On 8/2/2015 4:02 PM, Jim Thompson wrote:
On Sun, 02 Aug 2015 11:18:17 -0700, Don Y wrote:

So, the trick is finding the right amount of "wait" -- too little and
you can't get started on something else; too much and you risk the
task taking too long for your schedule, etc.

In the 80's, I had a pair of 25MHz 386's. It would take a full 24 hours
to render some of my 3D CAD models. I'd turn off the monitor (save
power) and put a note on the keyboard: "Do not turn off" (lest I
forget in a moment of distraction). Then, move to the other machine
and keep working on mode models, or a schematic, or a layout, or some
software, or assembling a prototype, or ordering components, or office
supplies, etc. Always *something* that could be done in the time waiting
(without it feeling like you're "waiting")

Just anticipating _very_ aged equipment croaking at an inopportune
moment.

I've always maintained a hot spare of every system I've used.
If something crashes, I can be up and running on another machine
within a matter of hours -- or less.

Hardware is cheap. And, if you work like I do (move on to something
else instead of waiting for a machine to finish), the "spare" just
facilitates that.