The Triaged Life

You know what they say happens when you are over the hill? You pick up speed, of course. Darned if it isn’t true and I think I may know why, at least in my case. Older people tend to cast off things that are no longer useful (my mother almost stripped her house) and eliminate activities and associations that no longer give them pleasure. Perhaps the feeling is that life’s fuse is burning shorter and we don’t have a minute to squander on non-rewarding things. I’ll leave that to psychologists. I just held a microscope over my own changes and found them interesting. Here are some of the things I now do.

• Choose microwave over crock pot (all that planning, you know)
• No longer compare purchases strolling store to store, but on Internet
• Encourage e-mails instead of time wasting phone calls (anti-social, I know)
• During commercials, play show recorded earlier on TV and get two in very little more time
• Skim newspaper articles instead of reading every little thing. I’ve seen most on Internet anyway.
• Crave news instantly from Twitter, treating “refresh” like a one-armed bandit in the casino when things are really breaking.
• Revel in flash fiction and haiku (reading and creating)
• Love challenge of squeezing my thoughts into 140 characters on Twitter, making every word count.

For what do I squirrel away all this time, you might be thinking. Family, friends, good books (or slutty books, if I like), working on my house and first garden, exercising, keeping an eye on government, doing photography, matching wits with my cats, any darn thing I enjoy – and nothing I don’t.

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I Play One on TV

“I’m not a president, but I play one on TV.”

 Do you  have the feeling Obama might end his TV appearances with that disclaimer? He’s just too damn happy to be in the most stressful job in the world. I prematurely dubbed Vice President Biden with the moniker TooDamnHappy, but I’m going to have to wrest that title away from him and pin it on Obama. I thought I would never see anyone as pleased with himself as Ole Joe, certainly not the suave gentleman next to him, handling every word as if it were nitroglycerin. Where did that guy go?

 Just this week he’s smoozing with Anderson, Katie, Brian, Chris and Charlie. Then he goes to a elementary classroom and tells the students he needed to get out of the house. And he talks of puppies and daughters, and by the way, stimulus bill. No doubt the first flight on Air Force One is a thrill, but do we really need to follow Obama’s commutes live?

 Earth to Obama: The election is over. You won. You can stop campaigning. This is a fine line I walk because I’ve complained about presidents who have padlocked themselves behind the oval office door and a Veep who dwelled in “an undisclosed location,” but I really think the public just might be lavished with too much information this time. Mr. President, document your every sneeze, if you must, but save it for a documentary or your future library.  Show us the side of you that will let us know we have a grownup in charge. Please.

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Before You Were a Computerholic

What did you do before with the time you now spend on the computer? My husband sprang that question on me the other day and now I’m springing it on you. I do spend hours at this screen every day. I’d never thought about what I was doing before with my time. So here is my list of things I have given up or spend less time on:

 

• TV—That’s the activity that has suffered the most and I don’t miss it at all. As a matter of fact, when I try to find something to watch while relaxing I wear my thumb out channel surfing. TV has gotten worse. My time is better spent on the computer for sure.
• Shopping—I had to dig to come up with this one. Surely I did more than watch TV before, and I did. This revelation surprised me. Shopping used to be an enjoyable sport to me. Now what I don’t order online I save up to buy in one trip as quickly as I can. When did that happen and why? Who knows, but I see the UPS man more than a store clerk now no doubt.
• Finances—I wrote checks by hand, balanced my checkbook (sometimes) and subtracted until the money was gone. Now Quicken shows my finances at a glance, bills are paid online, bank accounts handled the same way. I’ve saved money and time in this instance, and best of all kicked the little voice from the FUKOWEE Indian tribe. If you read Kurt Vonnegut I won’t have to explain that last one.
• Writing fiction—This is the one downer. I realize my writing urges are being too satisfied with this blog, leaving my serious writing over in a corner somewhere.  

 

That is it as far as I can tell. I still exercise (biking, walking and yoga) though no longer at a club. I certainly read as much as ever, if not more. And photography? I take way more pictures now. The instant gratification of seeing them on screen or printed immediately enhances that activity. Now that I have pinpointed the one area I need to attend to, I plan to do just that. Of course, that will mean more time here on the computer. It all comes back to Big Hal, doesn’t it? 

 

What have YOU thrown aside or slighted for your relationship with the computer? How has it affected your life? Perhaps you have thought about it; I hadn’t. If computer is as big a part of your life as mine I think you should. I would really like to hear your views.

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Writers’ Strike

I’m cruising along feeling smug because the writers’ strike will have little effect on anything I watch. Well, who knew Meerkat Manor would be cancelled? Listen I need my fix, so I’m volunteering to personally write one script. Here goes.

Zaphod: Bark, bark, bark.

Rocket Dog: Bark, bark

Hanibal (glancing with his one good eye): BARK, BARK, BARK

Fun Loving Pups: Yip, yip, yip.

There, now how hard is that? Put the darn show back on!

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