July 12, 2025
Today would have been my 49th anniversary at the hospital if
I had not retired — but all things worked out for the best.
To most people, this may look like an ordinary metal ruler.
But to us COBOL 74 programmers, it was one of the most important tools on our
desks.
The little numbers across the top told us exactly how many
characters would fit on each line. Our printers could handle up to 132
characters per line — those big green-and-white sheets with holes down each
side. Writing reports on that paper wasn’t too bad, but when we had to design
pre-printed forms, that ruler became our best friend.
Back then, every single instruction had to be written by
hand: where to start each character, how long each line would be, exactly where
everything would fall. I enjoyed sitting at my desk, ruler in hand, carefully
laying out each form or report.
I’m not even sure if many shops still use COBOL these days.
But I think if I sat down today, it wouldn’t take long before I could write a
report or update a database again.
Things have changed so much since I retired 12 years ago. By
then, I was using Crystal Reports — faster, drag-and-drop, but I still needed
that old ruler for the pre-printed forms.
There are times I miss being there, the challenges and the
friendships. Then again, I know I’m a bit of an old dinosaur now. Like this
ruler, my time has come and gone… but oh, what a good run it was.
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