94-year-old
Computer Whiz
Article by
Debbie Bellman
What does it take to learn all
about personal computers? Just ask 94-year-old Bill Meyer. When he was
born in 1907, very few people owned cars, and man was just learning to
fly. But seven years ago Bill and his wife, Connie, also 94, decided to
"take the plunge". It all started when they began receiving
computer pictures from their four-year-old great-grandson. Bill said,
"If he can do this, so can I".
House calls really
work
Bill and Connie began by taking a community
computer class in 1995 offered by Debbie Bellman, a computer instructor
who had previously worked at IBM and now does freelance computer
instructing. It was just an introductory class on PC terminology, but
Bill and Connie got a number of questions answered that evening. Their
last one was, "Would you consider coming to our house to help us
get started?"
Does own accounting on
the computer
Debbie agreed to help them out, and that
was the beginning of a long and wonderful relationship. The first step
was to install programs on their newly purchased PC (which their son,
Tren, had helped them purchase) and then teach Bill how to use a mouse
to enter data. Having formerly been Manager, General Accounting, and
then Asst. Secretary at P & G, Bill wanted to convert his household
paper accounts to the PC - he tracked everything from receipts and
expenses to investments. After Debbie trained Bill on how to use Excel
(a spreadsheet program), Bill was able to do all his accounting on the
PC by himself.
Meanwhile, Bill was receiving photos from family
members via email, so he decided to start scanning his own photos. He
had been an excellent birding photographer and had taken pictures on his
vacations all around the world. He also had a knack for poetry, so his
first project was to create a homemade birthday card for every person in
his family (19 in all!). He would select an appropriate photo of the
person from his archives and then write a lovely (and often long) poem
about him/her. Using a PC greeting card program, Bill created lovely
cards for everyone, with a photo that he had scanned on the front, and a
personalized poem on the inside. He made duplicates of all the cards on
the PC and put them in an album, which will certainly become a family
keepsake.
Doing his memoirs
Another big project that Bill has started
to tackle is writing his memoirs. To assist him, his family gave him a
software program - Dragon Naturally Speaking - as a gift. Bill has begun
using the program to "talk" to his computer and record his
memories. It will be a long time before he finishes this project, as he
has a LOT of memories from the past 94 years!
Debbie has been involved with Bill from the
start. At first she helped with installing programs and teaching Bill
how to use them. She also became a trouble-shooter and assisted with
system upgrades/additions over the years. At each training session, she
writes notes for Bill in a "PC binder" nicknamed "DEBBOOK"
about the "problems/issues" that come up each week. While they
originally got together about once every two weeks or as needed, now
they meet once a week. There are always new problems or small projects,
such as helping Bill with the new version of his tax preparation
software, or eradicating the Nimda virus from his PC.
You can change your
life
Both Debbie and Bill feel that they have
benefited from their computer sessions over the past seven years. For
Bill the PC has added an entirely new dimension to his life. He finds
that he’s constantly checking email or working on his accounting
during the day. And Debbie has learned a lot from helping Bill. He’s
had such a wide variety of programs and peripheral equipment that she’s
had to learn about many topics that aren’t normally covered in the
corporate PC training classes she teaches. "But it’s really added
to my experience, and I enjoy working with Bill. He’s a brilliant man,
and his mind is really sharp," she comments.
When Bill got his computer, Connie complained
that she saw nothing but the back of his head any more. They solved this
by buying a separate computer for Connie. Debbie taught her how to use
the computer and the mouse. In her spare time, she plays games like Mah
Jong, Solitaire, and Pyramid on her PC.
What does the future hold? Bill’s not
totally sure, but he’s thinking about upgrading to Windows XP
(Microsoft’s newest operating system), and he can’t wait until the
"talking" software is more perfected. One thing he’s sure
of, though - you’re never too old to learn.
Article by Debbie Bellman, Jan-2002. Debbie
worked at IBM for 15 years and has been a freelance computer
instructor/consultant since 1995. She can be reached at bel5551@yahoo.com.
