My daughters say I have a different relationship with technology than they do

The image is my new computer

My daughters tell me I have a different relationship with technology than they do. I have a blog, a Facebook account, Twitter and they say I don't know how to use them. They feel I am misplaced in a digital age. I am baffled of course, as it was invented by the old guys originally, people of my generation. I am doing very well, Thank You, at my assigned tasks, and I don't have the same relationship with media they do. My fingers and my eyes are not as fast, I just know so much more than they do but they won't see that for a few years yet. I hope I get to be there when they discover their father was a lot smarter than they thought.


AARP said,” Baby boomers have a unique relationship to technology — different from any generation before or since — and they are actively shaping the devices, software and services of tomorrow by the choices they are making today, according to a new research report from AARP and Microsoft.

Curious to understand more clearly how baby boomers view and use technology, AARP and Microsoft decided to ask. In May 2009, the two organizations sponsored a series of focus group-like discussions with baby boomers in four U.S. cities: San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago and New York. Author and futurist Michael Rogers led the sessions as the baby boomers shared their technology-related experiences, insights and expectations — and how their personal values shape the way they choose and use technology. The result is “Boomers and Technology: An Extended Conversation” a report that offers fresh insights into a generation whose influence on technology is often overlooked, and creates a compelling picture of how boomers and other consumers will use technology in the near future.

“Baby boomers are savvy consumers who expect technology to be safe, easy to use and flexible enough to adapt to their individual needs,” said Rob Sinclair, director of Accessibility at Microsoft, who notes that many baby boomers came of age before most of the software applications and devices we now consider essential were invented. “When new technology products enter the market — products that are well-designed and can help create the life baby boomers want — they are enthusiastic early adopters who help lead the way.”

Baby boomers have the numbers and the economic clout to make their technology choices matter.

By 2010, one-third of the U.S. population will be over 50. “That’s close to 106 million Americans controlling 50 percent of the country’s discretionary spending, and outspending younger adults by $1 trillion in 2010,” Rogers wrote in the report. “Consumers in their 50s show the highest intent to purchase consumer electronics among any age group.”

Yet, it is baby boomers’ values and ideals, more than their checkbooks, that are shaping the future of technology, according to Adam Sohn, director of Integrated Communications for AARP, a membership and advocacy organization for people age 50 and older.

“Baby boomers want technology that reflects their values and helps them express those values with greater purpose, meaning and impact,” Sohn said. “While boomers are heavy users of technology today — for everything from entertainment and news to online banking and social networking — what’s most exciting is the technology-assisted world they are helping to create.”

Rogers, a futurist, agrees: “Baby boomers see technology as a gift, not a given, so they are less likely than younger consumers to take it for granted. At the same time, baby boomers aren’t dazzled by every new gadget that comes along. Yet by embracing innovative new services and devices, and using them in unexpected ways to enhance their lifestyles and values, baby boomers are having a tremendous influence on emerging technologies.”

Based on his discussions with baby boomers, and his ongoing research into the relationship between society and technology and what’s currently in development, Rogers offers an exciting view of that world in 2019, just 10 years hence, when the youngest boomers will be turning 55 and Generation X will begin crossing the 50-year mark.

Within the decade, Rogers forecasts that some baby boomers and other consumers will be wearing sensor-equipped exercise clothing and GPS-enabled running shoes during workouts to monitor their physical condition, track the calories they burn, and upload the information automatically for storage and analysis. Other boomers will have prescription glasses that connect wirelessly to the Internet or other networks and display information in the lower half of the lens, or carry mobile devices that can function as electronic wallets, offer full telepresence and project large-format images on the wall.

Increasingly, baby boomers will use technology to help them care for their aging parents — employing sensors that alert them to changes in behaviors or routines that could signal problems — and to manage their own health with tools ranging from low-cost gene scans to implanted microchips that contain their health records. Boomers also will use computers to control energy use in their “green” homes and to redefine when, where and how they work. (For the complete forecast, see the full report and executive summary.)

“Baby boomers appreciate cool software and devices as much as anyone, but they also believe technology has the power to help bring about positive social change, and they want to make that happen,” Sohn said. “Boomers care deeply about social justice and individual freedoms, and they see technology as a tool that people can use to improve their lives and make the world a better place — from making society more democratic to helping all of us participate more fully and more directly in the decisions that affect us.”

