>Who else out there has any good stories of when programming had the additional challenge of limited (and I mean really limited!) capacities of the tools they were working with.

Me! Although you probably know them...
The first machines that I programmed (payroll, cost estimation applications, etc.) had:
- a working storage of 15 registers holding numbers only (I believe the maximum was 15 digits, including the decimal point)
- the main programming device in form of a 9"x6" board with holes and gilded contacts. Programming was done by sticking copper cables in holes, from one hole to another, using a tool like a screwdriver. The result was truly a spaghetti of cables.
- the machine was the size of a desk and weighted over 100 kg.
Getting a machine that would read and punch paper tape was a big step forward!
And all this was not that far in the past - 1978.