Franklin was also a master printer and had the noble goal of using his printing press “to help people understand the world around them (http://www.fi.edu/franklin/printer/printer.html, 5/18/11)”. In addition, throughout his life, “Franklin wrote and received thousands of pieces of correspondence” and “worked to improve the U.S. Postal system” (http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/l3_world_letters.html, 5/18/11). The problem is that today I think most of us reach that number in only a few months…

Fast forward to the 21^st century when printing is digital, databases of addresses exist that can print instantly and send mail through cyberspace or “snail” mail-in record volumes and I tell you the new definition of certainty can be expanded to:

Certainty…Mail – as it contributes to paperwork; taxes – as they contribute to paperwork; death – as it contributes to paperwork. In short, what is certain for you or some member of your family is PAPERWORK!!

I am drowning in papers and paperwork…am I alone? The truth is I feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of paperwork I receive and have to process regularly just to make life run…and not always smoothly.

Between children paperwork – school, activities, now add auto and finance;  my dad’s paperwork – bills, information on his pension, medical benefits, finances; my family paperwork – medical/dental, household, financial, and so on, I’m frequently overwhelmed.  Add work to this and you have massive paperwork burnout and overload…And it has consequences.

Take yesterday for example when I had to drive an hour each way to pay a $10 late fee on something I thought was paid in full ( a tax bill on my automobile in the town I lived in briefly 1 ½ years ago – Kudos to Ben’s definition…). Technology being what it is in my state, it (the late fee) could not be processed online or over the phone (and yet it was in the state system that I still owed it…). I had to hand-deliver the payment, get a handwritten receipt, drive back an hour and use this receipt to finish my transaction (registering another car) where I now live.  My guess is some “bill” was sent out to my old address and forwarded to my new address telling me about the $10 but I don’t recall seeing it; nor do I know why I had the “late” fee in the first place…but that is another story. Given the volume of this type of mail, I receive all the time I’m not surprised when things fall through the cracks. The problem is it cost me $20 in gas to pay a $10 late fee (aahhh!!). What is even more frustrating, however, are things that fall through the cracks when I thought I handled them FOR GOOD…

For example, last week I received a great offer to renew a magazine subscription that expired 2 years ago. The problem with this was that the reason it expired was that it was in my mother’s subscription and she passed away 2 ½ years ago. I notified the magazine company because she had it (the magazine subscription) on “automatic” renewal. But, 2 ½ years later they are now sending information to her at my address.  Apparently, when I notified them through written communication they did cancel the subscription but also kept her name active and put in my address – NO, I did not send a “change of address”.  I wrote clearly that she was “deceased”!!! (Perhaps I should have defined the term, perhaps they need to visit Ben’s definition that death is certain and I’ll explain to them that when it happens you are not in a position to receive mail anymore…DUH!) And they are not the only ones. The fact is that I have called, written, done everything but gone on a mission to visit in person every place my mother did business with to inform them of her passing, and still, 2 ½ years later, she is getting mail to renew memberships, buy things, or send donations.  I have officially given up and simply toss said unwanted items out.

This seems to be the best solution (short of moving again with no forwarding address…) because today’s lifestyle is hectic enough without wasting too much time on paperwork. As Mr. Franklin also said:

“Lost time is never found again.” (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_time.html#ixzz1MiSybBN6, 5/18/11).

I put most of my paperwork in the “lost time” category and wonder when it will end (because apparently, even death doesn’t do it anymore, it just shifts it to someone else…).

True wisdom from a revered author. Unfortunately, this issue of aging is an issue that seems to be popping up for me a lot these days…now that I’m in the ‘over 50’ crowd. I’m happy to report, however, that I am getting better at accepting the “doesn’t matter” point! Take the other day, for example, when life, my life, mirrored a scene from a movie! A comedy of course…

And the scene, less than a minute from the 1984 movie Splash.

