Developments

I was recently struck by how modern photos make it into print! When I was given my first camera (12th birthday) it was a Kodak Instamatic. Our family was not cash flush although my parents were able to provide the best of what we needed! We did not suffer not having the latest of toys, but were able to really enjoy the privilege of unrestricted life!

We saved up our pocket money and traded the canoe that we were given as a combined christmas present, for our first sailing dingy - a tiny red wooden boat with a sail size smaller than the nearest popular option, the Optimist.

We owned Mike (short for Microscopic!) for a few years until we upgraded it to a Goblin dinghy - we were looking for a Dabchick, kind of a large windsurfer, with a Mainsail, a Jib and sometimes a spinnaker. That was before Windsurfers were popular.

When we left Zimbabwe, we came to Zululand and here we bought 2 Windsurfers. We occasionally went (2 brothers and I) up to Midmar Dam (outside of Howick) in my Mini with 2 windsurfers strapped to the roof!

Nowadays, all you need do is click the shutter and the photo can be viewed on a screen as a digital photo. Then you can do a multitude of things:-

You can download them to the computer then:-
Burn them to disc
Poblish them to the Net
Print them off
Delete them if you change your mind - or can even delete them before you download them.

Gone are the days when you have to wait for months until the film is full and can be developed. The computer age is really an instant gratification thing! Modern kids have gotten into the habit of instant gratification.

So - age creeps up on you - not so very long ago, when I was in the Pay Corps at the death of Rhodesia, there were only around 3 computers in the entire country - 1 for the army, that was on the 10th and 11th floors of the Earl Grey building downtown. I was a full corporal and even with dizzying rank, I was not considered to have enough rank to even look at it! Now I have 3 laptops, in my small home!

I dont often feel older than 21, but there are days when I feel every inch my age! Having a leg that is not fully recovered yet, does not help much! Until I am assured that the bone that was broken when they fused my heel, has completely regrown, will I stop using my moon boot if I need to be out and about for a while. I am more confident walking, and can manage to get around without my one crutch. I CAN move around without my precious moon boot, but find that after 4 months, if I dont support my heel, I get really tired, and my heel tends to swell - no biggie since I CAN cope.