Reinventing The Wheel

Lately I've been busy...

Like strange busy. While quarantining at home I thought I'd have all this time to do all the things I like to do, like read, blog, do laundry, etc. But I find that I don't have time because lately, I've been doing a lot of reinventing. Social distancing policies have forced me to reinvent how I do my business in the midst of a pandemic, but it's not just work. I find that I'm reinventing different things every day.

Text and FaceTime with my friends and loved ones are the new normal in touching base and letting people know you care thereby reinventing my social interaction. While It's easy to change from your day pajamas to your night pajamas, I choose not to, so I'm reinventing my daily look. I also haven't been loving the lunch that I used pack from home and more often than not and eat on the fly, so I've been reinventing cuisine around here daily. I've become the Rachel Ray in my house and the family dinners have been epic! I forgot how much I like to cook and that I'm good at it because I used to eat out almost Every. Single. Night. The refrigerator is jam-packed like never before, and I keep watch on the food and leftovers so that nothing goes to waste, ready to pounce when something has passed it prime. A TOTAL reinvention, since I used to be never home to notice.

Supermarket, pharmacy lists and filling on-line orders at my store have become spread sheet worthy tasks as necessities are rationed and carefully planned. Trips are shortened and far more productive and deliberate. When completed, I always to then return safely home and wash my hands thoroughly. No detours.

But this one's the shocker.
I've even reinvented my TV habits.
I have hardly watched Netflix, (except for Season 3 of Ozark-loved it!) or Bravo. CNN is my constant companion and its becoming the soundtrack to my quarantine days. Everything lately is a complete reinvention from whom I used to be.

And it's OK. Because although we've been forced to look at life differently in this historic moment in time, it's given me the opportunity to be more thoughtful, more aware and more careful about my choices. It's always been me-but the me who was on the fast track and probably a bit more quick and carefree doesn’t have the same options. It's not that I have really changed who I am, It's more like I've reinvented what and how I navigate through everyday life.

I'm still me. I’m still the same person I was before the pandemic. I just need to pivot and adapt to this strange thing that has hit us all, hard. So I count my blessings and forge ahead. I really don't need to reinvent the wheel.

When Did The Flip Phones Flip Flop?

So lately I've been binge watching "Breaking Bad" on Netflix. It's quite possibly my favorite TV series of all time, but I've noticed a curious fact while watching.

Everyone on the show has a flip phone...

So I thought about this for a second and I realized that not only do they have flip phones on this show but NO ONE texts each other. In fact, I am currently on the very last season of the 5 season blockbuster and so far there has been only one text message read in context to the plot and it was on Season 5 circa 2013. I then looked back at the air dates of each of the seasons and I started to understand the flip phone thing a bit better. The Pilot episode first aired in January 2008 and the series then progresses over the next 5 years to it's final episode that aired on Sept 29th 2013. The iPhone didn't launch till 2007 and it revolutionized the mobile device industry over the next few years.                    

So then I got to thinking...where are the "smart phones"on the show? Where are the iPhones and why aren't the cast constantly checking their emails and Facebook updates on their phones during the episodes? Why are they not texting each other incessantly like we all do now? I had to think about it. Not even in the later episodes dating 2011 and later, does the phone become a central part of the plot?

When did the "smart phone" revolution start? There's no question that we are now a mobile device driven society. Do you check your email on you cell phone? Do you use a social media site on your cell phone? If you answered yes to both of those questions then you are a living, breathing adult that functions in the world today. Even my dad, just this morning, texted me something important. So much a part of our everyday society today that 48% of all online sales come from a mobile device.

So I gotta ask again? When exactly did the smart phone revolution take over?

Beloved Boston...A Re-Post

You can't live in Boston today and not reflect on the events of a year ago. 
This was posted on Tues April 16,th, 2013, the day after the bombings.

I wasn't there.

Neither my kids nor my husband were there. We were all safe.

She in NYC, is the one who alerted me of the events via text. He, safe on the golf course with my dad, 70 miles away from the war zone. My husband ensconced safely at his desk and I, enjoying a rare day off with my mom.

I wasn't there, but I could have easily been there like I had so many years before.
I can only share with you how most of us Bostonian who live here felt when the first waves of info came in:

It was 3:15, and I'm shopping at Neiman Marcus in a local suburb. Frick texted me. It read, "Mom, did a bomb go off at the marathon?" "Are u there?" "No."I replied." H/O"

I stopped, and searched the web on my iPhone. I googled Boston Marathon 2013. Nothing. I searched some more nothing. I then searched "bomb at Boston Marathon." I found the footage. I clicked on to the raw video and heard the news that a bomb had gone off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The report  said it was a, "horrific scene". It went on to describe bloodied streets and loss of limbs and I immediately went into safety mode. I started mentally checking off my family members.

That's what everyone that lives here did.

The first text was sent to my best friend. She lives in Boston and is an avid runner. I knew the answer before I finished typing the text, so I immediately placed a call to her seconds after I pressed the send button. I couldn't wait. She answered, "I'm ok." She was crying.
"Thank God," I said. "Were you there?"

"Can," she said between sobs. "I was right there. I had just decided that it was getting cold and that I had shit to do and that it was time to go home." "I felt the blast behind me and turned to see the smoke."
I was so glad she was ok. So glad she was safe. So shocked that she had been so close. She hadn't even called her mom. I let her go, telling her I loved her and to call her mom.

Then I went over the familial list:
I come from a large family and the majority of us are 20-50. Prime Marathon viewing years. The texts began furiously. While I was walking through the store, word got out and people everywhere could be seen either talking on their smartphones or looking at their smartphones. I drove home because no one really wanted to NOT be in front of a TV at this point and we listened to Boston Sports radio, which turned into news talk on the ride home. It was an uneasy next few hours as we awaited word on the family safety. It wasn't until 6:15 that we knew for sure that both my 26 immediate family members were ok and my husband's 11 members were safe. We were lucky.

Then the worst news of all came.

3 people had died and one of them an 8 yr old boy.

Hundreds of people had been injured. It was worse than we could have imagined. I felt at that moment that life had changed.

We were glued to the TV for the rest of the night as I'm sure you were too.

Trying to make the best of a horrid day which was no happy holiday after all.