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07/22/2003 Archived Entry: "INTERNET VISITOR"
INTERNET VISITOR
Many moons ago when the city/school district first became involved in getting internet service in town, I was about the third person to sign up after Joe Smith, who was city administrator, and Jerry Aday, who was director of ECED. It was a grand day for me as I had looked forward to having the ability to communicate with the outside world for a long time. The service couldn't have been worse, but there were good things that happened along the way in spite of it.
Joe Smith came to my house and we struggled to get the program loaded. It wasn't easy in those days. Once connected, he showed me around IE then took me to a chat room he had somehow stumbled on. It was operated by young Norwegian men who were very bright, spoke excellent English and were very willing to help me learn. It was a small, close, friendly group and for some reason they included me right away. They were all good people and ran the room so that it was perfectly acceptable if young people would stumble in. No bad language...just bright, polite people who were a lot of fun. I still count them all among my friends.
The first person Joe introduced me to was "akadiana". We called her a-kahd-eahna as it had such a mellifluous sound. Then it dawned on me it was aka Diana, the huntress. I still call her akadiana the way I first heard it from Joe. She took me under her wing and taught me from the beginning how things on the net worked. I talked with her, and the others, every day and we became good friends. At the time, she lived in Dallas and had a new born daughter.
Well, flash by a lot of years. Akadiana is now working in Kansas City with a huge, top-notch national law firm doing marvelous things where they appreciate her skills. She heads up all their help desks nation wide and hires and trains dozens of ITs. She's a whiz. She also lives with a friend I introduced her to, the son of one of my good friends, and the match seems to be going very well. The daughter is now heading into fourth grade.
We still stay in touch but not like we once did. We haven't been in the Finzness chat room for many years. We call and write back and forth now and then just to stay in touch. We know where to find each other should the need arise. We pick up where we left off.
I've lost count of the number of times she's been to Ellsworth to visit. Many, many times. She drove from Dallas numerous times and brought her daughter some of the time. Once she brought her mother and daughter for Thanksgiving and stayed a week or so. That was nice except that she left all her hanging clothes on the top of a car that was parked next to hers in Dallas so it was a scramble for a couple of days until a friend retrieved and mailed them to her. Two other times we met in Oklahoma City to join other internet and family friends. Once we gathered to meet one of our Norwegian friends who had come to visit her. I took my granddaughter on one occasion and we had a great time. There are very good people out there on the internet.
So, she and I have a long internet history. When I first told my friends here I had an internet friend coming to visit they thought I was nuts, that she most certainly was an axe murderer (remember originally they all had that reputation?) or would "steal me blind". We still laugh about that. I've had a bazillion internet friends come to visit...others from Texas, Indiana, California, Florida, London, Monitoba, Nova Scotia, County Durham, Iowa, Hexham ...well, from all over the western world. They have all been wonderful houseguests and we've loved having them visit. Since they generally come from a long distance, most stay a couple of weeks so they have an opportunity to explore Ellsworth and the environs. That has been a good thing.
The first weekend in August, my friend akadiana will be here with her daughter. It's one of the rare weekends she has free from work and travel so I'm really looking forward to her visit. I'll try to round up the family for a gathering over food of some kind. I want to take my internet granddaughter to the zoo as I think she'll enjoy that. She's a corker. If any of you want to hear her sing karaoke, I have a wav to send you that is just darling. She's a natural.
Then toward the end of August my webmaster friend is coming, also someone I met on the internet...I'm really looking forward to her visit. I hope she spends the winter! We have computer work to do.