| Subject: Re: Actual Reach Haven Postcards |
Author:
InnocentAge
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Date Posted: 19:35:57 12/10/05 Sat
In reply to:
Mountain Bird Student
's message, "Actual Reach Haven Postcards" on 22:21:48 11/23/05 Wed
Hi, Teryl,
My story is like everyone else's - almost. It starts in 1996 when my wife began to insist that I purchase a computer for the home so her daughters could use it for school. Believing it was an unnecessary expense, I delayed at every turn. Finally in 1997, at halftime of the televised Tennessee-Memphis State football game, I gave in to incessant pressure and left the house to buy a computer. I couldn't take it anymore.
Flashback: I had started attending University of Tennessee football games in 1956 when I was ten years old. In 1966, when I had my first-ever hangover, I chose not to attend the Tennessee-Kentucky game (Vols won, 56-0), but other than that game, I did not miss a Vol game in Knoxville from 1956 until 1983. I owned two sets of season tickets for years. Life circumstances changed, and this happened to coincide with increased televising of games, and, after 1982, I either saw games in person or on television. If it was an untelevised away game, I would listen on radio and chart every play of the game. Point is, Tennessee football was a way of life. I simply didn't miss games. I met my current wife in 1986. She was from Southern California. She was beautiful, nubile and athletic, but beach volleyball was probably more important to her than football. It was difficult trying to get her to understand that I didn't want to miss Tennessee football games. It was difficult trying to get her to understand that I didn't want to miss one second of a Tennessee football game. This caused problems. When her health declined to the point that she was unable to go shopping while I watched games, it became worse.
Back to 1997: She broke my spirit. I left at halftime to buy the damned computer. During the half hour that I drove to H. H. Gregg to buy the computer on sale, Memphis State scored three touchdowns against that fabulous football team which sported Senior Peyton Manning as quarterback. I was mad as hell that I had to leave the house. After all, if I'd've stayed home supporting my team on t.v., we'd've still been WAY ahead.
H. H. Gregg has TV's for sale. I watched the remainder of the game there. The Vols barely pulled out a victory. I bought the computer, but when I got it home, I was unable to pull either of my stepdaughters away from the TV to show them the computer so they could use it for schoolwork. The older one never used it for schoolwork. The younger, who graduated from high school last year, used it about a dozen times, all in the past two years. The computer became a toy for me. Two days after the purchase in late October, an article in the newspaper told about how Napster was being sued because it was helping people steal music online. Thus began my first research project on the computer: How to download music. In November and December of 1997, I downloaded, and burned to CD's, a phenomenal body of work, essentially, all the music I had ever wanted to buy. Not everything was available, but much was. Early in 1998, I began detailed research for Dan Fogelberg and learned that there was a forum on which Dan fans posted. After reading for awhile, I posted there. Soon, one of the posters - only one - wrote me an email. I began to correspond with her.
I gotta go. I'll finish this later.
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