27 November 2006

I Wonder Whatever Happened To......?

I'm sure as you grow older, you ponder this question. Your first grade teacher may come to mind....or "the girl that got away" (a personal favorite of mine), or perhaps even a co-worker from a previous job. I often think about the myriad of people I've encountered along my "sojourn" on this planet. And you have to admit that there ARE those people that are damned hard to ever forget, for whatever reason. Maybe it as because they complimented you, as a person...or you them. Maybe it was that one boss that was SO much more than just a superior, barking orders. Perhaps a person had the qualities of what you feel a (personal) hero should be, and you latched onto that. Or maybe it was just someone that made SUCH an impression on you, that it just cannot be shaken so readily from your mind.

Whatever the case may be, you might have lost touch with these people, and when you care enough, you still keep trying, because they are people of value to you...they mattered in the grand scheme of things.

And sometimes fate steps in, an makes such a reuniting possible. And I've had just such a a situation this past week. A buddy that I worked with in another "lifetime" got in contact with me, after I saw his name and email on a website I was browsing a while back. It was really odd to just see his name appear on the site, as I NEVER expected to hear from him again after our lives went their separate ways. Suffice it to say, that time knows no boundaries. We're picking up where we left off, sort of. We've both been through a lot of trying times since the 90s, and who would think that we could reconnect and renew our friendship this way? It goes to show that as I stated in a previous post, that technology CAN be utilized for good things.

People say we have few friends in this world, but many acquaintances. I prefer to think we have friends with a "small F", and friends with a "capital F". My buddy is one of the "capital F" friends. After losing my dearest (and oldest) Friend several years ago about this time, it's nice as all get out to know that other Friends are there to step up, be there for you, as you were for them in times past. My buddy confided that he remembered that I was there for him during a traumatic injury. Well, that's what I do....or more properly put, that's what FRIENDS do for FRIENDS. It's like the guy in the trench next to you...you KNOW he's there for you...no words need be said...it's understood. And it's a mutual thing...a study in reciprocity within the human condition.

So yeah, you could say I got a nice Christmas present early...a rekindling of a good Friendship with someone I'd work shoulder to shoulder to again in a hearbeat...simply because of the person he is. To call someone you know a DEAR FRIEND is one of the best things that can be attributable to anyone.

The world could use a little more of that, don't you think?

10 comments:

Jana said...

You know, a good way to get in contact with LOTS of old friends (and make some new interesting ones) is through www.myspace.com. I've reconnected with over 30 people from my past, all who live in some of the states I used to live in (GA & NM).

Bob G. said...

I thought about that....could be worth a look-see.

Jana said...

if you're curious, here is my page:

http://www.myspace.com/datajana

Bob G. said...

I did see a story on TV about how the runner up on American Idol had her identity STOLEN on MYSPACE...

makes me wonder now...

Anonymous said...

I saw that interview, too. It would have been more helpful if
she explained tips on how not to get your identity stolen from
a site like "myspace".

Could it be she did not have a
"firewall" or "spyware protection"
on her home computer? She and the interviewer did not make it clear as to how this could be prevented.

To all the computer guru's, is
a "firewall" and "spyware" protection enough to prevent a
hacker inflitrating a home-based computer?

Bob G. said...

Seems like more $$$ we have to shell out...just to be "safe". Where does it end?

It's going to come down to 2 ways of doing things....
(1)-have enough dollars to blow on EVERY device to protect your ID, or (2)-just not bother "playing" anymore...

Jana said...

To bobett:

The main reason people get their identities stolen on myspace is because they fall for spam from hackers sending messages to their mail boxes.

You know, like the ones you get in your regular e-mail boxes like:

YOU'VE WON A PS3! GO HERE! and it asks for your info and whatnot?

At myspace it's like this:

They put up a link for a site and it takes you to a fake page that looks like the myspace page's "Error: please login again." Of course, many fall for this and this is how identities are stolen.

The administrators for myspace have sent out warnings about what hackers are doing.

However, some do not take heed of the warnings and wonder later why they can't access their pages, have identities stolen, etc.

:)

Anonymous said...

Jana,

Thanks, ...went to your site
and did not say anything.

But you give to much information
on your site. And I think you are
bright... a shinning light in this world.

Please be safe.

Jana said...

True, I did put up a little bit more info than I usually would, but it's mostly so that old childhood friends can find me.

I really didn't know about people stealing others' identities until you mentioned it.

And now, I think I will take your advice. I'm going to put my profile settings on "private".

If someone recognizes me, they'll have to mail me at my myspace mail box.

Also, I don't know about me being "a shinning light in this world", but thank you for the compliment.

Bob G. said...

Aw c'mon J...WE all know you already are...and so does David...!

That's why we like you....

B.G.