Ambivalence

It was with a sense of sadness that I loaded the HP computer I purchased in 2000 into the trunk of the car along with my 13 inch monitor and left handed keyboard. The computer has a Pentium chip, but slow processing speed. When the power supply went out back in January I did not want a repair bill so I bought a new computer. Since the family gifted me with a new monitor, I've had my old 13 inch resting in the closet. Lo and behold, M and C were able to get the HP back on its feet, so we had two computers. This past a month the disk drive has been growling and finally would not load.

Keeping the HP was tempting since it had a 3.5 disk drive and I have a lot of 3.5 programs and disks. Once a major system component, the 3.5 disks are out of date. CDs and DVDs now rule in their place. Ignominy of ignominies, -- Valley Recycling says these old disks can just be placed in the trash to be burned or buried.

There are fond memories with my old system. At one time, it was linked with another computer, the 13 inch monitor, and several printers. I used to buy driver's license names on cds, break down the names into mailing lists, run USPS correction software and send out thousands of brochures a week mailing for a half dozen businesses. But times have changed.

At our house, we're trying to keep from warehousing things we no longer use. So the old computer system and software went into the trunk and off to Goodwill. Hopefully it will find a good home. I gave away the 3.5 program disks and threw away the rest. Just to be on the safe side, I drilled holes in anything that looked like it had data, just in case.

Ah, well...