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Wow, technology. It has really rocked my world. In some ways good, others not. I’m not totally used to it. I like listening to CDs and the radio instead of downloading songs to my phone. It drives my sons crazy. “Mom, you and Dad are so behind the times!” They just shake their heads when my husband and I give people directions to places. “Or they can just put it into their phone,” they say. Oh, yeah, forgot about that.

It’s just that I don’t totally trust technology. It doesn’t always work. And they keep changing everything. About the time I get used to doing things a certain way, they change it. Did you know you have to pay to keep Word up-to-date now? And those smart phones don’t stay smart forever, and you are “forced” to upgrade more often than you’d like? Thanks to cell phones and the internet that I feel I absolutely MUST have, I will be working for the rest of my life just to pay their ever-increasing charges.

They’ve got us right where they want us. We need what was once a luxury. I’d rather do without television than internet. After all, I like reading books on Kindle. I like keeping up with what’s going on in the world. I like skimming Facebook to find out who had something amazing for dinner. I can even watch TV programs and YouTube videos.

The truth is, though, I could do without all that. I could go back to going to the library for my books (just wish they had more large-print versions), go back to basic cable with very few channels (in which case my husband would be devastated), drop a cell phone entirely (rely on my landline), and read the newspaper to find out what’s going on in the world.

And I can use a road map. Bet those young millennials can’t do that!

 

Sometimes I like to play the six degrees of separation thing. You know, supposedly there are only six people between you and someone else, specifically a famous person. It is kind of fun. For some celebrities, I don’t have to go far. Elvis, for instance. I once interviewed Gordon Stoker of The Jordannaires, an extremely kind gentleman that I wish I could have known. He sang back-up with Elvis for years. The picture above is of me and June Juanico, one of Elvis’ girlfriends in the 1950s. Yes, I bought her book. Ten years ago.

We once followed Jane Seymour around on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. She smiled at my husband. He walked on air the rest of the day.

I even know a guy who has worked in the federal government and rubbed elbows with all of the presidents from Clinton until now. Well, I guess he’s around President Trump. Then again, maybe not.

A local young man played football with Peyton Manning. In Tennessee, that’s pretty cool. No, that’s really cool. If Peyton ran for president, the Vol nation would vote for him. Guaranteed.

Okay, I’m going to randomly select someone. No, I’m going to call my son, and he’s going to randomly select someone. (Pause for phone call. He’s at Walmart in the town where he lives.) He just told me Tom Hanks, my favorite actor.  Oh, that was too easy. My son knows someone who met Tom Hanks.

But other celebrities are more of a challenge. Give me a name and let me see what I can do. It may take research, but I’m up for the challenge. And what about you? Do you have a six-degrees story to share?