30 July 2010

Personal Technology: Real Time Progress Reports

OK. So, it's not personal personal technology.

A relative ran in the San Francisco Marathon last weekend and paid a grand sum of $1 to have automatic text messages update his progress. Think about that: location, time of day, time in race, and even pace can be reported.

(He told me afterward that he wished he had included reports to his own cell phone.)

© 2010 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

26 July 2010

Old Movies

Boomers will recognize my late-night movies of the past month: The Long, Long Trailer from 1953 (Desi was Nicky in this one and the perilous drive across mountains is much funnier when you are old and have done it), 9 to 5 from 1980 (the anecdote of choice is that during the filming the female stars were complaining of the heat one day and Dolly remarked that she could remember when no one had air conditioning and that humbled the ladies), Hello, Dolly from 1969 (in which a very different Dolly is decidedly not wooed by, I had forgotten, Walter Matthau), The Great Race from 1965 (Jack Lemmon chewing scenery, but very well), and Captain Newman, M.D. from 1963 (so, did I know how to place Peck and Darin and Curtis when I was 11 years old?).

The only one of these I shouldn't have seen in a theatre is The Long, Long Trailer. Surely I saw that on television as a child. But for the others, I enjoyed thinking of my age at the time of their release. The scenes I remembered were not necessarily the highlights of the movies....

© 2010 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

23 July 2010

Recessing: Try India

And we learn from the young. Travels and Investigations has several topics but the central piece is the author's reason for living in India. With no job prospects in the U.S., the new college grad returned to the site of his semester abroad and found room and board provided for work as a translator and copyeditor. He lives on about $10 cash per week, less than his family would spend on him if he were still in the states, job-seeking.

Within my circle, I regularly point to The Sociologist's offspring, who made similar travels on next-to-zero dollars when jobs were not plentiful when they graduated college. A relative went to Americorps after a lay-off. And another relative is taking a leap of faith in leaving a frustrating job even if it means taking a so-called "lesser" position in the same field. These are the decisions of young people who look around, wonder if there's a better way to spend their day, and then strike out on a new adventure.

I wouldn't call the process opting-out (exactly) but it does require an understanding that the individual cannot control societal circumstances. We humans have a tendency to take responsibility for tough times. The lay-off is experienced as personal failure. The lack of job offers represents not being good enough. It doesn't take much observation to realize that the job market is more than just difficult, and that the individual job-seeker is not responsible for the mess. But when you're the unemployed one, it can be hard to get to that realization.

As the economic downturn has played out, more of the unemployed are getting the message. Trying harder won't produce a job. Every other job applicant is trying harder, too. That leads to other realizations and lots of depression, of course. But we can appreciate the young (and probably some old, too) taking advantage of their mobile opportunities. Not a bad way to spend the Great Recession.

© 2010 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

19 July 2010

Sunday Morning at the Movies

In the nicest possible ways, in the olden days, friends sometimes teased gently about my Sunday morning habits. If you are familiar with Texas Wal-Marts, you'll be able to spot the era: a neighbor referred to my Sunday shopping as attending the Church of Hypermart. That was when there was a Hypermart (just for a few years and just in a couple of DFW locations).

In the more recent past, I took up Sunday morning movies. No crowds, even for blockbusters, and sometimes early bird ticket prices. A few friends would point out that most of the community was going to church at that time.

I keep repeating in the past because no one makes such remarks to me anymore. So, yesterday, I was a little at a loss when I had an intense desire to tell someone that church had come to the movies. Literally. My most usual cinema now houses a church meeting on Sunday mornings. Attendees sail past the ticket booth and ticket taker. The Bibles they carry may be their ticket. I have idly wondered if anyone ever stops for popcorn.

© 2010 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

16 July 2010

Personal Technology: Detergent Dispenser

Oh, yes, this is personal technology. At least, I'm adopting it for myself. Smart young women around me know all about this new style of dispensing detergent. One week, two younger friends starting talking about laundry detergent that can be squirted into the washer--and the next week, I visited a West Coast friend who had placed one of these pump bottles in my laundry closet.

Perhaps that is not the most startling coincidence of my life but I took it to mean that young women adopt smart products at the same time and then the ideas diffuse slowly across generational lines.

Anyway, despite cost considerations (all my young friends said the same thing, that they were intentionally not calculating the cost), this style of detergent dispensing is the niftiest invention since liquid laundry detergent itself. The terms for dispensing are various: squirt, spray, pump, even projectile. And dosing is recommended for 2, 4, and 6 pump actions depending on size of load. That's not too much to learn. And the benefits are obvious. No pouring. No spilling. (This is not an ad... I have not received any compensation or even free product. Darn. That would have been nice.)

© 2010 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

12 July 2010

New Touring: Rental RVs

This is not an ad. It's more like a puzzle. When did RV rentals become so obvious? I thought people rented RVs when they were contemplating buying. (I'm sure that contemplation matter is part of the current marketing around rentals, too.) But these colorful campers lined up in Yellowstone parking lots made a statement: RVing can be temporary and affordable.

Shortly after I saw these Cruiseamerica rentals on the road, I heard Click and Clack on the subject (NPR's Car Talk on Saturday mornings). They were advising a caller to ignore family debate about which car to drive to a national park, and simply fly everyone to Denver and rent an RV. Well, good grief. When did this become travel advice?

About 20 years ago, a boomer friend in Florida flew her family to Denver where they rented a jeep and a plug-in cooler for park touring. We thought that was exotic.

© 2010 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

09 July 2010

Even wider swath

I didn't photograph when I drove down a different neighborhood road today. But I will. There's more swath. In the meantime, see photo in my last entry. And just quadruple it.

© 2010 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

05 July 2010

A wide swath: Neighborhood change

Most boomers have seen neighborhoods much changed after an absence of several years. And that's what Tom Bold and I discussed for our North Texas home. Assuming we make a planned move in 2010, we will likely return for a business visit within the next two years. And we commented that we'll need to be prepared for the changes in landscape in the surrounding areas. What we didn't expect is that after this summer's 2-week trip we would come home to a new landscape less than a mile from our house. "A wide swath" is the phrase that comes to mind.

© 2010 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

02 July 2010

Seattle's Big Library

The Seattle Public Library has a planter that is roughly 20' by 16' and it is just an accent piece. Nothing could dominate the space of this Library. Not even the books.

This city building is striking for its size and architecture. It holds people in a fashion that never seems loud, crowded, or bustling even though many people are present. The Library lets cardholders use a computer for 90 minutes a day. The Library lets people read on site with no limits. The Library even lets people get married there.

© 2010 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.