talkingDigital

I went to the funeral of a long time friend last week. Gary, like my dad, was an avid builder of plastic models. He and my dad both belonged to a club made up of other model enthusiasts. I would go with my dad to the club meetings each week, and I also enjoyed the hobby very much.

Building plastic models for me, my dad and everyone else in the Grand Junction Scale Model Society consisted of more than breaking pieces off of the plastic tree and gluing them together with airplane glue.

We built scale miniatures. My dad is one of the best at it. An entire model can take over a year to finish as special after market parts are added, colors are matched and fine details, are painstakingly implemented. What comes in the box is just the skeleton.

Over time I transformed from model builder to computer guy. I still have a closet full of models that I hope to build some day. Deep down I am still a model builder, however my association with those in the model club has transformed from fellow modeler to that of their computer guy.

I now fix computers for many of the guys who have known me since I was six. Gary had also been a client of mine.

When I walked into Gary’s funeral, I sat down in a row with these long time friends who have become my clients. I hadn’t even sat down when a few of them started whispering computer questions too me.

They gave each other a hard time about talking business at a friend’s funeral, but I knew that Gary would have done the same if the tables were turned.

Someone made a comment that being a computer guy is a lot like being a doctor or a lawyer as someone always has a question for you, but I compared it more to being a superhero. I told them, “I didn’t ask for these powers.”

Deep down I am a model builder, a photographer and an observer of politic I don’t know how I became a computer guy. I have more to say about movies, books and art than I ever would devote to computers were it not for how I make my living.

Several times a week I ponder how I became a computer guy. I do it for one reason, I enjoy helping people. The satisfaction that comes from completing a model is wonderful, but it doesn’t equal the satisfaction I feel from helping someone get emails from their kid serving in Iraq.

I hope someday I can return to building models and pursuing my personal interests, but for now humanity needs me to save the world one desktop at a time.