I remember the days when only big businesses had computers. I also remember the day my husband bought us our first computer. I was scared to death of it. I wouldn't even turn it on, for fear I would crash. That is all I knew about them, one wrong move and you can crash your computer. To me, crash meant it would crumble in a big heap. What is the crash that everyone is talking about. Well, after three months of dusting this thing call a computer, I decided to turn it on and see what happens if I touch the keyboard. Real quick I crashed. I panicked and turned the computer off and waited for my husband to get home from work and call the technician to see what I did wrong.

Needless to say it wasn't anything to put the computer out of commission for long. He punched a couple buttons and I was at it again. It took me a long time to get comfortable with the computer but away I went. At first all I did was play games, that is all I knew I could get to without crashing again. After a few months of this, I really got brave and set up an e-mail account for myself. Gee, it was fun to get letters and jokes from friends and family. Then the real task began. I can surf the net and read all kinds of stuff. Just type in a word and hit search. Bingo, all kinds of stuff came up.

Let me tell you, that was 13 years ago, and now I sit and laugh at myself. Here I am, I can't wait to get to my computer, first thing in the morning and the first thing when I walk in from work. Yes I have come a long way since my first crash. I use my computer for so much now, I often think, how did I ever live without it.

It is funny how things can change over the years. My husband was the computer whiz when we got our first one, but that lasted only a short time. Now we have two computers, his and hers and he comes to me when his computer messes up. I do all the fixing. He says I am better on the computer than him.

Yes, computers are becoming a common household fixture. I know people as young as 5 and as old as 79 that have their own computers and can't wait to get on them. Computers aren't just for school and business, you can have fun on them too. I enjoy just surfing the net at times instead of playing a game or writing articles. This is my stress reliever. I love it and can't live without it.