Well, my phone, the fancy one with the touch screen, video capabilities, etc., bit the dust this week. Joe thinks it's because I'm deadly to all technology (see my computer difficulties and how all the crazy things with the TV, Wii, etc. happen to me). I think it's because it's God's way of telling me I need to get fancy and get a new phone.
So, with the big girls at Grammy's this week, and the two little ones in tow, I headed to our cell phone store to get myself something smart. Upon entering the store, I realized something. . .
I'm CHEAP.
I'm NOT a candidate for a SmartPhone.
And, I'm OLD.
You know when you were a kid, and your parents couldn't run the VCR? Or, your grandparents didn't understand why all the kids had CD players, Walkmans, and the like?
Well, I walked into the phone store and nearly had a heart attack. $300 dollars for a phone? One that I don't think I could figure out how to turn on? One that does essentially what my computer and digital camera already do. The devices I already own, have paid for, and know how to use.
Oh crud.
Seriously, I'm old.
I wish I needed one. I wish I could afford one. However, I swallowed my pride, made a joke about how I was just a mom at home and would only update my Facebook status way too much, and bought the cheapest phone that could call, text, and take pictures.
Sigh.
Some day, I'll be fancy again. Some day, I'll know why I need an Ipad. Some day, I'll be smart enough for a SmartPhone.
However, for now, because of my lack of fanciness, I'll continue to blog from my computer, take pictures with my digital camera, and just call or text you to talk.
Please forgive me for using multiple devices. It does have it's benefits...
a new and bigger purse.
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Friday, June 17, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Hip To Be...
...born in a barn?
Have you noticed that it is completely socially acceptable as well as commendable to be "getting back to the basics?" While I agree that we should all eat a little more fresh, play more outside, and depend less upon technology for entertainment, shouldn't we be embracing technology a little more and realizing how good we have it?
Case in point: my house. I live where my grandma and grandpa raised four kids. The house, while they lived in it, housed six people, had one bathroom, and my aunt used to have to plug in her hair dryer upstairs, in the hallway, as it was the only outlet up there. Fast forward 30 years and six months of major renovations, three bathrooms, new heat/central air conditioning (hallelujah!), new plumbing, and now about nine thousand installed outlets later, here we are, thinking we do not have enough space to raise our four children without adding onto our house.
I know, I know, my grandma is looking at me from heaven, thinking I'm spoiled.
And, I am, as many of us are. However, I feel as if this luxury of making choices, living comfortably, even lavishly, has caused us to attack the very core of what makes living where we do and when we do great. Innovation is in our blood. Finding something better, faster, safer is good, isn't it? I'm thankful my husband does not have to thresh wheat, but, rather, sits on a tractor and watch a machine do a job that could potentially cut his arms off. The age of technology is around us. Convenience is king. And while we do our best to try to get back to the basics, could we really?
I know as a farm family that utilizes equipment that is GPS enabled, seed that has been engineered to resist certain diseases, and cell phones that are used to let me know when they're coming home for dinner, we couldn't farm the way we do without technology. And, conversely, you couldn't live the way you do, eat the way you do, and/or choose to not eat what we help produce without our technologically advanced methodology. I'm not saying that what we produce is juiced up, jacked up or in any way, shape or form engineered to do anything but make your life better, and what you eat safe. I'm just saying that if you believe for one second that all farmers could live like they did 20, 50 or even 100 years ago, and still produce food and fuel for the country and its needs would be impossible. We would starve. Worse yet, since many of us have never felt truly, truly hungry, think of it like this: your choices would be limited and (gasp) expensive.
While I believe that eating from your garden in the summer (especially if you live in Illinois, and don't can...only in the summer!), buying locally grown, great tasting beef or pork or poultry, supporting local businesses is ideal, and generally good for your local economy, friends, and waistline, is it always an option? How many of us frequent a grocery store (weekly, bi-weekly, DAILY?), and even though may acknowledge that they may have had to ride on a truck for a day, still buy California grapes for our kids' lunches, because they taste good and are a healthy snack, fully of Vitamin C and other good stuff? I realize that this may sound smarty, but I have never had less than 10 choices of bread types in the grocery store. I could choose to make my own bread, as my great-great grandmother did, but I'm certain, she's smiling at me from above when I choose my Cottage Wheat bread from Hy-Vee instead of spending an afternoon making a week's supply of bread. I am able to spend more time with my kids as well as spend more time ranting on my blog because I BUY MY BREAD!! Ha, ha!
