I'm also the older generation. My high school had one of the best computer science programs in the state, mainly because we actually had a computer science class, and some of the math classes included a week or so in programming simple math functions. In BASIC.

We got our first PC in 1992. It included a trial subscription to Prodigy.

College was definitely Vax time for me. I didn't really use it much for the internet, just computer science classes and, once I realized how much longer it made my papers compared to typing them on my ancient manual, word processing.

I bought a used Mac and a 1200 baud modem in 1991 and used some crazy patchwork of local isp and telnet to get to Usenet through UNC, as I recall.

We had computers in college but no internet. We got email my last year, I think. It was an intranet, and no one had mail access in their dorms/apartments, so you had to go to the lab to check your email. We mostly just sent emails to the person sitting next to us. Or, we would send drunk emails on the way home from the bars at the all night computer lab.

I "learned" BASIC in high school. I graduated in '85, so there was none of this PC frippery. In college we learned to program a cyber robot. Its name was Karel. The instructor always said, "Karl," which bugged, because I was a Buffista, even back then. Despite the information at that link, I don't think Karel had anything to do with Java back then. I'm pretty sure those were the days in which java was still only a schmanzy word for coffee.

I learned what BASIC I knew on an Atari 2600. My high school definitely did not have computers, though I think my middle school had TRS-80s.

Laura, your hair is indeed gorgeous!

I've had a computer forever because my handwriting has always been illedgible, but I didn't have the internet until a few years after high school.

IOmemeN, my allergies kicked in early this year. Thanks goodness for benadryl, nasal spray, tea, and coffee.

Laura, I'm hoping to drop a bunch of things in the mail tomorrow, so I'll do it then. Sox! You'll be getting a package soon too. Sorry about the tardiness.

Ok. I'm off to my meeting. I'm actually feeling a bit more confident right now. Hopefully it will stick.

I seriously only wash my hair once or twice a week, and I run 4-6 times a week (and sweat a lot during said runs). Most of the time, I just rinse my hair with water. It helps a lot.

Ahahaha! I was JUST thinking about a previous iteration of this Bitches conversation in the shower this morning.

I know I should stop shampooing as much, but my hair looks funky when I don't.

Laura, that is a gorgeous color!

I hope your meeting goes better than you could imagine, vw.

I need a little encouragement. I'm having a bit of a tough morning. ND left for another three weeks, and I'm facing all the normal stresses of teaching and the remaining 51 narrative comments I've yet to write. I know that I can do this, but I'm having a hard time getting started.

Someone tell me something happy to inspire me?

Someone tell me something happy to inspire me?

Um, I've been having surreal, funny dreams while on painkillers?

I looked like a demented chipmunk most of this week?

Okay, so not happy so much as giggle-worthy, but still.