Lately I’ve been looking for new things to do. I like to
break old habits and kind of renew my life with new interest and sometimes go
back to old ones. The Internet and electronic gadgetry are all well and good,
but I think on my part I need to break up its usage somewhat. Every time I look
around, there is a computer or laptop or I-pad or phone nearby, and life
becomes staring into one window or another.
Society has advanced so much in the past 30 years that it
seems almost inconceivable that we did develop so much! In 1991 my first
computer appeared in my home, along with a land line internet service from AOL,
and it took over all that is needed to function in this world. You all know the
things you can do with it, including shopping and learning, working and even
medical advice.
If you are born in the last 30 years, you know nothing about
the hardships of life, like waiting at home for a phone call or finding a phone
booth to make one away from home. A shopping list had no ‘app’ you could
utilize, what you did was take out a pad, or the back of an old envelope and
wrote it all down. Sometimes finding a pencil to write with was a challenge.
Today, I’m finding the amusement in doing things the old
fashioned way, apart from tuse of
a computer with its instantaneous gratification. I recently went to the library
to borrow a book, yet couldn’t shake the idea of going back to renew it,
instead doing so on the library Internet web site! I put aside my Kindle and my
I-pad to go retro, but not all the way!
I still like to read the newspaper actually in my hands,
flipping the pages as I go. Books too, I still have trouble with the idea of
getting involved in books on a screen, it seems so against the laws of nature
and God.
 |
| Former map reader |
Driving has taken on a whole new dimension, one of
convenience and speed, with the confidence that you can find anyplace you are
looking for! It used to be fun when we drove looking for an address or the
route needed to visit a place. We had the Automobile Club of America, or a road
map. We deciphered the map and one person read the suggested direction while
the other followed. But timing was everything, you needed to keep your eye on
the map, not loose your place at the critical turn, and keep your cool with the
driver or the reverse. Today the GPS takes over and the ‘TAG’ pays your tolls
as you fly by. It even disagrees with the former map-reader and there is
animosity brewing, so much so I have to separate the GPS from the old Map Reader!
Boy does she get mad at ‘it’!
The invention of the Internet along with the computerization
of so much in life has ruined many an industry. The type setting industry, the
retouching field of photographers, the magazine and newspaper industry and even
the TV and radio industry. Music has been so badly mauled that there are few
places in the world that haven’t been touched by computers. I even wonder about
museums, are they losing visitations because it is so easy to find art and industrial
museums on the computer? Need an education, why travel far away: just go
on-line and in some cases it is free!
I’m not complaining about the wonderful inventions that have
come about since the 1980’s, no I enjoy them too, and now find it hard to break
away from using them: life is easier and better in most cases. But I’m a
traditionalist, in need of the past somewhat and although willing to cede the
past for the future, just not all the way.
Address: 1231 Taft Hwy, Signal
Mountain, TN 37377
Phone:(423) 886-6943
Hours: Open today · 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
DO YOU WATCH THE BIG
BANG THEORY?
You should!
No comments:
Post a Comment