Getting back to basics. I think I’m going to be showing my age but I just have to say, I liked things better in the old days. I mean, computers and technology have their place in some places, but they are definitely taking over and I’m not sure I like it.
I don’t even know where to start, because like many of you, I’ve become addicted to the instant gratification of the internet. That is until my computer(s) start acting up and I don’t have a clue how to fix them and then I have to pay for someone to do it. Yes, I’m there right now, and I have 4 computers – I’m ashamed to say that. Two of them are for work and they don’t have enough internal memory to do both design work and book keeping and at home, I have a laptop and a desktop that I rarely use. Anyway, all four of my computers are on the fritz. I plead innocent if there are any typos as I type this, because my cursor just arbitrarily positions itself elsewhere in the middle of my typing. It is like playing Where’s Waldo? ™ with the blinking button. At work the other day I printed a check and it dated itself 6/26/2006…..how the heck did it go back 5 years? I had to reset the internal computer date and time? Ok, that probably means I have a virus, but I’m running all the up-to-date software!
This morning my friend asked me when I was going to get texting. Yeah, like I need another thing that costs more money and then breaks or frustrates the heck out of me! I do realize the advantage of it (ok, now my computer just blinked all the way back to the opening screen!....I better save this quick!) The advantage being that she just wants to say let’s meet at such and such time and place we don’t have to talk? LOL!
She and I spent two hours this morning trying to get through two chapters of a study we were doing – yes, we can get on verbal overload…. We talked about how we prefer books to Kindles ™ because we like to be able to turn pages, dog ear them, and we like the smell of the dust they collect over the years as they adorn our bookshelves. I don’t know about you, but a book especially as a gift is one of my most precious receivings!
This led me to think about letters. There is something special about getting a letter in the mail, hand addressed, special in its own right because it is time taken out of someone’s day whereby they thought enough of you to practice this lost art. A letter is something you can re-read without the need of worrying that your hard drive is going to crash…..ok, now my stupid “V” isn’t always printing.
I miss friends stopping by just to say hi, I miss the casualness of entertaining without plans weeks/months in advance. I miss coffee without lattes or frappes…..you know not the designer stuff, but coffee and a cigarette (ok, you weren’t supposed to hear that part I quit long ago!)
I’m not trying to go all the way back, yes, we’ve come a long way baby! But some things didn’t need improvement on. I liked when people sat out on porches. Do you know that my husband and I sit outside almost every night and for the most part we don’t hear a soul? I mean no one is outside, irregardless of the time because we are outside all of the time even when it is sweltering like today’s 110 degree heat index.
I miss people helping people out, building porches or decks. I missed out on bridge and no, bridge for dummies did nothing to help me learn, I guess I’m a real dummy! I can play pinochle though!
I miss food that tasted like food…..you know like pork chops. Pork chops were our steak growing up, because steak was just too expensive, but Mom made these juicy tender pork chops that melted in your mouth. I don’t know what the heck they did to them, but mine always come out dry and tough and I’ve taken quite an interest in trying to perfect them…..to no avail!
How about lemonade and the Good Humor man, the milk man, the bread man who delivered their goods right to your door, newspapers that reported news not a certain slant because they want their "side" to score. I miss honesty and integrity. I miss that someone's word was enough and that just needed to be said, even though it is implied in integrity.
Last thing before I sign off, while I might miss the fact that at some point way in my younger years I wore a bikini, I don’t miss wanting to wear one right now and I only wish that some of those I’ve seen on the beach recently shared my same view! OMGosh, are you kidding me? I think the line is Anything is permissible, but not necessarily beneficial!!! REALLY, we are scarring our kids! That and scaring them too!
Looking up! ~
Barb
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