That’s how many days I’ve been here on this wonderful place we call earth. At least physically, mentally I’m not really sure.
Over the past sixty six years there have been some occasions, mainly alcohol induced, where I may have temporarily lost track of where I was. I can honestly say I never got stupid when I drank.
Of the 24,528 days that I can remember I have seen a lot of things. I remember when my grandparents were alive, I lived next door, and I would sit on my porch and listen to them as they sat on their porch. I would think about all the things they had seen during their lifetime.
Electricity, telephones, radio, television, automobiles. All of these things came to be in their lifetimes. Even my parents were subjected to some pretty amazing things. My mom was absolutely amazed when she first learned how to use a fax machine. She didn’t live long enough to experience cell phones but my parents did have a cordless phone which she thought was the bee’s knees.
I was thinking of these things Christmas Day and realized that I have also seen a lot of amazing things as well. The only difference is with me all this change has come at a pretty rapid pace. So fast that those of us over a certain age can’t keep up.
Take my cellphone for example. After many trials and tribulations I finally learned how to use my flip phone. I could un-flip and make a call on that SOB in mere minutes. Then the tech gods decided that they would stop making them and I had to get a smartphone. For the record just because you have a smartphone doesn’t mean you’re any smarter. I am proof of this.
I feel bad for the kids these days. They will never know the joy of listening in on the extension line while your sister is on the phone with her boyfriend, neither one speaking for hours. And they will never know the fine art of adjusting the rabbit ears to get the best possible reception on the black and white screen. Never mind the difficult choice of which of the four channels you would watch.
Then there was the joy of carrying your transistor radio around so you could listen to the music that the station and the promoters wanted you to hear (look up the payola scandal some day).
All and all I can’t complain too much. True there are some things I wish I could change but I don’t spend much time thinking about them. After all what’s done is done and going back isn’t an option.
So here’s to the next 24,528 days. Come along for the ride.
