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From: bandy@lll-crg.ARpA (Andrew Scott Beals)
Newsgroups: net.jokes
Subject: poem found in Penn's Moore School sometime around 16 Nov 82
Message-ID: <902@lll-crg.ARpA>
Date: Mon, 7-Oct-85 21:01:26 EDT
Article-I.D.: lll-crg.902
Posted: Mon Oct  7 21:01:26 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 9-Oct-85 06:44:27 EDT
Organization: Computation Research Group, Lawrence Livermore Labs
Lines: 38
Keywords: outdated


	Ode to a Programmer

"No program is perfect,"
    They said with a shrug,
"The client is happy-
    What's one little bug?"
But he was determined;
    The others went home.
He dug out the flowcharts
    Deserted, alone.
Night passed into morning
    The room became cluttered
With core dumps and punch cards
    "I'm close" he would mutter
Chain smoking, cold coffee,
    Logic Deduction
"I've got it!" he cried out,
    "Just change one instruction!"
Then change two, then three more
    As year followed year
And strangers would comment
    "Is that guy still here?"
He died at the console
    Of hunger and thirst
Next day he was buried
    Face down, 9-edge first
His wife through her crying
    Accepted his fate - 
"He's not really gone,
    He's just working late!"
-- 
Wir fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der autobahn/vor uns liegt ein weites tal
die sonne scheint mit glitzerstrahl/die fahrbahn ist ein graues band
weisse streifen gruener rand/jetzt schalten wir das radio an
aus dem lautsprecher klingt es dann/wir fahr'n auf der autobahn...

andy beals, bandy@lll-crg.arpa, {seismo,sun,gymble,mordor,dual}!lll-crg!bandy