Cleaning the Great Divide

I am usually hopeful that my wife goes horseback riding each Saturday, leaving me to do whatever it is that I do or don’t do.  There is no pressure to wash windows, dust, or carry out some other chore that has somehow made it on to her list of things that need doing when she is off riding a horse.

Yesterday I was unable to escape.  Her riding plans fell through and when we rode home from the gym she made it clear to me that today was the day that we were going to get all the old technology out of the basement and get it to Best Buy so that it could be recycled. 

Spider webs and dust flew everywhere as I searched the ‘Great Divide” (our back basement) for old monitors, computers, printers, keyboards, and a snake’s nest of cables.  At the end of the search I found three computers, a very old laptop, a fat old CRT, and a printer.  I dragged them up the stairs and into my car for the short trip to Best Buy.  The Best Buy experience was painless and a lot of fun as I caught up with people I used to work with.  They removed all the old hard drives and within an hour we were out the door and on the way home.  We brought the hard drives home and did as we were told.  We smashed them all with a hammer and put them in the garbage. 

The ride home was where it all began.  My wife and I started talking about all the money that we had spent over the years on technology.  Interestingly enough, before too long the conversation led to what kinds of things we had been able to do with the help of computers.  We even talked about the first time that we actually used this new technology.  For me it was when I had to write my annulment after my divorce.  I borrowed a computer from school, had the phone number of the computer teacher in my pocket and a million questions to answer from the church.  It was not pretty, but 35 pages later I had answered all the questions.  Not only was my annulment approved, but I began a new and life long relationship.…..with computers.   No more printing or writing things out by hand for me!

Computers, printers, modems, floppy disks, and a whole lot of other technology has made its way into my life since back in the early 90’s.  I have also had my share of blue screen crashes and computer issues that could only be resolved by asking my genius next door neighbor to help me at all times of day and night.  For him I will always be grateful.  His love of Windows machines was lost on me as I gravitated to Macs, and I can say for sure I will NEVER go back.   It has all been a great journey that has both peaks and valleys.  It has also made a huge impact on not just my bank account, but my knowledge of the world and my ability to stay in touch, even in the smallest ways, with people who have helped to create the fabric of my life.  

The internet, e mail, Facebook, itunes, iphoto, the App Store, ebooks, my iphone, ipad and imac, and new stuff like Lion and iOS 5 are on the horizon…….I am also confident that throughout the rest of my lifetime that there will be even more new stuff that I can’t live without. 

Technology made it way into my life grudgingly, for sure.  It was expensive when money was not as plentiful as it is today, it was difficult to understand, and yet it enhanced my creativity and gave me the power to be better at my chosen profession, while exposing me to more information that I could have ever uncovered in traditional ways…..all from the comfort of my desk in the basement…….the part that is NOT The Great Divide.

I want to thank my wife for allowing me to walk down memory lane yesterday!   I found that thinking about where I have come from technologically to where I am today is an important part of my life’s journey.  Interestingly enough I am pretty sure that over the years that we have spent well over $25,000 on technology and yet I do not regret having spent not even a single cent.  My relationship with technology has evolved and I am a better man for it. My wife has stood by me though it all and I would dare say that she was my first and best teacher.  

The most important lesson I have learned is that I need to get rid of old technology as soon as I pick up the new technology.  The Great Divide needs a break!