Once upon a time I was good at things. Fun things, smart things, things other people didn’t know much about. Sigh…the good old days.
Now, I know some stuff, some of it’s fun. I used to feel like I had some special edge, relevant stuff. It’s only mediocre now, just enough that I could get myself in trouble, screw things up.
OH! You want an example? Well, I guess that’s the point, huh? So, I graduated high school in 1987 when home computers were starting to be a thing. My dad was into it so we had a computer at home, did the whole dial up thing, had a separate phone number for it and everything. America Online (AOL), yep, that was our thing. It was SO much fun, you could get wrapped up for HOURS and not even have a clue. It was something I stuck with, using the computer. I learned so much, mostly about Microsoft Windows: Word. I dabbled in Excel, LOVED Access, setting up databases for whatever I needed, trying to learn how to make it look just right. Through all that I worked at a bank and towards the end of that career created a link to tie one of their databases to a form they needed to process all the loans. It was a perfect challenge, SO satisfying. That was in 1994 when small town banks were going under so fast, being bought up by the bigger ones who only got bigger. Yup, I got that push out the door.
Managed to continue my career with office jobs and stay up-to-date with all the upgrades and improvements computers had along the way. Even had a traveling training job. Teaching our clients how to use the medical software that the company made. When it was time to stop traveling, I stayed in office and did customer service calls. Assisted with some easy issues (“did you turn the printer on?”) and some where it was well above my knowledge and had to call in the big dogs: programmers.
Then after all those computer-rich positions, hubby and I thought we should try for another baby. About three weeks after we began, I arrived to work and the boss was there (VERY odd, he didn’t show up until 10:00am on a good day, if at all) and my supervisor (slightly more frequently than him), but no one else. What? Has hell frozen over? Well, no, but I did get laid off. Huh…did NOT see that coming. Wait a minute, ohhhh, yes I did.
My wonderful husband said, “So, you’ll be a stay at home mom.” GREAT! I thought, since I am pretty sure I’m pregnant. Now I can get house things done and enjoy the whole process and be around for the school age kids we already have.
Fast forward another year and a half, time to get back to work. What will I do now? I did NOT have this baby to put her in day care! We talk about getting a motorhome and tour the country for our retirement. My husband will NEVER let me drive it. I still have the other kids who need someone home when they aren’t in school. Then we drive past the school bus yard with the banner flapping in the wind: “NOW HIRING, we train!”
Fast forward 9 years, I drive a school bus, have for the past 9 years. I still love computers, but do you know what I don’t get to do everyday and get paid for it? Use a computer. 🙁 I still know some stuff, but I have missed SOOO much. And now, just to make it worse, I have a Mac. UGH! I know stuff that doesn’t work on a Mac. I know nothing about Macs.
So guess what happens when you start a blog, drive a school bus and have kids, love to craft and switch to a Mac instead of sticking with MS? You muddle through and have grand plans but no idea now to get your web page going. There are all these weird terms, I think I am adding a link for Pinterest so you can tag all these great things I have, but no. It doesn’t show up, or it does but the link doesn’t go anywhere.
I’m going to try this again. Computers are SO much more user friendly than in the 90’s, I can do this. If I do, maybe I will be back soon…if not, it may be next summer before I return.
