Technology Overload

It never fails. Just as I sat at the computer to start a journal entry, my little Daggy decided she needed loving. In her normal fashion she waddled over and screamed in her aggressive “meow” to be lifted onto my lap. She is a bit to plump to jump as she used to do in her thin days. Instead she stands on her back legs and digs her front claws into my left thigh. That is my cue to put my left hand under her stomach and back legs and hoist her up. It is like doing a curl with a 20 pound barbell. Now I’m trying to type with 20 pounds of purring cat on my left arm and lap.

Today was one of those days when I was “overwhelmed”. Listening to the Dianne Rhem Show this morning on WBHM one of her guests was talking about how all changes happening in the world are overwhelming people. I only heard a few minutes of the show. But, it made quite an impression.

I look at my own life and realize how the internet and technology has turned it around. I’m always proud to say how I’ve lived without a television for nearly 35 years.

Back in the early 1980’s I worked on a “blue line”. This assembly line was where the air conditioning and heating units were assembled for the “A” body GM cars. It was light assembly work with about 100 people working on the line. This was a situation where you learned coping skills as you were face to face with your coworkers. The TV show “Taxi” was the hit show at the time. The people I worked with loved this show and would spend days picking the latest episode apart. I learned the plots of God knows how many shows from them. What did I need a TV for??
Fast forward to 2010: Today, January 13, 2010 through the internets I was able to watch segments of Jon Stewart, Rachel Maddow, and as much of Sara Palin’s Fox New debut as I could stand. (About three minutes) As I type this out I’m listening to the podcast of the Diane Rehm Show I heard earlier. A Google search took me to her website which contained all the information I needed. The author I listened to earlier was: Gregg Easterbrook: author of the book "Sonic Boom". *Many economists predict a slow recovery from the worst economic recession in seventy years. But Gregg Easterbrook sees a global economic boom not far into the future. He offers examples of how global forces will affect our daily lives.* (This is a copy and paste from the Diane Rehm Show website.)

This morning we were not able to row on the machines at the AquaticCenter due to classes being held in the room they are located in. I backtracked to the “Y” to get my time in there. The day was warming up, but the “Y” was still chilly from the ancient heating system not being able to cope with the cold. I warmed up doing stretches of my calves and shoulders.

Yesterday I did a 2,000 meter workout in about 8.5 minutes. I was able to rank this workout on my on-line log book at the Concept 2 site. This gave me a chance to see how other rowers of my age and weight class are doing. I was wound up today, and was all set to try and break the eight minute mark.

I set my workout program to a 2,000 meter distance; the damper was set to 4. I readied for a racing start at ½ slide. I took some deep breaths and then pushed off: ½, ½, ¾ “reach” and finally full stroke. The stroke rate was in the 40’s and my split rate was in the 1:40’s range for the first 30 seconds or so. As I progressed I tried every 500 meters to have my stroke rate in the low 30’s and the split rate in the 1:50’s.

My lungs were bursting when I reached the 2,000 meter mark. I checked my time and I DID IT!!! The 2,000 meter row was accomplished in 7.57.03 minutes. When I got home I entered the results to my log book. I ranked this workout and I came in at 77 of 153 for my age and weight class.

Talk about a technology overload. Being able to do what is now normal in my daily life would have been impossible just ten years ago. I can’t take this for granted, and I’m trying my best to not get overwhelmed. The constant news of the earthquake in Haiti was the final straw. I turned off the radio and put on some music. That was when I first began this entry and had Daggy on my lap. I was listening to Broadway cast recording of “A Chorus Line”.

After a half hour I had to move my “little girl” as I had to turn over the LP. Yup, here I am raving about all this modern technology as I was listening to a 30+ year old vinyl record!