We live in such a tech heavy world now that sometimes i feel it's a mixed blessing. These modern inconveniences, well, as inconvenient as they may be i cannot live without them.
The modern inconvenience of phones never ceases to amaze me. They ring when you least want them to, and it's often a scammer ignoring the Do Not Call list. Even when my children won't answer my calls, however, i am thankful to know if they really need to get in touch with me for an emergency situation, they can do so.
Cars really are a modern inconvenience. Without them we'd have to work within walking distance of our homes, like people did in the old days. As in, usually, out in the fields of their own farms. Being able to drive to a workplace farther than you can easily walk has opened new worlds and made mechanics very busy and very happy. Even when i am in a hurry and no one in front of me wants to look up from the phone and drive when the light turns green, i am grateful for The Jalopy and Lunceford the Land Yacht that get me where i need to be.
Air conditioners are a modern inconvenience in their cost to operate. Even so, i would not want to live without them, and i'm especially thankful for them when it's so hot out that our car seat belt buckles can double as branding irons.
TV is a modern inconvenience of the highest order in its ability to distract us 24/7 from whatever it is we need to be doing. Even though i don't have one any more, i'm grateful it exists to entertain and sometimes (depending on the station) inform and enlighten. Also when the children were young, i'd never have gotten to sit down during the day if i hadn't been able to get them to watch a short Disney movie on VHS every day.
GPS is a marvel of modern inconvenience in its ability to get people lost. Yesterday it got me to a place i'd never been, and back home, and only had me turned around once, so i'm thankful it exists and works most of the time.
Alarm clocks, the modern inconvenience you love to hate, even as you are grateful to be at work on time.
Elevators are the modern inconvenience that made skyscrapers possible, because who doesn't want to live and work way up in the air in a big city? Still, every time i don't have to climb several flights of stairs, i am thankful for elevators, and Mr. Otis, who didn't invent them but made them practical and useful.
Radio is my modern inconvenience of choice when it comes to entertainment and i am very thankful for it most of the time. Annoying when tuned to certain genres and played at an alarmingly high volume in the car that just passed, it is very soothing when used as background sound and gives me just enough news to keep me informed without being overwhelmed.
Microwave ovens very modernly and inconveniently make it possible for us to live off of not quite real food that has been possibly rendered unsafe by the very means used to warm it up. Will i give up my microwave? No way! My gratitude for being able to cook things very quickly when i get home and i'm tired, or let the others in the house cook for themselves, knows no bounds.
Finally, the biggest modern inconvenience we all know and love, computers. While i wait for what studies have shown is an average of two seconds for a web page to open, listening to half a song on the radio and washing three dishes during that two seconds, i am often struck by how much more i can get done now in two seconds than ever before. Really, though, without these marvels, we couldn't do what i'm doing now, reaching across miles to interact with people from all ages and stages and walks of life all over the globe. As much as i sometimes want to whack the screen with something when it's not cooperating, i am very thankful for the people i have in my life now that i would never have met without computers and the internet.
Are you thankful for a modern inconvenience or two that make your life better and cause trouble at the same time? Let us know, or write up any list of things for which you are thankful and link up at Ten Things of Thankful. We'd love to have you.
Today is:
Al-Yaom Al-Watany -- Saudi Arabia (National Day/Founding of the Kingdom)
Augustalia -- Roman Empire (birthday of Caesar Augustus, still the traditional New Year's Day in Constantinople and in the Eastern Orthodox Church)
Bunster Winding -- Fairy Calendar
Checkers Day/Dogs in Politics Day -- thanks to Mr. Nixon; and i'm tempted to further comment, but this one is too easy
Citua -- Ancient Inca Empire (feast to the Moon, and to banish disease, in the month of Coyaraimi, date approximate)
El Grito de Lares -- Lares, Puerto Rico (anniversary of the first uprising against Spanish rule in 1868)
Fall Migration Festival -- Wetlands Institute, Stone Harbor, NJ, US (nature photography workshops, guided viewing of the abundant and diverse species here at this time, and more; through tomorrow)
Feast of the Ingathering -- UK traditional (also called Harvest Home; in Scotland, Kirn; in northern England, Mell-Supper. Celebrations will be held in rural areas for the next few weekends, celebrating the end of the harvest.)
