And another thing...

Random spatterings of a 40 year old brain.

On November 3rd, I turn 40.

FORTY. 4-0. Four times 10. These are random thoughts from my last week of being 39.

I am not all that sure how I feel about turning 40. On the one hand I am essentially in mid-life, my youth is over. On the other there was a lot of shit that you were expected to do when you were young that your not obligated to do now. Like go out to bars, drink, smoke dope. All of which bore the hell out of me.

When you find yourself surrounded by twenty something people day in and day out, thinking back can really be depressing in some instances but some of it can make you think 'thank God I am done with that'.

Sex for instance. Back when I was young it was still safe to have it. You couldn't talk about it, but you sure could have it. And the worst that could happen is that you got knocked up. Now-a-days you can die from it. In highschool if people knew you were having sex you were a slut, now they talk openly about it and if your not having it there is something wrong with you. I prefer the old days in that regard.

Other things you lament the dying of. Like playing outside. We actually chomped at the bit to be let outside, it was torture if we had to stay in. Rain, snow, sleet hail it didn't matter. Not much kept us in, maybe a blizzard, but we sat and watched it until it calmed down enough for us to go out.

The excitement of something new. Kids today take technology for granted. The day the cable finally made it out our way. I remember watching them string the lines and praying they would make it to our house before they stopped for the day. Up until then we had two channels. Two Canadian channels. If you don't have any inkling of how bad that is, check out the CBC schedule. Even today Canadian tv is pretty crappy with very few exceptions.

The invention of the VCR. Its amazing when you think that I am only 40 but I have lived through the entire rise and fall of a technology, namely the VCR. I remember the first BETA machine that we got, it had a remote control with a 6 foot cord. Mind you it didn't last long, the dog took a liking to it. But at the time it was state of the art.

Its not really that cool that I remember these things, only that I remember NOT having these things. Things that seem commonplace now, but some of you don't remember when they weren't so.

I REMEMBER WHEN THESE THINGS DID NOT EXIST: (at least not for me)

Post-it notes - we had to use tape, the horror.
VCR's - if you missed it the first time you were SOL.
DVD's - your movie collection took up space...lots of space.
Cell Phones - we had pay phones on every corner. Good luck finding one that even works now.
Camcorders - we had those ones that you had to turn with a crank, it took a steady hand and there was no audio
Personal Computers - the comming of these things was very exciting and I lived for the next best thing. Now it's just par for the course.
Floppy disks - before this it was 5 1/4
CD's - I used to have shelves and shelves of floppy disks. These turned out to be mostly a space saver.
Walk/Disk-man's - you wanted to listen to music, you had to stay home to do it.
Liposuction - I am still waiting on the pill though.
Madonna - I know, don't you wish you were me?
Starwars - all we had was StarTrek and we were happy to think that space was just a place for Kirk to get layed.
Microsoft - the reason Nerds are hot.
AIDS - the worst std there was were herpes or crabs.
The Internet - penpals were the best we could do.Then we got something called BBS (Bulletin Board System) it was like internet lite. Some of them could host up to 12 people at one time. WOW!
School shootings - but then again, back then your father could give you the back of his hand if you acted like an asshole. Ah, the good old days.
Email - ya, you had to write it down and stick a stamp on it.
Organ Transplants - I was in highschool when someone got an artificial heart. Now they can just clone you for spare parts.
Single Fathers - you got a girl knocked up, you married her. Then again, I never thought that was a good idea anyway.
Rap - again, bet you wish you were me and could go to 'that' happy place.
Law and Order - hard to believe, I know, but there was a time when this was not on the air in any form.
Music Videos - artist had to actually have talent, not just a six pack and a cute belly button ring.
The Price is Right - yes there was a time it did not exist. However, Bob has always been on the planet since the beginning of time. It was just the name of the show that was different. Remember Truth or Consequences? I actually preferred Let's Make A Deal, but that is because it was much more cut-throat.

Any of you old timers out there want to share your recollections?