Attitude of Gratitude #27

I am thankful for the internet.

Some days more than others and some days I hate it but mostly I am thankful for it. I've been "online" since about 1998, so ten years. That summer after I got back from Camp I signed up for my first email. It was through the now defunct goplay...I think. Actually, I don't even remember what site it was. All I remember was the day I tried to open an account hotmail wasn't working for me. I'm not sure why. Anyways, a few months later hotmail WAS working and I got my "agent713" handle. I've used that for most online sites since.

Christmas 1998 we got our first computer. I was absolutely convinced that we were the last family in the WORLD to get online. Mom took us shopping on Christmas Eve and Dad stayed home. When we got back the living room was full of boxes and a brand new Pentium ONE(! a big deal back then) computer was all set up on a new desk in the corner of the kitchen.

Initially I used it mostly for school work and to check email. After I graduated and started working I had more time available online and I slowly built my usage. When I took my Administrative Assistant Diploma course I was introduced to the world of chatting. I'd work from 8-4:30 and then head over to the school from 5-8pm. The course was self paced so in between modules everyone would be online chatting. In fact one of the administrators was a moderator for a chatroom on yahoo! I'd talk to all sorts of people and I still think about some of them. Like the snowboard instructor from Washington State, the DJ from Italy, the couple that was "dating" even though they'd never met.

Once I finished school (months after I COULD have finished if I hadn't been chatting so much) I quit visiting the chatrooms.

In January 2003 I was researching the pros and cons of becoming a Creative Memories consultant. I joined some Yahoo groups and through there I was directed to StampinScrappin. My first post was asking for clarification on abbreviations and Donna in MB was the first person to answer.

I met my first ScrapShare members at Showcase in 2004. Since then I have met well over 100 "axe murders" and count many of them as my closest friends. To say that ScrapShare has changed my life, isn't a word of a lie. The friends I have made there are the reason I have travelled to, well, to every state I've travelled to and the reason I was in Diane's wedding this summer. It brought Veronica to Canada and has enriched my life in inumerable ways.

I log on most days although sometimes on the weekends I don't have access, which is fine. It's good to take a break once in awhile :)

My daily sites are:
Hotmail
Gmail
Facebook
RoyalBank
ScrapShare
HSScrappers
Dierks.com
The9513
Country1071
MySpace (once or twice a week)
FVR Library

And more blogs than I can count although I access most of them through "Feedblitz" and I have to confess, this daily challenge with everyone writing every day, has been murder. I am so far behind on reading that it's not even funny!

So, I am thankful for the internet. It has made the world a smaller more accessible place and, for the most part, I am better off because of it.