Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Here we go a googling...

I love my computer, let me count the ways...you see, like everyone else, when I first started writing I used pencil and paper.  I graduated to a fountain pen and took great pleasure in the rasp and pull of the pen nib on paper.  It gave me a sense of  accomplishment for some reason.  Then one day I found myself in possession of small manual Underwood typewriter.  It was a one owner machine (previously owned by a little grey haired old lady who only took it out of its case on the weekends.)  I was overjoyed with it at first.  Then came the hell of making corrections, changing ribbons and learning to clean the ink clogged letters.  I was soon back to my fountain pen.  It was far less trouble.

When the computer came along, I was overjoyed once I finally got the hang of Word Perfect.  That took a few weeks and a lot of blue air above my head, but I finally got the hang of it.  So, I began to write in earnest and to eventually take the time to learn the other great things about the computer.  The first time we went on line, it was an experimental event which entailed  my computer calling my  brother's computer.  I don't know that they had a lot to say to each other as I wasn't privy to their conversation.  But they did make contact and that event was rather like man's first landing on the moon.  We were shouting and laughing and I believe champagne was poured.  As they used to say, we've come a long way baby!

So, when Google came into play I was like a kid turned loose in a candy store.  I googled everything and everybody.  Some of the folks I googled couldn't understand why they had made computer news, as it were.  Neither could I.  But rather like on you-tube, everything that has ever been spoken of  or even thought about can be found if you google it.  And I google a lot.  Which brings me to the point of my story. 

While walking the dogs the other day (we keep our two on leashes even if we do live out in the country...no point in  my pooches being an annoyance to my neighbors) Mac told me that he had seen some unusual animal poo just the other side of the neighbors farm fence.   Asking unusual in what way, he started describing it rather graphically.  Since it was to large to be rabbits but not big enough to belong to one of the horses or cows , and peculiarly undoglike, he was at a loss.  So last evening, as he went with Chase in one direction and I started out with Cricket in the other, I asked him to pinpoint where he had seen this odd poo pile.  I located it with very little trouble.  As soon as Cricket had accomplished his contribution to the scene of the crime, we went inside.  When Mac and Chase came in I was already on the computer.  He looked at what I was typing and just shook his head.  "Did you ever in your life dream that you would be sitting in front of a magic box and writing the words "coyote scat" into it?" he asked me.  I laughed manically and pointed proudly to my find.  "No, "  I answered, "I can't say that I did but look at this."  There under the caption "coyote scat" were several pictures of exactly what was located not a foot from our property line"  "I told you Google would have it, " I said.  He patted my shoulder and said, "I never doubted you for a second but exactly how do you plan to use this information?"  I hadn't had to think about it for a second.  "Let's just say you can learn to whistle Pistol Packing Mama."

19 comments:

Vee said...

Oh that is exciting to know...a coyote on the premises. Keep walking those dogs and keep letting them add their contribution. Perhaps it'll deter said coyote. Love your description of the good old days of learning the computer.

Lee said...

Is that what went after Dudley? I hope the outdoor cats are okay! Coyotes are known to eat pets in residential neighborhoods like Reno. Can you google a way to get the darn beastie to leave the area?

Great post Sandi!

Love,
Lee

Sally said...

LOL! How funny, Sandi. I google a lot also!

When my brother and s-i-l bought property down in the Ocala national forest, we were driving and I told Mike, watch out for that dog. He said it was a coyote. Well, after that my sis saw a bear in their yard and I knew that would be my last visit. LOL

Oh yeah, I remember those typewriters, and remember my dad pecking away. He's actually the one who taught me how to type. I still have and electric one somewhere around here. I thought I was in high cotton when I got it. :)

the fly in the web said...

My aunt tried to teach me to type on an Underwood...you needed strong fingers!
Father put a stop to it on the grounds that no daughter of his was going to become a secretary...which is why I now type with four fingers and two thumbs...

Suldog said...

Took me a long time to go from typewriter love to being comfortable with the fact that something written on a computer wasn't subject to just disappearing somehow if the power went out. An actual handwritten letter still beats hell out of e-mail, though, for emotional impact.

Maggie May said...

I think that handwriting is painfully slow..... but there is a satisfaction in writing by hand........ except for the arthritic cramps that it causes to my fingers after a while.
Typewriters were great until the ribbons had to be changed and the letters getting stuck as well as the horrid process of getting rid of mistakes.
I don't know how we manage to live so long without Google though. No need for all those encyclopaedias now.
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Brian Miller said...

wow...would be cool to see for sure but def get some target practice in before the show down...

Donna said...

Hahahaaaa...Times, they be a changing....
Toooo fast!
hughugs

Hilary said...

Google sure is like magic. I can't tell how many times my son or his girlfriend and I are in the middle of a discussion and I pull a blank on the name of someone or something. While I'm still "ummm"ing, she's already Googling and asking "Is it so and so?" And it almost always is. Magic. The only problem is, is that the Magic now knows a little too much about us, too.

NitWit1 said...

I haven't had time to analyze the poo in the neighborhood but maybe I should add it to my daily TO DO lists.

There is a manufactured home acrss the stree being demolished as unfit for habitation.

I am wondering what wild habitants will soon move in on me. A dead armadillo was found inside it.

cheshire wife said...

It must be the time of year. This is the second post that I have read on this theme. How did we manage all those years before computers?

ancient one said...

I've googled a lot of things but not poop yet... ha ha

Pondside said...

I learned to write with a straight nibbed pen that had to be dipped into a bottle of ink - no well on the pen shaft. Those were the days when penmanship was very important (and that makes me OLD!)

Kathy's Klothesline said...

Shoot the coyote! Handwriting will soon be a thing of the past. My very first attempt at a "book" was about my youngest and I did it all in longhand. She cried when I gave it to her. I don't know that my hands could do that now!

Shrinky said...

Yikes, that's downright scary (not your Googling, but the coyote in your back yard)! Eeeeek.. I think I'd be even more frightened at the thought of handling a gun though (not to mention my neighbours). Loved, loved, loved that journey you explained of how you progressed over the years, to eventually discover Google - wonderful!

Love Bears All Things said...

We've come a long way, Baby! Remember that Virginia slim commercial.
Most of the garden is planted but it looks like we're in for some cooler nights so the tomato tubs are going back in the green house. We've been enjoying some fresh radishes lately.
Mama Bear

i beati said...

I am a computer devotee when I cannot sleep , it is my great friend

RBK's Realm said...

Great post! I love the historical perspective you have given. It does remind us as to how far we have come. And now we have these iPhones etc which are computers in the palm of our hand.

As for Google, I don't know what we would do if we didn't have this resource... It is also scary as to how much personal information can be found online...

Anonymous said...

"google it" has become the magic words around here too and I love that you call it the magic box. LOL....so true! And living in the country I am very aware of strange scat around. Saw some yesterday that was not Ben's and way bigger than a rabbit. ..... hmmmm?