Electronically Challanged Seniors - OT

[Merle Coggins]

I got the following in an email and thought you guys and gals might enjoy it too.

I thought about the sixty million dollar a year business I ran with 1800

employees, all without a Blackberry that played music, took videos,

pictures and communicated with Facebook and Twitter.

I signed up under duress for Twitter and Facebook, so my seven kids, their

spouses, 13 grandkids and 2 great grand kids could communicate with me in

the modern way. I figured I could handle something as simple as Twitter

with only 140 characters of space.

That was before one of my grandkids hooked me up for Tweeter, Tweetree,

Twhirl, Twitterfon, Tweetie and Twittererific Tweetdeck, Twitpix and

something that sends every message to my cell phone and every other program

within the texting world.

My phone was beeping every three minutes with the details of everything

except the bowel movements of the entire next generation. I am not ready to

live like this. I keep my cell phone in the garage in my golf bag.

The kids bought me a GPS for my last birthday because they say I get lost

every now and then going over to the grocery store or library. I keep that

in a box under my tool bench with the Blue tooth [it’s red] phone I am

supposed to use when I drive. I wore it once and was standing in line at

Barnes and Nobles talking to my wife as everyone in the nearest 50 yards

was glaring at me. Seems I have to take my hearing aid out to use it and

got a little loud.

I mean the GPS looked pretty smart on my dash board, but the lady inside

was the most annoying, rudest person I had run into in a long time. Every

10 minutes, she would sarcastically say, "Re-calc-ul-ating" You would think

that she could be nicer. It was like she could barely tolerate me. She

would let go with a deep sigh and then tell me to make a U-turn at the next

light. Then when I would make a right turn instead, it was not good.

When I get really lost now, I call my wife and tell her the name of the

cross streets and while she is starting to develop the same tone as Gypsy,

the GSP lady, at least she loves me.

To be perfectly frank, I am still trying to learn how to use the cordless

phones in our house. We have had them for 4 years, but I still haven’t

figured out how I can lose three phones all at once and have run around

digging under chair cushions and checking bathrooms and the dirty laundry

baskets when the phone ring.

The world is just getting too complex for me. They even mess me up every

time I go to the grocery store. You would think they could settle on

something themselves but this sudden "Paper or Plastic?" every time I check

out just knocks me for a loop.

I bought some of those cloth re-usable bags to avoid looking confused but

never remember to take them in with me.

Now I toss it back to them. When they ask me, "Paper or Plastic?" I just

say, "Doesn't matter to me. I am bi-sacksual." Then it‘s their turn to

stare at me with a blank look.

[Young Ed]

Merle did Norm send that to you?

[Normspeed]

Merle, that's so true. I retired just after my employer went over to mandatory "Crackberries" for all management types. I could not believe the way the upper management mis-used these things. There was no peace once you had one.

My GPS is a fun gadget that has a 60% accuracy rate. It got Grandadeo and me so lost in Louisiana that we had to ask the locals where the heck we were. Last week in Las Cruces it told me "You're there". when I was definitely not there. But I did find a nice pleasant Canadian guy in the optional voices that I enjoy listening to. Calls me a Hoser when I miss my turn.

I've used a cellphone for years and no longer have a land line, but my friends and family get really frustrated because I refuse to let the phone run me. I only answer when I want to, only carry it with me when I think it's a good idea, and I automatically delete the tons of forwarded junk that everyone sends, without viewing it. I keep the ringer turned off. I like being a curmudgeon:D

[Plymouthy Adams]

curmudgeon...now here is a word that is not seen every day but describes a great many of us here...maybe an adaptation of the word..car-mudgeon would apply in that it could represent us and our cars equally..

[Dennis_MN]

Here is the link to the song which Merles Post made me think of.

Dennis

[Don Coatney]

bi-sacksual

I will get some mileage out of this:D:D:D

[rockerbillykat]

Well..... you start too relise how old you are gettin,

when you start laughing at a song bout loosin ya memory!

[Niel Hoback]

You realize you are old when all cops look like kids.

[RobertKB]

Just the name "Twitter" irritates me. For me, it has the connotation of imbecilic, needless, and mindless verbal nonsense. Hope I haven't offended anyone who does send "Tweets". This comment wouldn't fit Twitter as it is more than the allowed 140 characters. Maybe it has its uses but not in my curmudgeony world. I do have a cell phone but more for emergency use or if we go camping. I like email. I like this forum. I am not a total luddite.

[wayfarerstranger]

U know u r when u walk past a graveyard & 2 guys start chasing u with shovels !! RUN !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Oldguy48]

I have to agree with Normspeed about cell phone use. I use mine only when absolutely necessary, and also, I think that "texting" is senseless. If you must communicate with someone, then just call them and get it over with. This endless "texting" is extremely annoying to me. Am I just an Old Fogey, or do you folks feel the same???

[PatS....]

I have a cell phone and carry it with me but only answer if it's after six or a weekend when it's free. I'm not that important I have to pay extra, and if it's an emergency don't call me, call 911!

Twitter is just ridiculous.

I have text disabled. Want to text me? Write a letter.

My last job had those push to talk phones...mandatory...seems mine fell under a roller into some new asphalt...3 times!!!

I wasn't that important I have to be allerted every 5 minutes. Again, in an emrgency, I'm not your guy.

These things are little more than leashes, and I don't wear a dog collar to attach them to...very often

One new-fangled hunk of electronics I DO like is the iPod. I just got one about 6 months ago and I love it. About 600 tunes I like and no crap. Radio these days is horrible.

I'll use it untill they figure out a way to alert me on it and then it gonna have an accident too!

Edited July 22, 2009 by PatS....

[DLK]

I can see some of you do not have daughters in their 20's. My 27 year old must send 15-20 texts a day. At least she has the brains not to text or call people while driving. I don't understand it but then at 59 I don't understand much about her generation.

[Oldguy48]

I gave up on broadcast radio years ago. Listen to one song, then endure 5 or 6 minutes of ridiculous, obnoxious commercials? I don't think so. I haven't used the radio in my vehicles for a long time. I only get annoyed when I turn them on. I'll listen to CDs, but the radio can take a hike. I think commercial broadcast radio is a pathetic joke.

[greg g]

A friend showed me an e mail he got at his desk at work, through the work network, from a collegue. It was written in texting jargon and abreviations. His reply was also printed out.

Please translate this jibberish into English and resend it.

[Don Jordan]

Every time my wife updates her phone I get the old one. I leave it in the kitchen. I drive to work through the Angeles Forest... it doesn't matter what the emergency is there is no reception.

Last week we went to Yosemite - no reception.

I will admit that once when I hooked up my fuel gauge backwards and wasn't paying attention that the tank was getting fuller - I was able to call for assistance. Ain't science grand?

[John Mulders]

my two cents are to use the best medium for the situation.

I txt my wife a smiley and let her know I think of her. Not going to text back and forth.

Telephones are great for a quick verbal communication.

Email for factual stuff (if it is about emotional things never use email!) so everyone involved is on the same page.

Twitter I don't know yet where to place that. Not sure whether I want people to know about what I am doing.

In time the ways to communicate have grown. When the first telephones were used people probably also questioned them, why would I need a phone to call my sister if she lives on the other side of the road?

I do agree on the idiotic dependency of these things and the fact that everyone is using these things for staying in touch all the time. This indicates to me that our society has become a very lonely place.

John