Evolution of Reading: We Are The New Scanners

Reading has evolved and I am not sure that what we currently do can technically be called “reading” as it is more “scanning” than actual reading.  We have become a society of scanners instead of curious people that want to read about the juicy details in stories. I am still “old school” in that I read ALL the words that are written.  Sure, I scan some articles but when it generally is just for research and not something I WANT to read.  Books cannot be replaced by computer screens of any kind, in my opinion.

I was recently given some expensive clothing from a friend and decided I didn’t have the need for it so I sold it on eBay.   I was very careful to put the material it was made of, the size (in black bold) large letters/numbers, and the brand of the clothing on the ad for auction.  I placed all the details I would want on the ad plus where the item might be appropriate to wear.  Some fabulous pictures (if I do say so myself) taken on a partial mannequin hanging from the ceiling.  It was just like taking photos of a model (only no drama and the mannequin didn’t require all that makeup since the head was a hanger)…

Hands down, the most asked question was “what size is it?”  Are you kidding me? I so wanted to reply:  “Are you #%^@*! BLIND…it is in BOLD on the advertisement you idiot?”  “You don’t deserve to have these expensive clothes since you can’t read!” “Let them go to someone who is more literate than you, PLEASE!”

I have a 100% satisfaction rating and want to keep it that way.  It is important to me.  So, I took a deep breath and realized everyone misses things when reading.

I changed into my cheery helpful oh so nice customer service hat, my brain kicked in and my fingers typed a reply that was much different than my first reaction.  More like:  “The size on your item is (brand name) size 0.  In real sizes that equates to a Misses 6-8 in other stores.  Remember that is has 5% spandex so it can fit up to size 10, depending on how you like tops to fit.  Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with on this item.  All the best, THE extremely gracious seller.

Then there was another and another asking the same question.  I checked the ads to make sure the size was included and it was there in big bold letters/numbers, just like I wrote it.  WHEW!  I was beginning to doubt my own abilities of writing an ad. 

After I got past several of those, another person wanted the measurements from another item…not just size but actual measurements:  the measurements from one shoulder to another, the length from end of collar to end of garment, the sleeve length, inseam length and of course if I would bundle the shipping if she won more than one item. 

Okay, okay, I know these items were a REAL bargain.  If these measurements were crucial, wouldn’t you think the person would actually go buy it at the store on clearance so they could try the item on?  I would have.

I found a cloth measuring tape and carefully measured each one of the places twice to ensure accuracy and typed each one of the measurements (checked those also) with my customer service graciousness.  The person never bid on the item (no surprise) but it went to a very happy customer.

We are all guilty of not seeing things (or remembering them after we saw them) that are right in front of us so I did realize we are all human and can miss things.  I have done it myself…now, agreeing on me being human might be up for grabs…but that is another post.

I will admit that I was so ready to get rid of the items; I would have given them away after that experience if they hadn’t sold.  The experience was way to high-maintenance for me.  I packed the sold items and got them to the post office in the middle of a snow storm just to get them out of the house and have the experience behind me.  This may be my last eBay listing.  Somehow, I thought the caliber of people would be higher than craigslist.  What was I thinking?

Have you had similar experiences on eBay?  

  

A Tribute to Stick Men: Our First Person

Remember stick men?  They were the first things we learned to draw when we were kids.  When the teacher said, “Draw a person.”  We would draw a stick man.  We were little and knew only straight lines.  Since then, some of us have learned that you can curve the line to make it more pleasing to the eye. This video caught my eye because of the stick man, who is the star of the video but also because someone realized that the stick man can be a secret agent, a spy, a hero, a superhero just like we did in the beginning of our life.  A child-like celebration for us all!

Enjoy!

(due to copyright laws, I can not put the video in here so you will have to click on the link)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_fPV13lKm4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 Please leave a comment if you are so inclined.

Watch for the "Open Here" Instructions

With all the technology we have now days, I have yet to be able to unwrap a stick of butter without leaving some of the wrapper behind or getting the cube of butter all over my hands.  Why hasn’t someone invented a butter unwrapper by now?  There should be one of those at “As Seen on TV” promotions. 

