We hiked down to Wreck Beach today, and as we descended the many stairs of the southern trailhead, the sunlight was breaking through the trees, creating incandescent beams that illuminated the mist rolling in from the ocean. And as I sit here writing this post, I thought of how the technological revolution that I've lived through has illuminated and coloured my world.
I basically grew up a nerd. There, I've said it. Yes, I had the frickin' pocket protector, the pens that had multiple colours all-in-one, used a sliderule, and actually built my first calculator from a kit (a Sinclair... anyone remember them?). My first computer was the Commodore PET, a useless piece of shit with a chiclet keyboard and a cassette tape storage device that allowed one to do really basic BASIC programming, and little else.
When I started work in the CATV industry (where I would remain for another 34 years), I taught myself to program cable TV network design using a Hewlett Packard HP-25 calculator, and used the HP programmable calculators until the Apple ][ computer and VisiCalc, the very first spreadsheet came along. At that time, there was a booming business in cloned motherboards and plug-in cards for this system, and I, and my trusty soldering iron constructed a few of them from individual parts.
From there, I remember the next really big thing being the IBM PC, where we had... wait for it... a 5 MB hard disk drive! Yes, you've got that right, a measly 5 MB! But at that time, it was nirvana, dope, the shit! And man, how you had to optimize your programming to make the memory and storage space go the distance. I built a succession of IBM PC clones before computers became mainstream enough to be able to go into a store and choose one off the shelf at a reasonable cost.
Now, I sit on my couch and write my blog on my iPad Air that has 128 GB of storage space. My camera uses 32 GB SD memory cards the size of a small postage stamp, and the files it creates are 24 MB in size... each! I remember when the iPad first came out, I was already using an Apple laptop, having happily abandoned the Microsoft world, and I thought no, that's not something I really need. Then I made the mistake of actually looking at one in an Apple store. Well, that was that! Marcelle was adamant that she didn't want one, but about two weeks later, there we were, picking up one for her.
Now, the iPad basically goes almost everywhere with me. I read my books and magazines on it, I compose music on it, type my novel and my blog posts on it, process images, play games and surf the web. Indispensable! The contrast from the early computers I used is staggering, not just in the storage and speed, but the presentation... remember the mono green and then amber screens we had? Now I see my photos in absolutely stunning high definition, my books in crisp characters that I can adjust for size and display against light or dark backgrounds. I'm simply amazed by it, and yet today's kids will see this as normal. What wonders will they grow up with?
Ah well, enough of the reminiscence, let's segue onto the pictures from today's little expedition. As I mentioned, the mist was starting to disappear as we commenced our walk, but there was still enough to display some dramatic lighting.
In amongst the usual greens from the sea, we came across another of these peculiar (as I call them) 'jelly-dreads'. They look as though they might be some kind of egg sacks, but I've yet to find out exactly what they are, and no one I've yet asked can tell me. If you, Dear Reader know anything about them, please leave me a comment.
Lately, on several of the Pac Rim beaches, we've found car wheels, complete with tires and I suspect they are part of the tsunami detritus as they are replete with encrustations that would seem to indicate a lengthy time in the water.
Elsewhere along the beach, I always marvel at the colour and variety of foliage that the Pacific Northwest presents. It is always a treat for the senses.
That's is for today, from life on the edge.
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