I was writing some code, and thought I’d test out a bit of syntax. On the mainframe, everyone has their own personal “library” which is where I go to test code - I have a program called “SKELETON” which I drop stuff into in order to see how it works.

Anyway, I wanted to see how the VAL function handled a string with spaces in it - hoping that it wouldn’t choke on it (well, technically I was testing a related function, but for illustrative purposes, assume you know what I’m talking about….)

So, I log on to my library, and type “E SKELETON” - what do I see, but the last piece of code that I saved in SKELETON tests out exactly what I want to test. I run it, get confirmation that it works the way I want, and leave it at that.

Here comes the creepy part. I was curious to see when I’d done that piece of code, so I executed a command “L DIR” which shows the last saved date, and last compiled date.

I last compiled that code December 4, 2002 at 4:26. Almost exactly a year ago (within 15 minutes)

Very very creepy.

I expect Rod Serling to be dropping by any second with the white jacket with extra long sleeves just for me.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Hello, I’m Leonard Nimoy. The following tale of alien encounters is true. And by true, I mean false. It’s all lies. But they’re entertaining lies, and in the end, isn’t that the real truth? And the answer is no.” - Leonard Nimoy