Number Munchers.

I started practicing "crunching numbers" long before the accounting classes in college or my debut in public accounting. It all started in the computer lab at West Side Elementary. I spent 7 years of my life in that building. To this day I can still remember how heavy the doors to the school were - you really had to lean back and use the weight of your body to move them. At the end of the hall in a classroom turned computer lab we spent about 30 minutes a week on the computer.

It was a great invention! A big electronic machine with it's dazzling screen displaying a very memorable green font. Reading, math, gym, music and lunch all seemed a little mundane when compared to the time we spent in the computer lab. I remember racing into the computer lab in hopes of snagging a spot next to your friends. Then came the process of handing out the floppy disks - your choice of Number Munchers or Oregon Trail. Waiting impatiently for the teacher to had me a Number Munchers disk I was in a hurry to insert the disk and boot up the computer. The faster you could tackle this process the longer you had to play the game.

For the next 20 to 25 minutes you could hear the constant chatter of the munchers munching their numbers and announcing the new high score or on the other hand there was the dreadful music indicating your family died of dysentery along the trail. What first grader knows about dysentery?

These are a few of my first memories of the computer. Funny to think that it was limited to 30 minutes a week. These days I use the laptop as a source of warmth during the winter.

One of my must reads had a post that inspired me to think about the evolution of the computer in my life. The once a week visit to the computer lab was just a start. It's fun to recall our family's first computer. Dial-up internet. My first email address. The list goes on and on. Although I must say that my first purchase of a computer didn't come until last year - a Macbook. I've had a laptop (well actually quite a few of them!) ever since I started in the business of debits and kredits and am lucky enough to get to use it for a few personal things over the years as well. But just last year I decided it was time to have a computer that was just for fun - no work allowed!

Check out the post that inspired me to take a trip down memory lane. the lil bee: Do you remember your first? And don't forget to read the comments on the post - they are likely to remind you of a few of your own forgotten computer memories.