Ludicrous, but All Too Common

Whenever Drake begins waving his arms and shouting at me about on-line interface with tech companies like Verizon or ATT or Uber or ________, I get exasperated with him because there's no possibility for him (or anybody else) to change the situation.  Here's our latest blood pressure elevating interaction.

We're moving.  Drake, trying to be proactive, went on-line to get our internet service with Verizon switched to the new apartment on our move date.  Simple, right?  Not so much.  Midway through the 'process' on-line, the system asked him to call Customer Service to complete the transaction.  This happened at 3:30 pm in the afternoon.  He promptly called, and after a wait in excess of thirty minutes, he finally got connected with Customer Service. They called up his account and disconnected him.  Five minutes later, literally five minutes later, our internet was poof, gone.

Four hours later, with both of us alternatively holding on the phone for literally HOURS, and after the creation of a 'temporary account', our internet was restored to our current address, and supposedly, it's going to activate at our new address on move-in date with a service call thrown in to update the equipment.  

Anybody want to take a bet the service at the new address doesn't activate?  [No?  Pity.  I figured I could make some $$$.]  Apparently, if you go on-line (as recommended by Verizon), and ask for a new activation at a different address, your current service is deactivated immediately.  I'm assuming the switch to 'Customer Service' is supposed to block this.  However, IF you get disconnected, which everyone knows happens all the time, your internet stops working.  

Here's the surprise part:  Then, you don't have access to the telephone numbers you need to fix the problem.  We were both wrung out, angry, frustrated, and just downright tired after losing four hours of our lives over this debacle.

The next day rolls around, and we're still losing time trying to get a tech company to do something minor like change the address of the account, and send out a tech to switch out the out-moded equipment.  Drake has been on the 'chat' feature on the website trying to verify what we were finally told yesterday.  And, wait for it, yes, it's still screwed up.  He's muttering words like "ludicrous", "just forget the internet", and yes, once more after dealing with this for two hours, it's still not resolved.   

I'm certain everyone who reads this is currently thinking about his or her latest duel with the 'Customer Service' department of various on-line providers.  I personally only know of ONE company I deal with on-line who gets Customer Service right.  Just one.  Getting to a human being is getting harder and harder.  Can you imagine what life is going to be like if you're fighting your way through the maze to get to a robot?  It's going to happen, folks, and not in your children's lifetime. It's going to happen in your lifetime.

Am I "bah, humbug" about technology?  No, not at all.  Consolidation of medical and pharmacy information has been a resounding success in helping the person you consider 'your doctor' make informed choices about steering your medical care.  I like my doctor reviewing all the test results, surgeries, and summaries of my appointments with the various specialists I've seen.  I like being able to have my own medical records at my fingertips.  This is a boon when you travel as much as we have over the past ten years.

I like having telephone numbers and addresses for everyone and everything I need in my pocket.  I like having a map of the world, and directions on how to get to any destination.  I like having an encyclopedia, a library, a television, a movie theater, a restaurant guide with reviews, and the biggest shopping mall in the world in my hand anytime I feel the need to know, be entertained, or shop.  

And, I like delivery!  Long before the advent of the internet, I found shopping at a big box store to be a major waste of time.  I was an early adopter of on-line.  Being adept at obtaining on-line delivery services has been a major plus for us during the pandemic.  Not only have we benefited, but we've been  able to help Drake's mother get items she needs even though we are 2500 miles away from Arizona.  

New York City has led the way in the delivery lifestyle where only a few people own cars.  You either walk or take transit to get what you want bringing along your own wheeled cart, or you go on-line and have what you want delivered.  Mostly, if you buy face to face, it's from 'mom and pop' stores.  In this way, NYC leads in the on-line lifestyle, and at the same time is also a throw-back to shopping on Main Street.

