A summary for those that haven’t been keeping up with this series:
I found a number of 5.25″ disks at a thrift store a number of years ago (sometime in the late 1990s to the best of my recollection). I finally got around to acquiring a 5.25″ disk drive and extracting the contents a several years back. Since then, I have been occasionally posting the content here.
Based on the contents, most or all of these disks were apparently once owned by someone named Connie who used to run the “Close Encounters” Special Interest Group (SIG) on Delphi in the mid 1980s.
The following description of this SIG was found in a document on one of the disks: “This SIG, known as ‘Close Encounters’, is a forum for the discussion of relationships that develop via computer services like the Source, CompuServe, and Delphi. Our primary emphasis is on the sexual aspects of those relationships.”
This service was text based and was accessed via a modem and whatever terminal program you had available for your computer to dial in with. Many of these disks have forum messages, e-mails and chat session logs. All of this is pre-internet stuff and I am not aware of any archives in existence today that contain what was on Delphi in the 1980s.
This post includes the contents of STRANGE.DOC. This is a chat log that was forwarded in an e-mail. The e-mail is dated January 24th, 1985 and the chat log was from the previous night. This seems to be a bit of an argument regarding a love triangle…really more of a rectangle. I don’t know who this Marti person was but they must have been pretty damned special.
Periodically, you can see ‘The Stranger’ (this is his log) issuing a ‘/w’ command. This seems to bring up a list of ongoing chats and who is in them. Just an interesting little tidbit that illustrates some of how Delphi worked back in the day.
=-=
STRANGE.DOC
=-=
—
READ 10
MAIL #1
From: THESTRANGER 24-JAN-1985 07:54
To: CABUYS,PRINCESS
Subj: Final Confrence
Connie and Peg,
This is a transcript of ta confrence session held betwee
n myself
and BZ last night. I am sending it to Connie because she asked
for it
and I am sending it to you Peg as a friend. I would like both
of you
to know that I lost Marti last
night because of this confrence and I would appreciate it very
much if
it never gets mentioned to either Ben or Marti that I have sent
you the
transcript. Also i would like to announce that I will no longe
r be
using any of the online services. They have been good for me i
n some
ways, but in others they have caused me a lot of pain. Hugs to
you both
and thank you for your secrecy in advance.
John
*****************************
Transcript Follows:
*****************************
.The Stranger> Well, if your so "happily" married, why couldn't
you leave her alone?
.ben> before i answer that, may i ask you a few questions about
the way you see...
.ben> marriage. it would help me to answer your question more
fully.
.The Stranger> Well, if you would have asked me a year ago if I
would fool around with a married woman I would have said no
.ben> but i don't ask you a year ago. i ask you now.
.The Stranger> in general, no I would not
.ben> in general neither would i!!!!!!
.ben> but when you met marti, the strong emotions made what see
med wrong in general..
.ben> seem right in this case. isn't that true? well if tha
t happened to you..
.ben> why do you find it so hard to believe that it happened to
me.
.The Stranger> I'm not saying I find it hard to believe....I'm
just saying that you seem to have no consideration for a relati
onship...
.The Stranger> that started long before you met her.
.ben> but that is where i find it hard to understand how you ar
e thinking. if you..
.ben> had gotten there first, i might see some sense in what yo
u are saying......
.ben> but you didn't get there first. al got there first. an
d when you met...
.ben> marti, you let yourself be overwhelmed by your feelings f
or her despite the..
.ben> fact that it was impinging on a prior relationship. how
is that any ...
.ben> different than what happend when i met marti?
.The Stranger> You must admit....you didn't just ignore one rel
ationship....you ignored two
.ben> i do admit that. but that doesn't seem like such a major
difference from...
.ben> what you did. maybe i am more wrong than you, but you ca
n't say that i am...
.ben> wrong and that you are not wrong.
.The Stranger> I'm not saying that I am not wrong
.ben> ok, well that makes it clearer by a lot! i thought you w
ere saying that you..
.ben> were in the right and i was in the wrong.
.The Stranger> I had no problems at all dealing with a friendsh
ip between you and her....
.The Stranger> but I *do* have problems dealing with more than
a friendship
.ben> i'm sorry. but it is a lot more than a friendship, as i
'm sure you know.
.ben> and i don't think either marti or i can help that.
.ben> or want to.
