ALL THINGS THAT MATTER

Monday, November 17, 2014

Return the Rabbit Ears

Okay, not the rabbit years, but a simpler method to watch and record shows. There was a simpler time when we all had antennas on our homes and the TV was hooked up to a recorder. All very simple. Well, last night our Direct TV receiver went belly up. And yay, we actually talked to an English speaking rep, two times! Basically, according to the rep, broadcasters put codes in shows that you record and over time it just overwhelms the receiver, or something like that.

But here's the rub, we lost all of our recorded shows, many that hadn't been watched, and of course all scheduled recordings are gone. They will send a new receiver that will supposedly come in 2/3 days. The I guess we have to call Direct TV to activate it. Hopefully, we'll still get an English speaking rep. But it just seemed simpler in times past. The airways were free and it was easy to "tape" shows to watch later. But alas, times change, not always for the better.

Mental Isolationism

Many of us remember the Pink Floyd line, "comfortably numb." Well, it seems to be a pandemic that deserves attention. If you look at most social media in the U.S., the most popular and commented upon posts are about cute animals, sports stars, the Kardashians, funny videos, political bashings, etc.

All well and good to perhaps relieve anxiety, but when it comes to real issues, only the few seem to take any notice. Climate disasters, recessions, the poor, homeless, the hungry, education (or the lack thereof), beheadings, mass deaths (of people and and animals), and more are reserved to a minority.

If you recall history, which many don't, the U.S. has periods of isolationism, an overt attempt to stay out of the affairs of other nations. In most cases, this got us in trouble-"No man (nation) is an island. We all share the same planet, air, water, economies. And, while the U.S. has not been particularly isolationist of late, it's people are, at least mentally. There is a if we ignore it it will go away. Yes, what you focus on you attract, but what you ignore can bite you in the butt. Being informed and calling for actions to address major concerns does not mean dwell on the negative; it means to replace the negative with a positive.

In this day and age, can we really afford to be "comfortably numb?"