The same goes for those packages that have printed on them, “open here”…which can’t be opened without a tool in that particular place.  I still love the soda can cases that tell you to open them so it will be easier for you to take one can out at a time after you store the entire box in the refrigerator…the flap can never be opened easily without scissors. And, the last time I used scissors I punched a hole in one of the aluminum cans!  I know what you are thinking… Yes, I put my mouth over it and drank it that way, since it was already opened.  The soda can used to be the hardest part to get open, but now, it is easier to open the can than it is the packaging it comes in!

The best is the mayonnaise jars and salad dressing containers.  You have to take that stinking cardboard off the top in order for you to use the contents.  What is that about?  Do the manufacturers now hire people that will contaminate the contents?  Does someone want to open up the container and put something in there that we didn’t pay for?  The containers need the “jaws of life” to open them!   And, with 80% of the population on some kind of drug, I doubt anyone would notice if there was anything in there that would hurt them.  Could it be worse than the prescription drug they are taking? 

Most containers can’t be opened without getting your hands messy.  We have to believe that the manufacturers have our best interests in mind and that messy hands are here to stay.

Have a Nice Day

Do most of the people you deal with on a daily basis still say, “Have a nice day” or some version of that phrase?  Do you take it to heart?  Do you feel bad that someone has said to have a nice day and at the end of the day, you realize you didn’t?  Do you say to yourself, “Oops! That clerk told me to have a nice day and I didn’t do it.  What will they think of me next time I see them?”

Do 90% of those people say those words as they are moving and you miss some portion of it?  

If we all had a nice day every day, how would we know if we had a bad day?  There would be nothing to compare it to.  The days would become “regular” and not nice at all, wouldn’t they?

When do we ever look in the mirror and say, “This is going to be a nice day”…we don’t.  We just figure we get what we get and make the best of the day.  At the end of that day, we anticipate another (hopefully) and it feels much like the one before, with different highlights in it and sometimes new playmates.

Will the phase, “Have a nice day” ever go out of style?  Most phrases have a short life.  Why is it that this one has continued long after it should have died?  Can someone please think of a new one?!

If someone has made the moment a wonderful one, let’s share how they did that for us and how that felt to us instead of mimicking the words “Have a nice day.”    It isn’t everyone that can actually make moments in your day wonderful.  Repeating the words like a puppet doesn’t make your day, doing something nice for others does.

Home Automation for the Paranoid

AJ Wilcox and I have teamed up on this post.  He has been a delight to work with and easy going about the project. Please visit his home page at http://wwwbigfishautomation.com. 

Home Automation for the Paranoid

Are you paranoid about the security of your home? Always worrying about someone accosting your house or hiding in your bushes? Let’s find out what is available to help alleviate those fears, shall we?

Outside

Before anyone can get into your home, they have to approach it. That's why security cameras were invented.

Motion-sensing cameras around the perimeter of your home make it a piece of cake to see anything happening on your property.  Just remember, there will be things that you can’t unsee later.  Consider yourself warned.

Cameras can be programmed to record to a digital DVR's hard drive ON MOTION - so no rewinding through hours of video to see which of your neighbors was snooping - your video will only contain the parts where something is occurring.

What if someone starts creeping around at night? You can get cameras that have an infrared sensor - better known as night vision. You can paint your face black to go undetected yourself…just don’t open your eyes.

Inside

Is your paranoia overwhelming? Are you afraid someone is going to get inside your home while you are away?  There, there… I understand your condition.

Security systems are very common.  Feel better, now?  No?  You want the bells and whistles too?  You want an integrated alarm system? You want motion detectors in your indoor cameras?  You want lights that automatically come on since you have forgotten where the light switch is?  You can have it all!

If you habitually leave the house without locking the doors, you can even get automated door locks.  You can pull up a map of your home (in case you haven’t seen portions of it for quite some time) on your iPad and see which doors are locked and unlocked.  Let’s see, is it green if they are locked or it is red? 

