After putting her three young children to bed, Julie Harland stacked the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and cleaned her counters and sinks. She could hear her husband, John, muttering to himself in the living room as he worked on his new computer attempting to program it.
They had met nine years earlier at U.C.S.D. where they were graduate students in mathematic programs. Julie had taught in junior and senior high schools in Vista, California. She was working on a masters degree when she met John and was hired to teach math at Mira Costa College in Oceanside right after their wedding. John was working part time in the computer industry and attending the university. He had decided to skip the masters program and go straight for his doctorate. He seemed more interested in solving the age old mysteries of high math and physics than in teaching. John was often seen in deep thought looking at nothing but a piece of paper where he scribbled numbers and letters.
John was almost a foot taller than Julie. They were both handsome people with curly dark hair and blue eyes. They shared a love for playing in the surf at Southern California beaches since childhood. Each enjoyed hiking in the mountains and both appreciated contemporary, jazz and classical music. John played the clarinet and Julie the guitar, and neither expected to make music anything more than a pastime. They shared religions and political viewpoints. They were gentle, high achievers.
They met in a math class and began studying together. They began a platonic friendship. Each had experienced several love affairs and neither was in a hurry to begin a new one. Julie enjoyed swing dancing, and composed a note she posted in the math lounge asking anyone interested in learning swing to meet her in the basement of the UCSD math building for some lessons. After learning the basics, groups of grad students began hitting the local night club for swing dancing. John and Julie became partners and continued dancing together.
One evening, John accompanied Julie to the grocery store. Julie had been renting a cottage close to the beach in Encinitas. As they shopped in the supermarket, John played with the shopping cart. When Julie saw him climb into the cart and sit there like an infant, she was charmed to the point of considering him as a candidate for marriage. A year and a half later they had a big wedding at the home of Julie's parents, the same home where John had kneeled and proposed to Julie in front of her grandmother. Every two and a half years they had a new baby, first two curly headed blond boys then a baby girl.
After Julie graduated with her masters degree, she landed the job at Mira Costa College. Her teaching skills improved and soon she began receiving fan mail from former students who thanked her for making algebra, geometry, and calculus classes interesting to them.
John continued his studies until he earned a doctorate, then taught part time at the college level. He was interested in being with his children during their early years. He hoped someday to become a busy professor at a university, but he was in no hurry. He worked with computers in a business owned by Julie's parents.
With all her children in bed, it was quiet in the house except for noise she was making as she worked in the kitchen. When she heard her husband talking to someone in the living room, Julie peeked into the room to see who it was. She saw John alone with the computer. He was talking to it as if he expected it to understand.
He said, "Computer. Hello. Hello, Computer. Talk to me." John noticed his wife watching and explained.
"I've been programming my new computer to make it talk. It's a pentium ninety server. I want it to operate in the same domain and local area as the ones in your mom's office in Vista. She is using machines with megabytes. My new computer has five gigabytes and seventeen nodes on the law. If I get this thing working right, it will follow my voice commands, and I won't have to type them. Also, it will answer my questions using a built in voice, brain, and vocabulary. I will be able to use this computer for shopping and communicating all over the country, and it's cheaper than using the phone or the mail."
Julie decided right then and there to learn how to better operate that computer.