Daveen and I have finally picked a date to go to a tailor to have some new shirts made for me. It seems that I’m running out. Yup, down to my last eighteen shirts!

The need to have an extra supply of something kind of runs in my family.  My mother had extremely narrow feet. So, when she found shoes that fit – she would buy every available pair. I like my shirts a certain way and insist that they have two pockets. Those are almost never available ready-made in stores. So off to the tailor we go.

But why the need to have so many? Years ago, we visited a rice paddy in Bali and met the people working there.

We were generously invited into the three-room home of one of the farmers. I was struck by the sight of a single white shirt resting on a table.

“For tomorrow,” he said.

I asked where he kept his other clothes.

“For tomorrow,” he repeated, as if that would help me understand. And eventually I did.

That was his only other shirt – the one he would wear tomorrow. I couldn’t help but make a comparison between my life of many shirts, and his life of only two.

Perhaps I’m better off. But sometimes I wonder…

Alan

I’ve recently completed reading the series of books about Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro.  Born and raised in the hill country of West Texas, Lyndon Johnson went on to become President of the United States.  But when he was a boy, if his family needed hot water, someone had to take a bucket down to the nearby river, carry the water back to the house, go back out to chop some wood, bring that back to the house, load the wood into the woodstove, light it on fire, then wait for the water to heat. Sounds like a major expenditure of time and effort.

In other words, it used to be a lot of work to take a bath.

What do most people in the United States do today?  Simply turn the spigot and adjust the temperature.  Viola!

By introducing greater efficiency (thanks to engineering and technology and the miracle of modern plumbing) we minimize our personal effort and enjoy the benefits of hot water without even thinking about it.

Most of us reject unnecessary effort. On a trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco we do not customarily add a detour to Detroit. We value the use of our time and energy, because both are limited.

Greater efficiency offers the possibility of a greater return on our time and effort. That’s why, for example, the Federal Government has mandated increasing gas mileage for automobiles. They simply want to squeeze the greatest return from the investment in fuel. And perhaps that will have the added benefit of reducing greenhouse gases.

Now, we find ourselves at a particularly interesting juncture in our civilization. With the development of AI, there are opportunities to streamline many of the “executive” and creative tasks typically carried out by humans. Such as writing a blog. But at what cost? What happens when efficiency overrides creativity and the human touch? What happens when we don’t have to “think” anymore to solve problems because a computer will do it for us. Maybe, as with the gathering of water from the river, we’ll be able to use that time to do something more creative and be even more productive. I hope so.

But in the interest of being efficient myself, I think I’ve made the point, and see no value in my saying more about that subject at this time. I assure you, this blog was written entirely by a human.

Alan

During the past several years Daveen and I have continually had one or another of our adult daughters living with us (which has truly been a pleasure). But today we are living only with each other. Huzzah!

As they say, the silence is deafening. And I mean that in a good way.

In the evenings we often lie next to each other, relaxing in bed, either reading or responding to emails on our cell phones. While Daveen completes her Wordle of the day, I brush up on my Solitaire skills (which has filled many hours in my life), before we get back to cuddling.

I remember the first moment when I was impressed by the explosion of cell phone ownership and its ubiquitous place in our lives. That was an evening more than thirty years ago. We were enjoying dinner with another couple. I noticed that every one of us had placed our cell phones on the table where we could see them. This was not for show. It was in case we received a call.

I know this will further date me, but I remember my own first “cell phone”. It was as heavy as a five-hundred-page book, and I needed a briefcase to carry it around. Now it easily fits in my pocket and I can actually talk to someone – thanks, Dick Tracy – on my watch.

Years ago, I heard a story that has stayed with me (although it might be an urban legend). In the late 1800’s when the head of the United States Patent Office resigned, he purportedly said “everything that can be invented has been invented.” Little did he know. I sometimes wonder what Leonardo de Vinci would think if he were here and was able to fly on an airplane or a helicopter or talk to a friend on the other side of the world.

I wonder what new inventions will come along in the next twenty years. I don’t think everything has been invented yet.

Okay, Simon and Garfunkel. Keep singing.

Alan