[time-nuts] Maintaining boatanchors (was Capacitor Failures)

[jimlux]

J. Forster wrote:
> True.
> 
> I've been in warehouses with hundreds of rows of shelves of Bankers Boxes
> filled with records. I doubt the stuff is even indexed.
> 

Yep.. You get to the end of your phase of the project. You've got file 
cabinets and shelves full of stuff, most junk, but some useful, as do 
your co-workers. The managers are anxious to "get those people off the 
charge number" and besides YOU want to get working on the next project. 
  So, into the boxes it goes, "Miscellaneous documentation, Box 1 of 
50", "Miscellaneous documentation, Box 2 of 50".

If something goes wrong, and you need to do it, you ask for a big 
conference room and have them bring back all 50 boxes, and THEN go 
hunting through it for the stuff you need.

We all start out saying, "This time, we're going to archive things in an 
orderly way, and do it as we go along, and it's going to be a exemplary 
situation" and pretty soon, as schedules get tight and budgets tighter, 
that good intention goes by the wayside.

(And besides, nobody ever gets an award or merit pay increase for "good 
filing".. you get it for "delivering the product on time", or worse yet 
"for finding that nugget in the 100 boxes of documentation")