My Olympia SM3 is in near perfect condition and it looks as though it has just been pulled off the showroom floor. I acquired this machine roughly a month ago, and the story behind it is interesting – and it may still be told sometime in the future.
But right now I’m calling this machine into action.
I just loaded this machine up with a nice, new silky ribbon. A ribbon installed to ready this machine for a purpose.
In a few brief hours this afternoon my world turned on its side. With the ring of a phone, and the click on an email; machinations started to operate that will eventually impact significantly on my work life and my future.
I’ve danced around some of the issues at work of late when I’ve spoken about them on my blog, as I haven’t been in a position to be able to go into detail without repercussions. But however today, things may have changed.
I haven’t been given the official word as yet, and I’m rather hanging onto a thin strand of hope that it may not be so bad. But I know that I wont be able to avoid the reality of the situation.
That reality comes this Wednesday at 11:15am, in the director’s office.
What is about to happen is a result of both circumstance and politics. The former is unfortunate. The latter is something I can stand up to be counted against. It is time for my type bars to get typing – and to document the impact that certain political decisions can have on people. I can’t change what is going to happen. But I can change how people think about what has happened. I may have been classified as a ‘non person’, but it doesn’t mean I intend to remain invisible.
My name is Scott, and this is my typewriter. We will not be silent.
The Filthy Platen 
Please do not be silent. You are not a 'non-person' — not here, not anywhere. — Rob
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This Olympia was designed and built by people who decided to shape their own destiny and not be dragged under by the tide of history. They took matters into their own hands. Most appropriate that you should pick such a machine for such a post. My thoughts are with you today.
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Give 'em hell,
Best of luck,
And always have a back-up plan.
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Machine of steel — backbone of steel — will of steel.
Tell it like it is.
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Stand up and make noise!
Best of luck.
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oh crap… I think I know where you're leading.
Identify the enemy, call him out on his bumbling idiocy; and be fearless.
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Thank you. It's been a pretty heavy week since I originally wrote this. It is an odd situation I find myself in, and unfortunately I find myself having to bite my tongue again for a little while longer.
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Thanks Robert. You know, I find this very inspirational. Now whenever I sit down at my SM3, I keep thinking about what you have wrote here.
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Well, I'm still thinking about falling on the backup plan to get some breathing space!
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I wish…. As the door opens, it seems to oddly close just as quickly. I'm going to have to bite my tongue for a while yet it seems.
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Thanks Bill. I'm going to have to adjust my tact for the time being.
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You're dead right there Rino. And oddly, it is what I intend to do. But it is going to be an interesting journey there yet.
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