Recently I have been acutely aware of the giant leaps society has made in technology and the changes it has brought, even in my lifetime. This morning, as I was waiting on the train, a guy walks by with his mobile phone held up to his shoulder, blasting some incomprehensible rap song as loud as the straining speaker could blare it. After he walked by, I had to chuckle a bit. I remember in my early years walking by guys on the street that would carry these ENORMOUS "boom boxes" on their shoulders. Back then, it was almost a fashion accessory - you always had it around just in case you wanted to spontaneously break out in a breakdance routine.
Even the cellular phone is an advance beyond compare. Why, back when I was a young lad, telephones still had cords attaching them to their receivers. Even in the 80s the cellular phone was SO large it could double as a formidable bludgeoning device. My, how far we've come.
Granted, things haven't just become smaller -- like TV sets and cars. Some things have appeared that were never there before - like remote controls and laptop computers.
Now THERE is a dichotomy. One thing to make our lives lazier and more fat-ass, and another to make it more complicated and stressful.
Back in my very first job, I resisted getting a laptop like the plague. I felt (and still do) that work should stay at work, and home should stay at home. There really wasn't anything I needed from that laptop once I left work. But there you have it.. A culture built around work 'til you drop, and then take it home with you so you can plop on the sofa and eat your Ben & Jerry's and watch Dynasty and listen to your waistline expand. That is why someone had to invent the remote control, which led to offering 3,000 channels to surf through. Back in the day, we had 4 channels - ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS. And when it comes right down to it, we hardly watched TV!
But, friends, here we are - lazy, overworked and over-communicated. A trait we Americans brought on ourselves. Now we have a whole "diet pill" industry out there catering to the lazy folks who don't/can't get up to work off that extra helping of cheese doodles. "Hook this electrode to your (flabby) stomach and watch abs appear in days!" I'm here to tell you, all that does is make you blubber jiggle - just saying. BUT people buy it.
I guess my (guilty) point behind all this is to ask, how much better off are we with these personal luxuries? We've improved the efficiency of autos, yet we move even further away from our jobs, only to request that we be granted "telework" capabilities so we can stay at home and surf the web and learn how to become even more antisocial. We can file through Facebook and Twitter as our communication substitute and never need to see another person again. Let's get married by text message or FaceTime. Pretty soon we won't know whether it's Spring or Fall and will need to rely on the Weather Channel app to tell us.
Yes, my pets, life was much better when I walked to school barefoot in the snow.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Vegas Trip (Day 3): The brave, the proud,...
Well, my pets, the third and last full day of Vegas had two planned highlights that we were all excited about. The day started with a limo ride to Pappillon Adventures at the Vegas airport. Colleen had bought me a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon for my birthday, and we rose at the buttcrack of dawn (early in Vegas standards anyway) to catch the limo and make our way to the helipad.
Our adventure began when we got to the helicopter and saw that the six of us had to squeeze our adult frames into tiny seats that most children would find a tight fit. It was more evident when the Pappillon staff pushed up behind us with a giant shoe horn. Let's just say we got intimate! Once inside, we all prayed the door would close and not pop open from the strain halfway through the flight. BUT, we were in and up in no time.
The tour was to take us over the Hoover Dam, land on the floor of the canyon, have a champaign lunch, and fly back by way of the Vegas strip. The fly over of the Hoover Dam was spectacular — much more so that I expected. We flew by the "sky bridge" which we later learned was actually owned by Chinese businessmen, and, frankly was a racket. We got the much better view, pictures and overall experience for roughly the same price, thanks to Colleen's savvy skills.
We landed on a small overlook in a crook in the Colorado river at the base of the canyon, had lunch and flew back up for a refuel before a spectacular flyover of the Vegas miracle mile. All joking about the tight fit aside, it was a great trip!
That night I had finagled us a table in Aureole restaurant — a Charlie Palmer deal with a(n) (in)famous 4-story wine tower in the center. The tower was encased in glass and surrounded by a system of pulleys and cables from which these women, clothed in black would "zip" to your wine selection and retrieve it for your table. Now, the advertising called the, Wine Angels and led you to believe that these supermodels in skin-tight leotards would be flitting up to your bottle and whisking it to your table. Well 1) the wine tower on included "young" red wines and 2)the wine angels were easily all matronly (to say the least) and were (thankfully) dressed in baggy pants and shirts. The meal, though, was exquisite (despite the rather awkward digital wine list, provided on a tablet PC). I just wish I weren't so tired when we sat down to eat...I faded quickly.
