menopausebarbees
... the tales of two sisters

Dana lives in Seattle, and Tracie lives in Germany. We are businesswomen, writers and humorists. We write about life, dating, and today's modern women.

Call Me!!! The Information Superhighway!

Welcome to the Information Highway! Information Superhighway or infobahn was a popular term used through the 1990s to refer to digital communication systems and the Internet telecommunications network.

Daddy was born in 1931, and he would have celebrated 80 years this past December. He passed away in 1996, but his fascination with the Information Superhighway still lives in me. Daddy was so excited when DVD players arrived, he took me to Island Video and we rented our favorite movies and spent the weekend watching them. He had a pager before a cell phone, and one of the first in home copiers, which had to be heated by a light bulb. Any gadget or device that advanced communication intrigued him.

I am a baby boomer who has witnessed the birth and benefit of some of the greatest technologies of these times.

I recall my first cell phone, it was a permanent fixture attached to my car. I was selling real estate at the time and with the cellular device, I tossed my Thomas Guide Map in the trash. I was never good with maps anyhow. Over the years, my cell phone, nicknamed, “my baby”, has become an extension of my right hand. I talk, text, email, Google search, and multitask. I can’t imagine life without cell phones!

I also recall the first time I saw a fax machine in action. I was with my mother at our attorney’s office and saw this huge roll of paper being transcribed across our attorney’s desk. Faxing has become such a useful tool, again for time sake, I can’t imagine waiting on snail mail.

And of course, the home computer has revolutionized our entire educational system. As I explained to my ten year old daughter, when I was her age, I had to research in the stack of Encyclopedia Britannica’s my parents had lined on our bookshelves. She looked at me clueless as I also explained there were no Cd’s, we had record albums, and Wii play was “We” as in my friends and I finding fun outdoors. She smiled at my archaic descriptions as she powered off her I Pad.

I would be lost without my GPS!

So, it does not come as a surprise that as a menopausebarbee, I have been slow to the gate on incorporating all the technological advances when they arrive.

My sister, and co-blogger, Tracie has been on me to Skype for ages. Why? I countered. I don’t need one more thing to learn! After all, we can call, even from the car, email, fax, tweet and text.

Finally, Tracie refused to accept my phone calls until I logged on Skype- it’s FREE she berated! Voila! Today, we had our first video chat! I was able to take a virtual tour of her new living accommodations in Cologne, Germany right from the confines of my desk in Seattle, Washington. I saw her quaint balcony overlooking the city, her eclectic style, which includes multiple handbags in all sorts, shapes and colors hanging from a wall, her pink guest bathroom and familiar family photos. We are more than 5,000 miles apart, but I had coffee in her living room. I was indeed home, thanks to the Information Highway!

As we hung up on Skype, I thought to myself, what would our Daddy think? He was right, we are in the Information Superhighway and it’s a good thing!