So, someone mentioned on a BBS we visited, that we could download the software and install it, and set up our own Bulletin Board System, generally referred to as a BBS. We found their file section, wherein they actually had files to share with others. What a find! We were excited! There were files there that were incomprehensible to me, but I have this disease, curiosity, that just won’t quit, and apparently there is no cure.
Only a really good book will aid escape from curiosity disease. There is no vaccine at all.
So, we downloaded and installed a simple Opus system. And started it up, with the name, Scorpio Rising BBS, and the Sysop was my daughter, fictionally named Jennifer Juniper. I was her Tech Support, Proud Mama.
So, conversation began. Messages flew back and forth from anyone who called, and wrote something. Some folks just “yelled” for someone to chat with, and JJ was usually available to chat for a while. I oversaw this activity long enough to know she could and would conduct herself properly. She made friends! A few we still have today! On facebook…. which didn’t exist back then.
After a bit, we got invited to join the FidoNet, and did so, gladly, although I cannot recall our node address. It was just so long ago.
And we began to receive Echomail Conferences…..or whole lists of folks discussing any number of issues in depth, arguing and often getting quite contentious.
JJ and an online friend with a flair for poetry began writing poetry together, a few lines each, and were quite interested in the insights each brought to the topic, which constantly changed. Fun years!
An adventure! Something most folks just had no clue about, we were doing. It was cutting edge stuff, and we were learning tons of stuff, often from 12 year old boys who used their computers for games.