My Days as a Computer Geek

I wrote this on 9/4/1997 after I had this conversation with my boss, Michelle.

You know you're a computer geek when someone says...

"Call SCT or ECC and see if you can FTP the APPC version of their VSE Cobol programs to SOL. Then call UCO and FTP the APPC-VSE programs to their RISC6000 (they don't have TCP/IP that's why they need APPC) for them to copy to their VSE."

...and you understand it.

LOL

It's All Perspective

So, Per and I were talking about my blog entry last night. He's so optimistic, I really appreciate his viewpoint. He said (after reading) "yeah, but you've had so many experiences and met so many people" He said the opposite happened to him, he grew up with the same people all his life, then when he moved away when he got older, he moved around and didn't know anyone. It's all perspective.

It's true. Life is how you look at it and after talking with him...I didn't feel like my childhood was pathetic because we moved so much...I saw it in a different light. How many people I've met, and experiences I've had. I have a lot of stories. So I'm not like the people on FaceBook. I wasn't like them then either, and that's okay. I wouldn't change it if I could do it all over again, because then I wouldn't have those life experiences in my memory.

Thanks, Per, for the reality check.

Roots

I moved 35 times by the time I was 18 so I don't have what you would call childhood "roots". I usually started and finished a school year in two different schools and didn't have the same friends for very long. I'm okay with it now (even though I would cry as a child).

I have lived in Olathe for 15 years so I have roots as an adult, but the thought of childhood "roots" has recently come to mind as I see the discussions on FaceBook. Within the last six months, people I went to high school with are now on FaceBook and they are all sending each other (and me) friend requests. Now, some are posting pictures of school days and identifying each other and saying things like "who was our 1st grade teacher?"

I think all this is great, it's just that I can't contribute because my roots with them are from high school. I didn't go to elementary or junior high school, or church with them when I was a kid. We didn't grow up together. I'm not sad, I am just quiet. In the background, watching everyone's conversations back and forth. Kind of like when I was in high school...in the background...no roots.

This also reminds me of another friend who has recently posted some pics from university days. She has all these memories and experiences, and I can't relate because I never went to a university. It makes me think how fortunate my son is to be at a university making those memories and having experiences. Because I bet he will talk about it when he's 40 like me.

It makes me think of how important it is to have roots in life.