My Blackberry alarm began sounding "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. at 7am this morning, I chose to hit snooze till 7:30am. I just wasn't ready to say hello to the world, and my Blackberry makes it so easy to put off that hello for another ten minutes. Alarm clocks are no longer need, since I can now customize my alarm in order to allow for a easy awakening every morning. Seriously, I can now pick a peaceful song or annoying alarm tone, the number of minutes I would like to snooze every time I hit the button, and the volume of the alarm. Before I'm even awake I rely on technology to start my day for me.
I have been so programmed to think that everything in my life should be simple, quick, and easy that when life throws a wrench in the mix, I easily get frustrated with the lack of smoothness on my daily adventures. I contribute my frustration of trivial set backs such as the stone age speed of an old computer, traffic on a Monday at noon, long lines at Starbucks, and failure of my DVR to record "The Rachel Maddow Show". I contribute my annoyance of these minor inconveniences to the way my life has changed in response to technology and its continuous and seemingly infinite ways to improve and add ease to most components of my life.
After I decide to to take on the challenges of the day, before I am even out of bed and after I hit the "dismiss alarm" option on my Blackberry to stop the 10 minute snooze, I take a look at the emails that have been sent overnight. Most which are spam and notifications of news that media outlets think I would be interested in. Email before I'm even out of bed, who would have thought 3 years ago? I finally put down the Blackberry and make a way to the bathroom to handle my morning bathroom routine, in order to avoid offending people throughout the day.
I don't think that I am alone in my addiction to technology. I believe that people all over the world have become accustomed to a world of convenience where information is at our fingertips, news is now reported on a minute by minute basis, thousands of songs can be carried on an ipod the fits in the palm of your hand, and a hard drive can be carried on your key chain. Its absolutely amazing what has been developed in the technological world in order to help satisfy the market for ease.
I had not even gotten out of the house before I ran into a minor mishap with my love affair with convenience. I had to print a project for school that was due at 9:30am. I plugged in my flash drive to my laptop and began to print my document. I knew I had low ink in my printer but I didn't think that it was out, which i figured out once the printing began. I then took my flash drive to another computer and plugged it in and thats when the frustration started. THe computer I plugged my flash drive into took about 4 minutes to recognize that it was there, another 5 minutes in order to open the document, not to mention every time I tried to switch to a different window, in order to try and make good use of my time while I waited for the document to open, the computer went into sensory overload. I felt like the internal parts of the computer couldn't keep up with the simple idea of closing windows, changing windows, or reading the headlines on The New York Times. My anxiety was starting to get to me because it was getting closer to 8 am, which is when I planned on leaving for school. 30 minutes later I had printed my document and been on my way. I think that it was a combination of an outdated computer trying to multi task, the absence of patience on my part for slow computers, my reliance on convenience, and my fault for leaving the printing job till the last minute.
And yes, the slow computer was a PC. I have recently made the change, like many others, to a MacBook. I couldn't be happier and I think that my frustration with lack of technological ease and convenience has increased since that purchase. The MacBook runs a flawless operating system, much like that of President-elect Barack Obama's campaign for presidency. (I had to get some politics into this non-political blog.) THe computer does everything it is supposed to with no frustration. I can multi-task, search the internet, write a blog, look through photos, and read emails, all with out any waiting or error messages. In fact, before I got dressed I hit the "dashboard" key on my function keyboard and it provided me with the weather for San Diego. I got dressed and left the house.
All this technology and I had not even made it until 8:30 am. We have come to point in time where technology of convenience is a necessity for our lives. Our culture has embraced convenience and it has transformed our society. We have become inpatient and easily frustrated when our technology fails, yet rely on it day after day so that we can try to pack more and more into a period of 24 hours. Convenience has saturated our lives and I'm not sure what they will think of next or how much more convenience can be packed into my life. I'm happy when things go my way and annoyed when they don't. I'm going to pledge to be more patience with the little things because technology can't solve everything in this far from perfect world and convenience only gets you so far.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Could there possibly be an end to my political rants?
As I sit here contemplating my future level of interest in the realm of politics, now that Barack Obama has been elected our 44th President of the United States, I realize that I may have entered a world that I may never be able to escape. In the last year I have become so mentally and emotionally involved in the way that our government works, from the corruption that led us into an endless war to the most recent realization that we can each make a difference.
I think that our great country has reinvested in itself this last week. I believe that the election of a black man to the most important job in the world proves that this great nation can lead the world to a better place. My view of this country has been renewed, I am proud, once again, to be an US citizen. This does not come without a cost. During the last 8 years we, the citizens of the US, have allowed the government to take advantage of us and run our reputation into the ground in order to further their political agenda. The Bush Administration has taken our hard earned money and we have nothing to show for it except for high food prices, an pointless war, a stock market in the crapper, less medical coverage, less regulation, a nationalization of the banks, giveaways to wall street, failing infrastruce, falling home prices, excessive home foreclosures, a rising unemployment rate, and a president that no one trusts. The list is endless, but I have a feeling in my heart that this is about to change.