Fish Amnesty Day (same as National Hunting and Fishing Day in the US, because it hurts fish to be caught!)
Geneva Area Grape Jamboree -- Geneva, OH, US (grapes, wine tasting, entertainment, rides, and food; through tomorrow)
Gettysburg Fall Antique Show -- Gettysburg, PA, US
Innergize Day -- the day to take time for yourself! always on the day after the equinox, so either the 23rd or 24th, depending on where you live
International Rabbit Day -- learn to care for these wonderful pets and promote responsible rabbit ownership
International Restless Legs Syndrome Awareness Day -- on the birth anniversary of Professor Karl-Axel Ekborn, the neurologist who first described it
Kiwanis Kids' Day -- local clubs sponsor events for kids on the fourth Saturday of September
Marion County Country Ham Days -- Marion, KY, US (for those who love ham, and a PIGasus parade, and a Pokey Pig 5k, among other events; through tomorrow)
Museum Day -- The Smithsonian has information
National Great American Pot Pie Day
National Hunting and Fishing Day -- US
National Seat Check Saturday -- US (make sure your child's car seats are secured properly)
Neptune Day -- planet discovered this day in 1846 by Johann Galle of Germany
St. Adamnan's Day (Patron of Donegal, Ireland; Raphoe, Ireland)
St. Padre Pio's Day
Taste of Morgan Hill -- Morgan Hill, CA, US (fine arts, entertainment, and plenty for the kids to do, too; through tomorrow)
Thrue Bab -- Bhutan (Blessed Rainy Day)
Waikiki Ho'olaule'a -- Waikiki, Oahu, Hawai'i, US (a huge, fun street party, part of the larger Aloha Festivals celebrations all over the Islands, to showcase the culture and beauty of Hawai'i)
Anniversaries Today:
The University of Alberta in Alberta, Canada, is founded, 1908
Birthdays Today:
Anthony Mackie, 1979
Ani DiFranco, 1970
Elizabeth Pena, 1961
Jason Alexander, 1959
Bruce Springsteen, 1949
Mary Kay Place, 1947
Paul Petersen, 1945
Julio Iglesias, 1943
Tom Lester, 1938
Ray Charles, 1930
John Coltrane, 1926
Mickey Rooney, 1920
Walter Pidgeon, 1897
Friedrich Paulus, 1890
Walter Lippman, 1889
Victoria Woodhull, 1838
William H. McGuffey, 1800
Kublai Khan, 1215
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, BC63
Euripides, BC480
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"Marcus Welby, M.D."(TV), 1969
"The Jetsons"(TV), 1962
"Threni: id est Lamentatines Jeremiae Prophetae"(Stravinsky dodecaphonic work), 1958
Today in History:
Concord of Worms, 1122
The first major battle of the Wars of the Roses, at Blore Heath in Staffordshire, 1459
First commencement exercises of Harvard College in Cambridge, Mass., 1642
Liechtenstein declares its independence from the German Empire, 1719
John Paul Jones'"Bon Homme Richard" defeats the HMS Serepis, 1779
Lewis and Clark arrive back in St. Louis from their explorations, 1806
The Knickerbockers Baseball Club, the first baseball team to play under the modern rules, is founded in New York, 1845
Neptune is discovered by French astronomer Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier and British astronomer John Couch Adams, 1846
Nintendo Koppai, later known as Nintendo Company, Limited, is founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi; it produces and markets the playing card game Hanafuda, 1889
The Phantom of the Opera (original title: Le Fantome de l'Opera), a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux, was first published, 1909
The MS Princess of Tasmania, Australia’s first passenger roll-on/roll-off diesel ferry, makes her maiden voyage across Bass Strait, 1959
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos announces over television and radio the implementation of martial law, 1972
Juan Perón returns to power in Argentina, 1973
Saint Kitts and Nevis joins the United Nations, 1983
Qantas Flight 1 overruns the runway in Bangkok during a storm; some passengers only receive minor injuries, it is still the worst crash in Qantas's history, 1991
The first public version of the web browser Mozilla Firefox ("Phoenix 0.1") is released, 2002
Hurricane Jeanne strikes Haiti and leaves at least 1,070 dead, 2004
The identification of four genetically different types of breast cancer by researchers is announced, 2012