The Silverlake Tapes

Last September local Napa County law enforcement officials discovered a 7000-plant marijuana farm in the remote hills north of St. Helena, CA. The pot farm had been spotted by officials during a helicopter patrol. Later, officials located the farm on the grounds of Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park and two suspects were caught, while another two evaded capture. This story was reported in the St. Helena Star on September 13th, 2007 in an article entitled ” Upvalley Pot Farm Eradicated.”The site of the makeshift farm was, evidently, quite chaotic. The farmers left behind at least seven separate gardens under a thick canopy of manzanita, as well as separate drying facilities to ready the plants for transport. The growers had also tapped into a spring for their irrigation system. They’d been living in a squalid campground, with trash and discarded food strewn on the ground and clothing hung as scarecrows to fend off wild animals. A book on how to learn English was found as well.

Unreported Items Found.

Unreported in the Star article were the results of the thorough sweep of the area conducted by local authorities. Among the items found were a 9mm handgun, various scrap pieces of computer carbon paper, and the wreck of an old Ford station wagon that was overgrown in a dry creek bed. California Environmental Protection Agents officials were called to arrange for the removal of the car from the creek. The car was completely engulfed by vines and trees growing throughout its interior. When exhumed. officials went through the car looking for information about the owner, but the car had deteriorated to the point that it was impossible to identify anything other than the make and the approximate year of manufacture. In the back of the of the car they discovered collapsed boxes containing IBM circuit boards and computer mice (OS/2 two button variety). And beneath those boxes, shoved to the front, lay an ancient IBM computer.

As part of standard operating procedure, EPA had to notify Department of Homeland Security officials, who arrived at EPA headquarters and identified the computer as an early AS/400 Model B10. Officials examined the hardware and determined there was no national security threat, and EPA released the computer back to local Napa County officials. The story would have ended there except that, when the county attempted to discard the AS/400 they found out that it was considered hazardous waste, and that the cost of junking the rusted equipment was a fairly significant price. So they began looking for other ways to “dispose” of it. Rumor of this hazardous AS/400 reached my ears through a friend who once worked for the county planning commission. He knew that I had experience with old IBM equipment and wondered if I’d take a look at it. I must admit, my curiousity was peaked and my friend dragged it to my home up in the hills. The external parts of the machine were indeed a mess. However, when I found an appropriate 5250 monitor and power cord and plugged it in, and gingerly pressed the button, it actually started to IPL. Imagine that! Goodness knows how long it had lain in that creek bed, or how many winters it had been flooded. Over the next several days I delved into the files that were still on the system and discovered a library entitled “Silverlake Tapes”. In delving deeper, I discovered a set of BBS-like files that seemed to be a narrative of some sort. The more I read, the more I was convinced that they represented someone’s fantasy about the AS/400, describing a person by the name of Richard Mirth, and two IBM employees named George and Betty. So far, I’ve decoded about 10 pages of this archive, and I’ll let you know in future posts where you can read the archive.