Topic: I have the Power !!

[TechPro]

Things were going fairly 'normal' and as expected, up until the lights went out, casting every room in the dark, except for those with open curtains. Immediately, growls and rumblings of frustration were heard from nearly every corner (except for my wife and I) as devices and computers suddenly became as worthless as the proverbial boat anchor (tho in truth, boat anchors are VERY valuable ... to the boat).  Sure, as a Tech by trade, I rely heavily on electronic devices and have five desktop computers in the house in active use plus a laptop and a couple mobile devices, not to mention the devices my off-spring have.  Seeing the power go off, and stay off for quite a while has to potential to be very perplexing and frustrating. 

Oddly enough I suppose, my wife and I were hardly fazed.  We simply handed flashlights to those who needed one, and used the opportunity to give young ones the chance to get dressed for Church by flashlight (a novel idea from the youngest's perspective).  My oldest though, was at a bit of a loss.  Complained he types and thinks much faster than he can write, thus making traditional writing by hand a fruitless venture.  I just smiled.  My daughter wondered if Church would still be held without power to which I assured her Church would probably still be held.  Without electronic distractions, it's curious how simple it was for everyone to be ready in plenty of time for Church.  Church was held as expected, a bit in the dark, but held anyway.  The congregation respectfully quiet, thus aiding the speakers to be heard without the benefit of a microphone.  When power returned part way through the services, I couldn't help but notice the increase of 'background noise' from the congregation throughout the remainder of the services.

All this reminded me that years ago, services such as electricity (not to mention running water,  sewer service, phone service) were considered a luxury, and benefit, and not the standard or normal expectation.  People lived quite comfortably without such things, sure life was different then, but they did just fine without those things that we now rely on, not just as a convenience, but as a requirement to daily living and most difficult to do without at any given time.  Society has become so embedded with such services that we have forgotten how to live without those things.

I have the Power !!  I remember how people lived without those services.  I have (on occasion) lived without those services, my parents taught me how to live without those things.  Thus I can stand, do a cheesy impression of a middle-aged (and over-weight) He-Man and proclaim "I have the Power!!" because I can live without the services.

You know, this is something I should teach to my off-spring.  I think I will.  Right after I finish another D3 mission set.

[Scyphi]

In my defense, I really do think faster than I write. It's tolerable while typing, because I can type at a sufficiently fast enough rate to keep up with myself, but writing by hand is just not fast enough. More often than not through handwriting, I'll be in the middle of writing one sentence when my mind is already another sentence or two ahead. Then I start getting prone to skipping whole sentences of intended writing because what I'm writing and what I'm thinking don't sync up with each other.

But I did seriously consider trying it anyway during the power outage in question, only to opt not to simply because my notes are all on the currently powerless laptop (battery wasn't in it, much less charged) and thus inaccessible, which meant that any writing I did would have to be from scratch, and I didn't currently have any ideas coming to me that I felt were in a good enough position to work from scratch with. So instead, I drew (my other hobby). After that, I probably would've pulled out something to read if the power hadn't chosen to come back on at around the same time.

So I'd like to think that the power outage hadn't left me completely helpless.

Just mostly.

(there's a big difference between mostly helpless, and all helpless.)

[DarkWing]

You know, this is something I should teach to my off-spring.  I think I will.  Right after I finish another D3 mission set.

I'm with you.  D3 missions come first!   

[-<WillyP>-]

There are so many things we have come to take for granted that as kids, or our parents as kids, did not have or considered a luxury.

Cars and phones (and I don't mean cell phones... when I was kid not everyone considered a phone a necessity), cable TV (never even had cable until after I got married, and my wife insisted) just to mention a couple.

[Kaiaatzl]

I think that's been the same for every generation that's been born around the same time as a major invention that changed at least a part of the world; or soon enough after it that their parents had to live without it.
When the printing press was invented the parents of young journalists and writers and publishers probably complained that the new generation was 'lazy' because "in my day we had to copy out every book, article, and essay two-hundred times before the end of the day".  And then the renaissance started...

