LOOKING BACK AND FORWARD: Predicting The Future

Television, newspapers, and the internet are always telling us what might happen in the future and most of the time it's not good news.  I read an article recently that I saved from January 27, 1997 and it was published by Newsweek.  The article is entitled, "Cloudy Days In Tomorrowland."

Here are some of the quotes from people explaining what will happen in the future.  It's a good idea to keep a few of these in mind the next time someone tells you something awful will happen in the future. (It probably won't.)

1.  "Man will never reach the moon, regardless of all future scientific advances." Dr. Lee De Forest, inventor of the Audion tube and a father of radio, Feb. 25, 1967 

2. "Television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months.  People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century-Fox, 1946 

3. "Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value."  Marshal Ferdinand Foch, French military commander and future World War 1 commander, 1911 

4. "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out." Decca Records talking about The Beatles, 1962.

5. "Computers in the future may perhaps only weigh 1.5 tons." Popular Mechanics 1949

6.  "The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty-a fad." A President of Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford's lawyer not to invest in Ford's company.  Horace Backham bought $5,000 shares of stock and sold it for $12.5 million.

7."There is no reason for anyone to have a computer in their home." Kenneth Olsen, president and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. 1977

8. "Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." Irving Fisher, Yale University, Oct. 17, 1929

9.  "I have no political ambitions for myself or my children." Joseph P. Kennedy, 1936

10. "I continue to believe that Donald Trump will never be President." President Barack Obama, February 17, 2016 (This of course wasn't in the article)

Living in "The Life of Riley"

Way before I was born, in the 1940's, "The Life Riley" was a radio comedy show.  In 1949, NBC aired  two different television shows with different characters.  It was so popular that comedian Jackie Gleason played the starring role for a year(pictured below) and there was a film version in 1950 starring the original lead actor, William Bendix. In 1955, there was another TV show on "The Life of Riley." Basically, people could not get enough of  Riley.

I remembered this title recently since our grandchild's name is Riley and we are living in "The Life of Riley." I realize that every baby is adorable, (except for the one in the Seinfeld episode), but I figured I would share some of my favorite pictures of Riley since she just became five months old.  I might do this once a year, but not more than that-promise.

This is obviously Holiday Riley.  Her first Christmas/Hannukah and she was enjoying all the lights.

This is Smiley Riley enjoying time with her grandma and my wife.

This is Singing Riley as the two of us belt out our first song without words, but a lot of sounds.

Stroller Riley enjoying the ride in her stroller.

This is Snow Riley relaxing in the snow.

This is Hungry Riley and she is about to start eating her first pizza pie.  She may be able to review it in a couple years.

There is no doubt that 2025 will be the "Year of Riley," and we're just enjoying the journey with her.

Is It Wrong to Cut Cheese With a Paring Knife?

It seems my whole life I have heard about doing things "the right way." I have been more interested in doing something, rather than doing it "the right way." I understand that if you're jumping out of a plane there probably is a "right way" to jump out and pull the chord.  In my 800 blogs over the past seven years, I have most likely blogged about this topic, but I thought you would be amused with this.

One of the snacks I bring with me when I Uber is some cheese that I cut up.  It's not a lot, but it's a great quick snack to give me some energy.  Each week, I cut up some cheese for the weekend and I put some cheese in a sandwich bag to eat on the road.

A few years ago I believe, my wife suggested I use a different knife to cut the cheese.  Pictured below is I thought that knife and it's called a paring knife. (I've never heard the name before)  

If you look closely towards the top on the blade side, you should be a able to see the spec of cheese.  This was the knife that was used to commit the crime and I can testify that this is the knife I've been using for many years.

My wife explained to me that this is not for cheese, but I should use a butter knife to cut the cheese.  I decided to check Mrs. Google and ask, "What do you cut with a paring knife and the answer was, "Apples, potatoes, garlic, onions, and coring tomatoes." (I have to look up what a coring tomato is, but it sounds scary.)  My wife, as usual, was correct.

However, I asked Mr. Google, "Can you cut cheese with a paring knife?" His answer was, "If you don't have any cheese knives on hand, we'd recommend a small pairing knife for cutting firm to hard cheeses and a thin kitchen knife or butter knife for soft cheeses." It would appear that my wife is right again, but below is the picture of the block of cheese I am gnawing on.

I guess it really comes down to this: "Is this a hard cheese or a soft cheese?" I know it's not butter.  Next week I have a big decision to make: what will I use to cut the cheese?

MY MOST MEMORABLE RIDER COMMENTS IN DECEMBER

He: "My aunt left me a house in Mt. Pleasant.  She died at 115 years old and was a Cherokee with long hair down to the ground."

He: "I knew I couldn't live the rest of my life with an old girlfriend the one moment when she got mad at me. She stood on my sofa, pulled down her pants, and urinated on it."

She has two teenagers, one boy and one girl. "I could have five boys, but I'm done with girls. There's too much drama."

                                 

                   

                                                

She: "My husband only wanted to have girls because he gets along so well with women." I asked him, "How well did you get along with women?" He: "I lived with three of them before I met her." Me: "Together?" Him: "Separately."  Me: "I thought you were John Ritter in "Three's Company."

