Old Dog New Tricks

My parents have really impressed me over the past 2 years.

I've always thought they were old - out of touch.

You know, the whole saying, "Can't teach an old dog new tricks."

Well, I guess with older people who are willing - this is not true at all. My dad is really old - to me. He turns 63 this coming May.

And over the past year he's picked up a few things (along with my mom).

1) Texting. I remember the day we all got new phones on our family plan. I convinced my parents to sign up for texting for all of us since I am such an advocate of texting. I mean really, why do you have to call someone when all you need to say to them is one or two sentences? And saying goodbye is so annoying sometimes. Usually I just like to get my point across and be done with it. Thank you texting.

My dad was so excited to learn how to text. There we were sitting in the T-mobile store dorkily (hah at that word) texting each other back and forth so he could get the hang of it. Now I think my dad would rather text me too instead of calling - I have received more texts from him recently than calls. For him to get texting on a 10 key too (vs. an actual keyboard on a crackberry or iphone) is amazing to me - I mean, I just think about the kind of technological advances that he's seen over his lifetime - and for him to keep up and actually enjoy something like this is outstanding.

2) Facebook. Part of me still wishes that the book was still for college kids. But I knew they had to expand and with that came the parents interest in it. My parents (mainly my mom) now upload photos, tag their friends, provide status updates and comment on others. And they have no problem understanding it at all. I think that is what impressed me the most about it - I didn't have to teach them at all about even how to create an account on FB. They just did it. And yes, sure I have to be careful with what I post now - but with as many people that had access to my account I should've been careful to begin with.

3) Online poker for my dad. When my parents visited us here in Charleston during the holidays I got him started on it. I figured it was cheaper and he wouldn't have to drive anywhere to get his gambling itch in. And hopefully if he was good enough he could make some extra money too. And so far, he's loved it. Unfortunately he's not that good of a player but he's interested in learning from me (has watched me play a few tournaments already). So I'm hoping it's a steep learning curve - almost every other day I'm calling or texting him now and trying to teach him something new.

So for those of you who are afraid of your parents being part of it - don't be. With my parents wanting to be part of everything new and technologically advanced, I've never felt closer to them. Since they can connect with me like I connect with the rest of my friends it's really meant a lot to me, and I'm sure it's the same for them.

Also, just because you continue to age doesn't mean you can't continue to grow mentally. I pray that I am as open to the things to come over the next 30 years as my parents are.

February Rando

Sup

Here is your random post for February. My favorite month in regards to the spelling of the actual month.

Mainly because I like to pronounce like it is spelled - because it always helped me in spelling it correctly.

Feb brew airy

The wife is gone on a business trip and will be gone until next Tuesday. It'll be the 2nd longest we've ever been apart from each other.

So out of the almost 6 years we've been together - all 2068 days - we've been apart from each other 25 days. That means we're apart from each other 1.2% of the time. That's pretty awesome.

I like math.

You know how they say you're not supposed to drink and sit in a hot tub? Something about dehydration? Does the same thing apply to hot showers? I hope not. Because I like doing that. Having a few drinks then taking a hot shower.

There are so many things which are better after having a few drinks:

-Chips and salsa (guacamole)

*I made homemade guacamole tonight. It was ghetto.

Here's how I made it:

2 avocados
5 spoonfulls of sour cream
A dump of salsa

It was like Sandra Lee had possessed me and made me lazy? I don't know. Chopping onions and tomatoes just didn't sound too awesome at that point. Especially when I had a recently cooked BLT waiting for me...cooling quietly on the table as I watched on with salivating mouth.

And what's the deal with Semi-home made anyway? Semi implies that it is half made at home. But everything she makes is 100%, completely and entirely made in her home. I don't see her making it in a grocery store and then bringing it home to complete it. So many misnomers out there that no one really cares about - because they just don't want to put in the effort.

Corn.

You know what would be cool? Giving a portable pandora station to someone as a gift. Imagine a small wireless enabled flash drive stick which you could put 10 stations on. I don't know why I said gift - maybe because giving things typically makes them more awesome.

I realized at a recent concert that I went to after admitting it to a friend...We were talking about the show "hoarders". Have you seen this show? It is absolutely terrible. I guess they showed an episode where a woman collected her excrement. So sick. But then I was thinking about it - and I am a digital media hoarder. I have kept every email since the invention of gmail. I have kept most of my photos and I have kept all of my music. I guess it's because it doesn't really take up real life "space". It just sits and waits for me.

And if you digitally hoard like me - take some time out every few months, or maybe once a year and go back through some of your old stuff. It's highly enjoyable. Or maybe not for you. But for me it is. And that's why I save it.

CRTL + S.

That's it for now.