Trying to Remember My Previous Life

Technologies that have reshaped me

Photo by Roberto Hund at Pexels

Air conditioning

I believe it was George Carlin who pointed out that we leave our air-conditioned houses in our air-conditioned cars to drive to a gym so we can sweat.

Is air conditioning the greatest invention of my lifetime? No, but it heads this list, because we are coming off an extended drought/heat wave here in south central Pennsylvania. Our HVAC guy says our a/c unit is on the verge of collapse, and I’m trying to imagine life without it.

We’ve gotten quotes for a new system that range from $8–15K. The fear of being left in the heat is especially real because of my wife’s battle with chronic pain. Conditions need to be as ideal as possible for her to find any comfort. The stress of needing to worry about it is enough to spike her misery.

She’s not the only one who’s concerned. I like a cool bedroom. We’ve got the air running and the ceiling fan above our bed spinning all night. Even our dog, who loves to take walks, refuses to go out in the heat of the day. To get him down the block, you would need to carry or drag him. Let go of his leash, and he’ll run home.

As a boy, my bedroom was in the attic. It was like a freezer in the winter and an oven in the summer. I remember lying on my bed under a fan propped in the window, trying to cool myself with a wet washcloth. Falling asleep was the hard part. Trying to stay awake the next day came in second.

Whenever we went to town, we’d look for the stores that said, “Come on in, we’re air-conditioned!” It was like stepping into a miracle.

When window units came out for residential use, my dad got one for the living room. Enough cool air flowed from it to cool our parents' bedroom. The rest of us bunked in the living room during the summer.

I prefer not to use the a/c in the car when I’m traveling alone. Only in the most extreme heat do I put the windows up and turn the air on. I’ll walk in the house, and my wife will ask me why I didn’t use the a/c as a little bead of sweat dangles off the end of my nose. I’m not exactly sure why I don’t use it, but it sure feels good to be back home.

Power tools

In junior high school, in wood and metal shops, we were only permitted to use hand tools. That was an intelligent rule for several reasons. It protected us from major injuries, but also taught us more about the materials we were using and how to shape them.

Once we reached high school, we were taught to use table saws, band saws, drill presses, and lathes. Our projects, imaginations, and creativity all grew exponentially.

As a poor pastor of a country church, my power tools consisted of a circular saw my dad gave me, a scroll saw and router donated by my brother, and a drill I bought for myself. With those, I made a lot of our own furniture: a kitchen table, dry sink/entertainment center, rocking chair, cradle, end tables, and various other items.

From there, we started a small craft business to supplement our income. Life got much easier with the advent of the cordless drill. Cranking screws into oak had been an arduous and hand-numbing job. Cordless drills sunk those same screws with ease, saving time and sweat.

I’ve often referred to cordless drills as the greatest invention of the 20th century.

Automobile advances

I have resisted and resented many of the “improvements” to our vehicles. This is the one place I’ve disliked progress, but for no good reason.

I’m an old school guy and still prefer a standard transmission to an automatic. I’d rather crank my window up and down than push a button. Electronic ignitions have made the old manual choke obsolete, but I miss it. If it were up to me, I’d put the headlight dimmer switch back on the floor, where it belongs.

Cars and trucks do have a much longer lifespan than before. Back in the ’70s, it was hard to get 80K out of your vehicle before the engine fell apart or the body rusted off the frame. I’ve had several cars still running after 200K in recent years.

Computers

I was in my late 30s when I got my first computer: a Commodore 128. It was donated to the church by a family who was upgrading to a Windows system. It was very temperamental with its floppy disks, dial-up modem, and dot matrix printer.

If I didn’t save my work every 10 or 15 minutes, it could all be lost in the blink of an eye. Learning to use it was a job in itself, but I became familiar enough with it to save some of my writing after the screen went blank.

Even with the inconveniences, it saved me a lot of time over writing my sermons longhand. It also made corrections so much easier. Today’s versions have come a long way. I just wish they didn’t update and change things so often.

Cell phones

Like all the other advances, we were a little behind most when it came to getting our first cell phones. We started with flip phones, and once texting became a thing, it was a real ordeal to tap out a message.

Our kids were teens, and it irked me to no end that even though I paid for their phones and the plan that kept them connected, they rarely picked up whenever I called them.

I love that I can check on the stock market, weather, or current events any time, day or night. The thing even takes pictures and has a darn good flashlight. What will they think of next?

Even the Amish are using cell phones. I’m not sure how they charge them.

In all of these things: a/c, power tools, automobiles, computers, and cell phones, I try to remember what life was like before they were a part of our world, but it’s hard. We talk about “the good old days,” but how did we survive?

Our teens drove off, and we had no hope of being in contact with them unless they stopped to call us collect from a phone booth. That only happened when the car broke down or they needed money.

Discussions and debates will go on endlessly about the evils of social media, but there’s no going back. Attempts at limiting screen time run the same course as following the latest fad diet. It goes great for a week or two, after which you double down on your vices.

Like with everything else, we try to maximize the good and minimize the bad.

Good luck with that.

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