She: "Why do men fart louder than women? Because men have a microphone and two speakers."

Lawyer: "The only flaw in being a lawyer is having to work with other lawyers."

CPA: "I'm not a numbers guy.  I'm not the one who you give the check to split up."

Married 38 years, I asked her, "What's the secret of a successful marriage?" She: "Be kind and let them be who they want to be." He said, "Let them get the couch they want."

She's from here, but now lives in Portugal. "They make leisure time a priority, they enjoy life and they work to live, not live to work. The quality of life is better there."

Sitting next to her friend, she told me, "He's autistic, I mean artistic."

I spoke with an attorney who is a litigator, about the OJ Simpson Trial.  He said, "The police used to use the investigation as a study not to do too much in a case. They framed a guilty man and made it difficult for jurors to vote him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

She: "When I went to school at NYU there were so many Jewish holidays, sometimes the school was called NYJew."

Stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska, he told me that, "It has the widest recorded temperature range of any city- 98 degrees and minus 67 degrees. When it was 60 below zero I started thinking about getting out of the military."

He came from Gabon in Africa. After early retirement, the chemist is working in Charleston and he drove with Uber for six months and said, "Thanks to Uber I was able to speak English a lot better."

He: "When I met my wife she was like a breath of fresh air."

He: "Dan Marino has a home in Kiawah Island (in South Carolina) and in front of his house is a big statue of himself." (?)

She: "One day a few years ago, my liver suddenly collapsed without warning. I couldn't walk or talk for five months and was able to get a transplant at the last moment."

She: "I was in the airport and I gave my ID to the lady at the counter and she dropped it. It went inside  the counter and they couldn't get it out.  They let me on the plane without it and they mailed it to me."

After retiring from the military, he said, "It takes a little time to just be a dude again."

She: "I was moving out of my apartment in Washington D.C. and I didn't have a car.  I had some big bags with stuff in it and figured the taxi driver would give me a hand.  When he pulled up, I found out he had only one leg."

He: "I got sick of the Yankee fans bragging about winning, so I became a Red Sox fan and I was there in Fenway when they finally won the World Series."

He: "I went to a marriage counselor with an old girlfriend. The counselor asked me what I wanted in this relationship and I said, 'I want to get married, buy a house and have kids.' My girlfriend said that she wanted to, 'Dance and play tennis.' The counselor said we shouldn't get married."

She: "When our family gets together for the holidays we play "Fish-bowl." Everyone takes out a dollar bill and puts their name on it and the youngest child picks one bill and they win all the money. About six years ago I started writing my name as Liz and a couple years later when I counted up money left for me as a server, I found my name on a dollar bill-it came back to me.  I still have it."

MORE COMMENTS

He told me, "I've been "cheffing" for 17 years."

He; "I went to Vietnam and Thailand with my younger brother for several months to check out the food scene. I liked Vietnam better."

She: "I once got a small airplane to Wyoming that had only twenty seats. I was the only passenger, so the pilot asked me if I needed anything."

She: "We have two girls so my husband calls us his harem."

Me: "How has your first year of retiring been?" He: "Disturbing."

"Living in Jordan is indescribable. We have a lot of natural beauty."

The woman sadly said, "You can't really enjoy the holidays with all the bad things that happen outside, it's better to stay home."

She: "I'm going to a dog and human birthday. We're celebrating two dogs and my friend's 30th birthday together."

Me: "Have you ever gotten a gift from an Uber driver?" She: "Yes, kind of.  It was my 30th birthday and the driver tried to give me a $5 bill, but I didn't want to take it from him."

Coming back to Charleston after many years, she said, "Some of my old friends are in a time warp, they haven't matured at all and they're in their fifties."

Couple from Bangladesh: "We celebrate Christmas too, we're in harmony with everyone."

He: "People don't seem to have the motivation in the South."

Young woman: "I hate people from Ohio."

UNIQUE OCCUPATIONS

Professional Poker Player

Professor NYU Dental School

Genetic Counselor

Clinical Neuro Psychology Student getting his PHD

Stand-up Comic

Vice-President of Alaskan Company

COMMENTS ABOUT LILY, MY MANNEQUIN

"What's with the dummy?

She: "Did you behead the last rider?"

She: "A friend of mine made a short ten-minute sci-fi film with a mannequin talking to Alexa.

"I like your doll head."

COMMENTS ABOUT ME AND MY CAR

"You're an inspiring person."

"You're a good person with a great attitude, why wouldn't anyone want to ride with you?"

"It looks like you've made the most out of your Uber experience."

He: "I would ride to California with you."

"You're awesome to talk to."

My rider in November sent this message to me this after I blogged about her surviving breast cancer: "I enjoyed riding with you so much!  You made my day as much I made yours. You are just one of those people who has left a lasting impression on me. You are truly a rarity and I pray that God continues to bless you, watch over you as you drive another 10,000 more strangers, and he continues to let your light shine."

"Awesome, I've never seen anything like this."

"Your museum is amazing."

"It was a pleasure riding with you."

Giving her my list of favorite comments, she said, "Thank you, that's so thoughtful."

"I enjoyed your advice."

"I look forward to riding with you again."

"I loved riding with you."

"This was the best transportation we've had all day."

"I like your style."