.The Stranger> I am also aware of your demans
.The Stranger> demands
.ben> i have made no demands
.The Stranger> You deny you demanded that she breakup wth me??
.ben> i think that is a matter between you and marti that i had
better not get..
.ben> involved in. but i will stick to my statement that i m
ade no demands...
.ben> on marti.
.The Stranger> I also know that you demanded her passwords to h
er accounts
.The Stranger> and that you have access
.ben> i have no claim on her and she has no claim on me. we ju
st love each other very much.
.ben> i have never demanded anything of marti.
.The Stranger> marti will be very interested in the logfile of
this session I'm sure
.ben> john, don't you know that it's creepy to make logs of you
r conversations with..
.ben> people to send to other people. but i am not saying anyt
hing to you that...
.ben> is any different than waht i would say if marti was here
with us now.
.The Stranger> We'll see.
.The Stranger> One other point....
.ben> yes?
.The Stranger> how would your wife understand your 'relationshi
p' or doesn't she mean anything to you?
.ben> i am totally faithful to my wife. nothing that i do or s
ay with marti....
.ben> subtracts in any way from my marriage. i would never let
it. marti feels..
.ben> the same way about her marriage. you should examine the
consistency of..
.ben> your feelings about marriage. you seem to be a strong su
pporter of its...
.ben> sanctity when it suits your own private purposes, and to
be willing to..
.ben> disregard it when you are drawn strongly to somebody your
self.
.ben> that is what i find so hard to understand.
.The Stranger> You are one to talk about 'faithful' and 'sancti
ty'!!
.ben> i honestly believe that if our positions were reversed, i
would be handling this differently...
.ben> from the way you are.
.The Stranger> Well, I'm not hiding anything from anyone
/w
GROUP LIST: 00:49:41
1) PRIVATE
ben, The Stranger
2) GREENCHAT
SoCalGreen/Marc, NYCGreen/Robt., AlbqGreen/Barb
3) 3
G W, DB
4) HOW MANY PROMS?
Pat, .maven, ptr, diane
8) WENDY'S MOVING TO BOSTON
roy, web
- idle
AVAILABLE LIST: () = in conf
EHS, RONL, SUZIE, (THESTRANGER), (AIRHITCH), WATUSI, (ANDERS
ON), (DIANE), (WULFE), (MAVEN), (GENJI), RDM017, IATROS, (RDKRA
NTZ), MCK, (EQUALTIME), (BZ), (WEB), (PEABO), (STELLA)
------ [20 on-line]
.ben> john, let me ask you a question. if marti had been going
with someone....
.ben> aside from her husband when you met her, and that person
loved her very much..
.ben> and you found yourself starting to love and be loved my m
arti, would you have..
.ben> allowed the existing relationship to stand in your way?
.The Stranger> yes
.ben> so you wouldj bow out for a prior lover but not for a pri
or husband?....
.ben> can you explain how you justify the distinction?
.The Stranger> Marti has explained to me how she feels about he
r husband......
.The Stranger> She loves him...and I know she does....
.The Stranger> But I also know that she loves me....and as long
as she does I'll take her anyway I can get her because I love
her too.....
.The Stranger> And I did long before you met her....that doesn'
t and didn't seem to matter to you
/w
GROUP LIST: 00:55:22
1) PRIVATE
ben, The Stranger
2) GREENCHAT
SoCalGreen/Marc, NYCGreen/Robt., AlbqGreen/Barb
3) 3
G W, DB
4) PRIVATE STOCHASTIC THEORY
Pat, .maven, ptr, diane, lisa
8) WENDY'S THINKING
roy, web
- idle
ROSEMARY
PAGE LIST:
roy is paging lisa
AVAILABLE LIST: () = in conf
EHS, RONL, SUZIE, (THESTRANGER), (AIRHITCH), (ROSEMARY), (LI
SA), (ANDERSON), (DIANE), (WULFE), (MAVEN), (GENJI), IATROS, (R
DKRANTZ), MCK, (EQUALTIME), (BZ), (WEB), (PEABO), (STELLA)
------ [20 on-line]
.ben> that would make sense if marti did love you and i believe
that she ...
.ben> probably does in the same kind of sense that she loves a
lot of people...
.ben> she is fond of you and she cares about what happens to yo
u..............
