What Can't You Live Without?

A couple of months ago I happened to read an article posted in one of the daily news Emails I receive from Scientific American Magazine. The gist of the article was a listing of replies to the author’s question, what technology is so essential that you cannot live without it? Unfortunately, I long since deleted the above-mentioned Email, so I’m unable to offer it up as a reference, but it stuck with me, and I felt compelled to write about it myself.

To my surprise (as well as the Email’s author), many people replied that they could not live without their iPhones , iPads, or Facebook. At first I didn’t know what to make of that, and then I must admit that I became really furious. My reaction to all this was, “Give me a break—you can’t live without your freaking iPhone?” Now I know that many people are addicted to their smart phones and can’t be parted from them for more than 30 seconds without going into withdrawal; however, smart phones are not essential for existence. Personally, I believe that we’d all be better off if every single one of them was instantly vaporized. And Facebook? Please, NOBODY NEEDS Facebook in order to live.

One thing that brought home the utter ridiculousness of the above was the power outage we suffered during the recent ice storm. Do you want to know what I cannot live without? ELECTRICITY! During the four days Sam and I were without power, it was 40-some degrees inside our house.We had no heat and no hot water—oh, we did light a fire in the fireplace a couple of times, but we did not try roasting any weenies or making S’mores. We also could boil water and cook on the propane burner attached to our gas barbecue outside on the patio, but it was a bit cold to stand outside for extended periods of time. For light we had two kerosene lamps and a couple of high intensity flashlights—woo hoo! I felt like I was living in a nightmare, and thank God we work at a hospital, because we were able to shower and buy hot meals there when we were scheduled to work.

Another thing I cannot live without is PAPER. Imagine what our society would be like if we had none. There would be no books, no letters, no bills, no business cards, no statements, no posters, no paper towels, no toilet paper, no cardboard etc. Life would grind to a screeching halt without paper. We use it in every aspect of our lives and in a million different ways, and we aren’t even aware of most of them. The digital revolution has not reduced the need for paper any more than the computer revolution did. Yes, we can buy books and magazines on DVD or download them to our e-Readers, but the majority of people still want good old paper books, magazines, and newspapers that they can hold in their own two hands—books that actually belong to them, not licenses they cannot pass along or sell to someone else. And have you noticed that many of the digital books and magazines cost just as much as the paper ones? Hmm, somebody’s making a bundle off that.

What about BALLPOINT PENS? Yes, I know I could go more basic here, back to pencils, but I haven’t used a pencil in years—have you? When I write, it’s either with a pen or composing at the computer, and a computer or phone isn’t really useful for writing much of what we use pens for: writing notes to ourselves or others, signing checks or legal documents, writing personal letters or thank you notes (yes a few of us still write them). Many authors categorically state that they cannot enter into the creative process and write, unless they can physically put pen to paper, and many of these same folks completely freeze up if called upon to compose at the computer. Like anything else, it’s a learned skill.

And, global warming aside, who would want to live without the INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE? Can you imagine what it would be like if we all had to walk or ride horses everywhere? Street sanitation would take on an entirely different complexion, considering that there would be literally tons of horse manure that would need to be moved and disposed of every day. I don’t even want to think about it, and I own horses! Instead of the 10 minutes it takes me to get to work now, it would take me an hour to walk the same 3.5 miles. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about parking. Taking the horse would be faster, except I’d have to spend time tacking up to ride or take a buggy, and when I arrived I’d need a stable to care for my horse and/or buggy while I was at work or visiting the doctor’s office. Looking at things that way makes it obvious that we as a society can’t realistically return to the horse and buggy days, though walking more often would be good for most of us.

I’m certain I could think of a few more items indispensable to my existence, if I put my mind to it (my laptop?), but I think I’ve made my point. Yes, I own a smart phone. I have a Facebook account. I do not have an iPad or eReader. Living without these things might prove inconvenient, but I think most people would survive.

On Resolutions

This year, instead of making resolutions, I thought I would try a new tack and call them “goals.” Sounds more positive and affirming, don’t you think? Besides, I’ve never been a big fan of resolutions. You go into them with your jaw set and two strikes against you—sort of a “do it or die” type of approach. Goals already sound more attainable.