The new neighborhood we are moving into is a perfect example of this duality.  We are living in the biggest urban area in the United States, but in reality we are actually going to be living in a town of about 15,000 people.  There are three commercial streets in the town (called a neighborhood in NYC speak) on which there are small stores.  There's one large grocery store; one specialty grocery store (think organic); and several convenience/deli stores.  The rest of the commerce consists of small retail stores, a funeral home, some medical/vision type places, and two retail drug stores.  The old movie theater has been renovated, and it shows movies.  There are no 'big box' stores.  That type of commerce is only found on Atlantic Avenue which would be the equivalent of Bell Road in Phoenix, Hulen St. in Fort Worth, 71st St. in Tulsa, or Westheimer Rd. in Houston.  It's a transit trip to get to the Avenue.

My point is this:  We are currently living under a dual system.  On-line retail/services side by side with face to face retail/services.  We are right in the middle of the fight, and we, the customers, are getting bloodied.  It's a war, and we are the innocent victims.  We all know on-line is going to win in the long run. but big box retail isn't going down without a fight.  

Retail institutions which came into being as the urban centers formed like Sears, Penney's, Macy's, Montgomery Ward, and a slew of others are either already defunct, or are hanging on by their fingernails.  Ones which are marginally viable are scrambling to establish enough on-line presence to save their companies.  That's another battle in which consumers are caught in the middle.  

Amazon/Walmart/E-Bay/Verison/ATT/Cable/every streaming service, and every on-line only company are also fighting for every nickel.  Customer Service is a quaint concept being sacrificed to cut costs and corners.  Oh, yes, it's a war, and today I feel like the electrons are winning while rolling over our pissed off, frustrated bodies.

In New York City the model we are currently doing the unofficial pilot program for is probably going to win out.  (Small face to face businesses integrated with on-line services and delivery that we self manage.)  Maybe the robots the electrons want to replace their service reps will actually provide some service because it sure isn't happening now.  It's 6 to 5 we don't have internet at the new apartment on August 21st, much less a service technician.  

  

Moving, NYC Style

We're moving to a new town!  Don't get me wrong; it's still the city of Brooklyn, but neighborhoods are like small towns and we are moving from Crown Heights to Carroll Gardens.  The grandson got re-positioned for school; see some things are the same everywhere.  It's all about the school district and the individual school.  We are big proponents of public school in our family, but quality varies wildly, and '27 pounds of joy' (our current nickname for the grandson) is going to need a good school.  

Our kiddos (the 35 year olds!) wanted to get settled into someplace they can remain during the preschool and elementary years.  Another driver of their move is it's a 'renter's market in the Big Apple, and that fact is in the same category as pigs flying, hell freezing over, and hens needing dental work.  Due to the virus, we must be within walking distance of the kiddo's apartment, so now we are moving too.

Brooklyn neighborhoods are like small towns.  Many people in the five boroughs of New York live in the same neighborhood their entire lives.  They know minutely when the smallest thing changes in their neighborhood.  We are all moving to Carroll Gardens which is an area closer to the East River from where we are now.   It's named for Charles Carroll, Revolutionary War hero and the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence.  This area has been settled successively by the Irish in the early 19th century; by the Norwegians in the mid 19th century, and by the Italians in the late 19th century.  Until the building of the Brooklyn/Queens Expressway cut this area off from "Red Hook", another neighborhood directly to the South, this was a solid working class neighborhood.  As a result of that Robert Moses freeway project, Carroll Gardens gradually moved away from its working class roots into a solid middle class neighborhood, and in the 21st century, it's an upper middle class neighborhood.  

There are some interesting landmarks in Carroll Gardens.  There's the  Norwegian Seaman's Church, actually visited by the King of Norway in the 1950's.  In the ways of New York City, this church is now a condominium.

 

In the 1840's a New York surveyor called Richard Butts created a series of Brownstones which were farther back than normal in order to create front gardens.  These buildings are now historical buildings, and the gardens are still beautiful.

Carroll Garden Playground and Park was originally planned in the 1840's as private parkland, but the City of New York purchased it, and this is where '27 pounds of joy' will be honing his swinging and other playground skills.

