Saturday, December 31, 2011

I Evolved

OK, technology won and I have to embrace it. That's my lesson from 2011. As proof, today I downloaded three apps for our Nook. Who knew?

2012 is a leap year. On our personal calendar is our trip to Israel in February followed by a big birthday for my wife in March and a very special anniversary for us in August.

It's also a presidential election year and I intend to leap into that fray from time to time with what I feel would be appropriate comments.

Let's all leap into 2012 with our eyes wide open and hope we land safely.

Happy New Year.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Winding Down

This will be my 316th blog entry in 2011. I had hoped to blog every day but didn’t make it. I'll post something tomorrow so the year-end total will be 317. Not bad, considering.

By the way, in case you were wondering, Goldman is darning his socks tonight. He expects a big year in 2012 and needs to perk up his wardrobe. We'll check up on him again soon.

Meantime, don't go too crazy tomorrow night. After all, Sunday is just another day.

All the best.

Muddling Marv

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Goldman's Socks

This has been a rough year for Goldman's socks. He couldn't seem to find the right pair no matter how hard he tried.

And when he did, one or the other kept falling down. He'd pull one up and the other would droop. Finally, he just wore them around the ankles hoping no one would notice. But they did.

And then the trouble really began.

Goldman's socks began to unravel. It started with a small thread coming loose at the top. He tried to ignore it but, like an itch, he couldn't let it go. Of course, once he started pulling on it the whole sock came apart. He was left with threads around the ankle.

Goldman was at a loss as to what to do. He had plenty of socks in his drawers but he couldn't decide which ones would fit perfectly. He thought about trying a pair a day. Too risky, he thought. People might think he was unable to make a decision. Bad for business, that.

He really needed a solid pair of socks that would restore his confidence; allow him to walk into a room without worrying about people sneaking peaks at his ankles. He could lengthen his trousers but at some point he would inevitably cross his legs and the drooping socks would be visible.

They had to be perfect. He called in a consultant. A Soxologist, as it were. Her advice: go barefoot, wear flip-flops, good for business, very Now. She billed $1.5 million for the consult. He deducted it from his tax bill as a medical expense.

Goldman reached for the Argyles.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Tablet Time

No sooner did we mention we got a Nook then friends told us they got iPads or Kindles. 'Tis the season of the tablet, no doubt.

I mentioned previously that must of us of a certain age wished these devices came with printed instructions, but we've all moved on since then and are enjoying our new toys.

We heard one amusing story from a neighbor whose son who was so excited with his new device he was demanding face time with his sister. Said his mother: “She's right there, you can have all the face time you want just turn around.” What fun is that?

Anyway, I have three more nights to muddle through the modern world and then I'm declaring myself free to blog about anything instead of ranting and wailing only about technology. That will be a new challenge.

The world will still be modern, of course, but I'm veering off course to muddle in as many puddles as I can find.

They're out there.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The Midnight Muse

The Midnight Muse
Summoned to amuse
Replies, I refuse
No excuse

The Onlooker

I glimpsed the future today. It took the form of muscular young men home from school flexing their muscles in our gym. Can't be too fit for the future, you know. Later, at a nine-year-old's birthday party, the future belonged to much younger kids running around and through the adults in the room.

One of the kids was manipulating a game on a flat screen TV. Another was scanning YouTube for something that might interest him. I don't think he found anything. Just scanning the world for the future.

As for the adults, we were talking about our new e-readers. Certainly a thrust into the future. A source of our concern (and here's where we show our age) the lack of printed instructions to help us use the devices. All the instructions are embedded in the software.

We like to look at a piece of paper and then follow the instructions thereon. We find it difficult to look at something on a screen and then try to perform the task. Young people don't seem to have any trouble at all with this.

I just keep hitting buttons or the touch screen until something happens. Sometimes it's what I want to happen, other times not. It's a challenge my wife would prefer to do without.

So while some brace for the future and others race to the future we just try to keep pace.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

No Movie, No Chinese

It's not exactly a tradition but in Christmas Past many people who do not celebrate Christmas Day often spend the afternoon at a movie followed by dinner at a Chinese restaurant, since almost all other eateries are usually closed.

We did something different this Christmas Present. A very nice woman we met at our beginner's bridge club invited us to her home this afternoon to play bridge with her and her partner. Since three of us were beginner's, her more experienced partner obligingly agreed to help us out.

We spent an enjoyable two hours at cards and then adjourned for a glass of wine before going out to dinner. And, no, we did not go to a Chinese restaurant, most of which are jammed this evening.

Instead, we opted for a local Jewish-style delicatessen we like which is open on Christmas Day. A few years ago, tired of the Christmas Day/Chinese Food routine, we called the deli to see if they were open. They were and we had a nice, quiet, leisurely dinner in a sparsely occupied restaurant.

As you can imagine, something that good inevitably catches on. As we were leaving this evening, they were packing them in.

A sign of Christmas Future?