Picture this, the late, hysterical Dody Goodman appeared as Mrs. Stimler, an ‘upper middle-aged’ woman who was at her place of work wearing her bra on the outside of her blouse. Of course, she was oblivious to her clothing situation. It’s also worth noting that she appeared in other bizarre clothing moments as well throughout the movie – dressing in a shower cap and smock in another work scene for example. (Howard, 1984) The fact is, when I was young, these “Mrs. Stimler” moments made me laugh and appreciate the brilliant humor of the comedienne. Unfortunately, as I have aged and gone through “menopausal moments” (as I like to call them) I find “Mrs. Stimler” painfully real…and unfortunately mimicking my own life…for example…

I had a meeting to go to late yesterday morning. Since my main office, these days is located in my home I worked in the early hours wearing comfy clothes. No, not a shower cap and smock…but sweats and a T-shirt. Planning my time down to the wire, I showered and dressed quickly, grabbed my briefcase, and arrived at the meeting place with 20 minutes to spare. One other person arrived within minutes of me and we talked as the others slowly entered the room close to the meeting start time.  ​Since I was running the meeting, I went up to the front and made sure the presentation technology was working correctly – pleased that it was. Then, to my horror, I had a “Mrs. Stimler” moment…

It was hot and the room we were meeting in had HVAC issues for the past several months. So, I had dressed in a classic, but lightweight, black and white top and comfortable, black cotton slacks. Unfortunately, as I turned to walk over to everyone I noticed a seam on the outside of my shirt. I had put it on inside out! I was horrified. Up to this point, I had been chatting easily, totally oblivious to the seams and tags sticking out of my top (Mrs. Stimler anyone?). Hoping no one had noticed I quickly said “Excuse me for a moment,” through gritted teeth, and then added “I’ll be right back,” as I sidestepped, smiling all the way, through the door. I then high-tailed it around the corridor to the Ladies’ Room. As I ducked into the enclosed stall and flipped my shirt around, I had the picture of good old Mrs. Stimler, bra on the outside, in my head.

Next steps? I started laughing. If they noticed, who cares? I’m old enough not to really worry or panic anymore and, as Mark Twain so poignantly told us, aging is actually “mind over matter.” The fact is if we want to age gracefully, we simply have to accept all that comes with it. So what is the answer?

Well, in this type of situation I can lay my clothes out ahead of time and check the seams! The problem is that “loss of memory and poor concentration can be annoying and sometimes funny, but also frightening” (Menopause, 2015). So what are some other strategies that can help? Making lists, keeping journals of events, having a daily calendar and log, and, very importantly, knowing you are not alone. Many other women are going through these “moments”. Finally, a discussion with your doctor is also a good thing as it can rule out anything really scary and put your mind at ease…or, with any luck, you’ll just move on and forget about it :)!

Works Cited

Howard, R. (Director). (1984). Splash [Motion Picture].

Mark Twain Quotes. (2017). Retrieved March 8, 2017, from BrainyQuote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marktwain103892.html

Menopause. (2015, Feb). Retrieved from Health Talk. Retrieved 8 May 2015.

Now for the post-menopausal mind, this is a challenging way to spend the afternoon. Thinking…did I put a capital letter for this one? Does this one have a symbol (!+, or *)? What family member (human or feline) did I use for this one? Did I include a number (birth year) or not? Truly my mind has not gone through so many mental gymnastics since I stopped playing chess and backgammon (for lack of time not lack of enjoyment).

Yet, despite making these changes, several articles I’ve read lead me to believe I am still not doing it right – that is creating the strongest passwords possible. They indicate you should use words that are not in the dictionary (but then are these really words?), mix up characters and upper and lower case letters, and don’t use familiar names. Clearly, these rules were invented by those under 40…

The bottom line is if I do this, I will need a cheat sheet of all my passwords for sure – and one that I change every two to three months if I am to believe the experts. Of course, that (creating a cheat sheet) is frowned upon too…(I swear I’ll only make one copy and I will be prepared to swallow it whole if threatened…) And even if I do attempt to set up a new version of some secret password code every couple of months that would make any military code pale in its wake, after putting in so much time and effort, do any of these things do any good? I kept reading…

Interestingly, one article gave good information on how to construct a strong, easy-to-remember password base then suggested the examples given in the article were not very strong. Huh! Several others discussed the main issue surrounding solid passwords – the prevention of identity theft. The problem is that the main cause of identity theft is when major databases belonging to such institutions as banks, credit cards, stores, etc. are hacked into and data is stolen. So – the bottom line appears to be I can spend hours creating master codes that use fake words and symbols I’ll never remember in a million years, then go to the grocery store, swipe my debit card, and still have all my information hacked.  Personally, I think I’d rather stick with my old standby password and spend time getting mental gymnastics playing chess or backgammon….

