Conference Leaders

When I was a kid, mom never saw my brother and me from the time we got home from school until dinnertime.  There were always rocks to climb and forts to build—not to mention skates, bikes, and neighborhood kids.  Weekends were full-day adventures in the "wilds" near our neighborhood.  There was no Atari or Nintendo, no VHS or DVDs, and no computer games. 

When it was time to watch TV after dinner and after homework was done, we gathered in front of a huge console black-and-white monstrosity that showed weekly half-hour series shows (half the season you had to settle for reruns). 

When I began my career in clerical support, my letters were tediously typed on manual typewriters.  What a blessing when I went to work for a company that had an electric typewriter!  Over the years, technology advances have made home computers commonplace.  They can really make life easier and easier, but they can also create their own headaches!  I received this poem from one of my email buddies, and it rings so true!

A computer was something on TV
From a science fiction show of note
A window was something you hated to clean
And ram was the cousin of a goat.
Meg was the name of my girlfriend
And gig was a job for the nights
Now they all mean different things
And that really mega bytes.
An application was for employment
A program was a TV show
A cursor used profanity
A keyboard was a piano.
Memory was something that you lost with age
A CD was a bank account
And if you had a 3-inch floppy
You hoped nobody found out.
Compress was something you did to the garbage
Not something you did to a file
And if you unzipped anything in public
You'd be in jail for awhile.
Log on was adding wood to the fire
Hard drive was a long trip on the road
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived
And a backup happened to your commode.
Cut you did with a pocket knife
Paste you did with glue
A web was a spider's home
And a virus was the flu.
I guess I'll stick to my pad and paper
And the memory in my head
I hear nobody's been killed in a computer crash
But when it happens they WISH they were dead.