Currency...

I went last Friday to get a new dresser (well, new to us) and had to stop at the ATM to get cash. As I pulled up to it, I remembered back to my childhood...

My parents got paid every Friday and we'd go to the bank to cash my dad's check. Usually, we'd sit in the car at the drive-through window waiting for the teller. That was the extent of my parents' exposure to banks, it seemed. Within a few hours, the bills were all paid...by driving to every single office! They didn't have credit cards and my family never used checks. When they pulled money out, you could guarantee it was green. I remember at one time my dad saying that a certain establishment "didn't like the color of [his] money". I thought to myself...isn't green the only color of money? I don't think I'll ever know what happened there.

As I grew up, I started to see credit cards accepted more and more and these little boxes called Automated Teller Machines appeared outside of banks. (Of course, we never used them, but they were there.) In high school, I learned how to write a check and when I was "old enough" I got my first savings account.

As I grew up, I started to see more and more places accepting credit and frowning on cash transactions. And now it's much more prevalent. For example, at my gas station, if you don't pay with credit you have to walk in and guess how much it's going to cost you to fill up. And the popularity of RedBox kiosks that vend DVDs with plastic only transactions. I've even seen the number of fast food restaurants accepting plastic increase over the last 10 years. And within the past few years, the number of outdoor vendors accepting credit cards have also increased.

Opposite of my parents, I don't carry cash and I rarely refill the checks in my wallet. It's really not necessary thanks to the availability and ease of use of our new, plastic currency.

Raised on Radio...

The other day, I changed my desktop wallpaper to the cover from Journey's Raised on Radio album. I never owned it (in fact, I only knew a couple songs from it.) But I liked the title and I love the art work. The title means a lot to me because I consider myself Raised on Radio.

Music meant so much to me as a teenager, I would find myself in situations right out of the songs...like when I was 15 and was hanging out by "the drive-in and that's when I met [a girl]. Standing on [her] momma's porch [she] told me she would wait forever. Oh, and when I held her hand, I knew that it would last forever..." And that summer did seem to last forever. (But I wouldn't say "those were the best days of my life.")

Later, when I went to my first non-school sanctioned dance, I met up with her again (we hadn't seen each other in a couple years) and we danced to Every Rose Has it's Thorn by Poison. While dancing, we were singing along and this one part of the song made me look squarely at her and sing "I hear you found somebody new, and that I never meant that much to you...To hear that tears me up inside and to see you cuts me like a knife...I guess every rose has it's thorn..." All the while I was singing this, she was emphatically shaking her head. But it was over for us. It was time to move on. "Every night has it's dawn. Every cowboy sings a sad, sad song. Every rose has it's thorn."

There have been many other circumstances, but these were two right off the top of my head. I thank my Mom for this ability since she was the one who raised me on radio...8-tracks...LPs, 45s, cassettes and CDs (she's since moved in to MP3s too!). Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I'm really grateful for my love of music.

Thank you for driving with me down memory lane. (And don't worry Princess...you're still "every woman in the world to me", "you're the inspiration" for "always and forever.") [Thank you, Air Supply, Chicago and Shania Twain for popping into mind "just when I needed you most."]

The Gift That Started It All...

I'm sure I've spoken of this on more than one occasion to more than one person. But why not say it again.

Back in 1980 something, my parents brought home a Commodore Vic 20 computer. It was just a keyboard with a wire that hooked up to the TV.

We had a tape recorder that hooked up to it to "save" files to (that sounded quite interesting when played on the stereo!)

But when it was on, it was a wonderful learning opportunity for a 12 year old boy.

I learned how to make it display words on the screen. Then I learned how to animate the words. Then I used ASCII characters to draw pictures on the screen. I also had the idea to write a program that would carry on a conversation with the user. (I still haven't written that one yet!)

But this one little gift for our family catapulted me into a love and career for the rest of my life! I wasn't given a fish...I was given a fishing pole and a tackle box.

Thank you, Mom and Dad! I'm eternally grateful for the future you gave me in that one gift.

Back to the Future...

I just sat down and watched Back to the Future the other night. I really enjoyed seeing it again. I could have done without the swearing, but other than that, I loved it. Especially the parts featuring the vehicle of my dreams ever since I saw it the very first time...It was love at first site!
It was 1985 when Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd took a Delorean back in time. Huey Lewis and the News did a couple songs on the soundtrack. And I fell in love with the 1985 Toyota Pickup truck with roll bars and KC lights.

One day, I'll own a truck like it. My wife tells me after the kids go to college. Anyone enrolling 8 and 9 year olds? Please? :)

Christmas Flashback...

During this past Christmas time, I found myself remembering a particular Christmas when I was young. I had wanted an Erector set and specifically asked everyone I could for one to make sure Santa got the message. I knew I would be getting one big gift and I wanted it to be that.

However, when I woke up on Christmas morning, I found that Santa had instead brought me something called "Robotix." I had no idea what it was so I smiled and felt bad that my big present was not exactly what I had asked for.

But after I opened it up and saw what it had inside the box and what it could do, I really enjoyed it.

It had parts that snapped together in different ways, 4 or 5 motors, a control pad and wires to connect the motors to it. When the buttons on the control pad were pressed, the motors turned which moved the parts attached to them.

Looking back, it was one of my favorite presents. I even found myself wishing to find it again so I could play with it during my vacation. This is a toy I think my kids would enjoy...and I'd love to show them how to!