The opening song was a catchy tune and started: “Meet George Jetson, da da da dada dada da, his boy Elroy…etc…” So why is this 21^st century, space-age family important? Well, for one thing, the team of Hanna-Barbera was genius in some of the cultural changes they forecast into the 21^st century. No, we don’t have “flying cars,” but we do have “micro-books” on discs. We don’t have “food creating” machines, but we do have microwave ovens and home computers. We also have treadmills – whether we use them for our dogs or not…well, my guess is more not. However, it is this last category, that of treadmills and exercise that is of real interest to me. Specifically how it is portrayed in Episode 10 – Uniblab.

As the story begins, our hero, George, is lying in bed. His wife, Jane, is trying to roust him so he will not be late for work and the all-important meeting with Mr. Spacely. His groggy reply “Right with you honey, as soon as I do my exercises.” He proceeds to roll over and push a button on a console at the side of the bed, a screen drops down, and, low and behold, George is now looking at an image of himself on the screen – first jumping rope, “One, two, three four, five, six, seven, eight” the in bed George counts, “…oh boy I can feel that flab melting, YAWN, better not overdo it,” and turning over he pushes another button. “Now for a fast lap around the track, [screen George starts running] “that really stirs up the circulation,” George in bed says then after a bit adds, “that’s enough of that,” as he pushed the next button and stated, “I’ll do a couple of rounds with the old punching bag.” Moreover, in bed George proceeds to cheer on his screen self until he is visibly perspiring and decides the workout for today is over… (Hanna-Barbera, 1962)

Essentially, the screen George did the work but the real, in bed George felt it…he was one with the screen. I used to laugh at this – such fantasy! Right?

Well, maybe we are not quite there yet but….let’s start with an overview of our definition of the “app” – the equivalent of George’s exercises (jump rope, track, punching bag).

“A mobile app should be a tool to help better engage [people/customers] and ultimately achieve some goal.” (ROGGIO, 2014)

The problem is, in today’s 21^st-century culture, the goal is, well life. Ok, maybe that is too dramatic. However, let’s take a look at the routines and tasks we perform in one day, then ask ourselves if we are morphing into digital/app dependency and connection.  I will use myself as an example.

In the wee hours of the morning, I stir to a clock app on my Ipad, roll over, and hit the Pandora app for some soothing music as I start to wake up. Since I am a fairly spiritual person, I usually start my day in prayer or some kind of spiritual activity. For this, I have apps for two different television groups so I can listen to a morning program, another app for the daily readings and prayers, or I tap my daily rosary app and pray. Next comes the newest app – Pilates – to start the day with some stretching and warm-up before I use my next app – Nike – to capture and sync my morning fitness walks. Ok, I am not quite like George yet – I actually have to perform the exercise, but the app does record my walking, and more advanced apps record pulse, heart rate, etc…It is essentially reading the body.

While I am walking, I have my music app to keep me motivated and moving along at a consistent pace. If I am working out on my treadmill or elliptical, I have a screen on the machine to monitor my progress and sometimes the TV on. Since I am trying to lose weight, diet is also important in my routine. Soooo, MyPlate is my choice as an app that tracks my caloric intake, water, and calories burned through exercise…

After this morning routine, it is time to get ready for the workday. Before getting dressed I check the weather app, sometimes the local news app for a quick update and traffic…

Which leads to driving to work three or four days a week. These days I no longer depend on memory or even a traditional GPS. You guessed it – The Google Maps app works wonders to help me get around the Northern Virginia/District of Columbia traffic (which is a nightmare 90% of the time…).

Once I am at my destination, I have the Blackboard app to monitor classroom activity, along with Kindle and NOOK apps for reading material. I also have the “Mail” app to read e-mail and a variety of social media apps for various purposes.

