Hal - Deliberately Basic

I used to think that getting older was the reason I didn’t need or want a remote control with so many buttons I’d have to study it to use it. Talking with people much younger than me, I no longer think this is true. In our family room we have a fairly large television, a stereo system, and three record/playback gadgets. Altogether there are five remote controls for this convoluted entertainment command center. My wife and I remain ignorant of most of the buttons on all five remotes.

At some point I skimmed through the multilingual tomes that accompany our gadgets for entertainment. Merely looking at a picture of some of these remote controls gives me a headache. Kathy has not, to my knowledge, ever opened one of these manuals. She leaves the drudgery of entertainment to me.

I have seen what I believe to be all purpose remote controls. Apparently, you can buy one that will take the place of all the others – you have one instead of five. I even picked one up to have a look, but it was a huge thing, with even more buttons. It had to be programmed for specific devices… I gently put it back on the shelf. I have written computer programs, repaired network systems, and designed elaborate wiring schemes for homes, but I don’t have an aptitude for this instrument.

On occasion, idiots that we are, we push a button that does something terrible to the TV picture or the sound system. Up go the lights,
“What have you done?” cursing, mad scrambling for the ever-present manuals stored under the end-table.
“I don’t know, I don’t know. I must have pushed one of these buttons.”
“Well fix it!”
“I’m trying. The #$%!& won’t work.”
“Here, let me see it.”
“You’ve never even opened the manual. STOP! Stop randomly pushing buttons. You’re going to really screw it up beyond repair.”
“I can’t do any worse than you have.”
“Will you give me the sonuvabitch! I’m looking at a picture of it.”
Throwing it at me, “Okay, take it!”

Within 30 minutes or so we have it back to what we’re used to seeing… or hearing, as the case may be. Of course we have missed a good bit of whatever we were watching. We tell ourselves we will never push that button again. We will remember that evil button that caused us so much pain. We both know this is bullshit, and sooner or later we will push that damned button, or one of the 37 other buttons that we don’t understand.

Whatever happened to adjusting horizontal hold?

The first grandchild was a girl. This child received more attention than Shirley Temple, and was photographed as if she would be the next Brittney Spears. Of course I love her and see her as above average in beauty and brains. But her parents went into a state of total focus on her, and I worried about their mental health more than anything else.

Visits, either at their house or ours consisted of circling the baby, so as not to miss anything she might do, such as turn, yawn, or move in any manner. Entertainment was delimited to remarking how cute she was. Cooing, oohing and awing over, and over the entire visit. Ordinary conversation was out of bounds. I worried about all of them, especially my wife. But then about 18 months later, the second child came.

She too was adored, but the mentality of absolute focus lessened, and at times conversation about the world outside was possible… unless the baby screamed or demanded attention. Now that there were two, attention had to be divided, and I worried how they would manage that. This second child was doted over, no doubt about that. But, being treated like the coming of the Christ Child appeared to have been overcome.

Very recently, a third grandchild has joined the family. This time we have a little boy. He is a wonder and a joy, and we all love him just as much as the girls. My wife and I were at the hospital when he was born, and I held him when he was only minutes old. The kids and grandkids are all home now, the family feels complete. The little guy is just great. But, on our first visit, I immediately noticed he was not the absolute center of attention.

Oh, he got his share of adoration; observe women in the presence of any baby. But when he went to sleep, he was merely left in his little bed in the corner. Adults actually went about their business, talked about the state of the world, and even sat down to eat. If he needed attention, he got it, along with some added love. Life in the household seemed… normal.

I believe the little guy is the final installment of grandchildren. The kids have managed to produce both types, and will have the experience of parenting each. My wife and I will enjoy them and see that they all get excessive attention. The phenomena of inordinate absorption with the first, and return to common sense with the third makes me wonder. If there is a fourth child, will they remember to bring it home?

You Can’t Have Both

Watching Matt Lauer on a recent interview with Mitt Romney in the back seat of a car, I failed to notice, neither of them were wearing seatbelts. Watching Matt Lauer repeatedly apologize for not wearing a seatbelt was disgusting. Not wearing a seatbelt has become so stigmatized one would think he had raped a baby.

New Jersey governor Jon S. Corzine was nearly killed in an automobile accident in April. More important that this is, he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. He not only apologized, he made a commercial about the treachery and wickedness of not being buckled up. If he had been nearly killed wearing a seatbelt, would we still have the benefit of his uninteresting commercial? I don’t think so.

Meanwhile, millions of human beings are dying all over the world from war, starvation, drugs, disease, and ignorance. Some die because they wore a seatbelt. Yes, there is a case against wearing seatbelts. More important than that is the case for freedom of choice.

Freedom of choice is so much associated with abortion rights, the broader meaning has been lost, freedom for everyone to choose how they want to live, or die. The question of the day is not that have we lost freedom of choice; we have. The question is, has our attention been purposely diverted for the state’s agenda. This is not only dangerous, but fodder for conspiracy theorists and radicals. And that is more terrifying than a mere seatbelt issue.

The argument for seatbelts, they save lives, is undoubtedly true in some cases. In other cases a seatbelt may be the cause of death.
The argument that the system, meaning you and me, have to bear the cost of those who don’t wear seatbelts is insurance company generated bullshit. Show me independent statistics generated by an unbiased entity. Better yet, show me anyone who would relinquish our socially acceptable freedoms (gluttony, religious zealots, Rush Limbaugh ties) because our neighbors think we should.

Personal freedom is about choice, and choice is gone, at least for the time being. I’m not an activist, unless this is called activism, and I realize I’m not really alone in my thinking. But when 80% of the population believe seatbelt laws are a good thing, I believe I’m in the minority for freedom of choice.

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.
~Abraham Lincoln

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
William Shakespeare, “Hamlet”

My grandfather did not understand electricity, and never had it in his house. No, I am not 150 years old. In fact, at 62, I’m not considered all that old by the standards of today. My grandfather lived in a very rural area, and even though electrical power was available, he chose not to take advantage of it. He had reached a point in his life where technology was beyond his grasp. Besides, his books, good conversation, rhetorical argument and his garden was all he wanted in the last years of his life.

Some would say this is foolish. Why not make use of newfangled technology if it can make your life easier? My question is, who can define easier? If you live long enough, you will reach a point where you no longer care, or you simply cannot see that the latest umbilical cord tied to your house is interesting, or that it may make your life easier.

People lived and thrived for thousands of years before the marvels of the current age. There is a saying in the Tao, for every gain there is a loss, for every loss there is a gain. Prior to our Internet driven society today, life was simpler, and for many, much more pleasurable. I love having all this knowledge at my fingertips. What an incredible thing this is. Conversely, I see younger people losing the warmth of real human contact as the web develops more and more social networking sites. We are inundated with information. We are overwhelmed with technology that moves too fast for the average person to know what even exists, let alone use it.

I have worked in this field for years, yet for  the last ten years or so, I can’t keep up with most of the new gadgets and technological  breakthroughs. As I age, I find that I have no need for most gadgets. I wonder, at what point will I no longer comprehend a certain technology, or see any value in it. Real foolishness is failure to reevaluate your life as you age. Time becomes more important than things, because you know your time is for the most part already spent.

I have long questioned the idea that even if people could live to 150 years old, would they choose to do that. Could it be that we die, given age and change, because we no longer understand the world? Although grossly oversimplified, by chance we leave to make room for those who do understand.

A friend recently told me, “Every morning I wake up on this side of the dirt is a blessing.” The real irony is, if you read this, it’s because I’ve used current technology to make that possible. At some point, if you have any desire to discuss things with me, you will probably have to come down and sit for a spell on the porch.