Start Waving Goodbye To ...

We're back!!

Agnes and I drove out to Dayton, Ohio, to visit our son and four of our six grandchildren. We really lucked out: weather was beautiful the entire weekend, traffic in both directions was light (except for the usual rush-hour mess around DC on the way home, and the joy of navigating through Columbus, Ohio). We took in a Beavercreek High School football game and marching band performance on Friday night, watched the Troy Invitational Marching Band Competition on Saturday evening, and cruised the Beavercreek Popcorn Festival on Sunday, and visited our granddaughter Ava's school for the Grandparents' Day festivities on Monday morning. All in all, a great weekend.

But now we're back, and it's time to get back to the old blog ...

I'll be 66 years old before long, well into the time of life when one asks where the %#$! the time went. And not just the time, but a lot of the things we grew up with.

Here's an interesting online article from Kiplinger - 10 Things That Will Soon Disappear Forever (And 7 That Refuse to Die). I don't agree with everything on the list (which you can read for yourself at the link), but there are four items on it that I find ... well ... sad. They are:

Keys. I know it's wrong, but I can't wrap my head around the idea of a really secure lock that doesn't have a key. Of course, I've grown used to the key cards that open hotel doors and monitor access to various areas, but there's just something about the feel of a metal key and the comforting clunks of the bolts it withdraws that's just a lot more satisfying than the click of an electronic lock.

College Textbooks. One of the reasons for the vast amount of student debt carried by many people is the astronomical cost of college textbooks. But it seems that many - if not most - of those books are being replaced by digital copies that can be read on an electronic reader. The companies that print those books, and the college town bookstores that sell them, are very concerned about the potential loss of their profits, both from the initial sale and from the subsequent sale of used textbooks, but I can see some value in this transition. Yes, I will always prefer hard-copy books to digital versions, but a digital book can facilitate searching for specific information, and it can be highlighted and allow the insertion of personal notes as much as a paper copy. And they should be cheaper, although the difference between the cost of hard-copy and e-books on Amazon.com indicates that the savings won't be as much as they probably should be.

Neighborhood Mailboxes. Mailboxes were already being removed from a lot of places because of security threats, but they may well disappear altogether simply because no one sends actual letters any more. As a person who loves sending and receiving letters, I find this really sad.

And,

Personal Privacy. In the age of the Internet and ultra-invasive corporate data vacuuming (look at all the elements of your personal information that are "required" when you fill out a simple product warranty registration), you can kiss the last shreds of your privacy goodbye. Of course, there's a lot of privacy we willingly give up when we share information on social media, but that's a personal decision.

I found the list of things that refuse to die somewhat less surprising, especially these items:

Parking Meters. Of course they refuse to die ... municipalities make a lot of money from them, both from the basic parking fees and from the fines and fees levied on people who exceed their time limits. Parking meters, in whatever form, are never going to go away.

Pennies. They're a pain in the neck and we all have thousands of them squirreled away in every nook and cranny, but as long as we have a wide range of sales and use taxes that make transactions end up with odd numbers, we'll have to deal with them. One thing I did learn from the article, though, is the vested interest of the zinc industry in continued penny production.

And,

Paper Checks. I used to write dozens of checks every month - at stores, to pay bills, or to send money to other people. Nowadays, of course, I pay almost all my bills online through my bank (although never by direct debit) and pay for almost everything with a credit card that offers me a modest amount of cash back on each transaction. There's still a place for paper checks, though ... there are a few businesses and services that don't accept electronic payments, and some people still like to have the proof of payment provided by a check with all the right stamps and endorsements on it.

Other things that are disappearing fast:

Courtesy and Civility. On an individual level, they're still here, but underemployed; and,

Common Sense. Just look at Congress.

What things do you see disappearing around you, and how do you feel about it? And what other things do you see refusing to die? Leave a comment.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo