Saturday, December 24, 2011

“Holy Hollywood,” Meryl!

'Tis the season to go to the movies, if you're young and can afford the price of a ticket.

Meryl Streep observed on “60 Minutes” recently that movies were made for 18-year-old boys because they bought toys and games based on movies. I don't think I ever bought a game or toy because of a movie or a play. The entertainment or intellectual stimulation was sufficient.

My wife's reaction to Ms. Streep's remark was we don't rush to the movies, even for the good ones, because we still remember what a ticket used to cost. It's not that we can't afford today's prices, it just galls us to pay them.

Our grandchildren, who love movies, think nothing of paying about $11 to see a film. We, who once paid about half that for admission, think twice or maybe three times before leaving the house. And then it has to be for a blockbuster film that has to be seen on a large screen.

But there are several movies now playing that seem worthwhile and we may actually see them in the next week or two. It is the Holiday Season after all and we may just give ourselves a gift of some movies.

No popcorn, no candy. Just pleasure.

Season's Greetings.

What? No Wifi?

It's amazing how casually we expect everything digital to work all the time everywhere.

Take our local community gym for instance. Quick back story: Just as we were leaving for the gym this morning, my wife discovered her iPod was dead. She likes to walk to music. Hey, why don't you take your new Nook and listen to the music stations we logged onto it. Sounded like a great idea. Except it wasn't.

We found out the hard way that you needed a wifi hot spot to connect to your Nook music stations. Oh? And our gym is NOT wifi friendly. Humph. Who would have thought.

OK, time for Plan B. Just this morning we had bought our first Nook book, Chris Mathews' “Jack Kennedy.” So instead of tread-milling to music, my wife spent her walking time reading. She loved it.

We'll install her music on the Nook eventually.

So many details in the digital world. I'm trying not to let them muddle me more than usual.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Play From Start

That's what it says when I return to a DVR after interrupting the program: Resume Play, Play from Start, Delete. Well, I didn't want to delete today but I sure wanted to “Play From Start.”

Nothing serious happened it's just that when I came down to breakfast my routine became slightly skewed. I became annoyed. Out of sorts. I fought to regain equilibrium.

Then my wife and I left for our bridge lesson. In the car we had a minor dispute over something so trivial I can't even remember what it was. Then I said: “let's start this day over.” It was metaphorical. We know we can't really do that but after a respectful silence, we tried.

I pulled into a nearby Dunkin' Donuts to pick up coffee before entering the bridge club. It was so crowded I left empty handed. Another bad vibe.

Then we had our bridge lesson and it went from bad to worse. Our instructor spoke faster than I could listen. All I heard was her voice. Words, not so much. We bid our hands haphazardly, played them worse. Not a good session.

The turnaround came at lunch. We went to a small deli/restaurant nearby, had great sandwiches, ran a few errands and got home safely. Two naps later all was right with the world again.

Resume Play.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Bit by the GIGO Bug

You know, the acronym for Garbage In Garbage Out.

I went to check on an online bill pay this evening. The bill was supposed to be paid today. Well, I thought it was supposed to be paid today. Seems I entered tomorrow's date instead.

It's not a crisis thing but it is annoying. Now I have to go on line again tomorrow to make sure the bill is actually paid.

A few weeks ago I got it right but hadn't received a confirmation email from the bank by the end of the day. I called to find out why and the spokesperson said they had so many online bills to pay they were behind in the email notifications. That was not reassuring.

Anyway, this time it was my fault and we'll check in the morning to see if all went as planned. Lesson learned. Check, Check and Double Check. Then check again.

Speaking of checks, remember when we just paid bills by check? Seemed a lot simpler then. Just you, the post office and the recipient. Of course, you had to remember to pay the bill on time then, too.

But still, fewer hands to muddle things up. Mine included.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Rambling

I took a creative writing course once at a nearby adult school. One of the things our instructor suggested was when confronted with a blank piece of paper just start writing. Whatever comes to mind.

Sometimes she would give us a topic sentence, or part of a sentence and ask us to write a short short story from that starting point. Amazingly everyone did. And then we read them aloud. Some of them were surprisingly good. I think I saved mine somewhere. Would I ever look at them again? Probably not.

Then there are newspaper or magazine stories I thought I'd write about, but haven't. There's a stack of them on my desk. It's getting unwieldy.

I've got all sorts of notes in that pile, including a discount coupon from a local bagel bakery. Not writing about that, I just know where it is when I need it. I digress.

Then again this little ramble is all about digression. It's obvious I have no particular subject in mind for tonight's blog. It's been a good day. We received new pictures of our family in Israel. My wife and I played a bit with our new Nook and learned a few things. I actually sent two emails from it and received replies. Wondrous.

Who knew I could be muddling closer to the modern world before year's end. There even may be a smart phone in my future.

In the immortal words of Charlie Brown: “Good Grief!”

Monday, December 19, 2011

“No Problem!”

Usually said with a smile or, if on the phone, followed by “be right back.” And then, nothing.

I hear it mostly from the young, signifying that my question or request is such a simple task it will be immediately satisfied. Except when it isn't.

“No problem,” sometimes shortened to “no prob,” is condescending to my ear. It suggests child's play for the responder. Except when they can't.

For instance, calling a store on the phone and asking to speak with a manager. No problem, says the responder, who then disappears leaving me holding either a dead line or incessantly boring music or, worse, store commercials.

“May I have some additional dressing for my salad,” I ask the waiter. No problem, says he or she, except it becomes one when the server fails to return with the dressing before the check.

You've all had these experiences. You've all heard the expression, ad nauseum.

“No problem,” except when it is.

Whatever happened to: “I'll check on that and get right back to you.” Or, “I'll look into it.” Or, “I'll be happy to assist you with that.” Or, “Sure, I'll get that for you right away.”

Is there a problem with that?

Sunday, December 18, 2011

We've Been NOOK'ed!

We had a very nice surprise today. My son, daughter-in-law and their four children gave us a Nook e-reader as a multi-occasion gift; Hanukkah and my upcoming birthday.

Considering I just blogged about not buying an iPad you can imagine our surprise and delight at this thoughtful gesture. Believe it or not, I actually read the introductory instructions and since it says it takes three hours to fully charge, I'm saving that for the morning.

Then we'll get serious about exploring all its capabilities. I'm sure we'll love it.

Thanks again, Rob, Caroline, Ben, Zack, Sam and Jake.