My Buddy Ken

Each time my friend Ken comments on my blog, I start thinking about retirement. I worked with Ken for many years and he has probably forgotten more about the innards of computers than most will ever know.

He is the first person to ever show me the Internet. One afternoon when things got quite just before quitting time he called me over to his desk.

He clicked on a menu and all of a sudden I heard a modem dialing. It connected with Prodigy which was one of the first on ramps to the information highway.

Before that day, most of the things I saw on a computer screen was text and numbers. When the modem connected up to Prodigy he typed a word in the search box and all of a sudden links to some of the first websites on the world wide web came up. When you clicked on a link, several minutes later, pictures, graphics and words appeared.

He saw the fascination in my eyes and shook his head. "One day you will be able to find music, pictures, news, and anything you can imagine right on your screen. It will bring the world to you," he said. I knew immediately that he spoke the truth.

A few days later, I subscribed to Prodigy and I too was surfing.

So you may be asking, why do I think about retiring whenever I get a note from Ken? Well, it's because computers were always a huge part of his life and he worked as hard as anyone I've ever known, but when the time came when he could retire, he walked away and he's never looked back.

I talk to Ken time and again and he is as happy as a cat with a ball of twine.

The day is quickly approaching when I too can walk away and do the things I love. I would never wish away one second of my life, but I can definitely see advantages in giving up the day gig.