Bits and Bytes

The spaghetti mix of cables that enhances the décor of our house seems rather appropriate.  The pure ecstasy of a DSL line, the anticipation of a new fangled program, the gloom of a bad connection or a downed system and the fear of a virus are conversations of the heart.  Having a child who would rather discuss his desire for more RAM and hard disk space, the speed of music downloads and the legal ramifications of intellectual property than breathe fresh air is a direct result of an interlude with the topic at hand.  It is true, I married a computer nerd.

I couldn’t help myself.  It wasn’t as though he presented himself as such, he probably isn’t even aware of his predicament.  But looking back, the signs are quite obvious.  The late nights with his keyboard, the soft murmurs of sweet nothings at the possibility of new software, the heightened lilt of his voice at the success of wireless broadband router connections, his preference to buy small baubles to show his affection and appreciation of love for the dedicated service given by his computer rather than for me should have been the tip-off, but I was in love and my thoughts obscured by the heated passion I envisioned if he ever took ten minutes away from his monitor.

Don’t get me wrong; although I fear he may have ulterior motives, he did make my computer the server for our host of home computers.  For my birthday, he surprised me by putting a computer, complete with a flat screen and wireless mouse, in the kitchen for my ease of shopping Ebay to my heart's content and filling my free-time with Google searches.  When boxes arrive at our doorstep, I can only imagine what my little love muffin could have ordered.  His dedication to technology is superseded only by the speed of installing the latest and greatest.  I have every bell, whistle and new fandangled electronic gadget (at least he has told me that things were purchased for my benefit) that one could imagine – if that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.

Having found a romantic moment, when the electricity went out and the panic of no computers subsided; the joyous and blessed arrival of our child came nine months later.  It was only minutes after we arrived home when his bassinet was rolled into the computer room and his first focused vision was a computer monitor.  He wasn’t walking yet when we sat him our laps (I have found that I am an enabler) to reach the keyboard and play his first computer games.  He was a whiz at selecting his own software by the time he was 3 and by age 6 he was designing computer aided, 3D engineering components.  His desire for electronic devices has grown disproportionately in comparison to his age and size.  At least he comes by all of this honestly.  While other families discuss their day, sports, cars or summer vacation, you can bet when we sit down to dinner our conversations revolve around the same topics except from the technical and mechanics side with the latest innovative approach.  Needless to say, dinner parties at our house are too much fun.

People have told me it could be worse.  I think they’re right… I am pretty lucky.  I always know where I can find my squeezey-bear and child, happy and content, on their respective keyboards… bonding away at the finer points of “ripping” or “burning” a CD, negotiating the labyrinth of their latest technological endeavor, or perplexed at a non-working apparatus… as I happily research a recipe, on my handy dandy, convenient kitchen computer, for our dining delight.  Life with my computer nerd is pretty darn nice!

Cynthia A. McClelland, curious observer of the obvious with interpretations of the oddities of daily life. Mother, wife and lover of the furry, resides in the north Lake Tahoe area.

Cynthia A. McClelland © 2003-