Am I Being Spied Upon?

 Before my wife came out to join me on the porch for our morning coffee, I was just listening to some New Age music through my Amazon Dot.  Most mornings, It's our favorite time to just sit and chat.

 That is until the road noise from over a mile away ruined the moment.  I told Alexa to 'stop music,' which she did.     

I mentioned to Sweetie that sometimes I wish I could tune out the distant highway noise, especially from people who think noisy mufflers are a really good way to show how cool they are.  It was really annoying.

I mentioned a friend in Florida who used hearing aids because he was deaf in both ears.  He used to tell me he would turn his hearing aids off if the noise bothered him.  We briefly discussed hearing aids and that was it. 

The moment now ruined by unnecessary noise, we retreated inside to the quiet of our house.

After breakfast, I opened my computer's home screen and there was an advertisement for Boise Hearing Aids.  Not only that but it addressed some of what we talked about earlier.

This kind of advertising isn't new to me because we were looking for a new stove not long ago and each time we searched for stoves, we would suddenly get a lot of stove advertisements.

Or if I was looking to buy a wheelbarrow by clicking on Lowes, I would soon be getting wheelbarrow advertisements.  The same with ladders.  And so on.

But this thing with the hearing aids seemed to be actually tailored to our discussion about noise and hearing aids.  Their advertisement even had a test and video example that completely addressed one of my major issues with noise - I can't separate everyone else's conversation and noise from the person I'm trying to listen to.

I'm not even sure I'm upset about it because, after the recent power outage, I began searching for and comparing whole house generators, and since we are up in age and live in an over 55 community, we are accustomed to worrying about power outages, if for no other reason than the inconvenience and discomfort an outage can cause.  But what if I needed a medical device that required reliable non-stop electrical power, would a standard home generator provide the kind of power and peace of mind I really need?

A few minutes later a really nice, well-spoken guy popped up on my screen addressing those specific concerns.  I really had never given it much thought before but at 80 years of age and recent heart bypass surgery, I may want to pay close attention to this guy.  I'm glad I did because he mentioned relatively inexpensive products that could be added to my current or emergency electrical power supply that would automatically kick in the split second the power went out. 

Now, as a result of creative advertising, I may be able to protect myself and my wife even better.

So, after all that, I guess I really can't be angry at being listened to by an electronic device that has my best interest in mind.

This new reality we live in is something, isn't it?

The Value of "Normal"

 As we continue to suffer, and hopefully learn from, some seriously challenging times, we sometimes think back to when things were 'Normal.'  

Back then, most of us woke to a normal day, had a normal breakfast, went to a normal job or school, drove there on normal roads in normal traffic and weather, and at the end of the normal day, we returned to our normal home and enjoyed our sleep in our normal way. 

We sometimes met our normal friends, and even met new normal folk, down at the normally fun restaurant or pub, and returned home the normal route with normal precautions after having our normal adult beverage.

"Normal" felt good, and although our lives sometimes got a little more complicated, it was nothing we couldn't handle.  Then life would return to normal again.  It always did.

Then suddenly out of nowhere our normal lives were forced to deal with a threat like none other.  We were successfully and deliberately attacked by a few determined religious fanatics turned terrorists who completely took away our comfort zone and replaced it with fear and anger and retribution - something we could normally handle on a small, personal scale.  

The attack, as it became disturbingly clear to us, was against America as a God-Fearing nation, and its God-Fearing citizens, along with anyone else, no matter their religious beliefs.  

This attack was also an indication and a promise that a 'new normal' would be our reality from then on. 

Both the devout and the not-so-devout Christians among us became confused with our country's relationship with God and started asking questions.  

Questions like: 

    "Why would God allow this to happen?"  

    "Had God chosen to hate America and take sides with the fanatics who attacked us?"  

    "How could God, Our God, continue as our God of compassion, Love, and Forgiveness?"

    "How could God expect us to just turn the other cheek?

We fought wars of retribution and revenge, and wars of prevention: each of which we paid a heavy price for what apparently accomplished nothing in the end.

Our tranquility and our resolve were left in tatters as our very own government made matters worse due to poor leadership and politically inspired influences that hid behind a false economy that was spurred on by continued war.  It is a debt that can never be repaid.  Nor blame accepted by those who made those decisions.

Meanwhile, we continue to be attacked relentlessly, mostly due to a weak Congress, a biased Supreme Court, a possibly deliberately introduced pandemic, and global warming that some deny exists.

Even our own citizens are being incited to overthrow our unique but fragile government.  Our citadel of democracy itself, the Capitol of the United States, was ransacked and pillaged by a flag-waving-hammer-swinging mob encouraged by a President who refused to accept the facts and truth of the single most identifying element of a democracy - the results of a vote-tally when citizens vote for their leaders.

I'm reminded of the old Mad Magazine character, Alfred E. Newman, with his caricature image saying, "What, Me worry?"

I think it may be time for us to start worrying...

The Internet Is Back Up

 As hurricanes go, Ida did a number on us here in Covington.  We took a beating but we were lucky to be 70 miles from its core damage areas.  

We lost power early on and it was only off five days.  But the cable for TV and the Internet has been down for 21 days, except for about a day and a half when it suddenly popped up. 

Repair crews have been working around the clock to clean up and repair the damage.  Trees are down everywhere. So are power lines and poles.

There's lots more to do.  But for now, we have power, air conditioning, cable TV, and the internet. That's a relief we really needed.

There are lots of emails to reply to and news about COVID, Afghanistan, and football scores to learn.  It will take a while.

And the first thing we have to look up is what the Atlantic Hurricane outlook is for now.

IDA Update as of 9-9-21

 We're among the lucky ones hit by Hurricane Ida.  And we're thankful for that.  But all is not back to normal here at La Maison des Poulets.  

Our cable TV / Internet service was joyfully restored for a few hours before going off again.  It was a joy to have when we had it, but we're fully aware of the tremendous damage Ida caused, most of which will have to be cleaned up before repairs can be made.  We're not going to die, or even suffer from not having a TV to watch or a computer to play on.  In fact, the quiet was good for a change.

It goes without saying that we owe a lot to the workers who are tackling the hard and dangerous work in miserably hot conditions just to get our lives back to normal.  Thanks guys and gals whoever you are and wherever you are from.  We really appreciate it.

As for here at our house, we're fine.  Thanks to some neighbors who provided refrigerator space for some of our refrigerated food, cool air to enjoy when we really needed it, and a spare socket to plug into to run our refrigerator and a couple of fans.  That helped a lot.

There are still parts of town that look like a hurricane came through, but one day soon it will look like the Covington we have come to love again.