Doing last weeks show with Jim Speiser and The Paranet BBS systems, it really caused me to do a bit of kicking the dusty corners of my mind. After all, this was the reason I began my crazy journey into the field of UFOs and the paranormal. After my medical retirement from law enforcement I realized how by buying that first computer completely turned my life upside down. At the time of course, I had no idea what that computer purchase would mean .. long term. At that point, around 1987, the world was first feeling the effects of what the PC might mean to the public, business, and other areas of life we today take for granted. Not all of it was serious and I found out when I purchased my first computer game. The following humorous vignette, in hindsight, later showed me the power of computers and the danger of too much time on your hands. By the way, I originally wrote this around 2001. A brief glimpse into my first experience with computers.
Me and my Tandy .. Part 1
Computers and electronics, the truth is, I am a total sucker for anything electronic. I have bought stuff, spending thousands of dollars and I truly didn’t have much of a clue as to what it was or what I could do with it! That is the God’s truth. However, there is just something about electronic stuff that winds up my motor. Even as a small kid I wanted the electronic stuff way over other stuff like baseball gloves, footballs or basketballs. Oh, don’t mistake me ... I played all those sports, even played college ball, but I loved the electronic stuff. I kind of dug it when in the Army in Viet Nam, I was called upon to lug around the PRC -10 radios. I got to play with all the neat stuff and attachments that went with them. Of course, I have to admit that sometimes in 95- degree heat with 375 percent humidity it did get a little old. BUT... had personal computers been around in the 60’s my life would have been Oh-SO- Different!
With PCs, it has been my experience that you either LOVE THEM or you DAMN THEM TO HELL! I have yet to meet anyone who is ambivalent about them. And like I said--I Love Them. And have loved them since I bought my very first one back in late, late 1986. True to form, when I bought my first one I didn’t have an inkling what it could do or more to the point, what I could do with it.
Back in 1986, I was being medically retired. I had been injured on the job, spent several months in the hospital, had just gone through a divorce and ended up with more dollars (at that time) than was good for me. I was going through physical rehab and needed something to keep me occupied. Like I said, not being married anymore I had this . . . money. All the expenses I had were just my townhouse mortgage and my car payments.
Somewhere along the line I got this mail order catalog. On page one was this personal computer. I started to pay attention. I checked out the pictures, and it all looked pretty neat. Naturally those catalogs really work to encourage that buyer’s fever, and I caught some. Now, about 10 blocks or so from my townhouse was a Radio Shack. I decided one afternoon to wander in and see what they said about all this. I shoved the catalog in my back pocket and took off.
Wouldn’t you just know it, but when I got inside, low and behold, Radio Shack was having a computer sale! Whoopee! I gotta tell you, I started to salivate. The manager of this Radio Shack was a pretty young guy, and very sharp. Did I mention that he was also a sweet talker? I think he had his eye on the CEO position at Tandy Corp. somewhere down the road. We started to .... communicate ....... “Hey,” I began (kind of breathless), “I been thinking about, oh you know, maybe looking into eh, you know, buying a computer.” I whipped out my by now pretty crumpled- up mail order catalog. Then, shoving it under his nose, I pointed to the computer they had on page one. (I think it was a FRANKLIN. Worked off the Apple OS or some such.) Anyway, he looked at it and kind of wrinkled his nose. “Nah, you really don’t want that,” he said, “you will have a tough time finding software for it.” Now he’d said a magic word, software. “Ah, software?” I asked. Thinking hard, I tried to imagine what he was talking about although I think I had heard the term. “Yeah, software,” he began confidently. He now had the fish on the hook and he began to reel me in carefully. “The programs that you can run with the computer.” Oh yes, I thought. Of course, yeah the magic stuff that made the computer do its thing!
cont. next msg ..
Me and my Tandy .. Part 1
Computers and electronics, the truth is, I am a total sucker for anything electronic. I have bought stuff, spending thousands of dollars and I truly didn’t have much of a clue as to what it was or what I could do with it! That is the God’s truth. However, there is just something about electronic stuff that winds up my motor. Even as a small kid I wanted the electronic stuff way over other stuff like baseball gloves, footballs or basketballs. Oh, don’t mistake me ... I played all those sports, even played college ball, but I loved the electronic stuff. I kind of dug it when in the Army in Viet Nam, I was called upon to lug around the PRC -10 radios. I got to play with all the neat stuff and attachments that went with them. Of course, I have to admit that sometimes in 95- degree heat with 375 percent humidity it did get a little old. BUT... had personal computers been around in the 60’s my life would have been Oh-SO- Different!
With PCs, it has been my experience that you either LOVE THEM or you DAMN THEM TO HELL! I have yet to meet anyone who is ambivalent about them. And like I said--I Love Them. And have loved them since I bought my very first one back in late, late 1986. True to form, when I bought my first one I didn’t have an inkling what it could do or more to the point, what I could do with it.
Back in 1986, I was being medically retired. I had been injured on the job, spent several months in the hospital, had just gone through a divorce and ended up with more dollars (at that time) than was good for me. I was going through physical rehab and needed something to keep me occupied. Like I said, not being married anymore I had this . . . money. All the expenses I had were just my townhouse mortgage and my car payments.
Somewhere along the line I got this mail order catalog. On page one was this personal computer. I started to pay attention. I checked out the pictures, and it all looked pretty neat. Naturally those catalogs really work to encourage that buyer’s fever, and I caught some. Now, about 10 blocks or so from my townhouse was a Radio Shack. I decided one afternoon to wander in and see what they said about all this. I shoved the catalog in my back pocket and took off.
Wouldn’t you just know it, but when I got inside, low and behold, Radio Shack was having a computer sale! Whoopee! I gotta tell you, I started to salivate. The manager of this Radio Shack was a pretty young guy, and very sharp. Did I mention that he was also a sweet talker? I think he had his eye on the CEO position at Tandy Corp. somewhere down the road. We started to .... communicate ....... “Hey,” I began (kind of breathless), “I been thinking about, oh you know, maybe looking into eh, you know, buying a computer.” I whipped out my by now pretty crumpled- up mail order catalog. Then, shoving it under his nose, I pointed to the computer they had on page one. (I think it was a FRANKLIN. Worked off the Apple OS or some such.) Anyway, he looked at it and kind of wrinkled his nose. “Nah, you really don’t want that,” he said, “you will have a tough time finding software for it.” Now he’d said a magic word, software. “Ah, software?” I asked. Thinking hard, I tried to imagine what he was talking about although I think I had heard the term. “Yeah, software,” he began confidently. He now had the fish on the hook and he began to reel me in carefully. “The programs that you can run with the computer.” Oh yes, I thought. Of course, yeah the magic stuff that made the computer do its thing!
cont. next msg ..