time, ladies & gentlemen

Now, as I work on this blog, I am 40+ years old, and have a wife, two daughters, and a step-son, all of whom I love dearly. 3 out of 5 of us have cell-phones. My brother and in-laws all have them. My mother just got one, too. I use a computer built by my brother-in-law; it's cranky, but stable. I drive an old beater, but it starts every time and I love it. My favorite CD is Dan Zanes and Friends' Night Music.

1 minute ago I was thinking about this blog.

1 hour ago I was going to the bathroom, and thinking about this blog. I seem to have blogorrhea.

1 day ago I was doing more or less the same thing as I am today. Except I was thinking about yesterday's blog.

1 week ago, one daughter had just finished the first week of the new school year, and the other was ready to start hers, and the house was much quieter.

1 month ago, everyone was home for the summer, the heat starting to get to everyone, and stir-crazyness was setting in.

1 season ago, school had just let out for the summer, and everyone had plans.

1 year ago was just about like today, except I had no blog then, nor DSL. My wife bought a new car that summer, but I was still driving an old beater. My favorite CD was a collection called Planet Accordion (really).

5 years ago I had only one daughter. Dont ever let anyone tell that it's the Terrible Twos, because it's not. The 3s and 4s are what you've got to watch out for, when they go from cute and sweet to demanding and obnoxious. We had just moved into bigger digs, and had a nice (relatively new) car. I was computing on an E-machine with a Cyrix CPU and accessed the internet thru dial-up. My favorite CD was James Brown's Greatest Hits.

10 years ago I had no daughters, good credit, and worked in the daytime. We had just moved into new digs from our home with my in-laws. My car was an old beater, but it always started and I loved it. I had seen the Internet, but never used it, and used my IBM XT (upgraded to 286) almost exclusively for word processing and Ultima IV. No one I knew had a cell phone, and without caller ID we had to answer every call. My favorite CD was David Byrne's Rei Momo.

20 years ago I had just moved to Austin. I'd changed schools, behaved foolishly with a girl, moved into a house with my friends, and opened a new bank account (which I still have, by the way). No one I knew had a computer except my mom, who had a CPM-based Kaypro. My car was an old beater into which I put at least four starters. I was still rather fond of it. My favorite LP was Thomas Dolby's Golden Age of Wireless.

40 years ago I was a fresh-faced babe, still cute and sweet. Television came in over the an antenna; if you were really lucky you might have 5 channels, but most people had only three. You watched a show when it was scheduled, or you missed it. Phones were rotary dialed, and firmly wired to the wall. Computers were devices the size of an armoire which read punch cards. My father's car had no seatbelts whatsoever, and I rode in my mother's arms or in the backseat. My favorite song was probably Pop goes the Weasel.

80 years ago neither of my parents were born. There was no television. Maybe only half the people had a telephone (almost all in urban areas) or a radio. There were no computers, interstates or jet planes. If you wanted to hear a song, you sang it.