Random acts of violets

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Testing, now waiting

Saturday saw me bright and early in Truro at the opticians.
My prescription hasn't changed at all and in fact they seemed a bit bewildered as to why I was coming in for an eye test at all. I think it was something to do with not having had an eye test for over three years, and also receiving weekly letters from them for the last three months warning that my eyes will fall out if I don't book an IMMEDIATE appointment.

Anyhoo.

At the end of the appointment, I had to do a special test with a big scary machine in another room. You stare at a light and every time you see a little light flash somewhere in your peripherary vision, you have to hit a button, or as I liked to think, a trigger.

They made out that it was to test the nerves in my eye, but I like to think they were really testing my nerves of steel and my cat-like reflexes.

Apparently I did 'very well', so any day now I am expecting to be invited to become The Last Starfighter and to jet off into space to save various civilisations from evil marauders and such.

Any day now.

Friday, July 03, 2009

Old times

I spent some time last night sorting through old boxes of stuff from my uni days, getting rid of some things that I no longer have any idea why I kept in the first place, but also taking some time to look back through old photos and old letters.

It struck me as amazing how much things have changed in just such a short space of time. I started at Exeter 15 years ago this autumn, and the prevalence of tech now compared to then... blimey!

In halls in the first year, I was the only person on a floor of 16 people that had a computer, and then only because I was studying computer science.

No-one had a mobile phone, so there were always queues for the phones - one in each stair well.

Everyone had phonecards stuck in their noticeboards.

Everyone wrote letters to communicate with friends around the country.

With no digital cameras, after any parties there would be lists stuck on the wall for anyone wanting to get copies of photos taken, and then re-prints would be bought from the camera shop in town.

After uni when people started working, they often still had email but it may well be one email address shared between an entire office - accessed on the one computer that was linked to the internet.


And if you tell that to the kids of today ...