Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.
-Christian Lous Lange
Week 10 - Technology
I started the week in North Carolina, ending my visit with Dave and family, having a late lunch with Anne on my way home, spending one night in Georgia and one in Texas before I rolled home on Wednesday. As always, it was fun to see family and friends in NC and along the way. I had plenty of time to listen to more books, finishing The Heavens May Fall by Allen Eskens and The Jekyll Revelation by Robert Masello. I enjoyed them both - the latter one was an interesting take on Robert Louis Stevenson and Jack the Ripper!
It was good to get back home to Rex and Crockett, and we got to spend a wonderful evening with my p2P friend Corene DeHaan and her husband, Terry on Friday. The DeHaans have been vacationing in Galveston from their native Michigan, and while the weather hasn't been as great as it often is down here, it's sunny and not snowing! The weekend was spend watching basketball (love this time of year!) and while I didn't like the outcome of most of the games I watched, I'm excited for the Big Dance! Let's go Duke and Rocky Top!
This week's Day2Day theme got me thinking about all of the many things I'm grateful for due to technology. Since I was listening to a book set in the mid-19th century, where electric lights were a novelty and traveling by 'coach' meant a horse and carriage, I was mindful of things I typically take for granted. With fully electric homes that are heated and cooled, full of appliances that make our daily lives easier, we are blessed. And after listening to The Great Alone, about life in the wild of Alaska, I was reminded to be grateful for indoor plumbing and clean running water. Nothing like books about different places and times to make you thankful for life in the present.
While looking for quotes about technology, the one that I chose jumped out at me. While it is so timely today, what with our collective addictions to cell phones and computers, it was written by a Norwegian historian and political scientist who died in 1938. Definitely a smart man and worthy of the Nobel Prize he received in 1921 for his work on internationalism. I know that I spend way too much time in front of screens, whether TV, computer, or tablet, but I am especially concerned about the amount of time young people do these days. I've read some pretty frightening articles about the influence of smart phones on teenagers. One of my good friends, Melanie Hempe, has developed a website designed to help families manage the effects of media on their children and families. If this is something that concerns you, I encourage you to check out www.familiesmanagingmedia.com Even if it's not something you think you are worried about, have a look - it's very enlightening!
The good news is that technology is available to us and there are resources that can help us manage things if the servant becomes the master! And now I'm getting off the screen and going into the laundry room and then outside to walk and listen to my new book, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Have a fabulous week, and remember to be thankful for technology - and keep it in its place!
Jan
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