If you're still not convinced that your life is made easier by technologically savvy farmers, please note that when you start to cast judgment on the American farmer in his big, (hopefully) green tractor, I hope you're wearing the outfit that you made from the cloth you have woven from the cotton you have grown after having taken your horse and buggy to town to buy the seed for said cotton plant. Only when we realize that modern conveniences may have made our lives more complex, however much easier, can we also realize that not all technological advances are crumbling the moral fiber of our being.
Have you noticed that it is completely socially acceptable as well as commendable to be "getting back to the basics?" While I agree that we should all eat a little more fresh, play more outside, and depend less upon technology for entertainment, shouldn't we be embracing technology a little more and realizing how good we have it?
Case in point: my house. I live where my grandma and grandpa raised four kids. The house, while they lived in it, housed six people, had one bathroom, and my aunt used to have to plug in her hair dryer upstairs, in the hallway, as it was the only outlet up there. Fast forward 30 years and six months of major renovations, three bathrooms, new heat/central air conditioning (hallelujah!), new plumbing, and now about nine thousand installed outlets later, here we are, thinking we do not have enough space to raise our four children without adding onto our house.
I know, I know, my grandma is looking at me from heaven, thinking I'm spoiled.
And, I am, as many of us are. However, I feel as if this luxury of making choices, living comfortably, even lavishly, has caused us to attack the very core of what makes living where we do and when we do great. Innovation is in our blood. Finding something better, faster, safer is good, isn't it? I'm thankful my husband does not have to thresh wheat, but, rather, sits on a tractor and watch a machine do a job that could potentially cut his arms off. The age of technology is around us. Convenience is king. And while we do our best to try to get back to the basics, could we really?
I know as a farm family that utilizes equipment that is GPS enabled, seed that has been engineered to resist certain diseases, and cell phones that are used to let me know when they're coming home for dinner, we couldn't farm the way we do without technology. And, conversely, you couldn't live the way you do, eat the way you do, and/or choose to not eat what we help produce without our technologically advanced methodology. I'm not saying that what we produce is juiced up, jacked up or in any way, shape or form engineered to do anything but make your life better, and what you eat safe. I'm just saying that if you believe for one second that all farmers could live like they did 20, 50 or even 100 years ago, and still produce food and fuel for the country and its needs would be impossible. We would starve. Worse yet, since many of us have never felt truly, truly hungry, think of it like this: your choices would be limited and (gasp) expensive.
While I believe that eating from your garden in the summer (especially if you live in Illinois, and don't can...only in the summer!), buying locally grown, great tasting beef or pork or poultry, supporting local businesses is ideal, and generally good for your local economy, friends, and waistline, is it always an option? How many of us frequent a grocery store (weekly, bi-weekly, DAILY?), and even though may acknowledge that they may have had to ride on a truck for a day, still buy California grapes for our kids' lunches, because they taste good and are a healthy snack, fully of Vitamin C and other good stuff? I realize that this may sound smarty, but I have never had less than 10 choices of bread types in the grocery store. I could choose to make my own bread, as my great-great grandmother did, but I'm certain, she's smiling at me from above when I choose my Cottage Wheat bread from Hy-Vee instead of spending an afternoon making a week's supply of bread. I am able to spend more time with my kids as well as spend more time ranting on my blog because I BUY MY BREAD!! Ha, ha!
If you're still not convinced that your life is made easier by technologically savvy farmers, please note that when you start to cast judgment on the American farmer in his big, (hopefully) green tractor, I hope you're wearing the outfit that you made from the cloth you have woven from the cotton you have grown after having taken your horse and buggy to town to buy the seed for said cotton plant. Only when we realize that modern conveniences may have made our lives more complex, however much easier, can we also realize that not all technological advances are crumbling the moral fiber of our being.
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