For starters, good ole' AT&T had a major hiccup at their Smyrna station this weekend, and for those of us with DSL, we suddenly found ourselves totally, 100%, WITHOUT Al Gore's supposed invention, the INTERNET! AAAHHHHH! What shall we do, what shall we do! It cannot be, it simply cannot be!
After spending 2+ hours total on the phone on two different occasions, I decided pretty much that the help line at Awful Telephone and Telegraph really didn't know exactly what was going on and because I have that new fangled self help tool on my computer, I had already figured out that the problem wasn't mine, but theirs. However, they couldn't isolate it. I returned home from errands this afternoon only to find the faithful AT&T repairman at the box at the end of our street and me being me, stopped to rattle his brain for a brief moment! Something like this "oh, cool, you are here to fix the problem with the DSL, right?"
"Uh, well, no, not really. The only thing that I know is that I cannot personally fix it, because it is apparently pretty wide spread, something in Smyrna with the Broadband sduwreoisdlfjasdfjowipeutoqasudflsdajl."
(Obviously, after he said broadband, I heard nothing else but Charlie Brown teacher-speak).
"Oh, okay, so what is the verdict on repair?"
"Maybe as early as tonight or as late as tomorrow. Just don't know. Sorry!"
I politely waved, drove on down the street to turn around and told myself that I was not any further along with my progress of getting our signal restored than I had been at midnight the night before, but, gee, hey, at least they know where the problem is, right!
Essentially, I walked into the house, deposited groceries, loved on my sweet little dog, "Hi honey" to the hubby and son and walked at a rather brisk pace straight into my home office and promptly yelled "Praise God!". That schnazzy little green light on the modem that had been absent for over 24 hours, was miraculously back on, and way before the knowledgeable service dude at the end of the street told me it would be. Must have done something right today!
Well, enough of that tale, but here is the reason for my query. We have had internet of one type or another since the mid 90's. It has become like the blood in my veins! I cannot exist without it. My stars, how did we ever exist without it before 1993? So here we go, just a little nostalgia and I'm going to make you think a little.
Since you were born, name 10 progressive inventions that have absolutely taken the world by storm. Obviously, there are many to do with transportation, communication, food, comfort and home life, entertainment, security, repairs - just to name a few categories.
Personally, just the thought of what has happened with the telephone, totally blows me away. Then of course, computers. It hasn't been that long since one computer would fill a whole floor of an office building, let alone a room. Television, holy cow - we've gone from black and white screens with distortion to color and those first episodes of Bonanza to 3D screens in your own living room! How incredible is that? While we are on the subject of television, what is the SCARIEST movie you ever saw on TV when you were a kid? Remember the Saturday fright shows that made you so afraid, you didn't want to leave the living room! I remember watching The Wax Museum movie, and The Haunting of Hill House...... Whooooaaaa, they still make me shudder. Movies were really scary then, not gross and disgusting, but really truly scary!
A biggie for a lot of us is central air conditioning. For that matter, air conditioning at all. I know they are saying that this is one of the hottest summers on record, but what did we do without A/C when we were growing up? Think about these poor kids in these schools. They definitely didn't have any A/C in the public schools.
Space travel is amazing and I cannot believe that they are retiring the shuttle fleet. Yes, we made it to the moon, we have people actually living and studying in a station a gajillion miles above the surface of the Earth. Wow, that still blows me away. Every time I fly, I remember a great uncle that used to think that all of the things we saw on TV about flight and space were actually being done in some studio some place with models. None of it was real.
Microwave ovens have gone from gigantic contraptions to these cute little counter top units with rotating plates so your food cooks evenly. Refrigerators and freezers used to be just for keeping food cold. Now the have them with TV monitors on the front and computer monitors with touch screens.
And speaking of computers with touch screens, we've gone from the old Commodores to the new HP with the touch screen keyboard. IPAD!!!!!!
I'm so out of touch. Things are just moving way too fast. If it feels like this for me, what must my parents be thinking!
Okay, I've rambled enough, but I really hope I got you thinking about just how much things have changed in less than a century. What a ride! Hang on tight, because it's not over yet!
Alright, gotta go adjust the flangel on the thingamabob and set the alarm on the TV so I can get up at 4:30 am.
Y'all have a great night and an even better Monday, and remember, it really is the first day of the rest of your life, so enjoy it, give thanks for it and hold on tight! God has some wonderful things in store for each of us!
Hugs and sweet dreams, y'all!
God bless,
K
