My water was shut off four days ago, I’m not sure I’m going to make it!

What does it take to make it through the 21st century?

The media is all about how to work today’s technology while dodging the negative side effects of artificial intelligence. Isn’t everyone worried about that? When I was working in the university, it was amazing the number of students who hadn’t figured this out – who made so many dumb mistakes using AI to complete assignments and got caught (like submitting work with British spellings of a word here or there).

Right now, I can’t even get my printer connected to the internet. I’m writing because I think there are other survival skills worth thinking about:

• Crossed my mind while walking through the church parking lot trying to dodge senior drivers. We live longer now and continue to be active more years than ever before. Maybe driving isn’t for everyone in their 80’s? I’m not that old but am parking like a drunk almost always.
• Watching people at the checkout with their phones trying to understand all the digital machinations necessary to get the daily deal is like a comedy sketch. I’m in that routine myself! To save 15 cents on peanut butter one needs to be a 12-year-old tech whiz. The deals are attractive, the promised technology seems advanced, you can check out yourself (unpaid labor). But if you can’t always work the tech, you’re a clog in the flow.
• What about managing the changing currents of health insurance? It can be a full-time job communicating with insurance, doctor’s office, and pharmacy. Each change brings about a new wave of necessary re-learning and explanations. When you feel like you’re ready to leap into the future and have your medications delivered by Amazon, that can be a whole new quagmire. You’ve now got a digital entity to help or get in the way. But it’s going to take time. Thinking about a second career?

“We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works.”
― Douglas Adams

Different ages with different skills all living in the same society

I’ve joked for years as I watch people at the grocery plant themselves in the doorway digging through their bags, wander the parking lot looking for cars and talking out loud to a phone stuck in their ears – if it was 150 years ago, we wouldn’t survive six days on the prairies keeping safe from marauding natives. Different ages require different skill sets. Things are moving faster. We’re at a crossroads now. Be sure your Google Maps are up to date!

This week I’m barely surviving – my water is off. Hot water heater burst Friday morning. Repairs may one day occur. There aren’t enough repair crew here where I now live. Weekends get in the way. There’s not even an outside hydrant and hose to drink from. I’m figuring out how to make do with a Medieval lifestyle. Why do emergencies seem to occur at the end of the week? I’m watching an emergency room drama on TV. Emergency room visits increase on Fridays. So do violent crimes by adults.

What would you need to do different to carry on without running water? Hygiene, watering plants, washing dishes, cooking, cleaning up. What about your morning coffee? So much we take for granted. When the electricity, internet, AC, or groceries go down, we go into a panic. Down in Houston, the minute anyone hears the word hurricane all the bread and toilet paper disappear from shelves – within minutes. What do you think your grandparents couldn’t do without? The newspaper? Air conditioning? A fire in the fireplace? Electricity? Sharp knife?

What does survival look like for you?

“However, if I were to let my life be taken over by what is urgent, I might very well never get around to what is essential. It’s so easy to spend your whole time being preoccupied with urgent matters and never starting to live, really live.” ― Henri J.M. Nouwen

What’s essential for living the life you’re now moving through? You’ll never really know until the non-essentials are taken away.  What are you spending your treasures (time, resources, relations) to acquire and maintain? There are the basics; physical, social and psychological needs that must be met for anyone to survive. For you, at this stage of your life, have you figured out what you really need to function well, to thrive? Not a different colored couch, but what’s absolutely necessary to grow and get better?

I need running water.  I need someone whose job it is to be concerned that I don’t have running water. That may be too much to ask in this stage of civilization. I’m going to try to demonstrate more concern for others in my path this week. That’s something I CAN control.

“Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.” ― Thomas à Kempis