After reading Spyder's comment on the last post, I've been checking things out and, by george, she's right. There have been times when I've wanted to leave a comment on a Wordpress blog, but it took so long to do it, and I had to jump through so many hoops, I chose not to comment. Sometimes I'm even discouraged from commenting on Blogger blogs because of having to type in those silly security letters, and I ask myself why that's necessary: I don't have that function in use here, and I've only had three or four spam comments in the time I've blogged at this site.
So I'll continue playing around with Wordpress, but I'll likely stay here. Because I don't get that many comments as it is; I sure don't need less! And I'm not going to keep both of them going; I already have this one and my AOL journal. I don't need a third.
In other news, I head for Dallas tomorrow morning bright and early for the last meet-up with a group of Internet friends I met in a long-gone chat room. I first met some of these folks in 1999, I believe.
Things are getting really hectic around here as we prepare to move a manufactured home onto our property to live in. Yesterday we went to the bank to finalize a loan, to planning-and-zoning to get a permit, to the rural water district to sign up for a water meter (because I'm sick of the super-hard water from our well) AND to the health department to discuss our septic tank. This last, the P&Z lady told me, wasn't really necessary; but it's a good idea. Hey, if it doesn't cost me, I'm all for it.
Do you know how many papers you have to sign and initial in order to secure a loan these days? I have writer's cramp.
We had a nice visit with the P&Z lady, and I got to use a very old joke that cracked her up. She said to Cliff, "Are you ambidextrous?" "No," I told her, "He's Baptist." (He isn't, but that was the first denomination that came to mind.)
"It's been fun," I told her as we left. Hey, it really was a blast! I love to run into someone who enjoys her job and likes people.
We had a good discussion about my neighbor and his house-building. You have to love small-town communities where you can mention any neighbor and they know, not only who you're talking about, but all their eccentricities. It was the same at the rural water office; that guy knew everybody around here.
So now I'm looking forward to having air conditioning and a dishwasher for the first time in my life. And having lots of closet space. And being back away from this gravel road, with cars constantly passing by and stirring up dust.
Showing posts with label Dallas reunion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dallas reunion. Show all posts
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Ten years on the Internet
Yes friends, in 1998 I was finally persuaded to take the plunge into the World Wide Web. My ignorance of computers knew no bounds, and I could tell some funny stories of stupid mistakes I made.
But today I'm thinking about my first chat room experience.
I had seen articles in the newspaper about the dangers of the Internet in general and chat rooms in particular. Nobody was going to catch me in one of those sleazy cyber-dives.
But I was surfing around some Christian website and noticed there were AOL chat rooms that could be accessed from the main page somehow. One of them was for Christian Seniors. Maybe at that time it was called Fifty-plus, I'm not sure; there were so many changes over the years, before AOL finally removed it.
Back then, that chat room was a wonderful thing: I'd sit at my keyboard laughing out loud at some of the humor that flew across my monitor. I won't bother to share any tales because you just had to be there. Things like that aren't really so funny in the retelling.
Some of the folks in Texas decided there should be a get-together in Dallas where we could meet face to face. My husband wasn't about to allow me to go meet a bunch of Internet strangers alone. I told him I could ride with a lady from Arkansas, but he decided he'd take me himself, to protect me from stalkers and Internet serial killers. After all, I'd never actually met these people. They could be anybody!
Imagine his surprise to find out all those folks were just fine; today he would trust that lady from Arkansas with our bank account if he had to... all $25 of it.
The chat room later deteriorated into chaos, arguing, and jealousy, and was finally closed. Many of the friendships that were formed there, however, still remain.
I've attended at least three of the Dallas reunions, as well as others in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
I believe this picture from Dallas was taken in 2001. None of us had digital cameras then.
Frankye, an outgoing lady who lives in Dallas, has always been the host of that reunion. She makes countless trips to the airport to pick up guests, opens her home to folks who are too broke (ahem) to pay for a hotel room, and coordinates activities, mealtimes, and whatever else is needed to keep a group of twenty or more people happy.