During the day I normally work for hours at a time on my computer interface – both in and out of the classroom, and use my mobile devices frequently. For example, I may use one or two of my bank apps, my notes and calendar apps to keep me on schedule, my calculator app, my audiobooks (some are apps in and of themselves, others stored in the iTunes app as audiobooks), the mirror app to check the back of my hair for midday sprucing up, and one or more “corporate” apps that range from Starbucks to Uber (if I’m traveling) to Lumosity or Angry Birds if I’m killing time.

At night I frequently unwind with a book – of course using my Kindle or Nook app, or watch a show or movie using my Netflix or Hulu or Hallmark Channel apps.

So, regarding the question I asked in the beginning about “digital/app dependency,” well at least for me that ship has already sailed. The devices I use simplify my life…I think? I do not need a myriad of tools to accomplish my daily goals. My laptop, IPad, and iPhone centralize a whole host of activities. This is the good part…however, there are also some negatives.

First, we have to think about all the issues of privacy and security now that so much of this activity resides in “the cloud”. How much of my activity can be tracked? How much of the material I am working with do I possess? Then there are the health/physiological issues that are emerging.

A recent article in The Economist, “Is digital technology re-wiring your brain?” states:

“It is already accepted by neuroscientists that the Internet and digital technology will leave some physical impression on our neurological systems. All interaction causes changes in the brain. Whilst these changes are particularly pronounced in childhood; the brain continues to adapt throughout adulthood, forming new neural connections and pathways and destroying old unused ones, through a process known as neuroplasticity.”

Some researchers believe that this type of digital technology can actually “help improve cognitive health and tackle neurological disease” and that “a small amount of screen time with the right apps or games could help…development. However, too much time with technology or the wrong kind of content could be harmful” (Stark, 2013). Researchers “are worried that digital technology and the internet, while doubtless having positive neurological impacts, can also undermine critical mental functions when used to excess” (Is digital technology re-wiring your brain?, 2015). For example, “The addictive nature of some computer games was also leading to serious social disorders, doctors giving presentations at this year’s Australian Council on Children and the Media conference said” (Stark, 2013).

Moreover, it is not just children and young people that are being impacted. Research indicates that all this constant stimulation, all the apps all the time, don’t give any of us enough downtime. Our brains are on constant overload. And this impacts our actual memory and learning even as adults, (Richtell, 2010).

Then add in the phenomenon of “phantom vibrations” or feeling the vibration of your cell phone when it is not ringing. This is becoming so common researchers believe our brains have been changed, rewired so to speak, as a result. In fact, more researchers are devoting time to study this, as it is becoming more common than once thought (Hu, 2013).

So, brain rewiring, social disorders, overload, actually feeling vibrations when they do not occur…In light of this my original statement “I am an app device,” doesn’t sound that farfetched.  As far as George Jetson’s exercise program – the wireless connection between the screen and his body – well, it is still not a total reality but let’s say I am not laughing so hard anymore.

The key is to manage and try to cut back on our use of such devices. And, as I look around my office, I see my unopened print newspapers that I’ve already read on my IPad, books in my bookcases that are now on my reading devices, and yes, even my old Smith Corona typewriter, in a place of honor collecting dust, while I work on two computers, one desktop, and one laptop, in the course of a normal work session. Then I have to think, at least for me, the ship has not just sailed, it is steaming along in open seas, not looking back at the port anytime soon.

Works Cited

Hanna-Barbera. (1962, November 26). The Jetsons – Uniblab.

Hu, E. (2013, September 27). Phantom Phone Vibrations: So Common They’ve Changed Our Brains? Retrieved from NPR All Tech Considered: http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2013/09/30/226820044/phantom-phone-vibrations-so-common-they-ve-changed-our-brains

Is digital technology re-wiring your brain? (2015, January 8). Retrieved from The Economist: http://www.brainhq.com/news/digital-technology-re-wiring-your-brain

Richtell, M. (2010, August 24). Technology: Your Brain on Computors. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/technology/25brain.html?_r=0

ROGGIO, A. (2014, June 3). 3 Mobile App Ecommerce Strategies for 2014. Retrieved from Practical Ecommerce: http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/68962-3-Mobile-App-Ecommerce-Strategies-for-2014

Stark, J. (2013, October 5). Digital Life. Retrieved from The Sydney Morning Herald: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/screen-overload-puts-brain-development-at-risk-20131004-2uygt.html