This neighborhood is still the home of 'mom and pop' stores just as it was in the 19th century.  Now, the stores tend to sell you coffee and pastries or designer food, but by being run as small individual businesses, they are upholding a long standing tradition in the neighborhood.

Wish us luck with the actual move, but I think we are going to be very happy here.

No Speed Limit Required

Please enjoy the following 'guest blogger', AKA Drake. He's having a unique NYC experience, but I can't say he's really enjoying it.

Driving and walking in Brooklyn are like living in two different dimensions of the same universe.  They share the same landscape but perspectives and experiences are entirely different.  The one commonality is the selfish attitude of, “All these other people out here are obstacles to my progress and are trying to get in my way”.  

Until recently, I understood this only from the pedestrian viewpoint.  Brooklyn drivers take dangerous liberties with my safety by turning quickly in front of me even though I have the Walk signal (“the little white man”) right of way.  Now behind the wheel of my Avis rental, I begin to see the other side.

Our Brooklyn transportation experience was initially limited to public transport and walking.  No car needed.  Subways and buses are convenient here, and good old fashioned shoe leather fills in the gaps just fine.  Covid-19 has changed all of that.  Public transport suddenly became unsafe, so walking more is a necessity.  In our case, a short bus trip plus a 0.2 mile walk from our apartment to our daughter's apartment (“our work place”) for nanny duties turned into a 1.1 mile walk each way.  In the morning the walk was all downhill; but what goes down must go back up.  The after work walk, all uphill, became a daily struggle.  Even so, this was manageable until our daughter and son-in-law changed apartments, mostly to live in a better school zone for Cedric (or 27 pounds of joy as we now call him).  Suddenly, a walking commute became a show stopper until we could make an apartment move ourselves.  Thus, we have a rental car.

Everything looks different in the driving dimension.  The sort of casual observations while walking cannot happen for the driver.  For starters, pedestrians sometimes cheat at crosswalks, daring the approaching vehicle to maintain speed, or just wander out no matter the “little red hand” telling them to stop.  The vehicle density on the streets is high and movements are chaotic.  There are cars, trucks, construction vehicles, delivery vans, ambulances, fire trucks, garbage trucks, street sweepers, motorcycles, bikes, joggers, and even miscellaneous vehicles like skateboards and electric powered scooters all jockeying for street space and competing to make the next light.  Lane-blocking construction zones are numerous and potholes are everywhere.  Avoiding potholes is a hit or miss proposition depending on the density of traffic.  Since curb parking spaces are in such short supply, every block seems to have at least one double parked car (hopefully with hazard lights on) to make things even more challenging.  The level of concentration and need for constant maneuvering makes me think car racing must be something like this.

There’s not a single speed limit sign around downtown Brooklyn or the surrounding neighborhoods.  Speed is easily controlled by the congestion.  Speed limit reminders are simply not needed.  As a result, everybody drives as fast as possible.  When the city was in shut down mode because of the virus, we observed bus drivers and delivery truck drivers hauling ass.  One silver lining of the damn virus was people who deal with this hideous traffic each and every day experienced a few months of impediment free joyful driving.    

Fortunately, this driving torture is temporary.  As soon as we move into a more conveniently located apartment, the car goes away and we'll be back to our slower paced walking.  Foot power will have to do while the virus crisis is still with us before we can broaden our reach using public transit again.

Flag Day

Today is Flag Day.  It's one of those holidays whose origins are somewhere in the misty past.  In my mind Flag Day is lumped in with Arbor Day, April Fool's Day, and President's Day.  They are noted in passing but not really celebrated.  No one observes Flag Day as one does 4th of July even though they are both patriotic holidays.  Just because a day has risen to the official title of holiday doesn't mean it's widely celebrated.   

