Rabbit holes

 I find rabbit holes on t'interweb absolutely irresistible!  Google searches, Wikipedia trails, I've wasted many an hour.

My latest joy is AI.  It collates all sorts of information.  I've just asked it about 22nd November in history.

Did you know that on this date in 498AD St. Symmachus became pope?  Neither did I and I shall forget very quickly.

It is said that everyone can remember what they were doing on this date in 1963 as that was the date President Kennedy was assassinated.  I am an exception to that rule as I have no idea.

I can remember a little more about 22nd November 1990 as that was the date that Margaret Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister.  I think many of us had thought her tenure would never end.

And on this day in 2005 Angela Merkel became Chancellor of Germany.

Makes my plans for 22nd November 2025 look very mundane.  I can feel more rabbit hole wanderings coming on.  

Zoom!

 I really got into zoom meet-ups during lock down.  I really found it weird but five years on, I find it great.  I can chat “face to face” with people I’ve known for ever but no longer live nearby.  Today I’ve got a chat with S in Leicester.

We used to meet twice a year for lunch and we still do, but we can zoom every month and it is brilliant.  We talk about her grandchildren, my wandering, her photography, my crafting, and culinary experiments (always exciting) from both of us

S and I have a friendship which is like a personal time capsule.  I babysat her older boys while she went to hospital for the birth of the third.  She got excited with me when I was ordained.  We both have memories of wearing some pretty dodgy outfits, even though we thought we were the bee’s knees when we wore them!  “Remember when” is a favourite phrase.

We both look respectable on zoom but we each know that the other is probably sitting in the midst of chaos and we don’t care.  The top half of the outfit may be smart but we won’t even mention what we might be wearing below the waist.

That’s real friendship magic—being known fully and loved anyway.

A Constant Companion

 What would I do without my laptop computer!!!  

The first computer I can remember seeing was at the County Council offices over fifty years ago.  I was training as a librarian and the college arranged a coach trip.  We couldn't actually touch the computer: we had to look through a window from an adjacent corridor as it was in a dust-free room.  

It's over thirty five years since I bought my first computer.  It was a BBC one and, compared to the jobby I'm looking at now, incredibly limited.  I could produce documents, play a few games and do little more.

It was 2000 that I first accessed the internet and what a revelation that was.  Suddenly information which I could find only if I went to a library ten miles away, was now at my fingertips.  "What's your phone number?" was gradually replaced with, "What's your email address?"  

During lockdown I increased my computer skills greatly and was able to join in social events by zoom, order my groceries, learn crafts, keep abreast of the news and so much more, and I still do all those things.

I've now got a tablet and a mobile phone, both of which I use to access t'interweb, but I still like my laptop best.  How about you?

T is for Technology

 

“One day there will be a telephone in every major city in America.”

 I love that quote from Alexander Graham Bell.  He was such a brilliant man, so forward thinking, and yet even he could not foresee the future.

 Every generation has seen technology move on a little bit more.  My grandmother regarded telephones with suspicion (although she gradually saw some of their advantages), and my mother refused to have anything to do with computers.  So far I’m OK with most “new technology” although the time may come . . .

On Friday I had cataract surgery.  My eyes had been digitally scanned to check the size of the cataract and the size of the lens so that the first could be removed and the second replaced as accurately as possible.  Information about me had been sent digitally so that other health issues could be considered (e.g., the medications I take regularly).  I received a digital print out regarding aftercare. My next-of-kin's mobile number was readily available in the unlikely case of difficulties.

Yes, I know some  technology is intrusive and annoying, and that the human touch is mich more important, but for the most part I would say T is for both Technology and Thankfulness. 

PS.  Thank you for all the kind comments on my last post.  I am fine and tmy eyesight continues to improve.

Adjusting 3

We weren't designed to live alone.  We talk about being independent but in truth we are interdependent.  We need each other in order to fulfil our physical needs but we also have our mental, social and spiritual needs.

Many churches are using this time of isolation to experiment with new ways of joining together using technology.  Last Sunday worship was streamed from various places to allow people to join in remotely.  Even those who don't have the technology knew that the services were taking place and they could pray at the same time.

One group of churches where I often help out has gone one further and they are steaming Morning Prayer at 8.30 each day and I've been joining in with that.  In my isolation I am finding that to be a source of strength, knowing that others are joining in remotely too.   

I'm phoning various people on a regular basis to support and encourage them.  One of my ladies, E. has a son who is stuck in Portugal having gone on a business trip.  I'd love to visit her and share a cuppa but that's not allowed so a chat has to suffice.  S has a heart condition which would make Corvid 19 exceptionally dangerous and she is frightened (but she'd never say so!).

And I am being contacted by various people especially my cousin J's wife.  J is having chemotherapy at the moment so his wife has plenty of worries of her own but each night around 7.30pm we have a chat on Facetime.  I find that especially comforting as I know that if I didn't answer she would alert someone to check on me or, if necessary, alert the emergency services.  As an older single person living alone, I find that very re-assuring.