More Awesome Than You!

The family is driving home from seeing Narnia today.  I tell my husband I want to stop at the Rite Aid because everybody is out of shampoo, soaps, hair gels, etc.   (I've been trying to shop for a couple of weeks now, but the boys are turning into teenagers and I found that browsing Drugstore.com wasn't giving me as much info on new products as I could get walking through the aisles.)

The whole family (two boys, one husband) stares at me and then the 13 year old spits out:

"You mean, we are going to shop by hand??"

 ;D

And yes, I did just finish my weekly grocery shopping trip online.  Acme should be here between 11 and 12.  I'll be playing the Sims. :p

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So, you know you are an internet geek when....

I curse at my PC for not running nearly as fast as my Fios...

You wonder why people call you when you're online. I mean, you can SEE me on aim/trillian/what-have-you, and that's how you knew you could call -- would it really just kill you to type instead? (In fact, I've gotten quite upset at a few people for calling me when I was online. Because I mean, I'm BAD at talking on the phone. I always zone out, or set it down and forget there's someone on the other end, or say I'll be right back and then wander off to get food but decide instead to watch a dozen episodes of Star Trek in a row. So really, IMing works much better. After all, if I wander away, I can always come back and read what you said.)

You are thoroughly confused when people say they need to go to the library to do research. First of all, google is for research. Second of all, if you NEED a book, you can probably order it (used) from somewhere online for the price you'd be paying in library late fees had you tried to borrow it. Thirdly, if you DO need to get it from the library for some reason, you can check the library's ... catalogue ... thingy ... online, and find out which branch of your city library even has the book you want. Just heading off to the library is so twentieth century.

And finally, you know you're an internet geek when a cute boy asks you to write him and gives you his address, and you look at the paper and realize it's his MAILING ADDRESS, and you become completely baffled and then decide that, even if you could figure out this whole "snail mail" thing, you wouldn't want to communicate with someone who was stuck in like, the ninteenth century. Even if he was very attractive.

...you've found your boyfriend online.  *raises hand*  ;D

I met him on an online message board (for a PS2 mag) and we have been talking with each other for more than two years and have been a couple for more than a year and a half.  It's hard b/c we live in different countries (he in Canada, me in US of A) but we were able to visit each other over the summer. 

So yeah...I'm an internet geek.   8)

When you start to think of writing a check as a major hassle because when you bank (and do everything else) online, you just have to cleek ze button. When Christmas rolls around and you realize you still have stamps from *last* Christmas because that's the last time you actually mailed anything.

About the library. I do love to go to the library to browse, but if I want something specific, I go online, access the catalog and have the library send the book or DVD to the branch that's right around the corner from my house. It would be even better if the driver could just stop by here with it, but they aren't going for that idea.

How about you've found your husband online, eh? ;)  **raises hand**

You go ahead and move-in said "male friend" after only meeting IRL twice in yer life.  Figuring he'll just stay the weekend and then he'll run off with his "other" online girlfriend(s)...lol

(BTW...at which point your mother decides to do a background check on him to verify he is indeed NOT an ax murderer...lol.)

The next spring you decide...hey he's still around...let's buy a house! Need to ditch this old place anyway...need more room for computer stuffs...

And then the next summer you get married.  By eloping.  To the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Where amazingly, there were no computers to be found and yet you survived with only minor withdrawl symptoms...

To everyone but the groom's surprise, you actually stay married...for 5+ years now!

With two computers in the house...at least half a dozen monitors and spare parts enough to build several more computers...

Makes for a very "happy ever after" :D

:) :) :)
Ivy

Wow, Ivy that is intense.  I can't imagine meeting a partner online, let alome marrying them.  I've heard of a love triangle (online) recently that made me laugh, but good for you for actually making it work.  :)

*Raises hand* 

Me too.  I met my husband 12 years ago on my best friends husband's local BBS he was running.  Yes sir, he had a dial up local BBS, not this fancy internet shiat.  I was living with my best friend and used to stay up late and watch folks log on and watch what they did.  One night I decided to chat with someone and we hit it off.  A couple weeks later my friend's husband asked who I was chatting with and when I told him he said, "Oh my god, that's my boss!"  I met him after chatting with him for about a month and I knew before I even set eyes on him that we had the connection.  I ended up renting a room at the same house he lived in and we have been together ever since.  It took us almost ten years to finally get hitched though.  Yes, we are both computer geeks and we have four pc's in the house, one of which is our sever.  I was in the IT field for 10 years and he after 15 years still is. I was one of those that bought the original Sims game when it first came out and my husband was one of the folks that created meshes at TSR way back in the day.  He along with Dr. Pixel, DOT, Fae, Shenanigan, Marko and some others.  Seems like eons ago.

well it's not so uncommon as people think.  I met my husband on IRC, we talked for a year, and then I went across the country (Idaho to Vermont) to pick him up to come live with me LOL....that was about 7 years ago :D  It was the first time we met face to face.

