ref: cde05f4187aed1c77b8efb57ee5dabe8d5d5106d
dir: /troff/002.ms/
\" This master file produces text suitable for a 6"x9" paperback. .ds CH \" turn off page numbering (top) .B .nr HM 1i \" header margin .nr FM 1i \" footer margin .nr LL 4.25i \" line length .pl 9i \" page length .po .87i \" page offset (from left) .nr PS 8 \" font point size \" .kern \" pairwise kerning (groff only) .hy 14 \" automatic hyphenation \" .nr VS 24 \" double space .fp 1 R GA \" URW Garamond .fp 2 I GI .fp 3 B GM .fp 4 BI GMI .fp 5 CW H \" Helvetica .LP \& .nr % 11 \ " start with this page number .ds CF [%] \" first numbered page (bottom) .ps 10 .ce .B ELECTIVE AFFINITIES \& .ps 8 tags: 1961, mars2, maude_mold, spiro_mold .R .PP .ps 10 9 August. .PP .ps 10 "Fuck, Mom!" .PP .ps 10 Spiro Mold, age seven. .PP .ps 10 "Jesus Christ!" he soon added. His cry reverberated in the strings of the family's upright piano, untouched by slender hands these past few weeks. .PP .ps 10 "There is no Jesus Christ," scolded Maude Mold. "Figure it out." .PP .ps 10 Spiro was seated at the kitchen table, upon which had been helpfully mounted various bits of sinister looking hardware, most of which probably weighed more than he did. A CRT, a beige rectangular box, and a heavy, mechanical keyboard, each resplendent in its own metal casing. The woman had called it a computer. Spiro remained incredulous. The power requirements alone would have dwarfed that of his RF rig, which was already ridiculous. And the shielding seemed dubious. What was he supposed to do with this thing? .PP .ps 10 "You're gonna need to know all about this kind of stuff if you want to get a job someday," Maude continued. .PP .ps 10 Ah. .PP .ps 10 "But, I don't \fIwant\fR to get a job someday," Spiro stated the obvious. Redundantly. Again. \fI"You're\fR always gone. \fIYou're\fR never happy. \fIYou\fR have no idea who \fII\fR am." .PP .ps 10 She allowed as much. .PP .ps 10 "Furthermore, you don't make enough money to convince yourself any of this is worthwhile. You haven't joined the search for a new asset class, nor have you innovated a new commodity at virtually zero cost. You're surviving, not living, no matter what the stats say. Lacking any sense of ambition, your actions are a net drag on the economy. I don't suppose this crude device has fixed any of that." .PP .ps 10 Again, she couldn't argue. .PP .ps 10 "But you're going to keep doing it anyway," he said. "Going to work, coming home. Turning on the computer. Hypocritically micromanaging \fImy\fR future at the expense of straightening out your own life." .PP .ps 10 "Yes," she said. .PP .ps 10 Spiro turned on the machine. .PP .ps 10 The bootloader crashed.