R.I.P: January, 1996 -
My dedication to a faithful friend. Leviathan, you were my first... computer that is. Oh sure I'd used other computers before you (my family's Apple IIc and LeadingEdge 486DX2 comes to mind), but you were my first computer that I owned. After I convinced my parents that I needed a computer since I was a freshman comp-eng student at PSU, I purchased you from the back of a PC Magazine. There were no e-commerce websites back then!
$2499 for a P100 MHz, 16MB of RAM, and a 1.2 GB hard drive. To round it out it came with a CD-ROM and soundcard - non-standard in those days. And the best was a brand new release of Windows 95 -- which I promptly foobared by moving Windows' system files around ;-). You've grown a little since 1996. I added two NIC cards, another 4.0GB hard drive, and 90MB of RAM inside your case, but you were essentially the same machine from the day that I got you and until the end.
You've seen more operating systems (Slackware 3.0, Redhat 5.2, Win31, Win95, WinNT, etc..) that I can list. I learned to program, played video games (Doom, Quake,DukeNuke 'Em) and surf to Yahoo! along with the rest of the Internet for the very first time on you. You have been the backbone of my home network for the past five years keeping all the bad things of the Internet away as my firewall. And while other computers may have taken over more duties from you, you have always been the most reliable. Never once did your hard drive or power supply needed to be replaced!
You were even around before Nelie! You have seen every place that I have been in the past 10 years from PSU, back to my parents' house, to ShadySide-Pittsburgh, and finally my first home in Mundelein,IL. Its been an amazing ride.
But the end has come. I can hear your agony. Your insides are spinning, loudly. You're in pain. When I try to diagnose your problems, all you can spit out is 'bus error'. The experts say that you can be saved, but I know you. You need your rest. You've done your part.
I will miss you.
Leviathan, RIP.
