In With the New

Our first computer was little more than a toy. It used (you may need to sit down to process this) cassette tapes to copy and store data. Once, I lost an entire Vacation Bible School session: activities, group time plans, snack ideas, recreation suggestions, and information for preschool teachers, for a session that would be three hours in length. I still, of course, had my notes and plans, but I had to immediately sit down and re-enter it, while it was all fresh in my mind. Ordinarily, one would save material, and then print it out, just in case there was some glitch in the printing process. Not this time. After I’d completely re-entered all the material, I printed it out. Then I saved it. And that time, the saving process went smoothly. I don’t remember how long we had that computer, but when the family of a friend of Kevin’s was getting a new computer, and he was talking to Kevin about the computer they weren’t going to keep, Kevin suggested that we buy it from them, and we quickly did. And, while it was nothing like the computer we have now, it was a mighty improvement over what we had. It was an Apple II. It used floppy disks to store data.

Some time after that, we had a brown-out at our house. (That’s what the electric company guys called it.) A branch fell from our big pecan tree onto the electric power line, in the middle of the night. Jeremy, who was ill and not sleeping well, noticed that the numbers on his clock were dim. He came in and woke us up. When we turned on the lights, they also were dim. David called the electric company, and repair people came right out, in the middle of the night. There’d been a surge before the brown-out, and we discovered that a few things had been damaged by that surge. The air conditioner!! (Of course, this thing happened in the heat of the summer.) The VCR.  Jeremy would be unable to watch movies we’d gotten for him to watch while he was under the weather. And, yes, the computer. Actually it was some box (which had important wiring) that was part of the electrical wire that plugged into the socket.

We called the air conditioning repair guy as soon as we could. Even though it was August, it was a rainy few days and we didn’t swelter too very much before they were able to come and fix it. Then, I went and purchased a new VCR. I called the computer people. I don’t remember how much the new electrical cord with the important box on it cost, but it was a lot and, really, the computer was old. In computer time.

I made the suggestion, over dinner that night, that instead of replacing the damaged cord, we put that money toward to new computer. BUT. That new computer would be an early, family Christmas gift. And, given the cost, that would be what we would be getting for Christmas. No other gifts. It seemed like a good idea. Maybe not a great idea, but a good idea. I reminded them that they would be getting gifts from grandparents and other family members. And, we would have, right now, a brand new, fabulous computer.

We got a Mac. Next, we got an iMac, that blue, roundish kind. Then we got a red iMac, because the first on got stolen. Yeah. Really. And then David got a computer, too. And then we upgraded.

And now, I’m as bad as anyone when I complain that my present computer seemed so slow! It WAS so slow.

A few months ago, I was complaining to Kevin about it, and his immediate reaction was, of course, that I should get a new computer!

This is the new computer. The picture is a dune from the Mojave desert. It changes during the day, and at night, the sky will be dark, as will the dune.

And it is way too easy to get a new computer. Kevin made the choice for me, I gave him my credit card number, he ordered the thing, and Bob’s Your Uncle.

Kevin was planning a trip to Waco soon, and he got it all set up for me while he was here.

Meanwhile, I also had, on a shelf above the computer, a television set. It was a verrrrry old television, and I didn’t watch it a lot, but, I did watch it some. And it just seemed like a nice, new, up-to-date television might be nice and work well and look nice. So I got a television, too.

The television we have in the main room is a nice, newish, television, and there’s a TIVO box that brings a lot of television programming into the house. We don’t really watch that much of it. The box that was in the room with my archaic television is a smaller version and only provides something like 90 channels.

When Kevin came, we got the computer out of the box, and he got it all set up. He moved all my mail/work/photos/etc. from the old computer to the new computer. And it is very nice.

The new television with the remotes

The television proved more challenging. There were lots of cables and wires, and after several tries, he finally got the right cable in the right place and used the television’s remote to get all the channels up and running. But they didn’t quite run. Kevin said to call the cable company and tell them that and find out what to do. And, after a few weeks, I finally did, earlier this week. First, I had to call the cable people. I had to wait a long time for a human being, but a guy finally came on. I explained that I had this new television and it came on all right, but I couldn’t get the channels to come up. He said was I using the cable company’s remote. I said I was using the television’s remote. I didn’t have a cable company remote. He was confounded. How did I use the TIVO box if I didn’t have the cable company’s box? I said that I didn’t have the TIVO cable box on my television. The main television, in another room, had the TIVO box. My box was small and it didn’t have its own remote. We don’t use those small boxes any more. You need a TIVO box. Okay. But someone will need to come and bring it, right.

So he said, “Tomorrow. Times are ‘between 8 and noon,’ and ‘between 1 and 5,’ and ‘between 5 and 9.’ ” I went with “between 8 and noon.”

A very nice young man showed up at 8:00 a.m. and went to work. Turns out, I do not need a big TIVO box. I just need the small box, which is what I said. However, my small box wasn’t working well, so I got a new small box. And he had to do some work with wires outside, where he found a wasp’s nest. He said did I have some dishwashing liquid, which I did. I put it in a cup with some water and he went out to take care of those pesky wasps who had made a nest right by the wiring he needed to work on. And, turns out that the little box does have its own remote, which must be a new thing, because for years, I didn’t have one to use and watched all the channels by using the television’s own remote, but none of that matters now, does it.

The cable guy was gone by 9:30, and I sat down to enjoy my new equipment. I checked the television schedule (conveniently on my computer) and ended up watching 9/11 programming for most of the day.

I think that the rhythmic phrase “Remember, remember” was first used in a poem dated as 1870. The event, poetically described, refers to a rebellion in Britain led by Guy Fawkes on November 5, 1605. The poem’s title is “The Fifth of November” and the first lines are:

Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!

There’s also a song, “8th of November,” that refers to a military event from the Vietnam War.

We’re encouraged to remember! Remember the Maine!    Remember the Alamo!

And it is easy to recall and say “Remember. Remember, eleven September.”

My children do remember. Kevin will be able to explain it to Peter, who can say to his kids, “Yeah. I remember my dad telling me about that.” And we can hope that in Peter’s generation, the rallying cry “Remember!” could refer to a different kind of event. One that doesn’t make you cry.

I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;  I will remember your wonders of old.

Psalm 77:11 (New Revised Standard Version)

Remember! Remember! The great deeds! The wonders! Remember!