THE COMPUTERS OF MY LIFE

I absolutely love using the computer.

I absolutely hate using the computer.

Both of the above statements are absolutely true.

I remember my first introduction to a machine called a computer. It was an ad in newspaper from Radio Shack. I took it to Milan and told him I wanted one thinking it was some kind of magic box that could give you information on anything by just asking. Kind of like Google but of course there was no google then.

This would have been late 60's, early 70s.

Then I realized you had to literally put information into it before you could get something out

I had started collecting information in the form of ephemera probably in the 5th or 6th grade although I had no knowledge of the word itself. I just called it clippings and I started in shoeboxes, then graduated to large boxes, then filing cabinets. I was good at collecting - recovering not so good. It was like everything went into a black hole so a machine that could find it all for me would be a miracle.

The next thing that happened, it was 1985 and I was working for New York Life and my manager told me I would have to buy a computer for my home. He didn't tell me it would cost over $5000 but I was making good money, so what the heck?

It was 1990 or so before I found out about the internet and I've been working on figuring it out ever since.

Computers are now cheaper which is good since I no longer make any money at all. My original printer was a tractor feed about the size of the computer itself. Together they filled up a whole wall in my office.

My first laptop was carried in a suitcase made for it. It probably weighed in at 25=30 lbs and had to be plugged in. No battery. It cost $7000 but NYL said I would have to have it in order to keep making money. It's probably the reason I have back trouble today because I carried it around like a purse but it was bigger than the biggest briefcase you could get.

Back in those days you had to hire an electrician to set a computer up. at least for someone with my limited lack of intelligence. I've never learned how to operate an electric can opener yet, nor can I figure out a screw driver although I do know how a Phillips differs from others.

I loved it when plug and play became the norm but it took me a year to figure out USB, I still don't understand how that little thing can draw out electricity from the wall. But of course I don't understand electricity anyway. BTW I had dial up for years.

If there was ever anyone more dense than me about computers etc it had to be my attorney boss, John Low. He didn't like change. That's why for 21 years I took shorthand across the desk in his office. He would never have used a dictating machine! Telling you this because I still think it is funny.

His son Mark was just starting college and he told his dad he could make more money by learning stuff about a "computer". Mr. Low was convinced he would starve to death trying to make a living that way. He was convinced computers were a trend that would never go anywhere and we would always use a typewriter and shorthand in a law office, and file our information on 3x5 index cards, arranged alphabetically in a drawer. Mr. Low was definitely not prescient on the subject.

If you know Mark Low, you know he is a computer wizard, both in using and installing and he had the computer market locked up for years in Lebanon because he was so far ahead of the game. I don't think his dad ever apologized to him for feeling the way he did, although he was always so proud of anything Mark did. I was working for his dad when he was born, and he has been like a son to me and of course my go-to person on computers ever since Day One.

COMMUNION ON THE MOON

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. (Melody Beattie) Americans need a day dedicated to gratitude. I have noticed that in the lineup of most of our holidays that Thanksgiving is perhaps the one least given over to secularism - the one we still observe in a traditional fashion. We need it to keep our focus clear and to teach our children what it means to be thankful for family, friendship and faith. We need a time to gather around the table with extended family and enjoy turkey and dressing and gravy, two kinds of potatoes, cranberries, hot rolls, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and whipped cream. We need it, not for the calories, but to create an awareness that there are those who don’t have those blessings, because in the hectic pace of our everyday lives we tend to forget those in need. Family and food are important, but above all else, Americans need a rededication to our faith. Faith brought the pilgrims to the ne...

ANNIE, THE CAT'S MEOW

I first met Annie back in February 2004 after Milan told me to let him know what I wanted for for Valentine’s Day and he promised would get it for me no matter what it was. He has often joked that he should have have put some conditions on that. But he didn’t, and so I headed straight to the Humane Society animal shelter. It had been two long years since we had put our beloved Maine Coon cat to sleep, a big pile of what appeared to be nothing but fur, but had a huge heart hidden inside. We had named him Ollie in honor of Col. Oliver North who was our news hero at the time. I entered the cat compound at the Humane Society. There were only two cats inside, a brown tabby who ran to the other side of the pen away from me, and a little black and white girl who came running over to me and when I picked her up, she snuggled her head under my chin and began to purr. It was love at first sight. She was new there and they had not given her a name so I called her Annie. She was alway...

FELINE GHOSTS

FELINE GHOSTS... Feeling ghosts around me today Shadows of cats I have known Feline ghosts, I call them, Cats who have made this their home. Sometimes I feel the gentleness Of soft fur nestled close in my arms And it seems I can hear the soft purring Of remembered kitty cat charms I see them move through the shadows Just a glimpse, then out of my sight Sometimes it’s the white tail tipping That I see in the dark of the night The movements are quiet and fleeting I see them at nighttime and day Just figments of my imagination Grayson, Annie, or Ollie at play. They knew this house was their castle They reigned in each room where they played They slept when they wanted and ate all they could Feline memories stay close, they don’t fade. It’s autumn that I really miss them When hickory nuts start to fall I can see kitty faces so precious In the windows that line up my wall The hickory tree looks in the windows As squirrels ...

Straight From The Hart

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