June 14th is the day in 1777 when the Continental Congress commissioned the official flag of the United States of America.  While folklore credits the design of the official flag to Betsy Ross, an upholstery store owner and seamstress in Philadelphia, scholars think the designer was actually Francis Hopkinson.  This is one of the few instances when a woman is remembered historically while the man involved has become invisible.  The origin of the flag's design is murky since the Congress refused to pay Hopkinson for the design saying others had contributed.  Most likely the Congressional stance of withholding payment for the design was mostly about saving money since Hopkinson is credited with designing the first paper money for the Continental Congress, the United States Seal, and the first United States coin.  He also designed the Navy flag.

Judge Francis Hopkinson (1737 - 1791) was an 18th century Renaissance man.  He was one of the Pennsylvania signers of the Declaration of Independence.  He wrote articles and stories supporting both the American Revolution and the new Constitution.  He also played the harpsichord and the organ, wrote music, and even created a new musical instrument.  He was appointed a District Court Judge by George Washington and corresponded with Washington, Jefferson and Franklin until his early death at age 53 from an massive epileptic seizure.

Flag Day didn't become official until 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson issued an official proclamation designating June 14th as Flag Day.   This date was already being celebrated unofficially all over the United States.  It wasn't until 1949 that President Harry Truman signed into law the legislation for Flag Day passed by both houses of the United States Congress.  The legislation was amended in 1966 to designate the week which included the date June 14th to be Flag Week.  Whew!  It's pretty hard to become an official holiday, but Flag Day which morphed into Flag Week, however, is NOT an official Federal holiday.  

As with all legislation, there are several interesting aspects.  First, the President is required by law to deliver a flag day proclamation every year.  The actual design of 13 red and white alternating stripes with 13 stars on a blue field representing a new constellation comes from the original 1777 Continental Congress.  There have been 27 versions of the American flag as territories became ratified as states.  It wasn't until 1912 that President Taft formalized the layout of the 48 stars.  The 48 star flag design lasted from Arizona (state ratification 1912) until 1959 (Alaska).  There was a new flag design for one year until July 4, 1960 when Hawaii became a state.  The 1960 star arrangement is still in effect today since Hawaii is the last US territory ratified as a state. 

We've seen the flag represented in a myriad of configurations.  We each have our favorite representation.  Here are some of mine:

 Here's the flag flying when Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner  (This one has been loved to death and actually defaced with one of the fifteen stars cut out and 'trimmed' by souvenir seekers down from 42 feet long to 34 feet.)  It's very fragile, and it moved me when we saw the actual flag in a special Smithsonian exhibition a few years ago.  

The WPA sponsored artists during the Great Depression and I like this commissioned centennial poster celebrating Flag Day in

DuPage County, Illinois.

The iconic photograph raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima in 1945 is an enduring flag image.  The photo won a Pulitzer Prize in 1945.  Three of the men raising the flag were subsequently killed during the war, and the remaining three became famous as a result of this picture.

• 

 Artist Jasper John's iconic flag art piece came to him in a dream in 1955.  It's an encaustic (hot wax technique) piece is supplemented with oil paint, and newsprint, with three layers making it a collage.   It's 42" by 60" and is in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  (I've seen it, and it's very striking.)   

An American flag only a handful of people have actually seen in person is represented by this photo.  That's the flag Neil Armstrong planted on the Moon.  

Following the terrorist attack on the United States, the raising of the American flag over the World Trade Center rubble echoed the Iwo Jima flag.

You can find the image of the American flag in every configuration.  It's on t-shirts, the seat of your pants, on key chains, bikinis, coffee cups, and gimme caps to name a few.  It's been imprinted on everything you can imagine and represented in every way imaginable like with people in this photograph.

 

This cap is in the LBJ museum in Austin, Texas.

And this photograph is just an amazing representation of the flag.

We take the symbol of the American flag seriously and lightheartedly.  Today, though, is a good day to remember the purpose of our flag is to symbolize the unity of Americans under these words:

 

 "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." 