The Art Entrepreneur

I met a young man many years ago who was a former art student turned professional. He was a man with an unquenchable entrepreneurial spirit and made himself indelible in my mind. I do not remember his name but I have used his story for years.


Let me start with the idea that this was a long time ago, the late 60’s or early 70’s and the money will sound like very little, but if you multiply the numbers by 10 you will have a better picture by today’s standards.

He was a painter, and I can’t remember the work but I do remember it was skillfully done and probably somewhat realistic in nature. He had developed a following which is the basis of our story.

His work was selling for about $200-$300 for a small painting and he was doing well. He decided, as an artistic dream, that he would love to live in Italy for a year or two. This, of course, required funds. This was at a time when the US dollar was high and Europe was still a pretty cheap place to live.

Here is what he dreamed up, and I loved it. He went to see all his patrons, people who had purchased art work from him over the past few years and made a pitch.

If they would give him $15 a month for at least a year, he would guarantee a small painting to them every year they participated. The cosst to them was a mere $180.

This was a win/win situation for everyone, as the supporters each year had a new painting shipped to them from Italy, and the artist received enough income deposited in his US account to keep him living in Italy with a mandate to paint enough to fulfill his obligation.

My guess, based on the money of the time, was that he would need at least 10 people to support him and he would have $150 a month in order to live. So, multiply by 10 and it would work today, at a ten person minimum. My assumption was that he had more than that and it was a great idea!

Mothers Day Story from my Aunt Hilda (601st post)

My Mother's family. L to R, row 1, my Grandparents. Row 2, my Aunt, my Uncle and my Mother. (circa 1957)

I called to wish my Aunt a Happy Mothers Day, as she is the closest relative I have left. She was my mother’s younger sister and half raised me anyway.

She has been reading this blog and noticed that my girls are always giving me grief about everything. She noted that my boys would never do that and I agreed. She told me my Grandmother always said,”You should have boys!”

She said that when she gave birth to her second child, her daughter, my Grandmother had everyone convinced that it would be a boy. My Grandmother was preparing gefilte fish for the briss (ritual circumcision) that was sure to come

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gefilte fish (from the Yiddish and German: Gefüllter Fisch "stuffed fish") (Yiddish: געפֿילטע פֿיש, Hebrew: דגים ממולאים‎ dagim memula'im, literally "filled fish") is a poached fish mince stuffed into the fish skin.


Everyone believed her because she was seldom wrong.

When my cousin Marge was born, my Aunt was in disbelief. She asked the Doctor if he were sure of the sex, the Doctor said, “We have ways of telling…..”

it was just a matter of those little lights….

My first wife went to the University of Maryland in College Park for several years as a graduate student and a commuter. We were married with children at the time and it was a very long ride on a regular basis.

She had a Datsun 510 sedan which was great on gas mileage, which she used for the trip.

We purchased the car when we moved to Kansas City for a year, as the result of our VW bus needing too much repair work to make it sensible to take to Missouri with us. So I am guessing it was a 1974 Model.

One night she was returning home, a trip of close to 40 miles, when the gauges showed she was overheating. Now, I loved the fact we had gauges in that car as opposed to little lights, because I had an actual picture of what was going on inside the engine.

What I didn’t know was she would have responded better to the little lights, the thing I found out about too late.

As she entered the highway she noticed the engine was running hot. Her immediate reaction was to drive fast down then highway making the cold air rush over the hot engine and cooling it off. This of course, in hindsight, was a big mistake. She talked about it afterward and explained that if we had little lights she would have stopped.

In those days before cell phones, it was much more difficult to stop as there was no way of knowing that some “normal” person would stop and help you.

She continued until she reached the city and stopped at the first service station she saw.

The car was fried! The radiator, it turned out, had melted it’s welds and the engine finally seized. It was hot beyond hot and it was amazing she made it that far.

I had a friend from teaching who was involved with the shop areas of a high school, and the car took a trip to a local high school, and after a few weeks it came back repaired at a reasonable cost.

I am not clear on all the details; it was just a matter of those little lights….

A Call To Mama

My mother with her grandsons in the 80's.

On Monday evening my older daughter and my wife and younger daughter all arrived home from Montreal after picking up my wayward child. It was a homecoming, sort of, because my older daughter was gone in 30 minutes to go see her friends.

