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Technology

Technology. Ugh. Talk about having a love/hate relationship with something. Ever since Karl and I bought one of the first Macintoshes for Christmas back in 1984 (at a department store called Hess’s!), I’ve been fascinated by the possibilities.

I’ll always remember the anticipation we felt taking it out of its box and setting it up in our first apartment here in Pennsylvania. We moved back to Pennsylvania after living in New York for three years while I attended law school. Karl was a toddler and Karl and I felt like we were making a visionary investment in his future by purchasing that machine.

Only just graduating from law school a year earlier, I had typed every paper I submitted both in undergrad and law school on an electric typewriter. I kept handwritten track of all our finances in a 10” x 13” grid-lined notebook. So the prospect of inputting and organizing all our finances on the computer boggled my mind. The concept of writing letters, papers, memoranda, briefs – heck, writing anything – and being able to edit and delete without Wite-Out^® or Liquid Paper^®(which were still pretty revolutionary in their own right) seemed like science fiction. But here it was: a grayish plastic cube sitting on a desk in our living room.

We watched the now legendary Apple commercial “1984” and felt like we were part of a movement that would break the future wide open. I literally fantasized over all the things I thought we’d be able to do with that Macintosh.

Afraid to Break It

I have to laugh at my dreams now. To say that I was disappointed in that first Macintosh is an understatement. Quicken^®didn’t become a part of my reality for probably another decade. And by that time we’d moved to PCs because we could get a wider selection of better games for the kids and word processing programs for me (as well as the aforementioned Quicken^®).

Through it all, though, I was so afraid I’d ‘break’ it. Or heaven forbid, I’d touch a key or engage in a function that would delete everything. It didn’t take long for our sons to zoom past us at light speed in their comfort level with this ever-evolving technology.

Of course, that was the whole point of why we’d invested in that very first Macintosh. And why we found ourselves upgrading to the latest and greatest amazingness every year or two. The technology changed so quickly, and the software became so sophisticated, we simply had to get machines with more power and memory if we were going to successfully greet the future.

One Foot In, One Foot Out

All of this is forefront in my mind because I gave a presentation today in the I AM Symposium and used a new desktop computer. I thought I’d figured out ahead of time how to ‘go live’ on Facebook, which was ironic, since I’ve become fairly comfortable with Zoom. How different could they be, I thought? Ha. (Never challenge worse. Where have I heard that before?) When a notice suddenly popped up moments before I was to start indicating that my ‘frames per second’ were too slow, I wanted to run away.

Luckily, Sage was close by and he messed around with it. (Truth be told, I don’t think he did anything to it that I hadn’t tried – but it was infinitely reassuring that he was there as my tech support.) The ‘show went on,’ and I eventually regained my footing. But it was a tough start.

And so it is, I have a beauty of a new computer – the first desktop we’ve had in the house in probably a decade. I’m excited by the power and speed it has – and the possibilities, again, feel limitless. It also feels like another ‘coming full circle.’ I remember seeing Karl (son) sitting at our last desktop, right where this one is situated, the last time he was home. That’s when he put a ton of his favorite songs on my iPod (which are now on my iPhone) – and through which he still communicates with me today.

Technology. I love it and hate it at the same time.

(T+21)

Bad Day

You know you’re having a bad day when you reach for the apple you left in your car the night before and – ew – it feels like someone took a bite out of it.

When that happened to me this afternoon, I immediately leapt to a silent, if annoyed, and slightly disgusted conclusion that Karl had taken a bite out of the apple as we drove home last night. Maybe he didn’t like its taste, or maybe he just decided he didn’t want it after all. Whatever.

Like a flash of lightning, my inner “Ugh!” fired off, which was weird. For one thing, Karl’s not one to waste food. But even if he took a bite and didn’t like it, he wouldn’t just leave it in the console, where I keep my mask, sunglasses, and hand sanitizer. If nothing else, he would’ve ‘offered it to the deer,’ as we like to say, flinging it far into a passing field.

Ugh Oh

I reached again for the apple, not able to see it from my vantage point behind the wheel. My knee-jerk reaction to blame Karl felt hasty. There had to be another reason the apple felt wet and partially eaten. Maybe it had fallen on the floor during our road trip yesterday and a piece had gouged out.

Pulling the apple up to where I could see it, my heart sank. Ugh oh.

While the nibbling of the fruit was practically a work of art in itself, especially its unsettling symmetry, it was unequivocally and most certainly not nibbled by Karl. Of that I was certain.

The design was actually quite pretty in its own way. Perhaps what freaked me out the most, though, was the obvious recency of the ingestion. The flesh of the apple was only just beginning to brown at the edges! Yuck!

Was I actually riding around with a four legged hitchhiker? Or had this scofflaw invaded my car while it sat in the driveway, trying to escape the snow and cold and thinking it hit the jackpot when it discovered fresh fruit along with respite from the elements?

Not Waiting To Find Out

We’ve had the interior (and wiring) on too many cars wrecked by rodents. This was definitely a trespass. Time to reload the mothball pouches! And if they don’t work…well…

Ha – I only just this moment remembered my ‘pick’ for today. Mountain Lion – with Mouse underneath. I’d even laughed when I picked and said, “Looks like a cat-and-mouse kind of day!” Who’d have thought MOUSE would show up quite so literally? (Maybe I should lock Cletus in the car overnight?)

Hmmm.

(T-285)