    

New York City in a Time of Protest

            Living in New York City, people expect you to be a complete expert on everything happening in this city.  Well, considering it’s the center of the pandemic, and also, is a very visible part of the massive protests going on for racial equality in policing, people are sending me emails, texts, and phone calls worrying if we are ‘safe’ and asking what’s happening.  Here are my observations as to what is happening in Brooklyn.  To put things in context, I live within a mile of the Barclay Center, a focal point of some of the largest protests in Brooklyn.    

            On top of lock down with people in close living quarters, and the stress of rising unemployment as a result of the pandemic, here come the protests over systemic racial injustice in policing procedures.  Most New Yorkers are torn as to the protests.  There's widespread support.  Drake and I can feel an air of excitement and commitment on the streets.  At the same time, people are fearful about the virus resurging, and I think there will be a resurgence because, while some people are wearing masks during the protests, the six foot social distancing which is to pair with the masks isn't being observed.  The protesters are mostly young (20 - 30), and many of them feel invincible.  Others are the workers who have been exposing themselves daily during this entire pandemic crisis.  And, others feel the cause is too important to stay home and be silent.  Finally, most New Yorkers live a large portion of their lives in public:  the parks, the neighborhood gardens, the bars, and the restaurants.  You know how people are - they will only sacrifice so much for so long.  And, they are just tired of being pent up since their places for going out are all closed.  The protests are giving people a place to be 'out'.  

I am afraid the infection rate among the black and minority populations is going to increase even more as a result of the protests.  They live proportionately in more crowded housing, spend more time on public transit, have lesser health care, and have ‘essential’ jobs which have put them out in public or on factory floors when everyone else was sheltering in place.  As a result, the African-American and Latino communities are suffering a greater infection/death rate.  If you want the numbers, and these are facts, not opinions, check out this website

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/05/30/865413079/what-do-coronavirus-racial-disparities-look-like-state-by-state

Case in point that’s close to home:  Sarah and Jay went to a protest (on the fringes) staying more than six feet away from people.  The protest was in front of a church at the end of their block this past week.  They were carrying the 4’x6’ foot sign they have hanging in front of their apartment which says, END WHITE SILENCE.  They took Cedric in his stroller.  This is an example of what I'm talking about.  I had to laugh when Sarah said, "I've never been to the start of a protest before" since it brought back memories for me.  They did immediately leave as the crowd swelled, so maybe, maybe they limited their virus exposure, BUT they do feel strongly about this issue.  I respect that.  Protest is a decision of the conscience.   

I remember the protests against the Vietnam war at ultra-conservative Oklahoma University in which I participated.   It was at these protests where I first encountered the buzz swirling around an energized group of people focused together for a cause.  I also marched in a Black Power protest when I was 20.  I took Black History in the United States as a semester long 3 hour course.  I was the only white person in the room, so I actually met black people for the first time in my life.  I grew up in a segregated town.  The revelations from the history class as well as my new acquaintances invitation led me to join the Black Power protest – this was a young peoples’ protest against voter suppression, as well as job and housing discrimination.  

I wish I was out protesting today, but with the rate of viral infections in my age group that would be tantamount to suicide.  Having worked with many black colleagues as well as my final teaching job being at the 'black high school' - yes, Fort Worth was like Tulsa, with racial groups segregated by location, I can tell you I've been talking and thinking about the inequality of policing  for more than 20 years.  I heard women (other teachers) talking about how to try and protect their sons from being arrested, beaten and even killed by the police for simply driving a car in the wrong neighborhood .  They talked about teaching strategies to their children when seeing a policeman.  And, it wasn't 'the police are our friends'.  These were educated, middle class people of color - not poor, indigent, drug using low lives.  I heard my students, particularly the boys, talk about their own fears or strut around (as only a 15 year old boy with new muscles can) as to what they would do if confronted by 'cops'.  Too many stories.  Too many pinched faces of worried women for me to discount the reality of systemic police violence against blacks.

