Surfer Girl

Do you remember a time before the internet?
It's not that long ago really. 10 years ago I worked for a tele-communications business selling mobile phones. In 1995 mobile phones where still in their infancy here. A novelty. Expensive, cumbersome & sold with batteries that only lasted 4 hours. It was with this company that I first learnt about the internet. The term "www" meant very little to me & I confessed to my boss the the only thing I knew about the internet was the term "Surfing the Net" and I really had no clue what that actually meant.
Before Email & text messaging my husband (then my boyfriend) & I used to send each other faxes at work.
Oh the technology!
I would be so excited to hear my fax machine ring & hope it was a witty, dirty facsimilie on thermal paper for me! Peter usually included a crude picture or suggestion to make me grin & swoon.
My girlfriends & I would fax each other too. With plans. It was easier to sneak a fax to arrange our social life rather than risk a phonecall at work with an ever present boss. When I met Peter in 1998 he was one of the few people I knew who had "The Net" connected at home. I was pretty impressed but found no real desire to "Surf the Net". What did I need that for? Peter explained that it was a handy tool for finding information etc (porn was NOT on our agenda) & he set about showing me how to use the computer. I remember it well, I sat on his lap (it was back in 1998) and he asked me to name a topic of interest I might like to look up on the net. Hmm....I thought....what did I want to look up?
But of course!

Bon Jovi.
What else! My first Bon Jovi cyber experience....Bless Me! And to think that Peter would still want to marry me a few years down the track! Must have been my great tits. I guess my point is that how much has changed in just the past 10 years. How far the technology has come & how small the world is thanks to the internet. I absolutely adore the net. How else would I have met so many amazing people from all over the world! The WORLD! I remember when it was a pretty big deal to have a PENFRIEND from interstate..let alone a penfriend from another country! I used to fantasize about what people in America where like? What did people in England dress like? What did Germans do on weekends? What side of the road did Italians drive on?
As a child your own little suburb was the whole world. The kids at school where your universe. As soon as I was old enough I began travelling. Not far or wide to begin with but the bug hit me. Landing in another country was such a thrill! A whole different culture to embrace, exploring cities I'd only read about. Hearing other languages buzz around the market, tasting different foods, noticing my own strange accent attract curious glances. To stand in a church that was built in 1360 is a life changing experience for a Sydney girl when my own country has a grand history of 217 young years. I have been to some wonderful countries and I plan on seeing much more of this planet over my lifetime. Peter & I hope to visit a new place each year of our lives. I guess what I truly love about the internet is that I can sit here in my home & look at an Austrian Mountaintop, follow an IVF adventure in Mexico, share a laugh with an ex-mormon in Utah, chat to my girlfriend in Queensland (yes, you Millsy) Without even moving. And I can share the essence of my Australian life with equally curious out-of-towners.

I dig.
I truly dig.