I know I'm an internet geek when I tend to think of my friends that are not online as living in caves.  Join the rest of us in the 21st century, jeez!

I must admit I don't go shopping anymore-I do it all online ;D With my husband's credit card ;) I don't buy magazines or newspapers anymore either.
My brother met his girlfriend online, on a forum like this. But not as awesome :P

My partner/husband was definitely not someone I could have met online. I remember BBS's when they were common. I loved them. I got my first computer when Tandy's were actually almost cool. (Remember no hard drive? Floppy disk or no save?) Five and a half years ago he didn't (literally) know how to turn the PC on, and had never had an e-mail. Now he checks his e-mail twice a day and belongs to three forums. I am a geek and a bad influence.

I met my hubby online too. Second time we met IRL we got married... family was NOT pleased...
But we have been married now for over 4 years and we are still happy.

I also know at least 4 other couples that met while on the internet.

And I do prefer shopping on the internet unless it is something I need *today*.

I had to write a check the other day for the dry cleaner who does a drop off/pick up at work.  I'd forgotten to bring cash ... I managed to find my checkbook...and then I had to stare at for five minutes trying to remember how to write a check.  :D


My husband asked me the other day how much first class postage is.  We don't know.  We have stamps leftover, but we don't know how much it costs now, online banking and all, haven't mailed anything in forever.

After staring at each other for awhile, we decided he should just put two stamps on and that should cover it.

These are true stories......

met my hubby online. he is soldier. we have been married alittle over 2 years. wouldn't change a thing.

 :o  I email all my 'cards'   :P

My mom hates it; she says its not a "real card"   :-\

Guilty as charged... except I married him too (a little over five years ago) so I think that deserves extra geek points.

*joins the masses*

Met my partner online too. We moved in together after about 4 months of dating. It's been 4+ years now and still going strong  :)

The thing about online hookups, though, is that there are quite a lot of publicized cases where the person on the other end did turn out to be a murderer, or predator, or whichever. And if an online relationship ends up working, then that's great...but the internet, w/ its anonymity, is particularly attractive to unsavory characters, and you just never know just who the person on the other end may be.

Kudos to you on your successful relationship, b/c personally, I'd be way too scared to even meet a person from online, let alone invite him into my house.

Wow.  This is just sad.  :D

Although, I'm not sure if it's sad because y'all have done all these things online, or if it's sad because I have no husband and don't shop for groceries at all.

I'm gonna go with the latter.  :D

Seriously, it's been pretty cool reading this topic.  I had no idea I was so primitive!  ;)

Well, I better get back to the TV.  You know, I don't have electricity, so I have to watch TV by candlelight.  ;)

Well it could happen in R/L too.
You meet someone in a bar or club...they seem nice, you date for a while and then *whammo* you're chopped liver, literally!!

As long as you're careful about meeting someone online i.e: don't invite them to your home on your first or second etc meeting/s, make sure you meet in public places until you get to know them better etc I can't see it being anymore dangerous than the bar/club type of meeting.

Lol. That's true though, which is why I'm not too kneen on the bar thing either. I don't go to bars anyways, as I don't drink, but I've just never felt it was the greatest idea to pick up a random guy at the local bar and take him home.

Lol. That's true though, which is why I'm not too kneen on the bar thing either. I don't go to bars anyways, as I don't drink, but I've just never felt it was the greatest idea to pick up a random guy at the local bar and take him home.
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I totally agree..that's how the 'net' is different in a way...you can build a relationship of sorts with the other person and IMO if they're a bit 'strange' or only after a 'one nighter' (If that's not your thing LOL) I don't think they'll bother with emails and messages back and forth for too long  :D

I'm in the same boat as Reggiko and windy_moon because I have not purchased stamps since last Christmas! 
My husband (who I did not meet online) and I just talked about this yesterday and we realized we have not purchased checks for about a year and a half nor will we need to buy any for quite a long while.  Online banking is great.....

I'll join the club.  I met my boyfriend online, though I'm not sure it counts as it was through an Online Dating Service.  It's secret though, as our official story is that "we met in a bar".  It's technically true, since that's where our first date took place.

I do all my banking online and find it a huge inconvenience when I have to write a cheque.  In fact, I usually have to turn the house upside them looking for them!

I just can't imagine a time when the internet wasn't there to provide you with all the answers --- many hundreds of conflicting ones :)

Met my husband in a TCP/IP class for Microsoft.  Saw him playing Starcraft.  Called him a dork.  As a joke he changed the shell of my class computer to the welcome screen and then realized it's irreversable.    He beat my butt at Starcraft.  I beat his butt at the TCPIP test.   Called me his Kernel32 over IM while my jerk-husband-at-the-time was in the next room sleeping.  Got divorced and married on the same day in a magistrate's office 4 months later.  Been happily married 6 years now.

