Time in a bottle...

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day 'til eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you
[...]
But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do once you find them...
- Jim Croce

I used to love this song when it was out. Well, still do.

What is the point, you ask? I recently purchased a new computer. My first new desktop in 8 years (laptop is 5 years old). This thing is beast (as the kids say). Anyhoo, my soon to be excessed desktop has a 3.5 floppy disk drive. Some of you have no idea what that is. I had to add the drive, even in 2003. Not even an option now. So, this is literally my last chance to clean out the box of old floppy disks. This box used to represent the high point of technology. 2 MB high- density floppys. Wooooooo...

As you might imagine, the files on these antiques date back as far as 1992. And what a treasure trove it is. Some highlights:

- June 1995: Made an invitation to a friend's son's 11th birthday party
- August 1995: That same friend and I ran into Clyde Drexler in the Downtown Tunnels and he actually stopped to talk to us. So I sent him a thank you note.
- May 1996: My apartment on Castle Court was burglarized and my fancy new (then) cell phone was stolen. Required the cancellation of my account with GTE Mobilnet (anybody even know what that became/was absorbed into?).

Now, I'm on the 1994 disk. One of the first things? "30 things to do to relieve stress from Jon Mittelhauser's personal page on the NCSA Mosaic." So many archaisms in it! For one thing, web pages were still called personal pages. Another? Number 30: Do your assignments in binary code. (Yes, I know all modern computer applications boil down to binary code.) Also found the funeral bulletin for the friend of a dear friend. Whose cremains would ultimately spend an inordinate amount of time in my trunk— a story for another day.

1993: Apparently, I did a lot of typing for friends. I found complaint letters of all kind (from me, as well as from said friends) and several REALLY old recital programs. One letter I composed for a colleague was an application for her son to "Moo Montana's Posse." A letter to an old friend overseas– who is still overseas and still a good friend. Very chatty, that letter. My bill-paying schedule (before the mortgage, if only I knew then how good I had it...). The proof of an interview I gave to the UT Health Science Center staff newsletter about being a desk jockey by day and opera chorister by night. A letter I wrote to my mother while recovering from a vocal fold hemorrhage (I couldn't talk, so no phones– this was before widespread home use of the interwebs).

1992: Recipes! (Didn't cook then, don't cook now) Ratatouille enjoyed with Shepherd School buddies. Italian Nut Balls from my friend Claire's fabulous mom, who also made a mean Pineapple Stuffing.

Lots of memories, good and bad. Some are now permanently disapparated; others live to fight another day on another storage medium.

G'Night Hobbit Fans!