Computers

The Evolution of the Computer in my Life:

I can remember getting our very first computer. I don't remember how old I was, but I remember right where it sat in our kitchen and I know it was an Apple. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! I know I was in elementary school when we got it and the earliest thing I can remember doing on it was Mario Teaches Typing. That was actually a beneficial program, but beyond Mario the greatest uses I remember for that first computer was Oregon Trail, Sim City, and other fun games. Those were the days!

As I got older, I began to use the computer for more than just games. I worked for my dad's business and used the Quickbooks software to do payroll, pay bills, and create invoices. I also started using Word (or whatever the equivalent was then) for typing documents for school. I can even remember using an ACT practice prgoram. I'm sure I still played some games, too.

Then, lo and behold we got the Internet! I think it was sometime around my senior year of high school (98-99). I can remember creating the email account I still use today. I purposely did not use my last name because I thought, "I might still be using this account when I have a different last name." I thought the Internet was the greatest invention yet and I spent hours on it, probably mostly on some sort of chat like MSN. It was such a fun new way to communicate!

As a graduation present my parents gave me my very own computer to take to college! It really was a useful gift. I wrote plenty of papers and did plenty of research that helped me obtain my degree. However, what I remember from that computer is learning how to download music and make cds. And, one of the best uses of my very first computer goes like this. My freshman roommate and I could not have been more different. Different majors, different backgrounds, different interests. But, we hit it off amazingly! We never had a quarrel and we stood in our empty room on moving out day and cried and cried because we weren't going to see each other for 2.5 months until we were roommates again. Back to the computer. Many nights Lori would go to the basement of our dorm and use the computers there while I would work on my computer. We would, of course, both be on MSN or AOL chat. We ended up having some of the best heart to hearts on those chat nights. I know I never would have been able to share some of the things I did in person, even though we had become such good friends. A lot of our friends laughed at us because we started to purposely have deep conversations on chat, instead of just by coincidence while we should have been doing homework. That was great fun!

Ironically, by the end of my college life that computer was getting a bit rusty and I received a new computer as a gift from my parents. This was newer, faster, and with better programs! This wonderful computer became the first computer for Justin and I as a married couple, too. Quite quickly, as it seems in the electronic world, that computer became too old and too slow for my liking. We got a laptop, which I will describe in the next paragraph. I took the old and slow computer to my classroom so there would be an extra one for student use. Surprisingly, the computer lasted 2 years in a room full of middle schoolers. When I went to clean out my room at the end of this school year, my students informed me the computer had "died". It no longer worked. One of my very technologically advanced students said, "I would sure love to take that apart and see if I can get it to work again." I responded, "it's yours!" He was sure shocked. We arranged for him to ask his parents and I wrote him a note giving my signature to ensure my permission. I didn't know what else to do with it. Why not give a curious, intelligent, future computer guru the chance to learn? I ought to check in with him to see how it is going!

Back to the current laptop. It was a Christmas present in 2007 and seemed to be a pretty good one other than the mouse working backwords occasionally. All of a sudden, around Memorial Day weekend, it started acting up. To make a long story short, we had to send it in to Sony TWICE to get it fixed. It is still under warranty and it does appear to be fixed now, but oh what a pain! A long time ago, life without a computer would have just meant no games for awhile. Now.... AAAAAAAARRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! No computer means no email, no facebook, no cute pictures to post of Aria, no blogging, no reading other blogs, no creating items for my friends baby shower, no checking the weather, no paying bills online, no knowing how much money is in the bank account, etc, etc, etc. My computer is now my life! When did that happen? I don't even have one of those fancy check your email on your phone options (although my phone is a considerable upgrade from the bag phone as big as a shoe box that you plugged into the cigarette outlet that was my dad's that I got to take when I went out somewhere in high school...but that is another blog post). Going more than a month with very limited access to a computer was miserable. I'm so glad to have it back! (I think)