I met my husband via a local Internet (dialup) group on his 22nd birthday in 1992.  I'm 10 years older.  We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in October.  Can't imagine life without him, but I'd have never met him if it weren't for the internet, which was still in the beginning stages at that point.

If you're not a church goer or bar hopper, it's not easy to meet potential partners.  I always thought dating sucked.  At least through an online relationship you kind find out if the person has more than ten functioning synapses before meeting.  I would never date a hunter and pecker!  >;)

hugs!

Rooby

Imagine having to get your mum to post your cheque book to Germany, so you can write her a cheque back, because your internet banking wont send money from another country.

And i was introduced to my boyfriend by a friend, who later admitted she was trying to hook us up. Hes is majorly technically challenged, can barely write emails and send them. Although i managed to get him hooked on Sims last time he visited.

Have you heard of paypal.com? That's what we use to transfer money back and forth from Norway to the US. Of course, you do need two paypal accounts. One that has a foreign bank account connected to it and one that has a US one. Works great! And no fees either.

i personally would rather manually write a cheque though (once i get to open an account that is :D) phising sounds dangerous so i'll rather not risk it..

phising is only as dangerous as you let it.  It involves unscrupulous individuals suckering you in.  If you refuse to get suckered then you are fine.


You only need to remember two things and it will never happen to you.  Never EVER follow a link you receive in an email from someone claiming to be your bank and enter your user info and password. If you worry that the email is genuine (it's almost never), enter the URL to your bank manually. (like www.citibank.com), or better yet call your bank directly, using the number listed in the book phone, or their main site).

Just remember that a bank (or any other institution) will never call you or email to request your account info. Any one doing so should set off immediate alarm bells.  If anyone tries that, same deal as above, call the institution directly using numbers you know are genuine and ask.

phising is only as dangerous as you let it.  It involves unscrupulous individuals suckering you in.  If you refuse to get suckered then you are fine.


You only need to remember two things and it will never happen to you.  Never EVER follow a link you receive in an email from someone claiming to be your bank and enter your user info and password. If you worry that the email is genuine (it's almost never), enter the URL to your bank manually. (like www.citibank.com), or better yet call your bank directly, using the number listed in the book phone, or their main site).

Just remember that a bank (or any other institution) will never call you or email to request your account info. Any one doing so should set off immediate alarm bells.  If anyone tries that, same deal as above, call the institution directly using numbers you know are genuine and ask.


Here is a link that explains this better than me :http://www.800helpfla.com/scams/phishing.html

so as long as i don't respond to emails, i'm safe? i always thought there is a risk even if i enter the url manually. i get spooked easily :)

hehehe I always get a laugh when I get emails about my ebay and paypal accounts, specially the ones that imply my accounts will be closed unless I go do whatever at the provided link....I don't have accounts with either one! (I never even open them, the subject tells me enough to guess the rest)


bluecat, if you enter the url manually, make sure you don't mistype it or you could end up at a phising site, they like to set up shop at urls that are close to the real sites url.

I've got a paypal account, and come to think of it, i think my mums got one too. It just never occurred to me to use it for something other than ebay. Im such an idiot. (<- Feel free to mock me)

Me too. I heard something on the radio about how that's not considered as polite because getting off of your butt to go to the store shows an extra effort that means you care, but if people really cared about me I could demand hand made cards, complete with making your own paper.
Actually I did give one real card this last year, someone gave me a car so I drew them a card. Seeing as how I can draw much more than stick figures, it really touched her. Hell, that car touched me a lot more.
Kudos to the happy online romances :). I wonder if grocery shopping is availible online in my area for delivery.....

Make the extra effort to make sure they'll never ask you to do it again. I suggest something involving raw meat.

I didn't resurrect this thread, but I'm going to reply to the original subject:

You know you're an Internet geek when...

...you ask for (and receive) your own phone line for Mother's Day (1999), because you're on dialup and when people call they knock you offline and you can't stand that!

...you ask for (and receive) DSL for your birthday quite a few years later.

...you ask for (and receive) a new graphics card for your 27th wedding anniversary, and a new hard drive for the following Christmas.

I met my husband before there was an Internet. Or personal computers, for that matter. Somehow...we've survived anyway.

I don't even send real presents anymore. I buy stuff at http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/ - they get an e-card telling them that I have sent money on their behalf to buy a goat or something. hehe - great way to get some of my stingy relatives to give.

So the last time I sent any something needing stamps...hmm...maybe 2002??

I met my guy in a strip club which is like a bar only better. We chatted on-line a few times after that but never in any meaningfull way. Just general chit chat.  What actually got us together was later when I lost my internet and would go over to his house to mooch his. Somehow magic happened and love was born. So we met the (sort of) old fashioned way but the internet brought us together.
I mean how could I not appreciate a guy that had already seen me half naked, was a good (internet) provider and oh yeah, he saved some wild kittens from a well (okay honestly this is the thing that caught me) by sawing a hole in his laundry room floor and climbing down inside to get them.
He's my hero.