My Apple Computer Club

In my past life – I was never a club joiner. Quite frankly – I never wanted to belong to a club that had such low scruples that they would accept me as a member. But being new in town – and not being able to meet new folks at work because I don’t work – I decided to try a club or “special interest group.” Since I spend way too much time on my computer and the Internet – and even though I knew everything about computers in the world – I decided to find a computer geek club.

I cheated a little here – 19 years ago when Lulu went to Florida State for her degree – folks from the Apple Computer Club helped us out. At the time I think they met at Maclay School. They had one of the first networks in town – I wondered if the club still existed. With a little inquiry – I found out that they met at Hartsfield Elementary School in the Library – not once – but twice a month. That school is directly behind Pier One Imports on Apalachee.

Did you ever experience déjà vu? You walk into a room and you’d swear that you were there before – the faces look familiar – just good vibes. That is exactly how I felt when I entered the library. I am not kidding you – the same Irishman with a beard – Bob Olary – was leading the pack. There must have been 70 folks there – most of them with ibooks under their arms or connected wirelessly to the net or to each other. The faces were the same – just 20 years older.

The meeting was divided into three parts. First part – there was a big spread of food – and an open soft drink bar. Folks were snacking over their computers in small groups – doing “show and tell” with their latest toys. Didn’t they hear of the rule – no food and drinks around the computer? After a short business session – Bob would review “this month in Apple” – a most entertaining informative session that rivals some standup comedy routines. Finally – a member gives an in-depth presentation using big screen projections – flat screen monitors – circles and arrows – and computer jargon at “proper modulation.”

A couple local computer vendors would hype their latest specials – and everyone would rack up their name tags and go home for two weeks.

The club also sponsors its own server – and of course a web page - http://tapple.org

With a bit of arm twisting – I signed up to give a presentation about “Using Ebay” at a future meeting.

Everyone is invited - guests - visitors - no need to join.

So now I am a card carrying member of a computer club – which gives me discounts at a local computer store on Monroe Street. Maybe this club stuff isn’t that bad after all.

So being a club member is not all that bad. It took me 55 years to find that out. But sometimes a trailing spouse in a new town must resort to desperate measures.

Picture Credits - The pictures of club members were donated by Mona Lisa Abbott.

The bottom picture was taken by Robin Vroegop - Aging Hipster and Tapple member since 1/05

Harry@Everhart.com
www.Harry.Everhart.com