Random Neuron Firings

Last night I was thinking about how fast I found something I was looking for (not in “real life,” God knows – I can’t ever find anything, EVER. I mean on the web). I needed an author’s name of a specific research text, and found it within seconds.

Now what if I’d tried to do that in 1977, when I was a senior in high school? What would it have involved? Well for one thing, I wouldn’t have been able to find *anything* out about a book at 10 p.m., because the public and university libraries would be closed. No such thing as an online catalog, because, well…there was no “online.”

Machines you could plug into your phone to let people record a message if you missed a call were just now being rolled out to the general public, but at ridiculous prices – I remember my friends telling me their parents paid $200 for a model like this one, that used reel-to-reel tape to record messages.

But otherwise, the good old telephone was the only way to find something out without leaving your house. Imagine that. I know I sound like my dad and my grandma…telling the younger folks how bad it was in the “old days.” But I’m not saying this to make the younger generation feel grateful for what they have (heck, I consider myself the “younger generation,” and I have no clue what I would do without my computer and cell phone). I’m saying it because I’m amazed at what got done back then without computers, the Internet, and cellular technology. Crikey.

I toured Europe for a month in 1976. I had just completed my junior year of high school, and hadn’t yet turned 17. My parents got exactly one post card from me the whole time I was gone. There was no email, no website to check to see how everything was going, and no digital cameras to send photos back home minutes after they were taken. Overseas telephone calls were frightfully expensive, so that was out, and my parents sent exactly $130 with me to last me 29 days. [I came home with about $1 in various currencies.] They waited 2 hours in Cleveland for my flight from New York. They had no idea if I was on the plane or not. Can you imagine doing something like that now? As a parent, I’d be flipping out.

Also interesting to note is the availability of recorded music. Obviously, there were no downloads, but we had the added frustration of selection. If you didn’t live near a large record store (and there wasn’t one anywhere near where I lived until they put one in a nearby mall in the 80s), you were out of luck. You bought what was available at the local “five-and-dime,” and that wasn’t much. A Wal-Mart on every corner was still years in the future.

Another note of some interest: in 1969, I think my sister and I paid about 50-60 cents of our allowance money to buy a 45 RPM single. Downloads of singles today are around 89-99 cents. Considering the staggering effect of inflation on most everything else offered in the retail market, that’s not too serious a price hike. Hmm.

All right. Enough blathering for one morning. I have a paper to finish. Ugh.

Fink out.

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Crosley Record Changer graphic courtesy retroradiozone.com

Random Neuron Firings

1. It’s 3:30 a.m. I’ve been awake since 2.
2. I have a “To Do” list going for today. It already has eleven things on it.
3. Ever feel like you’ve been maneuvered? Shafted? Smoked? Deceived? Backed into a corner?
4. My new class started Monday. I hate it already. I am trying to adopt a good attitude, seeing as how I only have 2 more classes after this one to get through, but then I think about the qualifying exams that come after all the classes, and I am all over again nauseous.
5. Jake is getting cuter every day.
6. I’m going to a cookout on Friday night. There will be wanton silliness.
7. eBay is behaving badly. You know what Lord Acton said about absolute power…
8. Kay comes home on 7 June. Yay!
9. I have a wedding to play, for which I am not ready, on 7 June. Boo.
10. Be careful in whom you confide.
11. Helen and Lars got me a cool Johnny Depp mouse pad for Mother’s Day. Are they great or what?
12. I have a concert tonight. Please come.
13. It is now 4:22 a.m., and I have 14 things on the To Do list from #2.

RF

“Green” is the new buzzword. Have you noticed? Corporations, cars, movie stars…they’re all going “green.” Personally, I think it’s a great idea — especially in America, where the “throw-away” culture is the world’s worst.

I hadn’t realized exactly how many things are recyclable until I read a feature by the Weather Channel called Forecast Earth. I mean, I recycle my aluminum cans, newspapers, plastic bottles and jugs, cardboard boxes and glass jars/bottles, but this article really widens the spectrum.

How about big pieces of machinery that no longer work? Strip down a machine of its metal and copper parts and take it to a recycling or salvage place. You’ll make money. A student of mine just made $600 doing it. Really. Ask him (Kevin P.). All it takes is time and the conveyance to get it to the recycling center. If you live in north central Ohio, there are several.

Every time I see someone throw away a Gatorade or water bottle, I cringe. I really really want to reach into the garbage can and take it home with me. But then my students would really know I was a wackjob. Can’t have that. And speaking of bottled water, if you loved me, you’d do this:

If you absolutely must have bottled water, buy one case of it. Then, wash out, dry, and save the bottles and caps, and buy a huge, water-cooler-sized jug of purified water. Refill your bottles from that, or even from your kitchen sink, as most communities have tap water that is fine to drink.