I stayed up and watched TV for a while a few nights back, since I wasn’t scheduled to work, and I happened to catch Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night show (the one Conan O’Brian used to host). Jimmy began the hour with a bit about New Year’s Resolutions, specifically regarding weight loss, since so many people resolve to get in shape. The Emcee (sorry, I don’t know his name) said he dressed in baggy clothes so everyone would think he’d lost weight—in fact, he had even bought a really huge pair of pants and hung them up on his living room wall. People who saw them were really impressed and always said, “Great Job!” congratulating him on his weight loss. Jimmy piped up just then saying, “But you’ve never worn those, have you?” Well, he hadn’t, of course!

Jimmy then did a “Pro and Con” segment where one of the suggestions was instead of resolving to lose 100 lb., you should have an attainable goal, such as gaining 100 lb. I don’t know about you, but I could probably do that if I put my mind to it.

Like many people, I could stand to be in better shape, but I’m not trying the baggy clothes trick! I aim to begin with a goal of walking on the trail in the morning after work three times a week. Once I can do that, I can increase it to every day. The weather ought to be nicer by then, and I could add in working with my horses afterward. I have to work up to riding them gradually anyway, since I was off with my shoulder injury last year and haven’t been riding this winter. First I will work one of them on the lunge line every day (I have two horses, so I won’t start out doing BOTH of them every day). Then, after a couple of weeks, we can go for short rides in the arena and work up to rides on the trail. That will do nicely to get me back in shape, and I will have fun doing it. When it comes to exercise, you stand a much better chance of being successful if you do something you enjoy. While pumping iron can be fun, I hate aerobics, therefore the walking and riding horses or bikes—those things I DO like.

Another goal is to take treats to work more often, for instance tonight I brought a bag of homemade snicker doodle cookies for my co-workers to snack on. I enjoy baking, so I felt I could do my part on that. I could bring in something at least once every week or so. That is do-able, and if I take them all to work I won’t end up eating them myself.

On the home front, my biggest goal is to keep up with the dog hair my German Shepherd dog Roxi seems to lose by the hatful every day. I swear that dog should be bald, but she manages to stay a fur ball and still shed like there is no tomorrow. I found her comb when cleaning for Christmas and will begin by using it on her in the mornings. Hopefully she will learn to stand still one of these days. Combing out her fur will go a long way, because one day just last week I combed off enough hair to make a whole new dog the size of a Shih Tzu, and I tire of seeing big clouds of fur rolling aimlessly across the floor. The Evening Magazine show on KING 5 recently ran a segment (originally filmed in 1996) about people who save pet hair and then have it made into yarn and usable items. I loved what one gentleman said: “It seems only fair that after a lifetime of paying their bills and cleaning up after them that they should contribute a useful item for your home. It beats stuffing them and putting them on the mantle.” Oh, I have to agree, and besides, I would cry every time I looked at my stuffed cat or dog! One woman had an afghan made from her golden retriever’s hair and the gentleman I quoted above had a sweater made from his cat’s fur. You CAN remove the dog smell, they tell me, so perhaps one day I will have a Roxi lap robe.

I will be planting my new garden soon too. One goal is to only grow things we will actually eat. I don’t think I will grow zucchini anymore, because most of them went to the chickens or the compost heap the past two years. I also want to buy seeds from Seed Savers, instead of the local hardware store, and try to set aside some of my own to use next year. That sounds like a fun project.

I can’t end, of course, without having some craft-type goals. Anyone who does hand work knows how easy it is to stockpile many more projects than you can realistically make, so one goal is to make some of them this year. I have already started knitting a sweater I can wear to work when it’s finished. Also, I doubt my yarn stash is larger than the average hand knitter’s, but I do hope to use up some of it. I subscribe to a number of magazines and daily Emails, and one suggestion they made is to try a new craft this coming year. That might be difficult, since I already know how to do most things, plus I’m generally strapped for time to do everything I want to do. I’ve always wanted to learn to weave, so maybe I’ll try my hand at that. I’ve even subscribed to Handwoven magazine for the past two years, despite the fact that I can’t read the patterns yet. I could use up some of my stash that way, too.

Perhaps my final goal should be getting organized so I can find the time to do everything? I seem to waste a certain amount of time every day, so if I were more organized, I could be more productive. Maybe I could finish one or two of the novels I’ve been working on and get them published? It took some time to organize and format the book of poetry I published last year, even though most of the poems had been done for some time, so that seems a worthy goal too. One thing is certain: I only have 24 hours a day, just like everyone else, and there are fewer of them as each day goes by.