Gary Herron Staff Writer for the Observer

I’ve written before about the pros and cons of that internet thing, which I admittedly was late to believe in —I thought it’d turn out to be a fad, like CB radio.

That occurred back when I deliberated buying a Radio Shack TRS-80 computer with cassette drive and well before my Windows 5 days.

Now, well into the 21st century, I’ve become acquainted with that worldwide web. I’m also about to celebrate my fourth anniversary of having a cellphone.

I’ve said publicly that although I regularly use Facebook, which I occasionally get story ideas from, social media can be great and very bad.

But just last week, I got an enticing email from “Col. Jessica Lynch.”

I know — she sounds hot. (LOL, as they say on the web.)

Here’s the unedited email Ms. Lynch sent, apparently not realizing that I have been in a committed relationship for 34 years. (No, I’m not telling Tami about this new “love interest.”)

“Hey!

I am Col Ms Jessica Lynch , a US army on assigned special mission in an Arab nation .

I want to open communications with you for good .However attached are my photos and do also send yours to me.

Cheers and waits your response for vital issues to discuss.

Jessy.”

I’ve learned to ignore Nigerian offers, but I knew I’d seen her name before. I decided to wait before opening her “however attached” photos and not to send mine yet.

How did she manage to select me out of all the guys on the internet?

Maybe it’s related to that guy with the foreign accent, “Sean,” calling my house, telling me I had a problem with my computer. The second time I heard from Sean, after telling him the first time my computer wasn’t even online, I answered the phone, pretended I was going to turn my computer on, placed the phone under a pillow … and about five minutes later heard Sean on the other end: “Hello? … Hello?”

(He was interrupting an episode of “Judge Judy.”)

The colonel’s name sounded familiar, and because I knew it wouldn’t be in my World Book encyclopedia, I delved into that other great research tool, Wikipedia.

Jessica Lynch is a “former U.S. Army soldier who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S. and allied forces. On March 23, 2003, (she) was serving as a unit supply specialist with the 507th Maintenance Company when her convoy was ambushed by Iraqi forces during the Battle of Nasiriyah. Lynch was seriously injured. Her subsequent recovery by U.S. Special Operations Forces on April 1, 2003, received considerable media coverage; it was the first successful rescue of an American prisoner of war since World War II and the first ever of a woman.”

I love to meet celebrities and here’s my chance to meet one in the “US Army.”

Jessy says we have “vital issues to discuss.” Maybe she’ll want me to explain the infield fly rule or get my take on the Rio Rancho school board.

I’ll keep you posted in another “Glimpses.”