Once again, we are confronting the great American problem:  Race.  We surely do love our pecking orders, and for 300 years, the color of your skin has been one of the pecking order yardsticks in this country.  Hard to overcome that.  Some commentators are seeing these protests as the tip of a sea change in the United States.  They could represent a handing off of power to the next generation – the Millennials, whose numbers are greater than the Baby Boomers.  The Millennials have lived through the financial crisis, are living through the global warming crisis, and the corona virus pandemic.  They perceive of the Boomers and the Silent Generation as ineffectual, and unable to even address either global warming or income inequality.  It's possible these protests are quickly morphing into becoming the new generation flexing their will.  The ballot box in November will tell the tale all across America.

In New York City the vast majority of the protests have been peaceful, and are becoming more and more multi-racial.   In the afternoon (around 5:30) you can see young people (anybody under 35 to my 70 year old eyes!) heading to a protest, wearing a mask, carrying a sign, oh, and a water bottle.  The conservative media are framing the protests as if they were justifications for unlawful looting.  That’s so far from the reality.   Prior to dark - overwhelmingly peaceful in NY.  After curfew (basically at dark) which the Mayor established to draw a line between lawful gatherings and unlawful behavior, police have been much less tolerant toward protesters, and they have exhibited zero tolerance for any type of violence.    

The problem in New York is the same as in other police departments around the country.  There's a legally sanctioned lack of accountability and transparency to the public on the part of the police when misconduct is involved.  (In New York the statute that protects habitually delinquent policemen from accountability is called 50-a.  You can google it.)  When everyone starts at a level of distrust, it's very easy for any given situation to get out of hand.  That said, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan District Attorneys do not plan to prosecute protesters for breaking the curfew.  If you loot or threaten violence, you will be prosecuted.  In total in 10 days of protests in all of New York City where thousands of people have been out on the streets every evening, there have only been 2000 arrests across the five boroughs - the majority of which fall into the non-violent/non-looter category.    The majority of the police as well as the majority of the protesters have been peaceful.  To suggest otherwise is simply not factual.  I live in a neighborhood that is not white.  I don't feel unsafe.

The true dilemma is where to go from here.  How do you translate the passion for true change into reality?  On Monday, New York City starts re-opening.  On June 23rd there's a statewide primary election.  Hopefully, the passion on the streets will continue onto a path to the ballot box.

Typing Revolution

Most of you know that I write a hefty number of letters each and every week.  These letters have evolved over the years.  In a thumbnail sketch, I write (1) old people; (2) sick people; (3) young people; (4) relatives; and (5) just because letters.  I average six letters a week.  I usually try to write using a different letter font each week just for the fun of it.  This week I chose the Courier font, and it took me back almost 50 years.  

When I got out of college (May, 1971), the first question asked of any woman was, "How fast can you type?"  Didn't matter if you had a degree or not.  Women were secretaries.  Men may have started in the mail room, but women started in the typing pool.  

My first real job was at a one man law office, and I got the job because I could type.  The typewriter of choice was the IBM Selectric II.   It cost $620 - equivalency today $3,150 

IBM premiered the first Selectric machine in 1965.  It had 2800 parts, and it took seven years to develop.  It became the best selling typewriter in history capturing 75% of the American typewriter market at its peak.  There were two instantly apparent differences from a regular electric typewriter:  First, there were no keys.  Instead there was the golf ball.  Courier font was the 'default' ball.

Second, if you look closely at the typewriter picture, you can see a little "x" hanging off the end of the space bar - that's the correcting feature.  You could use it to backspace over a typing error and retype.

These were both amazing improvements in the typing world.  Most typewriters using typing keys had a realistic speed of about 50 words per minute while an IBM Selectric could easily be typed at 90 words per minute.  The very first woman I worked with at my tiny law office had been a legal secretary for 40 years, and she could type at a blinding rate of speed on a Selectric.  My all time high was about 70 words per minute on a good day, and I availed myself 100 times more of the correcting feature on the Selectric than the real legal secretary.  Hand in hand with the Selectric typewriter came the small office Xerox machine.  

