Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks

When I was in college back in the 70's, computer science was a new subject that had been recently introduced. My roommate was a computer science major. I never saw the guy without a big stack of computer cards bound tightly with rubber bands. There were no PC's, Apple, or Microsoft at that time; computers were programmed by punching a card for each instruction you wanted the computer to perform. To run even the simplest program you needed to punch 500- 1000 cards with no mistakes, and you had to keep all of the cards in the correct order. Just one typo, or misplaced card would ruin all of the hard work you put into the program.


Needless to say I wanted nothing to do with Computer Science, or all of those punch cards. When I graduated in the late 70's I took pride in the fact that I was probably the last student to graduate college without ever taking a Computer Science course.


Five years after I graduated the first personal computers were introduced to the public. These computers did not run on punch cards, but instead you simply typed your instructions into the computer by writing them on a monitor screen. This, of course was much easier than punching a thousand cards; but the user still needed to understand computer language, and programming. Since I never learned either one, I shied away from these new PC's.


By the mid 90's computers had got so powerful and so simplified that your average twelve year old could work them with no problem. It was about this time that I decided that I too should become computer literate.


I bought a computer and started fiddling around with it. It normally did not take too long before I encountered a problem, or the computer would freeze up on me. My solution to these problems was to call my thirteen year old son to come and fix them. I was a complete and total pain in the butt for my young son; but what was I to do? In the last ten years I have become a little better on the computer, but compared to a normal nine year old I am still a computer moron.
Computers have taught me a lot about humility. My wife just bought me a new lap top computer that I am trying to figure out.


Thank God I have grand kids!

Thank God For Teenagers

Up in the sky, its a bird, its a plane...No! Its your friendly neighborhood teenager!

Modern day super heroes don't wear tights and a cape, and they don't have a mask. They can't fly, and they don't have super strength. They just show up in tee shirts, and over sized baggy jeans, to save the day.

I am a middle aged guy, and at this point in my life you would think that I would be self sufficient; but nothing could be further from the truth. When the TV is stuck on Video2, and it appears that I will be watching a plain blue screen forever, I call my step son to figure out the remote. When I install a disc not compatible with my Windows XP, and totally mess up my computer, I send up the bat signal for my step son's friend to bail my ass out. The more and more life changes, the more I realize that teenagers are indispensable.

I am not a moron, (I don't think so anyway), but the modern world left me behind not long after the invention of "Pong" in the early 80's. Back in 1990 I needed my five year old son to teach me how to play "Mario Brothers"! I am not what you would call technologically inclined. Now, the only kid I have left is my step son, if he gets married and moves away, what will I do?

I don't believe I can buy a teenager over the internet, and if I lure them over with candy, people will think that I am a pedophile. I think I'm going to have to connive a way to keep my step son from moving out...at least until I get some grand kids.

Thank God For Teenagers

Up in the sky, its a bird, its a plane...No! Its your friendly neighborhood teenager!

Modern day super heroes don't wear tights and a cape, and they don't have a mask. They can't fly, and they don't have super strength. They just show up in tee shirts, and over sized baggy jeans, to save the day.

I am a middle aged guy, and at this point in my life you would think that I would be self sufficient; but nothing could be further from the truth. When the TV is stuck on Video2, and it appears that I will be watching a plain blue screen forever, I call my step son to figure out the remote. When I install a disc not compatible with my Windows XP, and totally mess up my computer, I send up the bat signal for my step son's friend to bail my ass out. The more and more life changes, the more I realize that teenagers are indispensable.

I am not a moron, (I don't think so anyway), but the modern world left me behind not long after the invention of "Pong" in the early 80's. Back in 1990 I needed my five year old son to teach me how to play "Mario Brothers"! I am not what you would call technologically inclined. Now, the only kid I have left is my step son, if he gets married and moves away, what will I do?

I don't believe I can buy a teenager over the internet, and if I lure them over with candy, people will think that I am a pedophile. I think I'm going to have to connive a way to keep my step son from moving out...at least until I get some grand kids.