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susandennisMy life in California was busy. Really busy. I worked hard and I played harder.
My time online was growing from just the local electronic bulletin boards. Prodigy was hot. I met some great, fun people there. Also there was The Well which was serious geeks who were great teachers and Compuserve. Each of these were different phone numbers you called and logged in. That's how we did it in the olden days.
But the one that sucked up the spare time that I didn't really have any of was Sierra Online (the people who made my first ever computer game). They asked me if I wanted to beta test their new online software. Oh yeah, baby. They had a bunch of different multi player games (not like the current ones, at all) but just regular games that you play with more than one person. My game of choice was Bridge.
I found a partner, a lawyer in LA. She and I would log in and play often. Usually late at night. And we actually ended up playing together for several years even after I left California. Bridge it the kind of game where the more you play the better you get and we got good. And it was so much fun.
Also in the mix of my busy life was Bobby. Bobby is the guy I met at the ballpark. We dated for pretty much the whole time I was in California. Not seriously and not steadily but enough.
He had lived in San Jose for ever. He had a different perspective. Oh and also he could predict earthquakes. Well, not predict but he felt them way earlier than anyone else. He'd be in the kitchen or somewhere and holler out 'earthquake!' and I'd say 'what?" and he'd repeat 'earthquake' and only then would I feel the tremor. It was freaky.
And he raced Porsches. For a hobby. He had 3. 2 ran. Both were beat up and had no suspension and crappy radios. I always felt like riding with him was my Last Ride. Especially on Highway 1. He and his buddies would do a convoy thing and chat via CB radios as we raced down the highway. I always thought the view was lovely... for a last view, particularly.
In 1990, the Porsche Club of America had their annual convention in Monterey and it was wild. we both worked as volunteers and it was really kind of fun. Porsche owners from around the world were there. Half were race car drivers like Bobby and the other have were show cars... tires wrapped in t-shirts so they wouldn't get dirty and cleaning every nook and cranny with special fluids and q-tips.
It was quite an education. Oh and I had an official badge!! (Bobby was the only person in my life who ever called me Sue.)
As 1991 came around, it became clear that it was time for another move. I was working for Bergren again and he was getting into career shaping mode. Shaping my career. "You should go to New York and talk next steps with ..."
To Be Continued
My time online was growing from just the local electronic bulletin boards. Prodigy was hot. I met some great, fun people there. Also there was The Well which was serious geeks who were great teachers and Compuserve. Each of these were different phone numbers you called and logged in. That's how we did it in the olden days.
But the one that sucked up the spare time that I didn't really have any of was Sierra Online (the people who made my first ever computer game). They asked me if I wanted to beta test their new online software. Oh yeah, baby. They had a bunch of different multi player games (not like the current ones, at all) but just regular games that you play with more than one person. My game of choice was Bridge.
I found a partner, a lawyer in LA. She and I would log in and play often. Usually late at night. And we actually ended up playing together for several years even after I left California. Bridge it the kind of game where the more you play the better you get and we got good. And it was so much fun.
Also in the mix of my busy life was Bobby. Bobby is the guy I met at the ballpark. We dated for pretty much the whole time I was in California. Not seriously and not steadily but enough.
He had lived in San Jose for ever. He had a different perspective. Oh and also he could predict earthquakes. Well, not predict but he felt them way earlier than anyone else. He'd be in the kitchen or somewhere and holler out 'earthquake!' and I'd say 'what?" and he'd repeat 'earthquake' and only then would I feel the tremor. It was freaky.
And he raced Porsches. For a hobby. He had 3. 2 ran. Both were beat up and had no suspension and crappy radios. I always felt like riding with him was my Last Ride. Especially on Highway 1. He and his buddies would do a convoy thing and chat via CB radios as we raced down the highway. I always thought the view was lovely... for a last view, particularly.
In 1990, the Porsche Club of America had their annual convention in Monterey and it was wild. we both worked as volunteers and it was really kind of fun. Porsche owners from around the world were there. Half were race car drivers like Bobby and the other have were show cars... tires wrapped in t-shirts so they wouldn't get dirty and cleaning every nook and cranny with special fluids and q-tips.
It was quite an education. Oh and I had an official badge!! (Bobby was the only person in my life who ever called me Sue.)
As 1991 came around, it became clear that it was time for another move. I was working for Bergren again and he was getting into career shaping mode. Shaping my career. "You should go to New York and talk next steps with ..."
To Be Continued
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Date: 2017-05-31 04:04 pm (UTC)I was never a great bridge player. Not intellectually disciplined enough to calculate the higher level bidding (Fran would send me signals that I missed by an entire continent). But I could play the hell out of any hand once the bidding was done. It was my specialty and I loved it. So we did OK together and for a while it was really an anchor in our distant relationship.
Sierra also released three games in succession. This was much later. They were multi user (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ruins_of_Cawdor). We played the MacBeth Cawdor one a lot with other IRL and virtual friends, usually sitting together on the same PC.
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Date: 2017-05-31 04:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2017-05-31 04:15 pm (UTC)Bride online is something that I might like to do again. I intend to always suck at it but it would be good for me and I might find the right group of players.
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Date: 2017-05-31 04:19 pm (UTC)I don't know where to go these days. I may have to do some research...
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Date: 2017-05-31 04:49 pm (UTC)http://games.aarp.org/games/bridge/
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Date: 2017-05-31 05:35 pm (UTC)This could be fun. Thank you!