Volunteer of the Month
July 1998
Liz Skipper
by Liz Skipper

Alamo PC Organization: HOME > About Us > Awards > Volunteers Of The Month
 
 
Writing this short column each month is an excellent way to get my housework done. Rather than simply interviewing a delightful, interesting Alamo PC volunteer and going straight to the keyboard to input something meaningful while it's fresh and alive in my mind, I sweep floors, clean cupboards and even paint bathrooms while attempting to mentally construct that one fantastically memorable introductory sentence from which all 450 column-words will magically flow. Remembrances of great works by my idols, Express News columnist Cary Clark, Roddy Stinson in his younger days, and the late Erma Bombeck, just make the seemingly simple chore more daunting. But, deadlines always arrive, the broom and the paintbrush are laid aside, and something — some small glimpse into the personality of one of our volunteers each month — gets written.

This month I knew I'd have an easier job of it when I heard from the powers that be that I'd be writing about myself. Gee, I can crank this out in perhaps 15 minutes! What to say? That I'm a near native who remembers when Scrivener’s was just a little lumberyard out in the boonies; when horned lizards scampered freely in the fields next to my house, feasting on big red ants and squirting what we sweaty, barefoot kids were sure was real blood from their Godzilla-like eyes… when our parents caught us sneaking to the dog the bacon-grease-drenched Swiss chard from our Victory garden. Those days when writing a really good term paper took a term because there were no word processors and re-re-re-retyping was such a pain.

Since then I've learned a bit of computing the old-fashioned way; I read the manuals. I joined Alamo PC in 1993 when I got tired of reading manuals, and I've volunteered here for perhaps a year and a half. I'm at the Resource Center Thursday mornings where, with the help of members who are brighter than I in the technical areas, I can usually refer folks’ questions like a semi-pro and can answer the simpler ones myself!

I've delighted in the improvements in PC Alamode over the years and still turn first to Joyce McDonald’s Software.Doc and Vade Forrester’s NewsScan for my continuing education. A confirmed Mrs. Frugal, I've saved much more than my membership dues by keeping up with Member Deals. And, once the oldest granddaughter gets her drivers license (a bittersweet thought, I admit!), I'll gladly give up my taxi driver status and start soaking up several SIGs I've had my eye on.

Hmm…that fifteen minute self interview only took 140 minutes. Not bad. And I did get a couple of strips of wallpaper border cut and slapped onto the bathroom wall while waiting for another thought to deliver itself. Not bad at all!