Gee Whiz Pops

One of the times I miss my father the most is on those occasions when I’m awe struck by technological advances in my daily living. Some of this stuff would impress the shit out of him, and I wish I could share the gee- whiz. Stuff like: Having an Iphone with Google Map into which I type a business name and within seconds am presented with driving directions starting at my current location. Logging onto the Internet and blogging while flying from Los Angeles to Atlanta – yes, that’s how these words are being etched into digital eternity. Watching streaming movies of my choice via the Internet in High Definition.

In 1992, I bought a cell phone. The damn thing was the size of a brick, consisted of a handset attached by curly cable to a base. It was absurdly expensive as was the calling plan. But I’ll never forget making the first call to my parent’s home while driving in my car. The conversation was mundane and forgettable. It was the act itself, that bold step into the future that stays with me.

Twenty-five years before that, flush with the work he was doing in the aerospace industry, Dad sat me down to describe the language used by computers. Using a pencil and paper he showed how strings of zeros and ones could facilitate communication and commands between machine parts and systems.

So, in retrospect, maybe these things would impress my father less than I suggested up front. Digital technology was the focus of his awe and respect when I was sucking on hash pipes and listening to Electric Lady Land on LP. If he were alive, sharing the thrill would probably elicit anecdotes from the world that was his career, a world of gargantuan, windowless offices populated by the crew cut, bowtie-wearing, square motherfuckers, I was so quick to condemn in my youth. But it was these people who laid the foundation for the toys and tools that rock my world today.

I didn’t realize that this was heading toward an amend, but what the hell. Sorry for judging you guys, and thanks for all the neat shit.