Prior to both of these machines, in a typical office, everything which needed to be typed was sent to the Typing Pool, and the Typing Pool Supervisor parceled out the work to the typists.  In a law office, everything was typed in triplicate - one original and two carbons.  You loaded one page of stationery, a piece of erasable carbon paper, another piece of stationery, a second piece of erasable carbon paper and a third piece of stationery.  For every typing error, you had to carefully white out your error on the topmost piece of stationery,  erase the error on the other two pieces of stationery, realign the paper and carbon sheets, backspace and type over your error.  Fun times!  You can see why a legal secretary who could type fast and make very few errors was in great demand.  I was not that person.  

With the advent of the IBM Selectric II,  you had one piece of stationery - period.  You could back up and the incorrect letters would magically lift off the page.  Then, you just retyped.  Instead of carbons, you made Xerox copies.  Affordable copy machines were just coming into small offices at the time.  Xeroxing was one of the first of the new electronic words, and it didn't matter what the brand of copy machine your office had - you still Xeroxed.  One of my first 'assignments' beyond typing and answering the phone was to evaluate a half a dozen copy machines  in order for the boss (our one lawyer) to pick one for our office to buy.  

The IBM Selectric II  which premiered in 1973 had an 8000 character memory function making this groundbreaking piece of equipment the first desk top machine with a memory function.  Prior to the IBM Personal Computer which included 'Word', a word processing application which had a cut and paste function, everything was 'typed' on a typewriter.  Keyboarding was a function of key punch operators who used keyboards to type onto paper punch cards - a machine hooked up to a keyboard which literally punched holes into the cards.  These cards with holes were the programs fed into huge room sized computers.

Drake as an early Data Processing Manager in the 1970's, had three groups of people reporting to him:  (1) the people who managed and maintained the hardware - the actual computer in an air conditioned room, sealed to keep dust out, and on a raised floor to let air circulate.  (2)  the programmers who wrote computer programs for office functions and (3) the typing pool and the key punch operator pool.  As he put it,  group (3) was a manager's nightmare.  The typing pool fought with the engineers (his company was a small engineering company) over how long it would take to turn around work, and the key punch operators fought among themselves.  He was thrilled when under a re-organization the third group was whisked out from under him.

This must seem like a 'when I was a kid I had to walk five miles in the snow to school' type memory.  However, I was in my early 20's and starting my working career.  The idea that any manager/engineer/accountant would 'type' anything was unthinkable.  Even into the 1990's, there were specialized people inside companies whose jobs were to manipulate the new desk top electronic machines to produce a finished project proposal with charts, graphs, color, and other embedded bells and whistles.

My dinky little one man law firm was an early adopter of technology.  We had keyboards interfaced with magnetic card readers (initially) which morphed into the 6" floppy disks, which morphed into the 4" floppy disks.  Permanent storage was on a hardware disk about 20" in diameter which had to be manually removed and replaced with another hardware disk to get a 'back up' of our work product.  I don't even remember how much memory these cumbersome disks contained.  

This primitive system cost $50,000 in the late 1970's.  Our lawyer was a figure of ridicule for spending that kind of money.  (That would be about a $250,000 expenditure in today's money.)  It wasn't long before we had the last laugh.  Within a couple of years, lawyers would routinely arrive at our door asking for a 'tour', or a 'presentation', etc. of our equipment.  That quickly became another one of my jobs. 

Document production went from typewriters with stationery and carbon paper (prior to 1973) to IBM Selectric Typewriters routinely paired with Xerox machines, (circa 1975) to desktop computers, (1980s) to handheld computers (2007) That all happened in a timeline of about 35 years.  Furthermore, the rate of change is continuing to accelerate as we move deeper into the Electronic Revolution.  The virus which has upended our lives is pushing the business envelope and due to our smart machines, which allow us to interface on multiple levels, the necessity of the physical work place in 2020 is being questioned in the same way as the necessity of carbon paper in the 1980's.          

