"Tech Topic: p2c2e? Then rtwt!"

Now, I'm a guy who grew up in the non-tech era. I mean, I actually was pretty good with a "slide rule" in grad school at Georgia Tech (1976-1977). They made us take programming courses in such archaic languages as COBOL, BASIC, and FORTRAN. If we needed a printout to support a project, we submitted our "punch cards" to the "computer center" and picked them up a couple of days later. In my field of study, we had to compute a beast known as "linear regression analysis"... and we had to grind it out by hand. It took hours. You can do it today on a $49 calculator and get a great printout - in minutes! Speaking of calculators, schools were very suspicious of them, initially, and it was an honor violation if you used them to do homework! I'll never forget my first "legal" calculator. I was a Business Management student across the state at the University of Tampa (Class of 73'). This sounds crazy, but the calculator was the size of a small lunch box (complete with handle)... had a big red LED display... could only "add/subtract/multiply/divide/and compute square roots"... all for about $200.

Anyway, you get the picture. I was an Army Officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency in 1984, when we got our first computers. They were big monsters with green monochrome displays and 10MB internal drives and floppy disc external drives. They ran DOS as an operating system, as Windows and the lovable Mouse didn't come until the early 90s'. We played "Pong" and marveled at the fact that the Big Wigs found it a waste of time to release people to go get trained. "We're too busy for that new computer stuff." I got into real estate full-time in 1986 and bought my first "portable" computer. It weighed about 35 pounds and looked like an old sewing machine carrying case - but it was mine and I loved it. Heck, I bought a FAX machine in 1987, when our real estate office didn't think they'd be very useful. (One heck of a cottage industry, at $0.50/page:-)

We sure have come a long way in the past twenty years. A really good laptop today would have been adequate to launch the first moon landing mission. I'm one of those who thinks all this technology is not only "cool," but very useful and practical, as well. I'll take my $395 Treo "all in one smart phone" over the one I had in 1986 - 10 pounds in a canvas bag with a brick-sized battery - for $1,500! And this little Fujitsu Lifebook notebook PC is only 4 pounds. With my Verizon wireless card, the internet is "on" for me, wherever I go. I can post this Blog entry to my Google Blogspot site anytime or place. I can be in Tampa for the day and answer client questions with MLS access, or write a contract and e-fax it to another agent or client for signatures - sweet! The list goes on and on. Truthfully, what the heck did we do before E-mail? What a God-send! I can stay in touch with everyone. Those among us who resist the siren song of technology are really missing the boat. The excuse that "that stuff only complicates life" is such a cop-out. You don't have to become a slave to it, in order to enjoy it. I mean my new washing machine is way cooler than the roller job my Mom used... but that doesn't mean I spend all my time washing clothes.

So I pick up the paper this morning and "Today's Forecast" at the top of the front page says: "imho, it's gonna be adip... upper 50s to upper 70s." Wow... It started to unfold before my eyes. Hey, I spent twenty years in the US Army - always swimming in a sea of acronyms - and this is the new wave: TEXT MESSAGING. BTW (by the way), imho = in my humble opinion, and adip = another day in paradise. Not a bad weather report. Aisi (as I see it), it's just a new form of shorthand... bykt (but you knew that), right? Tttt (to tell the truth), I think it makes life easier and is really not a wotam (waste of time and money).

I really want to get better at this, because I've got about twenty kids and grandkids and their buds who "text" me and I don't want them fofl (falling on the floor laughing) at my lack of skill. Aamof (as a matter of fact), I don't want them saying that I have nac (not a clue). When they send me H&K (hugs and kisses), I don't want to mis-interpret it as Heckler & Koch (a maker of tactical weapons). Hey, try it, and b4yki (before you know it) you'll be cool too! Anyway, fwiw (for what it's worth), they have stuff for "previous generation" also. Like if a kid texts you with cula (see you later alligator), you can go back with awc (after while crocodile)! Well, ime (in my experience), eie (enough is enough) already. You get my point. So, c4n (ciao for now), Baby! Obtw (oh by the way), the title of today's post means: p2c2e = process too complicated to explain... and rtwt = read the whole thing! I guess that's my .02 (two cents worth)...