Julie R. Neidlinger

In 1991, my brother Jerry, who was working as an electrical engineer at the time, bought my family a Gateway computer, a top-of-the-line 386 powerhouse, with a laser printer. We weren't a family who had a super fancy house, new clothes, or stuff like that, so getting a computer was an incredible experience.

You have to understand the personal computing timeline, and how uncommon it was to have a computer at home. Most of us were exposed to the old Apple computers at school, the one where you had to have a boot disk, with monitors attached to the keyboards.

I believe we were one of the first in the area to have a computer in our home, and it was a very nice one. I was super excited to tell my shop teacher ("Industrial Arts") the next day because he was the computer guy at school. I told him about the computer, its specs, the software my brother had bought to go with it, and things I'd already learned.
I spent hours muddling around with the computer, learning what I co…

We didn't grow up rich.

Most things were hand-me-downs, remade clothes, and just plain making do with what you could with what you had. I don't think "poor me" -- I think it was a blessing. I had such great parents. It was all good.

However, that has left me with the inability to throw or get rid of things like clothes and shoes. I seriously wear things until there are more holes and patches than there is original fabric.

Right now I need to replace my third set of Keen sandals. I wear them for years before making the oddly difficult decision to admit they are falling apart and I need to go get new ones. They generally tend to rip out along the side because I think the leather patch is too stiff for the soft fabric under it, and when you slide your foot in without pulling the heel strap up, it causes it to rip eventually.

"I think I can still wear these another year."

"Julie, they are ripping out in the back," my friend would say.

"I'll g…