Learning to use a computer

After we retired in 1996 and moved from GA to Alabama, first to the family farm, and 5 years ago, selling the farm and moving to the little town of Elba, we started doing things we had always wanted to do but didn't have time. We both wanted to learn to use a computer. Our sons Ron and Bill both work with computers and were most helpful in getting us set up and offered lots of instruction in learning to use our computer. We learned to use email and at the beginning we did not have local access and in order to receive or send email, we had to dial a long distance phone number. So we didn't do email very often. Then someone opened a server site in nearby Andalusia, in an old service station, and named it Alaweb. It was still "dial up" but not long distance. The problem with that was nobody could call us if we were using the computer to send email or use the internet.


We learned to do income taxes on the computer and volunteered to do income taxes for AARP, free. Pictured here is Jim with a couple at the Elba Sr. Center where we had our "office" each spring for 8 years. IRS furnished us with laptop computers, printers, etc. and trained us. We used professional accounting software. We gave it up in 2006 to have more time at home in the spring and to be there when James got home at 2:30 pm every afternoon.


Jim wanted to edit and print a bulletin for the Rotary Club each week when he joined the Elba Rotary Club. I helped him design one and did most of the layout and we would print it on legal size paper and fold it. This went on for about 2 years and then a new member joined who had a printing shop and she started making professional bulletins.


By this time Jim was hooked on using the computer and started researching his family history. So.... we needed 2 computers. I kept the old computer and Jim got the new one. We have each updated those computers several times. We now have flat screen monitors and enjoying high speed internet through our local cable TV company. We've come a long way since 1996!!


Our sons loaded all kinds of software on our computers; some I'd never heard of, i.e. Excel, Power Point, and others. I have since learned to use both and couldn't function without these two programs. I use the tutorials to get what I need to know. We enjoy using Photoshop to edit digital photos from our cameras.


I love to do power point programs and slide shows. I have learned to scan photos to use in the slide shows. Couldn't do this without "cut and paste" that I have mastered.


Just this week Jim gave me an early Mother's Day present - an Epson projector to use with the Dell laptop computer our son Ron gave us recently. (Now we have 3 up-to-date computers and a slide projector.) We are producing two slides show; Jim is doing one for his Class of 1952 class reunion in September and I am making a slide show for a presentation for the S.A.R. on April 17th. We opened up the box with the projector two days ago and had fun figuring out all the cable connections, etc. It was exciting when we pressed "play" and voila!! There was our slide show on the screen.


I have a blog and Jim maintains our church website (http://www.elbaumc.org/). He used MS Front Page to learn how to create and maintain the website. I read a blog from a local church group last summer and decided to do one of my own. It's been so much fun remembering things from my past. I am making CD's of my blog to give to our sons and grandchildren someday.


Email is a big part of our daily life. We check it when we first get up and several times during the day. Even have this little guy announce "You have mail, madam" when email comes in during the day. We each have our own email account. Unfortunately we don't take time to write letters by hand anymore - just send email.


My philosophy is to learn all you can, everyday, while you are able. I love creating new things on the computer. It's the greatest encyclopedia in the world. Google can locate almost anything I want to know. We create maps of places we want to go and use the white pages to locate phone numbers and addresses. It's great when you want to look up a new country somewhere in the world like in Africa. I have my recipes on the computer and when I need one, I go to the computer and locate it much faster than I can by looking in my cookbooks and recipe cards.


Our 5 granddaughters all have computers of their own and when they come to visit, they enjoy playing games on our computers, sending instant messages and email or listening to music.


Picture here is our youngest, Caroline, and her sister Katie when they were spending a week with us one summer (Grandma Camp).