I've been laying low the past week, so not much has been going on. Billy, Dave, Kara and I have been getting together to play tennis. A bunch of us went to the Clackamas River on Sunday and soaked in the water. But that's about it. So instead of just posting that and calling it good, I've decided to get all nostalgic on your ass.
Let me tell you about an old friend named Nathan. Why? Well, I had a dream about him a few nights ago, and then out of the blue, my mom mentioned him yesterday ("Do you ever wonder what happened to that friend of yours that used to do illegal stuff?") Yes, I do wonder what he's been up to since I haven't seen him for many years (I think he stopped going to my high school after Sophomore year). I tried looking him up on the internet yesterday, but didn't have much luck. He's registered over at classmates.com, but you have to pay money to see contact information... lame.
Ok, Nathan was very much in to computers, but before we go any further I must put you in the right time frame. We're talking about early 90's, so back before the widespread usage of the internet. Back then, when we got online it was using a dial-up modem to connect to a local BBS (a text only interface where people got together to chat, play games, share files, etc).
Well, Nathan ran one such BBS. But, here's the other thing about Nathan... he had a, let's say, relaxed sense of morality. So, he didn't run a regular BBS, he ran a pirate BBS (one focused on the exchange of copied and cracked PC games). Usually the way these worked, you'd dial up and upload a game that wasn't already on the BBS. You'd get credit for it, which would then let you download a game that you didn't yet have. Because I was a friend of the sysop Shadowfyre (aka Nathan) I got a leech account where I didn't have to upload anything; I had free reign to download anything I wanted! This would have been great, had I had a good modem. However, I had only a 1200 baud modem.
Let me try to explain how slow this was... Currently, Comcast's broadband speed is up to 4Mb/s, which is roughly 40 times faster than a 56k modem. Ok, but that 56k modem is 48 times faster than my pitiful 1200 baud. Therefore, current broadband speeds are 1920 times faster than the modem I was using! 1920 times!! With broadband, you can download an mp3 in about 6 seconds. That same song would have taken 3.2 hours to download with my modem. At that speed, you learn a whole new level of patience.
So, I didn't do much downloading. Every once in a while, I'd connect in the evening and let it download overnight. More often, however, I'd just go over to Nathan's house with a huge stack of empty floppy disks and leave with a handful of games. The number of pirated games I played back then was astounding, and most all of them from Nathan. King's Quest I-IV, Gold Rush, Civilization, Colonization, SimCity, Warlords III, Dune, Dune 2, X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Cool Spot, X-COM, Lemmings, Quest for Glory and I'm sure plenty more that I'm forgetting.
Ahh, the good old days. Well, that's enough for now, but I'm not finished with this homage to Nathan. I've got quite a story waiting to be told. I mean, I assume the statute of limitations has run out on the nerdy crime we committed... ?
I'm right here! Oh, different Nathan.
It's funny, if you change 1200 baud to 300 baud you could pretty much be telling a story from my childhood. Mine is about a kid named Terry. He got into all sorts of questionable stuff on that end, but he took it a step further. He was arrested, eventually, for downloading credit card information and then using that to ship stuff to his house. For being a fairly smart kid, he was pretty dumb. Fortunately, I never took part in any of the theft, though I did play some games on his computer that were pirated. I was spared the indignity of being questioned by the police.
Wow! That brings back memories! I knew you in those dayz, too. I remember Nathan. Can't say I'd ever say he was my "friend", but maybe a friend...once removed? Anyway, I played or watched you play those pirated games, too. It was fun. There was another BBS that we all were part of, too back then. I had a 2400 baud modem and then my dad got a 14,400! Whoo hoo! I was downloading ascii text like there was no tomorrow baby!
(Did I ever tell you about Nathan vs Justin?....)
Nathan Heuton Is my Husband!! Small world. He still lives in Vancouver. Can't tell you where don't know who you are.
For real? Or is this someone pulling my leg? Send me an email, I'd love to hear what he's been up to.
(I was hoping he, or someone he knows, might find this site... now that I'm the premiere website specializing in Nathan Heuton).
I will give you my email address. lovelylilly98@yahoo.com My name is Cynthia. Did he live in Vancouver Or Portland when you knew him? His parents still live in Vancouver in the same house! What is your name?