By: Bill Jones, Senior Solution Architect
In 1978, the world was different. Fewer than 10% of US households had microwave ovens. Fewer than 40% had dishwashers. Personal computers in the home were almost non-existent. The Oakland Raiders were ranked second in the AFC West. (In 1982, they broke my heart and moved to LA). In 1979, VisiCalc (the first spreadsheet program for personal computers) would release on the Apple II, and its popularity would help drive the personal computer revolution.
Also in 1978, Douglas Adams penned a little radio play called “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” That radio play spawned a series of books, a vinyl recording, a TV show, a computer game, a movie, and more. I read the book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, in middle school, and it changed my world. It taught me the beautiful humor that can be created with a simple twist of words. It taught me that being odd was okay. More than that, it taught me that technology and the future could be amazing!
Douglas Adams wrote other works besides The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, and I have read many of them, but that original series is still my favorite. Like many people, that series of books, its characters, and their hope (and despair) about the universe helped shape my formative years.
To celebrate Mr. Adams’ works and his impact on the world, many of his fans celebrate Towel Day on 25 May each year — two weeks after the anniversary of his death. “Why Towel Day?” you might ask. Because every galactic hitchhiker knows that…
“A towel… is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you— daft as a brush, but very very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.”
— Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (p. 19). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
And so, to celebrate Towel Day 2017, fill out the form below and we will swing by and drop off your towel.
Do you know where your towel is? Happy Towel Day!
For more information on Towel Day, please visit http://towelday.org/.