A Family of Geeks

The other day I sent that breathtaking video of San Francisco from the air to some friends and family who don't do Facebook.  (Who doesn't do Facebook?)  I heard back from many of them ~ one of them saying he loved it but couldn't view it full screen.  

I thought is it possible that he doesn't know where to click to view full screen?  So on the off chance that he didn't I did a screen shot of the beginning of the video, drew in a little arrow and explained how to do it.  Not wanting to insult him I emailed him back saying, "You probably know this, but just in case you don't ~" and went on to explain a simple click here and boom ~ there ya' go.

He responded saying no, he didn't know that and thank you!

I shared this story with my mister over a drink and a bite at one of our favorite haunts on Friday afternoon

(The duck is a whole 'nother story - literally - for a whole 'nother post.)

He wasn't surprised.  As an IT Consultant he sees all manner of technological know-how and non know-how.  He had some wise words ~ never assume people know things. Or don't know things. It's a fine line.

So over his kobe beef sliders

and my seared tuna and wasabi slaw

we talked about technology and how far we (especially I) have come.  I'm certainly not on his level, but - to my surprise - I know a bit more than some. And a lot less than some.

Most of what I have learned is by just jumping in and trying things and making mistakes. None of my mistakes have been fatal and I have to admit there is a certain comfort level knowing that if I have a technological near death experience, I've got the expert right here in the house to fix it.  (Trust me, he's fixed more than one blue screen of death for his clients.)

My sons have both been in tech-related fields for years, so they've kept me upping my game as well.  So I forget sometimes that not everyone is surrounded by geeks (and I say that in the most loving way).  The three of them - the mister and the sons - have pushed me to keep up (in the most loving way) and I'm grateful!  

For instance ~ I never thought I needed more than one monitor in my studio.  Now I work with three and can't imagine anything less.

(Someone was looking for popcorn.)

I use one for regular basic cable television and two for my work.  Although truth be told, one is usually streaming either Netflix or Hulu+.  Which brings me to another point ~ how little regular television I watch anymore.  That's why we could cut back to basic cable and save about $100/month.  :)  Almost everything I view (we view) is online instant streaming.

We recently devoured the exclusive Netflix drama series "House of Cards" with Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.  Ach - so good!  And I say devoured because we watched the entire 13 episodes in one weekend.  I remember seeing Kevin Spacey in an interview as he was promoting the series ~ he said this is the way of the future.  This is how people are viewing television now ~ to sit down and watch an entire season of a program in a weekend.

So it still surprises me when I realize that not everyone does this.  That people still watch television.  On a television.  +wink+