On Wednesday evening we all were home and had dinner together.

I must have been feeling good (the booze helped) but it was an all right with the world kind of feeling, even Max the Super dog was happy.

As dinner was over and we were sitting there, I reached for the phone to call my mother to tell her my daughter was home and all was fine.

I know this sounds like a nice gesture, but my mother passed away in 1997!

I caught myself doing this as I went to do it so I never even got to the phone. Unfortunately, I called my mother every day, at least once, from the time I was about 20 until she passed.

Old habits die hard……..

Clumsy Part Two (He Keeps On Falling!)

On April 19 in the post “Clumsy” I wrote:

“While I have never been known for my clumsiness, it is somewhat evident in my life. Now that I have aged, it gets thrown in my face as if it just came about and is caused by some aging process, probably a brain dysfunction. As nasty as the accusation is, I need not defend myself although that’s usually the position I’m in. I feel threatened, and have to remind myself that I fell out of an amusement park ride at the age of 12 and I tripped in the garage and broke my ankle eleven years ago. All that happens now is more of a life long pattern rather than new events.


In a world where we all look at our elderly with a questioning glance (are they OK? Do they hear? Do they understand?) it is hard to have a perceived weakness. The kindness of strangers is not always appreciated, especially if we see it as their perception of our weakness. I will readily admit to a bit of paranoia, but I’m doing fine.


I’m just, as always, a bit clumsy!”

Today I went to my temporary office to pack a few things awaiting tomorrow’s movers. I was alone packing boxes and when I had finished my office, I looked next door and in the closet I had a number of items, some of which were in a very large broken box. I looked through the items and decided to move them to other boxes, and there was one small item at the bottom that was hard to reach. I leaned way over to get to the object when the box broke, I tumbled forward and landed head first into the box, into the closet and banged my head into the wall and my knees onto the ground. My arms, including the one with the damaged rotator cuff were splayed out to save me and ended up hurting lots!

I stayed very still and surveyed the damage to me. Nothing seemed top be broken, the building was still. Only one person knew where I was and she didn’t necessarily expect me to return. I guessed it would be late tonight before my wife started to look for me and I would be very ill, and have peed in my pants by the time they found me. Clearly, I had to move. There were neither usable phones in the house nor any computers.

I began to crawl around a bit, trying to get to a place that was safe and would let me get out of there. My knees were hurting, and don’t work well on a good day so I was toast! I worked my way out of the box, and onto my butt! I scooted around to find a place I could get a hand hold to help me get up with my bad knees and bad arm. I worked my way over to a railing and was able to get up.

I had been scared! I needed to sit quietly (and drink) and catch my breath.

I was already on my way to physio, so I kept on going, and they understood and treated me gently.

I am sore. The situation was laughable, and the fact that I survived once again is good, and the story is funny, as long as I has no disastrous long term problems attached to it.

The Teddy Part Two

Again, not the model, it's just the teddy I'm talking about.

If you remember I wrote and the teddy on April 15. I said in part,


“Cool guys, when I was a kid, would brag about how they could remove a girl’s bra with a snap of the fingers, just a snap and the little hooks would open. Now I’ve lived a long time but as far as I’ve ever seen, even with complete cooperation, this was not possible.

No matter how hard I worked at it, there was a degree of skill developed over time, but no instant snap worked.

The Teddy was another thing indeed! I had no idea where to start. Even in long ago hind sight, I was dumbfounded. As I remember, I had to ask her to remove it as I didn’t know where to start. I was over 40 year’s old (she wasn’t) and this was too much for me!

I have no more stories to tell as the rest is lost in memory. Let’s just say the rest of the night was magic! It probably wasn’t, and the woman would remember this a different way, but let me put myself in the best perspective! I guess that may border on bragging”.

The mysterious woman described sent an email that said, “I remember I had one of those years ago”.

I sent an email to her, who was the impetus for this story, and I said,

“The story is about you!

All names are removed of course, and the fact you didn't remember it is good. You are memorable to me. I didn't have to be to you. We all remember different things anyway but I loved the idea that you didn't notice it right away.

I didn't answer on Facebook because it's public”

She responded,

“OMG! Now I remember. I'm snickering. Fond memories. Yes in deed ….”

I replied, “The story is so memorable. The teddy was red I think, and you looked great!...”

The Teddy is the gift that kept on giving……..