I have to admit that prior to November 4th at 8pm, I was somewhat of a cynic thinking that the presidential election, going with the tradition of the last two elections, would be stolen for a third time by those that have profited the lies and deceit of the last 8 years. I wouldn't have been surprised if the outcome of the election had gone in favor of John McCain. Just the thought of another stolen election made me ill, but the thought also allowed me to feel what citizens of other countries must feel when corruption takes over their elections. The feeling of a muted voice of a citizen in a environment where democracy is just a facade in order to hide ulterior motives and agendas.
I tried to set myself up for disappointment. Every time a friend, a relative, or a teacher said that Obama had the election in the bag I asked them to watch what they said in order to lessen the jinx-ability of the most important election of my lifetime. I wanted nothing more than the those in favor of hiring Barack Obama as our commander in chief to become over confident, like we had been in the past, only to succumb to defeat. My government had not given me much faith in their ability to be honest and truthful to their employer, the citizens of the United States. Prior to the last 8 years, we have taken for granted our freedoms and rightfully believed that our government would always act in our best interest. We have witnessed that we can no longer keep our guard down and must always advocate, lobby if you will, for our unalienable rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
When the polls closed and the news stations began to call the election, I couldn't help my tears, joy, and raw emotion. We had overcome the tragedies of the past and entered into what the future will call a defining moment of US History. I cannot place another time in my life where I felt like I did Tuesday night. In an instant everything changed: the world changed their views of America, I had restored faith in my great country, I was excited to think that my voice made a difference, and that we were embarking on a journey that would change the country for the better. Barack Obama is a breath of fresh air that was well needed and long awaited. I had watched him carefully during his campaign and believe that he will be one our great presidents, who will end the politics of broken promises, hidden agendas, and special interests.
Now, I'm not sure I want to escape our country's political system. I think that instead of complaining about the past I will be able to praise the future.
I think that our great country has reinvested in itself this last week. I believe that the election of a black man to the most important job in the world proves that this great nation can lead the world to a better place. My view of this country has been renewed, I am proud, once again, to be an US citizen. This does not come without a cost. During the last 8 years we, the citizens of the US, have allowed the government to take advantage of us and run our reputation into the ground in order to further their political agenda. The Bush Administration has taken our hard earned money and we have nothing to show for it except for high food prices, an pointless war, a stock market in the crapper, less medical coverage, less regulation, a nationalization of the banks, giveaways to wall street, failing infrastruce, falling home prices, excessive home foreclosures, a rising unemployment rate, and a president that no one trusts. The list is endless, but I have a feeling in my heart that this is about to change.
I have to admit that prior to November 4th at 8pm, I was somewhat of a cynic thinking that the presidential election, going with the tradition of the last two elections, would be stolen for a third time by those that have profited the lies and deceit of the last 8 years. I wouldn't have been surprised if the outcome of the election had gone in favor of John McCain. Just the thought of another stolen election made me ill, but the thought also allowed me to feel what citizens of other countries must feel when corruption takes over their elections. The feeling of a muted voice of a citizen in a environment where democracy is just a facade in order to hide ulterior motives and agendas.
I tried to set myself up for disappointment. Every time a friend, a relative, or a teacher said that Obama had the election in the bag I asked them to watch what they said in order to lessen the jinx-ability of the most important election of my lifetime. I wanted nothing more than the those in favor of hiring Barack Obama as our commander in chief to become over confident, like we had been in the past, only to succumb to defeat. My government had not given me much faith in their ability to be honest and truthful to their employer, the citizens of the United States. Prior to the last 8 years, we have taken for granted our freedoms and rightfully believed that our government would always act in our best interest. We have witnessed that we can no longer keep our guard down and must always advocate, lobby if you will, for our unalienable rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
When the polls closed and the news stations began to call the election, I couldn't help my tears, joy, and raw emotion. We had overcome the tragedies of the past and entered into what the future will call a defining moment of US History. I cannot place another time in my life where I felt like I did Tuesday night. In an instant everything changed: the world changed their views of America, I had restored faith in my great country, I was excited to think that my voice made a difference, and that we were embarking on a journey that would change the country for the better. Barack Obama is a breath of fresh air that was well needed and long awaited. I had watched him carefully during his campaign and believe that he will be one our great presidents, who will end the politics of broken promises, hidden agendas, and special interests.
Now, I'm not sure I want to escape our country's political system. I think that instead of complaining about the past I will be able to praise the future.
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