Simple (Cheap) Things

I bought a program for my computer today. I don’t normally buy programs, or at least I haven’t for such a very long time. Usually they come installed on the computer or I will find a free program on the internet that will suit my purposes. I have been looking for a pretty simple address book and haven’t been able to find one that would suit my needs. Until today that is.

I was stalking the aisles at Princess Auto looking for shiny things that I might want when I saw a disk with Address Book written on the front. This could be what I have been searching for without success for all of these years. I picked it up and flipped it over to read the description and it looked pretty basic and, well, simple. It is just what I have been looking for. The price was right too, only 49 cents! Hell, even if the program is shit the jewel case is worth 49 cents, right?

I took it up to the counter, paid the lady my hard earned cash and left the store like a thief in the night. I was kind of afraid that they might realize their mistake and take the disk away from me.  When I got home I tore off the cellophane, well, I couldn’t get the damned stuff off and finally after two pair of scissors and a trip downstairs to get a razor sharp carving knife it peeled off like butter. Now I read the back. The system requirements were Windows 3.1 or newer, a 486 or higher PC, 8 MB of RAM, a CD drive and 14 MB of free hard drive. I wonder if it would work on my Commodore 64?

I can’t remember how many computers it has been since Windows 3.1, but this software was copywrited in 1999. Well, no time like the present to see if this blast from the past will even work on the new fangled computing machines. It booted up fairly easily, but unlike most modern programs it didn’t ask if I wanted a desktop icon. Well I did, so I had to Google how to set up an icon on the desktop. It turns out that Google was incorporated just four months before this program was born.

So far I have managed to enter just one name, my own. Now, if I am ever lost, can’t remember anything but my name, and just carrying my desktop computer, I should be able to find home. Well, as long as I can find an outlet for the computer. I look forward to entering names and addresses of friends and family and even using this program to write my Christmas cards. The sky is the limit and it only cost 49 cents.

Sometimes it is the simple (cheap) things that make life worth living.