Now keep in mind that this thing started back around 1998 or 1999, and it was a senior chat group; so even then most of us weren't spring chickens.
Sad to say, none of us has gotten any younger. Many of that old chat group have died.
Frankye has announced that the reunion this year will be the final one. Air fare from Kansas City to Dallas is very reasonable. Although I originally had no plans or desire to attend this get-together, now that I know it will be the last time I see most of these folks in person, I believe I'll go. It seems an appropriate way to celebrate ten years on the Internet.
That's Frankye in the above picture, and I'll quickly tell a story about Joe, the man beside her (he's attended every single reunion). When Cliff and I met him at the first Dallas event, he asked where we lived. "Missouri," I told him. "I'm sure you've never heard of the town."
But when I named my town, he knew it well. His late wife had a sister who had lived there most of her life, he said. Imagine our surprise when, upon comparing notes, we realized that his sister-in-law had been a close neighbor of mine for years. She had lived right on my dead-end road, and I'd attended church with her. I knew and loved her.
This Internet is sometimes a small world indeed.
But today I'm thinking about my first chat room experience.
I had seen articles in the newspaper about the dangers of the Internet in general and chat rooms in particular. Nobody was going to catch me in one of those sleazy cyber-dives.
But I was surfing around some Christian website and noticed there were AOL chat rooms that could be accessed from the main page somehow. One of them was for Christian Seniors. Maybe at that time it was called Fifty-plus, I'm not sure; there were so many changes over the years, before AOL finally removed it.
Back then, that chat room was a wonderful thing: I'd sit at my keyboard laughing out loud at some of the humor that flew across my monitor. I won't bother to share any tales because you just had to be there. Things like that aren't really so funny in the retelling.
Some of the folks in Texas decided there should be a get-together in Dallas where we could meet face to face. My husband wasn't about to allow me to go meet a bunch of Internet strangers alone. I told him I could ride with a lady from Arkansas, but he decided he'd take me himself, to protect me from stalkers and Internet serial killers. After all, I'd never actually met these people. They could be anybody!
Imagine his surprise to find out all those folks were just fine; today he would trust that lady from Arkansas with our bank account if he had to... all $25 of it.
The chat room later deteriorated into chaos, arguing, and jealousy, and was finally closed. Many of the friendships that were formed there, however, still remain.
I've attended at least three of the Dallas reunions, as well as others in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
I believe this picture from Dallas was taken in 2001. None of us had digital cameras then.
Frankye, an outgoing lady who lives in Dallas, has always been the host of that reunion. She makes countless trips to the airport to pick up guests, opens her home to folks who are too broke (ahem) to pay for a hotel room, and coordinates activities, mealtimes, and whatever else is needed to keep a group of twenty or more people happy.
Now keep in mind that this thing started back around 1998 or 1999, and it was a senior chat group; so even then most of us weren't spring chickens.
Sad to say, none of us has gotten any younger. Many of that old chat group have died.
Frankye has announced that the reunion this year will be the final one. Air fare from Kansas City to Dallas is very reasonable. Although I originally had no plans or desire to attend this get-together, now that I know it will be the last time I see most of these folks in person, I believe I'll go. It seems an appropriate way to celebrate ten years on the Internet.
That's Frankye in the above picture, and I'll quickly tell a story about Joe, the man beside her (he's attended every single reunion). When Cliff and I met him at the first Dallas event, he asked where we lived. "Missouri," I told him. "I'm sure you've never heard of the town."But when I named my town, he knew it well. His late wife had a sister who had lived there most of her life, he said. Imagine our surprise when, upon comparing notes, we realized that his sister-in-law had been a close neighbor of mine for years. She had lived right on my dead-end road, and I'd attended church with her. I knew and loved her.
This Internet is sometimes a small world indeed.
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