���������������������������������������������������������������������������ͻ � The Invention Factory BBS will soon celebrate it's eleventh year � � on-line. I thought that some of our BBS members might be interested � � in how we began and what motivated Michael and I to start our BBS. � � � � In 1981 I was a single mother living in Long Beach, Long Island and � � working as a waitress to support myself and my nine year old daughter � � Sarah. I met Michael at a party given by a friend of mine and � � instantly knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. � � The psychic part of myself recognized him on an intuitive level. � � Unfortunately he left the party before I could tell him that we were � � destined to be together. Several months went by before I could work � � up the courage to track him down and call him. I had never called a � � man before but I talked myself into it by asking myself, " What are � � the worst things that could happen? " One is that he won't remember � � me and two is that he'll ask me what my intentions are. So I called � � him, and of course he didn't know who I was, he had no recollection of � � ever having met me and asked me what my intentions were in calling him. � � However, we did have a great phone conversation and talked for hours. � � Just before I hung up the phone I asked him if he would like to get � � together sometime and he said, "No, but I'll call you sometime." We � � spoke on the phone for months before arranging a date. After that � � first date we saw each other every weekend. Our first New Years Eve � � together that I didn't have to work and had child care for my daughter � � arranged I drove into Manhattan early in the day to be with Michael. � � Michael met me outside and asked me to drive him uptown to a friends � � house. On the way he explained that his friend had agreed to lend him � � a terminal for a couple of days. This was not a computer but a dumb � � terminal and Michael was instantly obsessed. He sat in front of the � � terminal all evening and I sat on the couch watching Dick Clarks Rock � � N Roll New Years party by myself. As I watched the ball drop on Times � � Square I decided I had to see what the attraction was to this thing in � � the other room. I found Michael seated in front of the terminal with a � � glazed expression trying to type nonsense on the screen. When I sat � � down to take a turn Michael was extremely impressed that I could type. � � But I still didn't get what he was so fascinated by. Michael explained � � to me that if you took this terminal and plugged it into a phone and � � called an information service you could find any information about any � � topic any time of the day or night. You have no idea what those words � � meant to me. I've been an information junkie my whole life. I had the � � Dewey Decimal System memorized by age twelve. I will read anything � � about anything. I am also one of the most gullible people in the whole � � world cause I believed him when he told me we just needed to get a few � � more things to be able to do this really simply. The next few months � � were devoted to research and development; which computer to buy and � � learning to type. By July of 1983 we had an IBM PC, a Hayes 1200 baud � � modem and a subscription to Dialog which came with a 750 page manual. � � I'm just like every one else. I refused to read the manual. Michael � � said that what we now needed was software so he started to call some � � BBS's and one of the first programs he downloaded turned out to be one � � a public domain bulletin board program, RBBS. He said he thought he � � should install it and then he could really learn a lot about computer � � telecommunications, and get all sorts of software for free. We set up � � the BBS, put our name on some BBS lists ( which were a lot smaller in � � those days ) and waited for the modem to ring. Whenever we heard � � someone connecting to the board we'd run to the computer to see who � � was on-line and usually start typing to them. We became a busy little � � board and when Michael started adding more memory, more phone lines � � and more modems at an alarming rate I gave him my ultimatum, "Either � � make this thing support itself or give it up." We had a core group of � � members who said that they would be willing to pay us for membership � � if we could guarantee no busy signals. So that's how it all began. � � I guess it could be a great story if I could say that we've taken our � � hobby and turned it into a business and become rich and famous. The � � truth is , we struggle along like most small businesses in America. We � � continue to grow but not as quickly as I would like. Our family has � � grown to include two more children and I can't think of many other Mom � � and Pop operations that allow us the flexibility to work when we want � � and spend time with our children as we want. I can't imagine going out � � to a job and not seeing my kids for nine hours a day. Every time I � � pick them up from school, or go on class trips, or volunteer in their � � classrooms I feel pretty rich and extremely lucky. � ���������������������������������������������������������������������������ͼ