Articles with computer history museum

12 Days (pt. 3/12)

day_3
Cooking in the 1960s @ Computer History Museum

 

Ian and Lila entered the Computer History Museum cautiously and watched their reflections on the glass surfaces to see if anyone followed them into the building. From what they could see, they were alone.

After paying the admission fees, Lila and Ian meandered their way over to a series of laptops set up in the entrance hall leading to the main exhibit. Volunteers wearing nametags sat beside the computers, available to assist visitors with the Hour of Code event taking place that day.

Lila seated herself in front of one of the computers on display and smiled broadly at the older female volunteer sitting across from her. “Great day to try coding, eh?”

The woman returned her smile. “Would you like to try one of the programs?”

Lila scanned the menu interface on the computer screen. “Maybe Python,” she replied, suggesting one of the many programming languages.

“By the way,” Lila mentioned offhandedly while navigating the program’s software, “a friend of mine was supposed to leave a note for me. Did anyone leave something for Lila?”

The woman’s face wrinkled up and she turned to the elderly man sitting next to her. “Do you have a note for the young lady? Lila, right?” she confirmed, asking Lila once more.

The man looked thoughtful. “I believe so.” Creakily he stood and walked to a small round table that stood apart from the others. Picking up a manila envelope, he walked slowly back to Lila and held out the envelope to her.

Lila smiled her thanks and quickly finished the short programming assignment on the computer. Ian rose from his seat beside her and together they walked toward the first exhibits. As soon as they descended a set of stairs that placed them out of view of the hall tables, Lila tore into the envelope. On it was written:

GO TO THE KITCHEN COMPUTER

Lila looked puzzled. “Kitchen computers?” She turned in a slow circle and seeing nothing that fit that description, tugged on Ian’s hand and pulled him along with her through the exhibit, following the direction of the arrows painted on the floor.

They finally reached a section representing computer inventions from the 1960s. Lila stopped stock still, pointing toward a picture of a woman standing next to a computer embedded into a kitchen counter. “That’s it,” she said in a hushed voice to Ian.

Feigning intense interest in the kitchen setup, Lila watched the reflections on the glass case while Ian strolled over to examine a nearby exhibit. Together they waited.

Within a few minutes Lila felt someone bump her arm as she leaned in to look at the exhibit. Quickly she looked up, however it was only in time to see the silhouette of a person vanish around the corner. She immediately turned to Ian and motioned toward the route the individual took. Ian nearly ran around the corner following the lead, but soon appeared again. He shook his head in answer to her questioning look.

12 Days (pt. 2/12)

upAbove
“Up above the world so high…”

 

Lila sat there for several minutes thinking about this new information. Pearson continued to purr and knead his claws on her leg.

“Ouch,” she exclaimed as his claws cut through the material in her pants to the skin underneath. Carefully dislodging the cat, she set him gently on the floor.

The time until Ian arrived home passed quickly. Lila settled into the couch to read a research article that she was co-writing with a friend of hers to boost their academic street cred. Hearing the door creak open, she set aside her laptop and petted Pearson, who had nestled in next to her leg.

“Hey,” Ian greeted her tiredly.

“Hey, yourself,” Lila replied. She hoisted herself up off the couch and followed him into the bedroom, where she sprawled on the bed to watch him change out of his work clothes and into his workout gear.

“So how did your day go?” Lila asked casually.

“It was okay,” Ian said dismissively. “Nothing special. How about yours? Did you get your paper proofread?”

“Not quite. Still working on it.” Plucking at the quilt cover, Lila inquired nonchalantly, “When did you see that drone demo last month? Was it the 23rd?”

“I think so,” he said sitting on the bed beside to lace up his running shoes. “Why?” He turned to look at her.

Lila announced bluntly, “Someone got murdered that day.”

That got Ian’s full attention. “What do you mean?” His eyes sharpened on her.

“The guy visiting from HQ, Todd Regelmeister. There was an explosion during the exhibition that apparently killed him.”

“It’s tragic,” Ian paused. “But that doesn’t mean it was murder.”

“I got this in the mail.” Lila passed over the paper that she had brought in with her.

Ian studied it carefully and handed it back to her. “Who do you think sent it?”

“I don’t know, but it seems to have something to do with that project you were working at the time.”

“You know I can’t talk about that,” Ian remonstrated.

She held up her hand in a stop gesture. “I know, I know. I’m just saying, maybe you can think of someone who may have wanted to stop that project or keep that company from moving forward with its design.”

“There are lots of people who would fit that bill,” Ian said looking pensive. “Every competitor they had would’ve killed…” His voiced trailed off. “I see what you mean. I’ll give it some thought.”

The doorbell rang at that moment and Ian rose up to answer it. The FedEx employee handed him a standard paperboard express envelope and pushed the signature pad at Ian. Before signing his name, Ian examined the address on the envelope.

He closed the door and walked back into the bedroom where he sat beside Lila. Opening the envelope quickly, he fished out a single sheet of paper and read aloud the writing on it:

San Jose. Computer History Museum. Hour of Code.

Ian looked at his watch. “That’s tomorrow.” He quickly pulled up the details on his Smartphone. “How about a trip to San Jose this weekend?”

“Sweet.” Lila perked up. “I’ll bring my article and edit on the way.”

“Looks like we’re in for a December surprise,” Ian said, smiling slightly.

Lila leaned in and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Always an adventure.”

“Pack your bag and catch a few hours of sleep before we head out,” he suggested.

Lila reached for her mobile phone, which sat on the bedside table. “I’ll call Josie,” she said referring to the cat sitter, “ since I’m figuring we’ll be gone at least through Sunday.”

Ian took Lila’s hand in his. “How about making an early anniversary weekend of it? We can stop in Monterey on the way back.”

“Nice idea.” Lila returned his smile. “Never a dull moment with you.”