7 years to thank you all for

Next month i shall have been on AOL for 7 years.this is to thank all the wonderful friends i have made over that period.
I had been wanting a computer for ages,i had a bush internet set top box that allowed me to browse the net using the TV but it wasn't a great success.so,i finally ordered one from my mail order club,along with a desk. now we had just had oil fired central heating installed,the old open fire ripped out,and i had decorated the lounge and hall,papered and painted,2 new chairs,new carpet as the old one now had a damn great hole where the hearth used to be.so i was busy.MS was still 2 initials for the future,although i did have health problems,and in a lot of pain.but i papered,painted,and the day the PC came me and a mate were laying the carpet.the man from the computer company was supposed to deliver it the next week,set it up and give me a demo.instead he unloaded all these boxes,said everything is colour coded just plug n play. quite.anyway,desk installed on new carpet,a mad dash to DIY store to buy a new swivel chair as the new ones i had ordered were far bigger than i thought,switch round of furniture,and i was ready to open the boxes. and it was easy to plug together.even found the on button.which i pressed,it loaded.and??now what. i knew NOTHING about PCs.no manual.no easy guide.nothing.just a box and a screen.what did it do..i had an AOL internet CD-ROM,from some shop.inserted into drive,downloaded,and................internet.signed up for AOL,and i was away. well,as far as the internet went in those first few weeks it was playing backgammon online,odd email from companies i dealt with,but i was a complete novice.very frustrating.and then i found AOLs games had..............texas holdem poker. in those days it was on pogo,and i still play sometimes on there,but it is not as good as in the early days.more like a chatroom with poker.at first i played on my own againt the computer.then one night on my table appeared AngelaB.and you could talk to each other by typing into the dialogue box.and we got chatting."i'm no good at poker" said ange.i was a pretty decent player,having played in the past for real.oh angie.you lying lickle devil,lol.lets just say ive heard her use that phrase many times.somehow after that we always seemed to play a lot together.and i found my first,my longest running friend.and ange,you made me laugh,we rowed,we swore at each other,but my god we had fun.daughters laura and rachel used to moan at her because she used to laugh so much.ada and cissy ange???happy days.then one night,after AOL changed from pogo to its own poker tables which were much more "serious" i was on my own.angela was away,and i was bored.so i went into a chatroom.i had tried them before.and couldn't get the hang of them.so fast,so many people all "talking"at once.bedlam.but that night 6 years ago i went into 50s romance,room1.an "overflow"room,when the main chatroom reached 48 or so,it opened.and that night there were 2 people in it,sue wicke and gem. 2 new friends.who explained about room1.and how there were some nice people used it,and to come back and visit.that was on news year eve.i went in the next night,met swaine,(sue) glen,alas now sadly dead,a nice man,jane,and so many more.over the coming weeks i got to know so many new people,still played poker,but often i was in chatroom.and i want to take this oppurtunity to thank some of you.sue garden,or sue g,any music you want sue could get.lol.sheena,the laughs we have had,been with ade now 3 years i suppose?? purplemist.Lyn,still a lovely friend. i cant play lady in red even now lyn.thanks for being there when i needed you.xxx.the lovely jaynee,bless you hun.so many to list,tanis,or sunbeam as she is known in chatroom,Nina,whose blog got me into the wonderful world of journals,so many more.some lovely.some not so,some down right nasty ones lol. many sadly now gone from AOL.lonewolf,kraftmad,i look at my buddy list and think,yeah,we had some good times.always quizzes,jokes,laughter.many of my best friends on the net came from that chat room.room1. and then one night,4 years ago a dolfin swam in,in those days we all had profiles,mine had 200 or so pictures on it,and this strange person popped in,made some jokes,and left.helen,you have been so much more than just a friend to me.you have been there when i have been at my lowest,when i was diagnosed with MS you helped me. and we still laugh on here nearly every night.thankyou dolfy.you are the best.xx.bernie,sadly we hardly ever talk now,where once we were so close.good friend,and a lovely person. wendy,whose daughter emma's tragic story you know,we have spent many hours chatting. so many names. all my friends. thank you all.
And then. JLAND.nina got me into blogging,she wrote a blog,and i thought i can try that.that story has been told,but........it brought YET MORE friends. yasmin,guido,jan,jeannette,my second mom lucy,herrad,jack,so many more. again,thank you all.
And now facebook has brought even more,yearbook,tagged. names,some faces,some i talk to often,some i hardly know.but i still thank you.you all help me keep going,keep sane.
Being a carer is NOT easy.being a carer with serious health problems much worse.but i manage.because when i log onto AOL,or blogspot,facebook,wherever,i know somewhere i will find one of you good people who will help take my mind off my worries.and i thank you ALL for that.
And now today,7 years down the line. i have someone in my life in the "real world".someone i care a lot for. thankyou for being you.xxxx
So,7 years of AOL.not all good,loss of profiles has meant the drastic decline of chatrooms,facebook etc has taken many more.the loss of Jland,so many people were hurt by that.the loss of our pictures.AOL has been my gateway to the internet for all those weeks,months,years.it brought me all you. my friends online. thankyou,and take care all.

PLEASE NOTE.THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY PEOPLE TO NAME INDIVIDUALLY,BUT YOU ALL KNOW WHO YOU ARE.thanks mort xxxx