As
a person vitally interested in observing the entire human race and what
all it does, I have often been amazed at how dependent we become on
advances in technology. When you think about it for a minute, what it all
adds up to is just how spoiled we are. A hundred years ago, we would have
had to put some wood or coal on a stove to heat some water for coffee or
tea. Now, we just stick a cup into the microwave and stand there for a
minute or so and wait until it gets hot enough to drink. Is this progress
or what?
No one wants to go back to the old way, do
they? Same thing with the automobile. If we lived a hundred years ago, we’d
have to harness up a horse or buggy to go to the store for something. Not
like we do today, back then it was an all day event. Who’d want to go
back to that period? Not me. When computers first came out in the early 70’s
we had one at our office. It was a huge thing that had to have it’s own
cooling system and required special handling and programmers to get it to
do the simplest tasks. It was also very slow. A payroll might take hours
and hours to complete. The general ledger for the month would take all
night to finish. As I recall it took an entire weekend to run some report
or another that I wanted from time to time.
Then we had the advent of PC’s for
everyone. I’m not a computer person so I can’t recall the speed at
which my first PC ran at. I do know that each time I’ve moved up over
the years, the newer one was so much faster than the older one, but not as
fast as the one I’ll get in another year or so. Once I upgraded our
office and tried to give our old computers away to some school. Wrong. I
thought they’d just fall out over something free. Nope, they said they
were just too old and too slow. So much for charity.
Amazing how fast we adapt to fastest and
newer isn’t it? The slickest gadget I’ve owned in the last several
years is something called an "Invisible Fence." Now this isn’t
like those Stealth Bombers the Air Force bought that no one could find
since they were invisible. This is a deal to keep your dogs in your yard.
Used to when you bought a dog you had to put up a wooden or chain link
fence to keep the little critter from roaming off and getting smushed by
the road traffic. No longer. Now you can get these people to come out and
bury a small wire around the perimeter of your yard. Then your dog wears
this special collar that is able to sense where the wire is buried. Once
the dog gets within several feet of the buried line, a sound is emitted
and if they continue on, then they get a small electrical shock that keeps
them from going any further.
Now, you’ll remember that we brought this
pound puppy into our house about 5 months ago. We had forgotten what a
pain it was to get up at night and get the leash and go walk the dog. We
had one of these things installed as fast as we could and it was a
lifesaver. Just open the door, Buddy runs out does his deal and comes back
whenever he wants to. Not to worry, he won’t get outside of the zone. It’s
been great ever since we had it installed. However, we’re having some
work done on our house and one of the construction guys tore up the line
and made the system useless. Back to the collar and leash. We don’t want
to do this again. This is like going back into the stone ages. of course
back then they didn’t have to worry about cars and trucks smashing their
animals just big dinosaurs or whatever.
Anyway, the poor dog thinks we’ve
punished him since we won’t let him out by himself. One of us has to be
with him at all times. We got one of those long lines that you see in the
pet stores and tied him up so he could have a little room to run around.
He pouts. Goes to the end of the line as far away as he can and sits
there. Won’t come when you call him. Won’t wag his tail. Acts like he
doesn’t even know who we are. Thank God these people came out on the
weekend and fixed the problem for us. All is now right in the universe and
the dog is back upon the porch wagging his tail and acting like nothing
has ever happened.
Ten years ago, this would have been lots
more difficult. I’ve built fences. Fences aren’t fun. Fences are
expensive and need maintenance. As I see it this is a product that we will
come to depend upon just as we have microwaves and personal computers. The
next thing I’ve got to overcome is my wife’s suggestion that I get a
collar to wear. I’m still having trouble figuring out if she’s joking
or being serious. Of course if your dog or husband is into pain…then
this won’t work for them. I’m not wearing it no matter what she says………write
your comments and suggestions to me at www.pearyperry.com.
No stupid pet jokes, please. |
