Who'd a thunk it?

[JIMRPT@AOL.COM]

At the begining of this almost finished century we 'could' write a letter to 
Mr. Holden way down/over yonder in NZ and 'hope' that he would get it in two 
or three or four months. Now we can sit at home and contact him almost 
instantaneously !

At the begining of this almost finished century we still relied on a sextant 
and chronometer to navigate around the globe. Very accurate timepieces and 
very reliable sextants were 'very' expensive and relied on the skill and 
knowledge of the operator as to accuracy of navigation. Then, 'accuracy' was 
considered acceptable if you came within two or three miles of an intended 
destination after a journey of 1,000 miles. Today I saw an advertisement for 
a 12 station GPS, accurate to within 300 feet...this thingee sells for 
$139.00.

At the begining of this almost finished century the most accurate 'computer' 
was still the Abacus and perhaps the punch cards used in the textile 
industry, though the latter were not 'really' computers. Today, as we end 
this century, we carry more computing power around in our Palm Pilots then 
was available to take man to the moon, develop atomic power, or determine the 
speed of light. 

At the begining of this almost finished century average life span was aprox 
50 years. At the end, average life span is approaching aprox 80 years.
At the begining of this almost finished century disease/epidemic/early death 
shaped our lives and led what is now 'history' in unpredictable ways. Now as 
this century closes we have gained knowledge and changed the future by 
erradicating, for all practical purposes, some of the most malevolent 
diseases and controling many others.............who can say where we would be 
if this were not the case?

At the begining of this almost finished century we enjoyed music written in a 
prior century and thank goodness we will still enjoy the same music into the 
next century and beyond. What a pleasure it is to participate, in some small 
way, in a continuum of such magnitude. One which, ignoring all the temporal 
advances, remains as a constant, although everchanging, influence on our 
lives and on our work. A continuum which provides us a glance into our souls, 
our past, our present and even into our future.

Thank you all and.................Happy New Year All!!!
Jim Bryant (FL)