that we would wait another few years before starting a family, and then I still want to keep working. Do you and Steve have any plans in that regard?"

"Well, it's not going to happen. He had a bad case of mumps in college, and they told him that he would be shooting blanks for the rest of his life. That's fine with me, since I really value my work as an engineer. Poor Steve, when he proposed, he had been afraid that I would turn him down because I wanted a family. We are lucky that my sister, who lives in Ithaca, has two lovely children and we can be aunt and uncle to them."

Our dinners arrived, and we dug in. The beef was even better than what Steve and I had at the Willard, and Sue and Jim were very enthusiastic about it. She said, "I've known about this place for a few years, and my parents come over from Elmira several times each year."