All in all, it was good to see my Aussie buds and spend some time with Colleen. Next time, though, I pick the location :-)
Our adventure began when we got to the helicopter and saw that the six of us had to squeeze our adult frames into tiny seats that most children would find a tight fit. It was more evident when the Pappillon staff pushed up behind us with a giant shoe horn. Let's just say we got intimate! Once inside, we all prayed the door would close and not pop open from the strain halfway through the flight. BUT, we were in and up in no time.
The tour was to take us over the Hoover Dam, land on the floor of the canyon, have a champaign lunch, and fly back by way of the Vegas strip. The fly over of the Hoover Dam was spectacular — much more so that I expected. We flew by the "sky bridge" which we later learned was actually owned by Chinese businessmen, and, frankly was a racket. We got the much better view, pictures and overall experience for roughly the same price, thanks to Colleen's savvy skills.
We landed on a small overlook in a crook in the Colorado river at the base of the canyon, had lunch and flew back up for a refuel before a spectacular flyover of the Vegas miracle mile. All joking about the tight fit aside, it was a great trip!
That night I had finagled us a table in Aureole restaurant — a Charlie Palmer deal with a(n) (in)famous 4-story wine tower in the center. The tower was encased in glass and surrounded by a system of pulleys and cables from which these women, clothed in black would "zip" to your wine selection and retrieve it for your table. Now, the advertising called the, Wine Angels and led you to believe that these supermodels in skin-tight leotards would be flitting up to your bottle and whisking it to your table. Well 1) the wine tower on included "young" red wines and 2)the wine angels were easily all matronly (to say the least) and were (thankfully) dressed in baggy pants and shirts. The meal, though, was exquisite (despite the rather awkward digital wine list, provided on a tablet PC). I just wish I weren't so tired when we sat down to eat...I faded quickly.
All in all, it was good to see my Aussie buds and spend some time with Colleen. Next time, though, I pick the location :-)
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Vegas Trip (Day 2): Uncle Sam's Australian Vacation
So day 2 turned out to be less eventful in the morning (translation: no one was cavity-searched) and we had the opportunity to relax and have some "vacation time." Colleen and I went to Café Bellagio for breakfast, which to date had been a staple for every trip to Vegas. But, this time I noticed some changes. The miracle mile as a whole had undergone some basic changes, I thought. Despite the ever-changing landscape and the constant renovations, the Vegas strip looked a wee bit, well, worse for the wear. I don't ever recall thinking Vegas looked a little neglected, but for whatever host of reasons, it did.
Around 11, Colleen decided it was late enough for a libation, so we relaxed outside at the Mirage in the Rhumbar. Needless to say we spent the afternoon sampling their specialties!
That evening we ate at Olives in hopes to catch the water canon show from the patio at the Bellagio. After freezing our assets off through a comparatively good meal, we found out they canceled the show due to wind. We quickly exited...
Then Rob, Paul and I had tickets for Zumanity, so we headed over to New York, New York to relax a bit before the late show.
I went to the rest room, only to return from my winkie tinkie to blaring bells and flashing strobes. Paul had won the 1¢ slot jackpot —$5000.
The hotel pit boss took enough time to get the dough back to Paul, only to find out that foreigners had to give up tax on the winnings immediately. So, Paul only got a little over 3k ( get that, ONLY). Those two are the luckiest guys I think I've ever met.
Around 11, Colleen decided it was late enough for a libation, so we relaxed outside at the Mirage in the Rhumbar. Needless to say we spent the afternoon sampling their specialties!
That evening we ate at Olives in hopes to catch the water canon show from the patio at the Bellagio. After freezing our assets off through a comparatively good meal, we found out they canceled the show due to wind. We quickly exited...
Then Rob, Paul and I had tickets for Zumanity, so we headed over to New York, New York to relax a bit before the late show.
I went to the rest room, only to return from my winkie tinkie to blaring bells and flashing strobes. Paul had won the 1¢ slot jackpot —$5000.
The hotel pit boss took enough time to get the dough back to Paul, only to find out that foreigners had to give up tax on the winnings immediately. So, Paul only got a little over 3k ( get that, ONLY). Those two are the luckiest guys I think I've ever met.
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