TECHNOLOGY, IS GREAT? OR NOT?

 

You must admit, we have seen some things over the past number of years that have greatly changed our lives. We now have the Internet Google, cell phones, electronic devices in our kitchen of all kinds. Our lives have just become much easier, and we are not slaves to hard work as we once were 25 or 30 years ago. Or are we?

However, when it comes to the amount of information, we are subjected to daily we are overwhelmed with the amount being thrown at us. When I was growing up many years ago, we had 3 television stations, 4 or 5 AM radio stations and several news magazines such as Time, Look, Saturday Evening Post etc. Today with the advent of the Internet there are 7.2 billion cell phones in use on planet earth. There are 1.1 billion websites throughout the world.

How many television stations do you have access to in your house? How many radio stations do you have access to in your automobile? How many emails do you get on your phone each day? All of these are providing some form of information to us which we may or may not need.

Having so many sources thrown at us daily (365 days, 24 hours each day) tends to overwhelm us with so much information. Therefore, our concept of the events of the day particularly when it comes to politics are slanted by the person or persons generating the information. In the old days when there were only two or three television stations the reporters reported the news without giving us their opinions or comments on their version of the news. Not so today. Today it is almost impossible to find an honest unbiased version of events in today's media. Now we have someone’s opinion or their speculation. They are, for the most part, looking for their 15 minutes or fame Everyone has their own particular point of view and method of observation concerning every activity in our lives. The more outrageous the statements, the more you will tune in or view to see what they are talking about. Therefore, it becomes exceedingly difficult to discern exactly what is true and what is not true. This requires us to look at multiple sites or listen to multiple broadcasts to decide for ourselves as to what is actually taking place for this event.

I think we can all admit to ourselves that it becomes burdensome and confusing to try and evaluate the truth about any given matter or statement  we get almost by the hour.

There is little we can do to change any of the events that we see happening around us in the world or in our country. So, I suppose the best reaction for all this information is to is to simply take it in stride and let the events play out without us getting so emotionally distraught and worked up that it produces stress in our life that none of us need.

By the time we take care of our responsibilities at work, our family, our wives, husbands and other relatives we have enough on our plate that eliminates the time we are forced to evaluate all of the other information. Therefore, I take the position that I choose to not only listen and observe but only consider the things that I can take positive action for or against. While this may upset some folks, who are highly active in matters for which they have no control, I find I sleep better and enjoy life more. Look around you and see how you can eliminate stress and anxiety by only being concerned over the things that you can actively make an effect on. Leave the rest alone. You'll enjoy life much more.

 

See you next week. Peary Perry

YOUR BODY VERSUS YOUR MIND- REALITY

 

YOUR BODY VERSUS YOUR MIND---REALITY

 

I don’t have to look into the mirror to know I’m old. I can feel it every time I wake up each morning. Yesterday my knee hurt, this morning it doesn’t…now it’s my shoulder. Next week it will be my back or my other knee.

It’s just a new day of surprises each and every day. Oh how grand.

The problem is simple. My mind thinks I’m still about 2 years old, but my body is screaming….” You idiot, do this and you will get killed or maimed or something”

You can’t do the things you did many years ago. Forget about it.

Seems like yesterday I could get on a ladder, go to the top of the roof, no worries, no concerns. Now I take one step up and my brain is saying ‘get down you fool, you could fall’.

Gone are the days when we could stay up until 3am and still go to work in the morning and be on time. Now if we are out past 9pm, we tend to tell everyone ‘We stayed out late last night.’

Tell me you didn’t drive faster when you were younger. I find myself staying within the speed limits at this age of my life. I even let folks in a hurry pass me without getting upset or angry. I do chuckle when they get stopped by the law for speeding. Probably not the most charitable thing to do, but it’s still fun…tell me you don’t?

Somehow, I was transported from age 60 to age 80 without even knowing it. How was this possible? I mean what happened to those 20years?

I used to work out on a regular basis. I could lift some iron. I was strong. The important word in that sentence is WAS. Now trying to suck up a thick chocolate smoothie is a chore for me to attempt. I can’t even exercise enough to get sore and hurt like I used to do. Turning on the treadmill requires me to bend over, which is difficult these days. I find that when I do drop some something on the floor, I always look around to see if there is anything else that I can pick up at the same time.

My git up and go has gotten up and left. Some days I question as to whether it was ever actually here.

But I am determined to keep on going, no matter what. I can walk and talk and chew gum at the same time. Which is a lot more than some folks can do and for that I’m thankful.

Besides I can always start back on that treadmill and weights in the morning. They are always there, waiting for me.

Just waiting and waiting and waiting.

See you next week. Peary Perry

 

ET TU? APPLE?

 

ET TU? APPLE?

I have always been somewhat of a history buff and have enjoyed learning about past civilizations. Makes no difference where it is or what period, I just love reading and learning about it.

I have been a subscriber to several archaeology magazines for many years. I signed up for a dig in Israel many years ago but had to cancel due to some surgery or another, I don’t recall which one.

It has always fascinated me when they post these long articles about finding some treasure trove of pottery shards or pieces of crockery and cooking items. These folks get so excited about what they found and often times they will post a photo of something unusual and ask us to try and identify its purpose.

Yesterday, my wife and I headed off to another town around here and we passed one of those giant garbage mounds that I suppose our towns and cities use for trash disposal these days.

You know the kind. They are all clean and neat with grass on the sides that you can see from the road. Nothing blowing all over the roads like in the past. Thank God for that bit of progress.

Anyway, it got me to thinking about future archaeologists in the 30^th century who will start to excavate this mound of ordinary items in our lives that we choose to dispose of.

What will they think when they uncover multiple pieces of almost new, hardly used exercise equipment? You know the kind sitting in our garages that we bought and tried out for a few weeks until it became boring or too hard. Those heavy metal ‘total’ gym sets that never wear out and will appear to be some sort of torture device used to extract confessions or testimonies of some sort. If you didn’t know what it was, what would you think a waffle iron could be used for?

Obviously, it’s connected to electricity but how would someone a thousand years in the future understand waffle or pancake mix?

I suppose we’ve all seen photos and drawing of tools used in medieval torture such as the rack. Suppose that was just a tool used to straighten someone’s back by a chiropractor back in the 1200’s? We could have gotten it wrong…

Tools and computers will be easily recognized since there is so much history concerning their development. Historians may get confused with trying to decide the purpose between VHS tapes, CD’s, DVD’s, MP players, 8 track tapes and flash drives since they all performed the same basic functions. I’m sure that future PHD students will spend years writing research papers on these items.

But what about that ash tray your elderly aunt gave you for a wedding present? The god-awful orange one that opens and closes when you flick cigarette ash into it? You never used it, left it in the original box and its discovery in 3025 will amaze and astound folks for years. There will be multiple research papers written about it trying to determine what it could be used for.

Plastic toys such as Hula-Hoops should be a thrill to someone in the future. The idea of putting a large piece of plastic around your body and making it spin will most certainly not be understood. Even if they find a picture describing someone using one, I would imagine the next question would be ‘why’? Kind of like trying to explain owning a pet rock to a German. I’ve tried, and it gets lost in the translation. Can’t imagine why.

A couple of other things that should hold up and be worthy of examination in the years to come are Twinkies and Ding-Dongs. These are hardly indestructible and have a reported shelf life of several hundred years.  The people who are brave enough to drink wine from some ancient gourd can try those.

My wife just got a new ironing board. Try and think about what our future historians and archaeologists will think this was actually used for.

See you next week