On The Go

Worried about your home while you are at work or in your car…you can just whip out your iPhone or Android, and everything is right there. Check the status of, or set anything, from anywhere.

Basically, no matter how paranoid you are, home automation exists to help you feel more in control of your life.  We all have our quirks!  It seems home automation can really save someone’s sanity. And, of course if you're in the Utah area, we know a great home automation company that can help with the setups.

3 Things to Keep You Safe in the Emergency Room

We all have things that happen in our lives that have taken us to the emergency room.  I am more dangerous in the emergency room than most people.  I am easily bored and the personnel do leave you alone most of the time…If I could only go to sleep, everyone would be safe.

Unfortunately, that is never the case for me.  There are way too many lights to snooze; too much activity to relax and most importantly, too many new toys to play with I don't have at home. 

One of the funniest things in the ER is the gowns they use.  Why are they cloth instead of the paper kind you get at the doctor’s office?  Putting on the gown is a test and if you can figure out how to snap the shoulders and arms and tie it yourself (in the back), they will treat your illness.  If not, well, you might be asked to leave. Why do they have a pocket looking opening on the right side at chest level?  If they use the opening for monitoring the heart, wouldn’t it be easier to get the patient to put the gown on with the opening in the front and do away with the pocket?

Another thing I noticed is that if a guy says his pain level is a four, the nurses say that he is masking it well.  If a woman says her pain level is four, the nurses wonder why she is in the ER.  If you are a woman and say to the nurse that your pain level is at a ten, she pretends you didn’t say that and backs out of the room, slowly.

In my few hours visit in the ER, I found a variety of toys that are fun to play with.  A bed that goes up and down; can be lifted and lowered in positions that would make anyone ill at some point.  You have to wonder why a patient would ever need to be in some of those positions but I guess there are all types of illnesses. 

In my small room, there were two hand sanitizers that never got used by anyone.  I have to question why two were needed in a room that small and I have to say that the locations of them were not ergonomically correct. 

The nurses do like to ask you if you are allergic to anything over and over again.  Can someone remember this, please?  You’re scaring me.  Also, they print off an entire page of labels with your name on them, the date you came to visit but only use one or two of them.  Why do they need an entire page of labels for anyone in the emergency room?  Everything in the room had a label on it by the time I left.  I even had my name on the door.

Oh, and I can’t leave out the exceedingly young person from the admitting office that comes to gather the $200 copay from you while you are in so much pain.   They are way too perky for a collection agency.

When it came time for me to leave, the staff said they would never forget me.  How great is that for people that see hundreds of folks every night?  I was so touched!  I wish I could remember their names but the drugs worked much too quickly.

4 Very Quick Reads

Some Things You Just Can’t Make Up

Here are a few things I found on the FML website for entertainment.  Some of the words have been changed to make them less offensive…

I was walking when a man pointed a camera at me, so I decided to be nasty about it and say, "Did I say you could take a picture?" and he replied with, "No, but can you get out of the way so I can take one of my wife and kids." I turn around, and they were right behind me.

Today, my car was in the shop so I borrowed my wife's VW Beetle convertible. It's really embarrassing because it's a girlie car and it's full of little stuffed animals. At a stop light a man asked me if I'd like to borrow one of his testicles because "every man should have at least one."

My mother called me downstairs to give me what I assumed was going to be "The Talk" (About four years too late). So she sits me down, holds my hands, and with the gentlest, most motherly expression on her face tells me, "Honey, if you ever come home pregnant, I'll kill you and the baby."

I was at my church’s spaghetti dinner with my family. My brother shook up my mom's soda, as a prank. My entire church witnessed my mom waving around an overflowing Diet Coke while my dad yelled, "Come on, put your mouth on it! Suck it! Suck it, Kathy!!"

We all say or do silly stuff at one time or another and wish that no one witnessed it.   Hope these gave you a chuckle.

Disclaimer:  Smiling and laughing may be good for your health.  Making the load of life lighter is always a great thing.