Final 2 of MY Favorite things!!!!

For those of you that have been keeping score, I have two more items on my top ten favorite technological advances in my brief. . .*cough, cough* . . . 42 . . . .*cough*. . . years.   At the conclusion of my list, I would love for those that actually read these "pukes" to either weigh in on my top ten, or give me some things that I didn't include on my list that you would have.  I'm not the final authority and I'm not saying that I am right on any of my items, I'm just giving you all MY top ten.  I'm a bit of a geek, so your list might be completely different than mine.  You might have disposable diapers on your list where I don't because I've never had to change diapers.  You might have heated car seats on yours where I personally have no use for them because of two reasons.  #1.  I LIVE IN FLORIDA and #2.  My butt has a layer of blubber to protect me from the cold.  You might have the music of Justin Beiber because you have absolutely no taste in music at all and I could also say the same about Jersey Shore if it appears on your list too.  "Oh no he didn't"  "Oh YES I DID!!!"

So once again let's recap my list so far.

#10.  Digital Camera
#9.  Video Camera
#8.  Mp3 Player
#7.  GPS
#6.  Shower Puffy Thingy and Shower Gel
#5.  Kindle
#4. Cell Phones
#3. DVR

And now ladies and gentlemen.  For your reading pleasure, or torture, I give you the final two!!!!

#2.  Video Games - I was really torn on if this one was my true number one but I decided just 5 seconds ago that I have made the right decision.  Video Games is number two and I'm sticking with it there.

For those of you that knew me "way back when", you know that I have always been a "gamer".  There are two little quirks that I have always had, #1.  A love for pro-wrestling . . .and. . . #2.  Video Games.  I'm sure there are some mothers out there that just cringed, but as far as I know, I'm not a maladjusted human that has no grasp of reality or is prone to violence.  If you say that I am, . . .I WILL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF!!!!!  (A joke people!)

To let you know the video game appreciation that I have, I will say that I was the first people in the neighborhood to have PONG.  If you don't know what that is, then *sigh*,  you are too young.  It came out in 1974 and hooked up to the T.V.  You played the part of a line and you tried to save the village from getting hit by this perfectly square object. (That's the cool way to say it was tennis in its most basic form)  I was hooked however and though that was the coolest thing I have ever seen at the time.  I was able to play an actual video game inside my home.  HOW COOL WAS THAT?  No quarter had to leave my pocket and I could play it as many times as I wanted.  So from that moment on, I was a "Gamer"

Whether it was running off to Rolling Acres Mall to spend my hard earned allowance in the arcade, or mashing the buttons on whatever controller was in my hand, I was in bliss with every *beep* and *blip*.  I had to keep up with technology so whenever a gaming system would come out, I had to have it.  From Pong I went to the Atari 2600, from there to Nintendo, Sega, back to Nintendo, back to Sega, to Sony Playstation, to Xbox, back to Sony  for Playstation 2,  then to my current consoles, Playstation 3 and Nintendo's Wii.  I think there has only been a few systems that I have never owned at one point or the other. The first one was Matel's Intellivision.  I hated that one because it had the hardest system for the controllers that I ever tried and I passed on Sega's Dreamcast, because I could tell that Sega was not going to be in the game long term.

Since I've always been a "gamer", I can tell you that the systems are pretty incredible now.  You have Hi Def graphics matched by surround sound.  You can now wiggle your butt in front of the screen and it will see you do that.  You can work out, play golf, shoot strangers from all around the world, all from the comfort of your own living room.  It truly is amazing.  Linda gets the biggest kick out of me when she hears me playing online and getting killed.  I make noises that sound like a cross between a zoo and a haunted house.  There is nothing worse than getting "taken out" by some 12 year old from Germany.  You know he's laughing at you but you can't understand what he's saying.  Plus add the advances with Blu-tooth, and I can also sit there and carry on a conversation with someone 1500 miles away.  I don't usually use my headset though, because I don't want them to hear all my "special" noises that I make when I play.

To those of you that swear that video games will rot your child's mind, I would have to say that I really don't agree with that at all.  I see video games as a nice break from the day, a chance to take out aggression, and a great way to develop reflexes.  I came across a cow standing in the middle of a road on a foggy night going 60.  I had roughly 2 seconds from the time Linda screamed "COW" to avoiding it.  By the grace of God and my fine tuned hours of video game reactions, I was able to steer around it in a finely controlled skid if I don't say so myself.  You will never find me saying that video games are bad in child development, but don't let them live on it 24/7. 

You have heard it said by NRA members, but I think I'm going to steal it for the moment. 

"You can have my controller when you pry it out of my cold, dead hand"

Okay.  On to number one.  You can feel the excitement.

(Insert Drum roll here)

#1.  The Internet/computers - I wonder how many people would have this at the top of their list.  I wonder how many people would even remember TO put it on this list, but if you are reading this "puke" right now, it has to rate pretty high up because you are reading MY wonderful thoughts where ever you might be.  Plus, you can even be a follower just by the touch of a few tabs.  *hint, hint*  I put these two together because to me, they pretty much go hand in hand.  In retrospect, I probably should have separated them, but I just thought about the computer and it's too late to change.  Sue me for screwing it up!  I know the lady that fell in the fountain while texting would. (cheap shot)

Just think how far this little piece of technology has come.  I think my very first brush with computers was over at a friends house.  He had a Commodore 64.  It took floppy discs and you had to know how to speak computer language to do anything with it.  There was no Windows.  You had to put C: and something.  I think that's what made it so crazy back then for most because they truly were difficult to operate.  There were like 25 commands you had to do just to get it to add 2 + 2.  They were not user friendly AT ALL.

In college, the only computer that I knew of in the dorm was only used for Solitaire.  I just looked at it as the most expensive Solitaire game that I had ever seen, but we would all line up for our turn to move the "5 of hearts" under the "6 of clubs".  I still didn't see any major advantage to it.  The games you would get for it were like so complicated.  "Press S,F,W,G to move left or right.  Press L,J,L,H to look around.  Press T to shoot. Press B to aim.  etc.   I DON'T HAVE THAT MANY FINGERS!!!!!!   Back to Solitaire!

Now, with very little knowledge, you can at least get on the Internet and browse your way through any topic that tickles your fancy.  Yeah, I just said "tickles your fancy", I'm kind of shocked myself so let's just move on.   The ability to access ANYTHING from just typing a few keywords is truly amazing.  I had to look up the year PONG came out for home use and with in 10 seconds I had my answer.  Thank you Wikipedia!

If it wasn't for the Internet and sites like MySpace, yeah, I know it's dead, and Facebook, I have been able to get back in contact with so many people from my past that I swore I would never see again.  I am able to express my ideas, thoughts, and opinions on a open forum like this and anyone can read it.  Of course, I would love MORE people to read it, so tell your friends.  (shameless begging)

Just like many of the devices we have now, Cell Phones, GPS, Digital Cameras, Air Freshener, Oreos, we don't know how we functioned without the Internet.  I would have loved to have the Internet when I was in school because of the wealth of information at your fingertips.  I, instead, had to go to the library and try to decipher the Dewey Decimal System and the microfiche catalog, which wasn't easy, in the search for finding out where Benjamin Franklin went to the bathroom.  I hate to sound old, but "The kids today have it easy."

Also without the Internet we wouldn't have the ability to watch this:

or this:

This:

or even this:

Sorry.  Couldn't let it go by without another shameless plug.

So there are my top ten.  Now it's your turn.  Give me your thoughts, your top ten, or just tell me what a genius I am.  And  on top of all that. . . . .

SMILE!!!!