Things We Can't Live Without (today)

I recently went to a horse show and was going to be gone for the weekend. Since my Internet access is through microwave, I called my provider to report I would be shutting down my transmitter. If I don't do this, they call within a few minutes after it shuts down. I guess they want to find out if there is a technical problem. They really keep a close monitoring. Before I called them, I noticed that the Internet access was very slow. When I called customer service to mention I'd be shutting down the equipment, it took several calls to finally get through. Apparently, a whole lot of irate callers were inquiring what the problem was with the sudden slow service. When I called only to mention that I was shutting down the transmitting equipment for the weekend, the technician was ecstatic! I'm sure he was fielding several calls from other users regarding the inadequate Internet service. When he realized I wasn't calling about the service, he said if I were here, he would kiss me! I'm glad I wasn't there because people would talk. This problem happens now and then and if one waits a little while, the problem clears up. I guess all the other users haven't realized that yet.

It dawned on me how much we depend on the Internet these days. It also occurred to me that once upon a time the Internet was a luxury, now it is a necessity. It's odd how things that were once a luxury have become necessities. I remember when I was a kid that a riding lawnmower was a luxury owned only by people that had the money to purchase one. These days it seems everyone has a riding mower even when their lawns are the size of a postage stamp. Here again is yet another example of a luxury becoming a necessity. By the way, it takes me an hour to mow my big lawn with a push mower since I still don't have the "necessity" of a riding mower.

Of course, I could list dozens and dozens of things that were formerly luxuries that have now become necessities. I guess we all can by looking at our present day lives that are filled with "necessities".

Oh, I have to go now, my microwave just rang, and it is time to eat... ;-))
==Mike== {;-)