Maybe it was the fact that the year turned to 2024 and we were inundated with all the happenings of 2023 that got me thinking of my age. I admit, I dwell on it more than I did 40 years ago, but do not think I obsess about it, knowing full well I cannot do anything about it and am extremely grateful, especially when I am with my grandchildren, that I am “still aging.” Because if you stop, well, you know what that means. My sister and I talk about when we stopped being able to do such and such and wonder why we did certain things like store your favorite salad bowl on the top shelf and now must ask your son to get it down or do not use it this time.
I do not think I thought about a broken limb as I traversed the Alps in Austria and Switzerland years ago, but now going from my house to the car, or car to store, I think about it. I have a “plan” for every scenario. Like I have my cell phone in my pocket with a car and house key when I am taking out the trash on pickup day. If I go down, I want to be able to call someone. Or if the house door locks by accident, I can get in. I have a lot of these “little plans.” Did not have them 40 years ago because I did not think I needed them!
Last Tuesday I was confronted by my “age” big time! We have had a problem with blocked calls (calls we DO NOT want blocked), and I have spent hours on the phone with Xfinity trying to correct the problem, to no avail. So they sent Tony, an Xfinity technician, to help us out. Within 15 minutes he found the problem: US! We were hitting the “Block Call” button in error – thus, blocked calls!
To somewhat redeem Gary and I, I had thought of that but could not find any place to unblock. I even went to YouTube to see if there was an answer for it, like when I could not open the panel on my dryer, YouTube showed me how. Anyway, in 30 minutes tops, Tony had unblocked my blocked calls; taught me how to get on Netflix, Amazon, and any other app that might suit my fancy; tested the wiring (suggested upgrade); showed me how to record shows, delete all the shows (we didn’t know we had recorded); looked on my computer and found the password I was needing for my Wi-Fi but thought I had changed. Must admit, I was embarrassed as I watched him do all this as easily as I could read a recipe and hope I have not forgotten something! Gary is always saying, “Why don’t they make a start-to-finish instruction book now?” The reason is that most young people do not need all the steps. They know them.
There will always be a gap between ages, what the young ones know as “common knowledge” and some of us “born earlier” trying to catch up. Of course, the young nowadays do not realize that they too in a few years will be trying to catch up.
Another subject, AI, or Artificial Intelligence: What most do not realize is that it isn’t new. Artificial intelligence has been around longer than me!
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