Is it me..or have things changed that much

Phones:
Growing up there was never any reason to ever have to get a hold of anybody bad enough to be permanently attached to a telephone. And a telephone was just that a telephone, it wasn't a picture talking, video filming, calculating, connection to a world information system that no one needs while they are taking a stroll in the park. We left home to get away from the phone.

Trips:
When we were going somewhere we got out a map and planned the route, if we got lost we consulted the same map, I don't remember anybody leaving for vacation and not returning because they got lost. Now the cars come through with phones and dictation e-mails and texts, they come through with GPS and satellite imagery and even a link to see a ground level view of where you're going so you'll know it when we get there. Is the human race really turning so stupid as not to be able to figure out a simple a thing as a ride in the car. The new BMW even has Nav in the back seat, that way you can have arguments about where you are going and which route you were using.

Safety:
The other day a rusted cannon ball made the news, a rusty 6" ball of steel, it brought out the police, bomb squad, the FD, and the News. it was treated like a major happening, people where interviewed "were you scared?". Meanwhile in Europe some farmer is digging up a piece of live ordinance left over from two world wars. The people in charge of old munitions show up, they remove or destroy the object...no fanfare, no bullshit..multiple times a year. I was laughing watching the clowns on the news...I hope no one tells them about Stonington borough, there is a cannonball in a house and one in a tree left over from the revolutionary war. Could you picture it? Warning tape, TV crews, radio helicopters....all over historical scrap metal.  

Weather:
When did we become such wimps concerning the weather? When I was little it snowed out a lot...there wasn't a winter that went by that kids weren't up to their wastes once or twice in snow. And it was usually cold. Now the weather is biting or bitter, The driving is treacherous, and we have begun naming....Snow storms. It used to be Hurricanes earned names, Cyclones if it was the pacific. Now it seems the news services need to make everything more intense sounding to keep their jobs secure. Do you know what that blizzard was called in 1977 -78? It was the "Blizzard of 78" it wasn't Margaret, Henry or Sam.  In 1938 the strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in New England rolled in and took cities, towns and people with it, Do you know what that storm was called....Yup...the '38 hurricane.

Having a name like that actually serves a useful purpose, it tells you it was a hurricane and when it happened. Do you remember Hurricane Carol, and Diane and Bob? 

Fast now...what years were they, come on...
Alright...Go ahead...check your phone...
I'll wait.


klay