I’ve been trying to figure out how to write on the week’s topic and bring it back around to construction, which has been most of the reason for my absence from this writing exercise. This week’s topic, however, is too good to pass up.
The blogging challenge this week was to talk about something that has become everyday or commonplace. Almost all of the technology that surrounds us these days at our workplaces has become just that.
We drive to work in the rain, using intermittent wipers without even one thought about the inventor. We navigate on roads that were planned by engineers and built by people we’ve never met or consider.
We arrive at our offices, turn off alarm systems, turn on air conditioning on a digital keypad, and flip on the lights. I, for one, don’t stop to consider how the electricitiy is being generated or pause in a moment of silence, lamenting Edison’s (first commercially practical) incandescent bulb or praising the fluorescent.
I no longer marvel at the speed and agility of our latest computer or its operating system; rather, I become upset when it becomes sluggish, costing us seconds of time.
Where Morse Code used to dominate the telegraph industry we text with our phones, person to person using QWERTY keyboards or artificial intelligence. It’s not cool anymore; it’s expected, normal, and not worth discussing at the dinner table.
When the phone rings at the office, yes we still have a land-line, I don’t have to bother with operators, share a party line, or have wires looking for homes in a grid, whose enigma I would have to solve. I push a button and the person is on hold. I push another and they’re transferred to a cell phone.
I scan documents to email, download photos from a digital camera that no longer have to be developed, and do myriads of other tasks made easier by every day technology.
I don’t even wear a wristwatch anymore since there are three clocks within a foot of me and another in eye-shot.
It’s five o’clock and I have the choice to ride home on a commuter train, a long way from the steam engines of old, or drive home in my combustion engine vehicle.
The sun sets yet again over the ocean and I probably don’t even stop to notice the unique gradation and display of colors that will not be repeated tomorrow.
What do I overlook? Nearly everything around me on a daily basis.
This week’s topic — Taking A Second Look
Great post Bridget and so true. I think most of us are guilty of this, and ALL of us agree with you about indoor plumbing!
Hee hee.
I think we all overlook nature from time to time. At least you are aware of it. Nice post.
A timely post for me as this morning, while getting ready for work, I saw a flash, heard a pop and then darkness. A transformer blew. Standing in the dark my mind was whirling – how was I going to continue getting ready for work? What was most important and just where exactly was my lantern? The electricity came back up in just a few minutes but it gave me pause.
Oh for sure. That happened to us a few months ago. It made me very happy to have camping gear and an awesome LED tent light.
Great post, yes if you stop for a moment and [speaking of the tech] think about it you’re head should swim with the advances we’ve seen in our careers.
Yes, Kyle. They’ve been astounding for sure.
great post, and so true. in the course of a day, technologically alone… I marvel at the thought of how quickly we adjust and in turn forget (or ignore) where we were yesterday technology-wise. and it literally was just yesterday, wasn’t it?
You are right about that.
Great post – so true! We take so much for granted. I’m reminded of it more now that I have friends who just moved to Iraq. They’re lucky to have intermittent electricity and savor a warm bath. I never thought twice about my shower or flipping a switch or faucet. Now I appreciate it much more. Thanks for the reminder!
Brinn,
That’s an even better example (and would have related to construction.)
Indoor plumbing – I don’t know how people live without it.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment; I appreciate it.
Actually, this is very true. Although I do sometimes find myself thinking about how it once was versus how it now is. I was born in 1945 in Montana, so I got in on the last bit of radio programs, as we did not have a TV until I was in the fourth grade. I still remember lying in the floor in front of the Philco radio, listening to some of those old radio shows. When TV first came to Helena, Montana, it was only broadcast for a few hours a day. I believe it came on about 4:00 p.m. if memory serves. I do remember rushing home to flip on the black-and-white TV and watching test pattern for half an hour or so before the actual programs started. And every broadcast day had an actual ending about midnight or so, with a playing of the National Anthem. Man, has that scene changed!
Oh for sure. Hundreds of channels broadcasting 24 hours a day. What a change even in your lifetime.