So Are We Guilty?

[F, Calla & Luca]

I like this fellow's career advice columns although I am surely not looking for a career. This week he talks about something that really bothers me in others and yet to some degree I too suffer from technology obsession. Is DK included I wonder? Anyway here is a link to an article to ponder.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/jobs/career-coach/commentary-part-3-ob...

His Commentary II was on communication skills in young folks, another bugaboo for me.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/jobs/career-coach/commentary-part-2-ho...d

The first commentary was on Gen V, as in virtual:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/jobs/career-coach/commentary-part-1-ge...

All in all I wonder what people are becoming. Are they losing the ability to connect without devices? Losing the ability to speak in sentences? Where is all this leading us? Yet, this follows Cheryl's blog about our DK community and the friendships we've made and all we have learned from being here. Something to think about anyway. And yes, like the author I risk coming off as an old curmudgeon. My sister sent me this cartoon a while back after I had a spat with a  cousin, one generation after me, who was checking out not one, but two phones, as we waited for dinner. It made me laugh and is apropos for this blog and for dog owners I think.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

LOL  Guilty!  This is an interesting discussion.  I have a love/hate relationship with technology. Love being able to look up anything, anywhere. Texting is great when you're trying to meet someone, you need an immediate update, or you're trying to coordinate something from 2 different locations.  And I can easily find my way around a new city or place. But I refuse to be available to everyone 24/7 by phone and I hate it if I'm with someone and they are staring into a phone nonstop LOL.  I also hate that since the dawn of the computer age, "all the jobs are mine -- and it seems those jobs have increased with technology!!! WTD!  Not too long ago all the electricity was down for 24 hours.  No computer, no internet, no wireless.  After a few hours, my whole body seemed to relax.  I think it's sad if, instead of being able to control technology, it controls us.

I miss rainy afternoons at Borders, some days I muse at getting off the grid but I know I'm addicted. Lost my smart phone in Boston one day and I was in mourning :) Not like the kids though.  If you gave me a choice between digital and nature, I would take nature  because it's essential to recharging me!! 

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Absolutely hilarious

[DJ & Chance]

LOL

[F, Calla & Luca]

You guys are da bomb.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Perfect except for your computer : ) but I do agree about time to commune with oneself or nature. Sometimes even my camera gets in the way of just enjoying.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Not guilty! I have no tablet and no smart phone; I have a flip phone that does nothing but make & receive calls. No internet, no texts, no photos, no nothing. I have never texted in my life. I don't even like the word "digital". 

And if I'm here on DK, I'm sitting at a desk in front of a monitor typing on a keyboard and moving a mouse around on a pad, lol. 

It really makes me sad that every person I pass on the street is looking down at a phone. The lilacs are all in bloom, the peonies are starting to open, and they are texting. If you look at the people in their cars around you at a stoplight, almost everyone is looking down. Too much noise, too much buzz, too much media. A little sensory silence is good for the soul. A little time spent connecting with oneself is good for the spirit. 

How's that for an old curmudgeon, F? 

[DJ & Chance]

COO

This is largely a west-coast expression, spawned in California.  "Coo" is a stylish way of saying "Cool" or "I definitely approve of this".  Coo does not really save you typing time, but it will set you apart as having a different speaking style than people around you.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I'm down for it, DJ.  Waz up?

[DJ & Chance]

Joanne, good stuff!  How is that for language use :)

[F, Calla & Luca]

I do instant message, mostly my kids on Gmail but I still do not text on my phone. I have that service turned off. Speak o me, don't text. And since I've been reading about kids and adults texting while driving----arghhh.