.ben> but i don't believe that she is in love with you. if you
can show...
.ben> me that that is true, then i will accept what you say and
be more willing..
.ben> to bow out of the picture. but i think you are fooling y
ourself about..
.The Stranger>
.ben> her feelings for you. i think you don't want to hear wh
at she is telling..
.ben> you. if you were right, she would never have broken off
with you.
.The Stranger> She hasn't Ben.....
.The Stranger> I have talked to her *every* day since your dema
nds....
.The Stranger> I was with her Monday when she went on her inter
view...I also saw her Tuesday afetr her training session in cou
rt....if she's been lying to anyone...it's you.
.ben> as i told you, i have not made any demands on marti. she
told me that she..
.ben> has broken off with you (because she chose to, not becaus
e i demanded it)..
.ben> and i believe that she has.
.The Stranger> You deny you told her to choose between us?
.ben> i never made any demands on her. it didn't happen that w
ay.
.ben> and, if you are seeing so much of her, why are you so ups
et and angry?
.The Stranger> That's where you are wrong....I am not upset.
.The Stranger>
/w
GROUP LIST: 01:03:30
1) PRIVATE
ben, The Stranger
2) GREENCHAT
SoCalGreen/Marc, NYCGreen/Robt., AlbqGreen/Ronna
3) 3
G W, DB
4) PRIVATE STOCHASTIC THEORY
Pat, ptr, lisa
8) WENDY'S THINKING
roy, web
- idle
AVAILABLE LIST: () = in conf
SUZIE, (THESTRANGER), (AIRHITCH), (LISA), (ANDERSON), (WULFE
), (GENJI), (RDKRANTZ), MCK, (EQUALTIME), (BZ), (WEB), (PEABO),
(STELLA)
------ [14 on-line]
.ben> oh, well i'm sorry if i misjudged the tone of your commen
ts. you sounded..
.ben> really upset to me. sometimes it's hard to read people
just from...
.ben> typed comments without any visual cues.
.The Stranger> The only thing I am angry about is your interfer
ence in our relationship
.ben> but how am i interfering, you say you are talking to mart
i everyday and..
.ben> seeing her often. so what is the problem? that you don'
t like us..
.ben> to hold private chats on delphi?
.The Stranger> I am tired of staying in the background
.ben> i'm not trying to be difficult but i really don't underst
and. it sounds..
.The Stranger> I did it for her....and I won't do it any longer
.ben> like you have everything your own way. what more could y
ou possibly want?
.The Stranger> Only one thing...you out of the picture....I won
't demand it of her, but if I did she would do it...that I'm su
re of
.ben> how am i interfering with you? i really don't understand
.
.The Stranger> I love her enough not to demand that she end con
tact with you.....
.The Stranger> but if it comes to that I will make the demand.
.ben> you mean you want us to have zero contact? not ever to e
ven say hello?
.The Stranger> as I understand it that was your demand on her..
.why else would you want her password?? So you could check for
mail from me.
.ben> i keep telling you that i never made any demands on her..
.
.ben> but you don't believe me. but is that what you are aski
ng of me?
.The Stranger> You expect me to take your word over hers?
.ben> do you want me to just forget that she exists?
.ben> no, but maybe the three of us will talk sometime and get
the point...
.The Stranger> It's not like you don't have anyone else to talk
to.
.ben> straigtened out.
.ben> i have lots of friends that i could talk to, marti is one
of them....
.ben> a very special one of them.
.ben> i don't just talk to marti to kill time. i talk to her b
ecause i ...
.ben> care about her as a person.
.The Stranger> So do I, and that doesn't seem to matter to you.
.ben> but it does matter to me.
.The Stranger> You have anything else to say?
.ben> wht do you mean?
.ben> what i am trying to say is that i am not trying to be mea
n orhurt anybody..
.The Stranger> Just that I'm saying goodnight....If you have an
ything else to add...add it now
.ben> or act in an indeceint manner. i am just expressing my e
motional....
.ben> feelings toward marti and you seem to hate mefor that for
reasons you...
.ben> haven't made clear. it seems to be making me and marti f
eel happy and..
.ben> not really causing any problems for you or anybody else t
hat i can tell..
.ben> just judging by what you are telling me.
.The Stranger> Your judgement needs work....goodnight
.The Stranger> - signed off -
/nolog
MAIL>
