Nostalgia

Once in a while I am glad I did not throw everything away. While looking for a suitable folder to use for some papers I need to keep from losing, I ran across this:

A bunch of papers from my time at the BBC -- pay stubs, expense claims,

my TV licence (please note British spelling there), a bunch of bills and statements, and papers about my employment -- memos and background and preparation sheets. I had to laugh about some of the technology info. Cutting edge, we were -- cutting edge. "Be sure you have DOS 5 installed in your computer....." It really was cutting edge... at the time.

I wept. And I'm still sniffling as I write this. Oh, how I miss those days and miss those people. (Coincidentally I just got a Christmas card from my former boss Martin's parents, too. *sniff*)

And I'm laughing, too. I am just reminded about some of the plane trips I took and the men who were hitting on me. I am remembering one seatmate on a flight who was trying so hard to impress me with the fact that he was acting as a courier with some top-secret documents from D.C. to London. He just WOULD.NOT.SHUT.UP. So eventually I looked him in the eye, lowered my voice conspiratorially and said to him, "You know, me too. I'm carrying a computer chip from D.C. to the BBC in London."

He began to get skeptical. I was surely having him on. (I was.)

"You are not."

"Yes, I am. You don't believe me?" 

I reached in my purse and pulled out the computer chip that I REALLY WAS carrying -- from the National Captioning Institute in Washington, D.C., where I had done my training, to the BBC. It was some little thing that would make my steno software work over there. I don't really remember what it exactly was, to be honest -- something akin to the software key I have to use now, I guess. But in order to shut this arsehole up, I had to pull out this blue plastic highly-impressive-looking little doodad, and show it to him. And shut him up it did. He literally was dumbfounded and sat back and did not say one.more.word to me. I am laughing out loud -- right this instant -- at the memory. The look on his face was worth $13 million.

I suppose this is the way some people feel about their college memories. My college memories are not like that. This was my time.

And it was the best of times. I'm so lucky to have had it. 

That's the photo collage of the members of my department that they put together as a going-away present for me. Lucy, on the bottom right, is very sad that I'm leaving, as you can see. I've told the story of Lucy before -- "Lucy Lips," who, it turned out, wore the same shade of Boots No. 7 lipstick that I wore, but it looked so very different on each of us.

I suppose it's no coincidence that I finally used some of my audible.com credits last night, when I learned that I could download audiobooks to my Kindle (oh wondrous joy!) to listen to the most wonderful narration of The Adventure of English. I never could get through the last book I downloaded to listen to, but with this one I'm positively entranced. 

Comments

[margene]

It's wonderful to run across the pieces of life that make us smile. You're like me as you'll never get around to making a scapbook, with the memories. I have a shelf with manila envelopes and boxes each with special memories. Your time at the BBC seems so interesting and fun! It's great to hear about your time there.

[Patty]

Boot #7 eh? I wonder what Mr. J thinks about that? Sick morning humor.

[Sunnyknitter]

Have to figure out how to get my Audible books on the Kindle, but that book looks great and I'll be happily using one of my credits on it! Thanks for the tip. I love coming across memory stuff like that, especially since I'm not a big saver either.

[kmkat]

Norma, you look exactly the same now as you did then! How do you DO that?

[gayle]

Love the photo collage.
I've never been sorry that I didn't throw something out - I've often mourned the things that I did toss. It makes my life cluttery, but I'm much happier.

[Joannah]

Acton! I used to date a guy who lived in Acton. Gee, haven't been reminded of THAT in a good, long while!

[noonie]

kmkat I want to know that too... how come you don't look any older? So unfair... ok own up where you hiding the painting?

[Birdsong]

What a delightful story! I am so glad you got to live through a more adult 'best' time. I have always believed we were still too much works-in-progress to say that either high school or college right after were the 'best times' of our lives. What would that have to say about the rest of it?

[Emma]

O.M.G.! Creffield Road ! I went to Haberdashers' Aske's school, now the Japanese school. The number of times I walked up and down that road...

[Norma]

Emma!! The Japanese school was directly across the street (and I do
mean directly!) from my flat. My building was a new one (with central
heating, even!) that they told me resulted from the lot having been
bombed in WW2.

[Emma]

It's a lovely street. I always liked Ealing Common, with it's air of faded gentry ! Habs moved to a new school at Elstree, next to the boys school. That increased the school journey somewhat !
I'm one of their low achievers !!!
:0)

p.s. I was in the sixth form, of a different school, with Nigella Lawson. But that's another story...

[Judi]

It is now officially your fault that I am interested in a Kindle. I didn't know they could do audio books, though that seems natural enough. I can't find anything on either site though that explains it. How did you figure that out?