So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Tiki Tom]

 

[GHT]

Yes. Too soon. Am gobsmacked that it has been twenty years.

Regarding flowers… I went through a romantic (small r) phase in my life when my credo was “always have fresh flowers on the table and a bottle of bubbly chilling in the fridge.” Of course, —-especially after we had kids—- I often did not live up to my own standard; but it was a nice sentiment. The underlying idea being to try to celebrate life even during weeks when there was no “special occasion “.

A bottle of wine and a bouquet of fresh flowers is something that I have treated my wife to, every week of the fifty three years that we have been married. It's not to score points, it's because I take the view that if I find her attractive then it feasibly possible that others could too. (It also almost guarantees a regular supply of new shirts too.)

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^
The door-swings-both-ways school of human relations.

 

[GHT]

View attachment 362103

Why does a sexual profanity enter my head when seeing anything Christmas related, anywhere outside of Christmas?

 

[Touchofevil]

The local roundabout where a number of screeching weasels seem to spend their days and nights going round and round at the right speed to make enough noise to be heard a few blocks away. Why not put speedbumps throughout and make it more interesting/entertaining?

 

[Fifty150]

People who step off the curb, right in front of oncoming traffic. Even worse when they want to jaywalk, and step right behind your car, as you are backing into a parking space. When I was a kid, we were taught pedestrian safety. Cross in crosswalks. Stop. Look both ways. Don't step out into oncoming traffic. Don't cross against a red light. Do not begin crossing until cars have stopped and it's safe to do so.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Funny thing. I always thought, that Ohropax is an international term "Oropax", but indeed german with an "h".

 

[Hercule]

Funny thing. I always thought, that Ohropax is an international term "Oropax", but indeed german with an "h".

But those are two different things.

 

[Trenchfriend]

But those are two different things.

What's the other??

 

[Hercule]

What's the other??

One refers to earplugs (hence the "Ohr") and the other (without the H) is the name of a German comedy duo.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^
So I take it the first renders the second more tolerable?

 

[Hercule]

I’m still reeling (an understatement) from a bad haircut yesterday (whoever said three days is the difference between a bad and a good haircut never had to live with one!) and I’m having a cranky day so I’ll take this opportunity to vent a little.

We went grocery shopping this morning, and of course it was a typical experience being crowded and with everybody in each other’s way. So what’s the deal with people who can’t /don’t/won’t acknowledge you when you either excuse yourself for walking in front of them or if you do something nice for them like getting out of there way? Is it so hard to acknowledge another person? It’s not as though I’m breathing fire and have snakes coming out of my ears and nose. Maybe it’s the haircut. In another instance we were at the end of an aisle in the produce section weighing our stuff at a kiosk. There was an employee with a cart just standing there, So asked him if he wanted to come through. I think he replied but couldn’t hear him (masking and all), so I put my hand up to my ear and said, “I didn’t hear you”. I thought I was very polite about it, but he just turned around a went out the other end of the aisle without saying a word. Seriously? Is it a fear of having to interact with another person? What is it, I truly would like to know. If it is, I can’t imagine living that way. It must be the haircut. I’m sure of it!

Heavy sigh.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Personal technology is slowly but steadily robbing humanity of its ability to interact face to face. I say "slowly," but it's happening a lot faster than anyone could have anticipated. Think about how many everyday interactions you would have had face-to-face just thirty years ago that are now transacted via apps. And think of how things were twenty years ago, ten years ago, and five years ago. And then tell me I'm a Luddite and an alarmist.

Put the gadgets down, humanity, while you still can. This isn't the future you want.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Personal technology is slowly but steadily robbing humanity of its ability to interact face to face. I say "slowly," but it's happening a lot faster than anyone could have anticipated. Think about how many everyday interactions you would have had face-to-face just thirty years ago that are now transacted via apps. And think of how things were twenty years ago, ten years ago, and five years ago. And then tell me I'm a Luddite and an alarmist.

Put the gadgets down, humanity, while you still can. This isn't the future you want.

You better move to Germany. After the Covid bullshit, we will fully turn back to the 90s, here, as it always was.
We still even don't need online-banking, here!

 

[Touchofevil]

Search engines
They seem to be getting worse at finding what I have typed.

 

[Harp]

You better move to Germany. After the Covid bullshit, we will fully turn back to the 90s, here, as it always was. !

I once had an apartment in Munich. And the women in that town, the food, drink, and scenic beauty
of Germany echo in memory. Only problemo is I cannot run the streets the way I did, stay up all night,
raise hell and pay heaven. But I can still interact face-to-face and don't need all the gizmoz prevalent today.
Marburg would be my top town choice.

 

[Zombie_61]

...Put the gadgets down, humanity, while you still can. This isn't the future you want.

I had to laugh earlier today because I was watching the local morning news and the two anchors were discussing the numbers of photos on their cell phones. One had over 12,000, the other had over 17,000. I thought that seemed kind of excessive and couldn't understand how or why anyone would want that many photos on their cell phone, so I checked mine. 125. Not 125,000. 125. Seems a lot more reasonable.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Personal technology is slowly but steadily robbing humanity of its ability to interact face to face. I say "slowly," but it's happening a lot faster than anyone could have anticipated. Think about how many everyday interactions you would have had face-to-face just thirty years ago that are now transacted via apps. And think of how things were twenty years ago, ten years ago, and five years ago. And then tell me I'm a Luddite and an alarmist.

Put the gadgets down, humanity, while you still can. This isn't the future you want.

My opinion? This began taking place a long time before iPhones, the World Wide Web and Zoom meetings.

Explosive growth of private automobile ownership. Once we were safely nestled inside of our horseless carriages and were no longer exclusively dependent upon streetcars, buses, interurbans, intercity trains, etc., social skills began diminishing. We no longer had to rub elbows with total strangers within close proximity and courtesy became a nicety rather than a necessity. That "freedom of the open road" that everyone sought extracted its price in increasing isolation. Electronic communication is simply the latest- and likely, not even the final- nail in the proverbial coffin.

 

[ChiTownScion]

I'll add: we meet here in the Lounge because of "gadgets," of course. Microchips enable our collective pining for simpler and better times. If we're Luddites, we're selective in our particular exercise of that religion.

 

[ChiTownScion]

I once had an apartment in Munich. And the women in that town, the food, drink, and scenic beauty
of Germany echo in memory. Only problemo is I cannot run the streets the way I did, stay up all night,
raise hell and pay heaven. But I can still interact face-to-face and don't need all the gizmoz prevalent today.
Marburg would be my top town choice.

Not typical, I'll admit, but I prefer northern Germany (Schleswig- Holstein). Rendsburg, Kiel, Husum, et al. North Sea and Baltic sea coasts.