Posted on 06/07/2006 4:29:28 AM PDT by Chairman_December_19th_Society
We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail!
Good morning!!
Do not let the victims of the attacks on New York and Washington, nor the brave members of our Nation's military who have given their lives to protect our freedom, die in vain!!
Life was so much simpler...
When you didn't have long-distance choices. You simply picked up the phone and if you got a dial tone, you dialed. If you didn't, you either got the phone fixed, or you asked the other party on the line if they would be finished soon. It wasn't urgent to get the phone line right now, and everyone understood if it took you awhile to return their call.
Now...
You have call waiting, call forwarding, repeat call, do not call, choice of carriers. Who do you call when something breaks? Depends--local, maybe it's your phone company. It could even be your cable company. And with the phone companies, yes plural, willing to park your phone messages for retrieval, no one understands why you didn't return their call--or, for that matter, why you weren't there to take it in the first place.
Life was so much simpler...
When you brought home the TV, plugged it in, futzed with the rabbit ears or plugged it into a flat lead going to an outside antenna, and you got a picture. If there was no picture, you got the set repaired, and everyone understood that you may not get to watch your favorite program.
Now...
TVs aren't even called TVs anymore. They are "monitors". You don't plug in just one wire anymore, you, if you're like what goes on in my house, are plugging in a vitural array of dozens, nay, hundreds of wires. You have choices as to how the sound comes out, how the picture goes in, where the picture goes--does it go in the big view, or the little box on the screen, who sends your picture, and how the picture is sent. Is the picture sent over the air, the old traditional way, or over a cable, or down from a satellite 23,400 miles up there? Now when you don't get a picture--who do you call? The TV repair folks (if you can find any)? Cable company? Satellite company? Then there's TIVO--so now you can time delay your programs and noone understands why you can't watch your favorite program anymore.
How about computing? There was the venerable slide rule--yeah, ok, what's that. My point exactly. But nothing broke, required no programmming, just worked. You did your calcalatuions, and you got your answer. Everyone understood when someone said it would take a couple of days "to figure it out".
Now...
You've got Windows, MAC, XP, 2000, Excel, Word, blah, blah, blah. You have internet, intranet, extranet, and quite probably outernet if you look hard enough. You're lucky if your fancy computational device can stay "up" long enough to complete the required reports, and everyone believes things can be done at the push of a button. Presto, out comes thea answer. Three seconds--what took you so long. And, again, if something breaks, who do you call? Computer repair, network repair, cable company, phone company, satellite company? Aw, what the heck, call them all--get put on their "do not call" lists.
Oh, and coffee. That just used to be put your coffee in the percolator, or run down to your local store and suffer through the results. It still woke you up in the morning.
Now...
You have decaf, flavored blends, Starbucks, boutique coffee shops. It's tough anymore to walk into a place and ask for a "cup of coffee." You're faced with "what kind?" And let's not even go to "what happens if my expresso machine breaks?"
Let's move on to politics.
Then...
You had one party that favored big government, who believed that answers to all of life's problems lay in the response from the central authority. That party also believed that everyone should pay for this and that if there was any money left over--well, that should go into the kitty as well. After all, this party knew best, all we had to do was pay attention to their edicts and missives, and all would be well.
Now...
It's nice to know that there really are some things that don't change.
This November, vote for that other party, the GOP.
For AMERICA - The Right Way, I remain yours in the Cause, the Chairman.
Z. may have been alive awhile after being hit? Awww...
Awwwwww he suffered.
May prayers, too, Dog that your Dad responds to his meds and makes a complete recovery. Keep us posted.
May = my
Prayers for your dad, dog.
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