We have just gone through one tradition with Halloween and it's already time to start on another one or two.

My wife has just returned from a shopping trip she makes every year, and although none of her purchases will end up under our tree, it's one of our happiest traditions.

It's called Operation Christmas Child and we've taken part in it for three or maybe more years. It is organized by Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, and I think it's a great deal. Kids all over the world will receive packages from America, and maybe they'll realize that all of us aren't like the ones they see on TV, if they have ever seen a TV, that is. The deadline is Nov. 11, if you want to take part.

Our package this year includes some small articles of clothing and some toys including a harmonica. I don't know what we've got against the parents of the Third World.

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There are a lot of things to remember about our years in school. Some are happy, some are sad, and some seemed very important at the time. I suspect a lot of us spent a lot of time working on subjects which were difficult for us, but which turned out to be very useful later in life. (A lot of time was spent on subjects which turned out to be not useful at all, but how do know that at the time?) If we really knew which subject would be important in our adult life, I suppose we could spend a lot less time in school. But then again, what would we do with our spare time?

Looking back at that there are a few subjects that turned out to be very important. I especially enjoyed current events, but I had no clue that I would end up making a living reading and writing about current events. I struggled through math and chemistry, and now if I have a question about those two subjects, I turn to the experts, or just Ask Jeeves on the Internet.

One just has to marvel at all the changes in information that have occurred over the last couple of decades.

Another class I really enjoyed, and which really turned out to be important, was typing.

My first encounter with a keyboard, was one which was attached to an IBM Selectric. It was a state-of-the-art typewriter at the time. It had one of those little balls that you could pull out and replace when you wanted to change fonts.

It was really up town. I found, however, that I could type faster and with fewer errors, if I used a manual typewriter (like the one some of the rowdies in the back row threw out the window when Mrs. Babbit wasn't looking.) No, I wasn't one of the ones in the back row.

Come to think of it, I suppose current events, English and typing were the key classes in all my years of school. Of course, I didn't know it at the time, but I realized it later. I even went back to thank Mrs. Babbit for teaching me how to type.

Mr. Grow thanked her, too, when he saw me practicing my keyboarding skills. He had seen my handwriting.

But now even that training is on the verge of being obsolete. Current events, and English, remain just as important as ever, but could typing be on its way out?

Maybe. Don't look for keyboards to disappear from the offices of the McCook Daily Gazette any time soon.

But I'm not writing this in the newspaper office. I'm at home, in my basement, speaking into a microphone connected to my computer, which is converting my words into text.

And it hasn't really made all that many mistakes. I have used the keyboard only to make corrections, and they were surprisingly few.

How is that for current events?