I didn't get a post up before midnight because I was having trouble with my computer, which is three years old and these are the last few weeks when I can still call up for free technical help. Thank that's a coincidence.
I've also been getting calls from a man with a heavy Indian or Pakistani accent making it difficult to understand what he's saying, but it sounds basically like he's saying he's calling from Mircosoft because they've discovered a virus I have in my computer and he wants me to start my computer and do things I can't because I have a Mac and I don't use windows. Fortunately the last time he called I was on the house phone with my older son Miles and he heard what the guy was telling me and told me not to do it and he googled Microsoft and they specifically say they do not call up to tell you you have a virus so it's a scam etc.
All that came up for I.D. on my phone screen was a single digit number which already made it suspicious and weird, like so much else these days.
This internet connected life is so totally different from not that long ago that when I watch movies from the nineties even, but especially the eighties, they seem like totally ancient history in terms of technology. No laptops or iPads or iPhone or iPods or etc.
I did just catch a good bit of PULP FICTION which I hadn't seen in a long time and noticed two women I went out with back in my Hollywood years had small roles I'd forgotten about. Maybe life was always weird.
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7 comments:
Trust me, It was always weird - and getting weirder by the nano second ...
Not only seemingly 'ancient' in terms of technology, but on so many levels - particularly with behavior and portrayal of response to situations. There appears to be a quotient of decorum, etiquette, and civility absent from the 'modern' paradigm - especially in American culture.
Its hard to get a fix on what's broken, let alone what remedies are applicable - or even if this is just the natural progression of some ill-devised social experiment/evolution ...
No wonder so many people are grasping for the nostalgia of what they believe were the good old days or being distracted by unrealistic propositions. Unfortunately, many on the right believe solutions dwell in pre-twentieth century principles - until, of course, they're inconvenienced by power outages, infrastructure issues, or even viruses - at which time they demand full-scale governmental investigation and resolution.
As an undergraduate, I remember reading something during the Carter administration by sociologist that warned of the dangers of America becoming a service industry nation - that the displacement of millions and erosion of work ethics would lead to social upheaval and chaos.
I wonder if that qualifies as weird ...?
Curiouser and curiouser.
Michael,
Small world, that same guy has been calling here. Every night at six clock. On my wife's unlisted land line. Which has a "blocked" number. And she has leukemia. And is often awakened from dreams of other worlds.
No one else ever calls. It's always him. And she is too polite not to pick it up. And she is too polite not to say to him what needs to be said.
The pitch always involves the Microsoft product line.
Which is itself an offense against the universe.
I would strangle the guy if I dwelt in those other realms. But a minute later, the phone would be ringing again.
Tom, how incredible. I wonder if they target older folks. I kept thinking if it had been on one of my bad days and my older boy hadn't advised me that it was a scam I may have done what he asked on my computer. As WC Williams once said, "There's a lot of bastards out there."
Michael,
Let's not let anybody know about this, but... post-stroke(s), I have more than a few of those "bad days" myself. And isn't it odd how, when in that state of vulnerability, one almost seems to have a bullseye painted on one's aura -- like, "Okay, world, come on over and fuck me up, right now!"
Your number one son is certainly what in corporate-speak would be termed an "invaluable resource".
(Not to speak of the love... a word which of course in corporate-speak dictionaries must have been hidden away on that page some inside-trader tore out to make notes for a call to his hedge fund manager.)
Had Dr Williams only known... the pure products of America, these days, seem to exist solely in order to Do a Deal.
But hey: like they say, season's greetings, my brother.
But on the other hand, and more happily, there's this guy -- still alive and kicking and in pretty good health (must be the country living) and as always bucking the trend. It's almost enough, dare it be said, to give one hope.
Yeah, they oughta be teaching his poetic history(s) of the U.S. in my younger son's middle school.
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