     

    

  

   

Crystal Ball Time

Yesterday was the first really nice day.  Correspondingly, there was a visible increase in the number of people on the streets as we walked home from work.  There weren't hordes, and everyone, with the exception of two people, were wearing masks and maintaining a social distance.  There were more children out.  Our 18 month old charge was also 'out' - at the top of the 13 granite steps on his stoop using his large colored chalk pieces.  I think as the late spring finally takes hold, it's going to be harder and harder for people to stay inside.  Oh, and shame on the runners who think they are exempt from wearing a mask as they huff and puff down the sidewalk.

Checking that restlessness is the grim news the limited testing/antibody testing in this city is showing:  There's a 25% infection rate in New York City.   I think this is due to two factors:  The density of the population - lots of people in a small amount of space, and the slowness of the Federal and State governments to grasp the rapidity of the spread of the virus.  Drake thinks with proper handling initially, we would not be in our current state.

I think what we all want to know is what's going to happen in the future.  One set of epidemiologists have three possible scenarios.  None of them is particularly comforting.  Even the rosiest suggests this problem isn't going to be gone quickly. 

What I've been pondering (and Drake too), is what are the take-aways from this pandemic disaster/debacle.  Here's a bullet list of what we've thought about in no particular order:

1)  The gulf between the 'haves' and 'have nots' isn't just something talked about - it's visible.

2)  Maybe teachers will finally get some respect.  Parents are getting an up close and personal experience with teaching and even student management!  It's not so easy, is it?

3)  More people can work 'on-line' than previously thought, and the population could be re-distributed back across the country.  Maybe you can go home again.

4)  Now we know where there's no internet access, and lack of internet is crippling those areas.  Access to technology is critical in a society transitioning into the electronic age.

5)  Is the birth rate going to go up?  Is the divorce rate going to go up?  Will the obesity/diabetic numbers inch up even more?

6)  Close confines breeds domestic violence.

7)  The safety net held together by chewing gum, baling wire and hope is in tatters. 

8)  Is it time for UBI?  (Universal Basic Income).  I didn't even know what this really was until I read an article by Nathan Heller.  The idea goes all the way back to the 17th century, and nobody is really sure if it's a good idea or not!

9)  You can't spend years gutting basic scientific research and development and not expect to have that shortsightedness bite you on the ass.

10)  Nobody knows how many unemployed there really are as a result of the pandemic, and how many there will be as the economy totters toward recovery. 

11)  The closure of the churches may be the final death knell for some of the major denominations which were already in decline.

12)  If you were in doubt before, you know now major corporations are only out to benefit their shareholders.  They could care less about their workers.  They have been firing them, furloughing them, and cutting off benefits at a time when they are needed most - especially workers at the lowest level jobs.   Very few CEO's or other upper management are really making much of a sacrifice - some are cutting their 'base' salary by a small percentage for a couple of months. 

13)  If you compare the things in common of all live in partners (no matter what legal status), we are getting a crash course in how much intersection we have in a Venn Diagram of our relationship.  [you can google this if you are confused as to what exactly is a Venn Diagram.]

14)  Who knew reading could be so much fun?

15)  Have you been reduced to asking for binge worthy TV shows from friends?

16)  Everything can be bought on line; however, delivery is a different story.

17)  The rituals of weddings and funerals and birthdays mean more than we thought they did

18)  I find myself praying for a 'lite' tornado and hurricane season.

19)  I having a rising frustration level over being able to find facts rather than opinions in the media about this crisis.  I long for Walter Cronkite, Peter Jennings, and Tom Brokaw.  At least I knew what they reported had been fact checked before they told me.

20)  I'm going to value exercise more in the future.

I'm sure I could continue on and on and on with observations about how this virus has affected our lives today, and what the outcomes will be in the future.  I welcome any feedback as to something you think I've missed.