http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20010905-9999_m1m05tffall.html
September 5, 2001
FALLBROOK -- On a recent Tuesday
morning at Fallbrook Hospital's Skilled Nursing Facility, Patrick Finnegan
leaned forward from his wheelchair to peer at the patterns of tiny white
and blue squares on the computer monitor as Guenter Schott started a defragmentation
program to reconfigure files.
Soon the task was accomplished. For
Schott, it was time to get down to the really important business of the
day -- helping Finnegan, who has multiple sclerosis, with his e-mail.
"Guenter has helped me with keeping
in touch with my sister, my sons and my friends. I really look forward
to this," said Finnegan, a six-year resident of the facility. "I now have
an address book with more than two dozen entries."
For Schott, helping Finnegan has
been a way of giving back to the facility where he recuperated after spine
surgery almost two years ago.
"I have a special affinity for the
place. I wanted to do something for the residents after I became well,"
he said.
Only five years ago, Schott, 70,
was a skeptic about computers.
"My daughter was in college and she
wanted a computer. I was not at all sure if it was going to be of any use,"
he said.
His daughter persisted and finally
persuaded her grandmother in Germany to finance her purchase. Soon Schott
was also hooked.
Like many other novice users, he
felt lost when his first computer arrived by mail.
"When I opened the box, I didn't
know what to do. It was a quite a frustrating experience in the beginning,"
he said.
However, his natural curiosity and
inquisitiveness took over. Through many hours of poring over manuals and
in front of the terminal, he became proficient in using his new acquisition.
A 12-year Fallbrook resident, Schott
came to the United States from his native Berlin more than four decades
ago. He is now retired after spending much of his career in advertising
and publishing.
But retirement hasn't meant slowing
down.
"I am busier than ever," he said.
As former president of the Friends
of the Fallbrook Community Center, Schott helped establish a computer lab
at the center.
"Guenter went out and sought donations
and solicited the lowest bids for equipment," said Gordon Stone, the center's
director. The facility now has 10 networked computers with ongoing computer
classes.
Along with his wife, Ernestine Schott,
a teacher, Schott publishes La Paloma Elementary School's newsletter that
goes out to parents in Spanish and English.
He is also a five-year member of
the Fallbrook PC Users Group and editor of its newsletter. In July, the
28-page monthly newsletter won first place in the Southwest Regional User
Group Conference held in San Diego, the latest among a string of recognitions
the publication has received. The newsletter is valued as a resource not
only by group members but also by computer enthusiasts in other parts of
the country, said Claudia Watson, president of the group.
"Guenter is the backbone our our
group. I am astounded by his energy and enthusiasm," she said. "He almost
single-handedly produces the newsletter."
The Fallbrook PC Users Group has
280 members who range from beginners to sophisticated users. Among the
group's activities are weekly meetings, seminars and other educational
programs. For more information about the group, call (760) 723-6539.
By Triveni Sheshadri
COMMUNITY NEWS WRITER
© Copyright 2001 Union-Tribune
Publishing Co.