Friday Funny Bone…
August 1, 2025For test programmers and test technicians all over, all work and no fun can make days become long. Alas, one of our own court jesters fancies himself adept at the art of the silver tongue and purveyor of the King’s English. Here are his musing on days of valor and AWTS lore:
The Yellow Sentinel and the Restoration of Order
Within the vaulted arches of the Great Hall of Elemental Diagnostics, where the air hums with residual charge and ancient schematics hang like sacred tapestries, there resides a box-unassuming in shape, yet clad in a resplendent coat of yellow, the heraldic color of vigilance, brilliance, and arcane insight. This device, known among the sworn Order of Technicians as the AWTS-the Arcane Wire Test Sanctum-is spoken of in hushed reverence. Though born of hands and tools, it is said to be guided by forces no mortal fully grasps. Theories abound-some claim it houses a bound spirit of Logic, others whisper of a long-forgotten guild who distilled thunder and truth into silicon. Whatever the origin, the result is the same: when the AWTS is awakened, when the sigils of Ground and Power are placed in harmony, the yellow sentinel begins its quiet vigil.
Its glowing runes blink not in error but in revelation, as if deciphering the soul of very wire it touches. It sees with eyes unseen, exposing fractures no scope could catch, laying bare shorted betrayals and severed oaths in copper. It utters no commands, yet its judgments are final. Through this sacred rite of inspection, it restores the balance of circuits and absolves the looms of their transgressions. And thus, by its mysterious verdicts, good and noble aviators may once more ascend upon their mechanical Pegasi, those iron-winged steeds of thunder, to chart the firmament in peace-secure in the knowledge that beneath them lies order, and behind them, the yellow guardian watches still.
Tony Cole – Programmer Extraordinaire