[There is even research that suggests that some of the plastic water bottles we buy and reuse are not safe. A google on unsafe water bottles reveals much. No wonder everyone has cancer.]

The thing about recycling is that in order to use recycled materials, people have to actually recycle what they use. Don’t throw away your Gatorade bottles or green bean cans. Do your part. You might think it’s small — which it is — but many parts make up the whole.

I could go on and on about this subject, and maybe I will some other day. But that’s all for now. Now go and root through your garbage.

Green Fink

This is an exercise in just whatever comes to my reptilian brain, unlike another post I wrote awhile back, which was more thought-out and personal. This is free association, or something close to it. I’m doing it now, live, right before your eyes, to see if it’s fun. Mark, get set, go.

1. I am getting a cold. Yark.
2. The Indians just don’t want to make a habit of hanging onto a 2-run lead in the 7th.
3. I wish people did not believe malicious rumors, but instead went to the source to get the real story.
4. My sister and I have been orphans for 13 years.
5. I have in front of me a letter that took me hours to write.
6. I’d really love it if someone would make pancakes right now.
7. The wedding is in 33 days – I really need to practice more.
8. It is useless to be upset about that which one cannot change. (And yet…)
9. I am looking forward to the next 25 years of my life.
10. I haven’t seen Jake since Thursday. Must fix that.
11. Tomorrow would have been my parents’ wedding anniversary. Well I guess it still is.
12. I don’t know how earlier civilizations lived without things like plumbing, water treatment plants, refrigeration, and DayQuil.
13. I wish I could identify birds by their songs.
14. I love both the smell and the taste of coffee.
15. There are few odors more foul than Brussels sprouts out of the microwave (thanks, Lisa).
16. You could knit a sweater per day with the hair my dog sheds.
17. I resent the fact that I am getting to the point where I will turn around and drive ten miles back to my house because I forgot my cell phone.
18. I learned last night that the fabulous Sunny Wilkinson is willing to be a resource for my dissertation research. Wow! Thanks, Neil. You’re the greatest, pal.
19. To say that I will be glad when this school year is over is an understatement. Not that I want to get away from my students (although they likely want to get away from me), I just want to get away. Period.
20. Mavis and I are going to pick up the gifts for my seniors today. Maybe we’ll have lunch out.
21. I dread Mondays. Especially the one that happens tomorrow.
22. I think I woke up too early.
23. Professionally, I need to network more. I’m working on that.
24. Is this a spoiled-rotten dog? Yes, it is.
25. I never look at the keyboard when I type. Looking at your hands while typing is a terrible habit, like spitting. If you don’t ever start, you won’t have to worry about stopping.
26. One should always be sure to never say “always” and “never.”
27. Tylenol PM gives me restless legs.
28. Inequity, while unavoidable in many instances, makes me mad.
29. The hardest reality for me to accept is that some people are going to say and believe what they want to say and believe, regardless of truth or circumstances. This is actually a paraphrase of #3, but I’m keeping it anyway. Bears repeating.
30. Reserving judgment makes you a better person. I am trying to work on that one myself.
31. There are no Pinwheel cookies in my pantry at the moment. That makes me sad.
32. Speaking of “no cookies” — I really want to lose 10 pounds before Lance’s wedding in September.
33. I wonder when Kay is coming home.
34. Sometimes I get frustrated when my students want to rail against authority. I know it’s a phase that many of us have to go through, but geez…I now know what my “elders” meant when they said, “You’ll learn. Just wait.”
35. I wish I were less angry about some things.
36. I really, really dislike arrogant, smug people. (If I ever behave like one, please get out the Nerf bat.)
37. My friends are the coolest. So’s my family.
38. Should I cut my hair?
39. All of a sudden, 50 doesn’t look so old.
40. Please remind me to buy fancy paper and envelopes today.
41. I’ve flown all over the planet, but I still trust an airplane about as far as I can launch one across the parking lot.
42. Basically, it’s still a man’s world.
43. I am really trying to put this whole contract dispute thing into perspective. Perspective is a funny thing…I’m waiting for the healing to start.
44. I love my house.
45. I am not looking forward to the 12th, when my next class starts. “Aesthetics and Criticism” just sounds boring, pretentious and boring. And boring, too.
46. I can’t believe it took me 48 years to realize that I can buy shoes in the little girls’ section and save money.
47. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my career.
48. I might buy some new clothes today. (Yes George, I’m using the money you and the Feds sent me.)
49. I haven’t had a piece of cake in a long time. Why oh why won’t anyone bring me one?
50. There is much to do over the next 3 weeks. Must get on it.

And that wasn’t hard, really. It was kind of fun, because it made me think in a magnified way about everything around me. It sharpens the powers of observation and quick recall. You should try it.

Fink out.