I think it's a privelege to live, arguably, on the dividing line between two ages just like those kids and their parents when the printing press was invented; especially when this is the first time the new age affects the whole world, all at once.  Not just reading about a change to the entire world in a history book two- or three-hundred years after the fact, but experiencing the change first-hand.

[VANGUARD]

Back in the days when IM's were more popular, chat rooms, etc, AOL was more known, I had penpals. We did email, but also did it the old fashion way. Pen, paper, stamp, envelope.

not a biggie, but when I worked at a grocery carts, I "pushed" in carts. Now I see people with a machine  lazy.

[Matthew]

Why in my day, we had to actually park our cars. And we didn't have no fancy ABS or traction control. And we didn't have no all wheel drive.

And somehow I still manage to be more worried about the people with AWD, ABS, and TC than I am about my own driving. Minnesota drivers... 

[Scyphi]

@ Vanguard: the machine thing hasn't gotten around everywhere yet. I still people around in my hometown who still do it the old fashioned way, but I can't predict for how much longer that'll last.

[Kaiaatzl]

...Minnesota drivers... 

Must be the opposite of Manitoba drivers.
I've heard horror stories about Ontario drivers... but that was in a humour newspaper so they were probably exaggerated.

[Matthew]

Sometimes people forget that all their fancy electronic handicaps (I mean aides...) don't make their car weigh any less or stop any faster. I can stop just as well by feel than you can with your ABS, difference is I'm going 20mph slower than you because I'm not stupid.

[Kaiaatzl]

...I can stop just as well by feel than you can with your ABS...

No you can't.  Because I don't drive.  Ever.
I leave an hour or so earlier than other people and take the bus, or walk.  Or walk half the way and then take a bus for the other half.  And I don't appreciate you calling me an idiot.  I'm not an idiot.  That's why I don't drive.  I have a feeling that with my ADHD I'd only get myself killed.  And then I'd be past worrying about this ABS BS.
Don't assume.  You just make an @$$ out of you and me.  And I don't like being made an @$$.  Or other people making themselves @$$3$.  Or any other kind of equid/elimination hole, for that matter.  Or any combination of those...

I would agree that new drivers being so dependent on all kinds of external systems is a very bad thing because if you can't drive without it then as soon as one system fails the driver is lost, and I think that's what you're getting at.  But I wouldn't say that makes the systems themselves such a bad thing.  If it saves lives, no matter whose lives those are, then I say it's worth it.  But it's the driver's responsibility to make sure the system doesn't become a crutch.

[Matthew]

Apologies, I did not mean you as in YOU. I meant you as in whoever happens to be flying by me doing 80 in the snow. That's just the way I talk. Come on man, I thought you know me well enough to know I don't start attacking fellow forum posters for no reason.

Yes, the system saves lives, but far too often people use them as crutches or excuses to be wreckless. And no amount of electronic aids can make a car stop any faster in the snow. They just make sure you're going in a straight line when you plow into the car in front of you. I pride myself on knowing that if I can handle this wild bull in the snow I can drive anything.

[Scyphi]

Y'know, it's starting to get to the point that I can't take people's claims that their location has the worst drivers, because I've heard that claim come from literally anywhere there's people driving cars, so by the sound of it, there's bad driving EVERYWHERE.

Maybe we should just say that people (on average) are bad drivers.

[Kaiaatzl]

Manitoba has the best drivers.
Not as in the most skilled, necessarily, but everyone who comes here says they're the most considerate.

[Greyryder]

Y'know, it's starting to get to the point that I can't take people's claims that their location has the worst drivers, because I've heard that claim come from literally anywhere there's people driving cars, so by the sound of it, there's bad driving EVERYWHERE.

Maybe we should just say that people (on average) are bad drivers.

We get enough people from Michigan around here, that I know that Ohio does not have the worst drivers.