Feb. 24
Heard three twenty somethings gabbling in the Met Club locker room
the other day. You'd think that I wouldn't have to listen to stuff like
this in my own club's locker room. They were all fussing about how rough
their working environment is. One of them said that it's so "incistuous."
(So help me.) Then he wondered if that was how to pronounce that word.
Anyway, no matter, when you have the Internet to back you up. They mathered
for a while, then one of them said, "they may give me a boss who is
forty years old! He couldn't know anything about the Internet!" About
that time, they realized there were several of us ignorant old turkeys
around and one of them mumbled, "hmmm . . .maybe we shouldn't be talking
about this here." Geez. Things change so much. When I was that age,
sure, I thought I knew some things, but I was really glad there were
some older people around to tell me the score. I guess the Internet
has changed everything in a drastic manner. And here I am putting journals
together, throwing words into cyberspace.
Oh well. Had an interesting linkup yesterday. A guy has put together
a page on Charles Whitman/the
shooting and linked to my story about almost getting hit that day.
He had some good links to other sites that referenced the incident,
as well. When I clicked on it, I started surfing around and found a
comment from a guy named Larry Skiles who was there that same day. Since
I grew up with a Larry Skiles and my old bud actually was in UT the
same time I was, I e-mailed him (or at least, I thought that it was
him). Turns out it was another guy, with the very same name, who had
also been enrolled there in 1966. He had actually received some correspondence
from my pal, misaddressed to him during that time frame. What a small
world it is. Now I wonder if we'll get some people reading our page
from that link. I'm reading a great new book called "The
Cluetrain Manifesto." It posits that the Internet is a shouting
bazaar of ideas. Truly, you toss out your words and maybe they stick
on someone else's consciousness. Now everyone can be a broadcaster.
Is there still room for the small player like my business in a world
where everyone can communicate so quickly and the big footprint stores
stomp on everyone else? I hope so. Maybe it will make it more likely
that some independent people like me can survive, with all the new tools
to communicate put in their hands.