1 - Dispatch From Departures Old and New

We are off on an anniversary trip. Our first one was very long ago - using phone calls, travel agents, checks written at a ticket office - and carbon copies. This one has been arranged using terms unknown back then: Boot-up, wi-fi, online, web search, virtual tour, chat group, web-site, e-ticket, cut and paste, ink-jet, link, scan, LED, web price, cell phone, app, download, web-alert, log-in, GPS, streaming, flat screen, cloud, attachment, PDF, email, blog - and with the assorted spam, crash and reboot thrown in.

We board a huge new aircraft, a marvel full of technology. A button reclines seats into lounge chairs or even into beds. Individual choices of 27 movies, 24 music channels, 10 video games, a satellite map that follows the flight - all with a cast of thousands of remote control buttons and icons to learn.







But even before the door closes, some small bit of this complexity fails. Digitized safety instructions start and stop - then the screens all go blank. They pour us a drink. The lights blink off. The screens say, “Please Wait.” Workmen come aboard. Another drink. Then “Reboot Fail” - and we must off-load while they fix the glitches.








Add in a lighting storm that closes O’Hara for several hours. We will arrive a day late and (with the terrible exchange rate) - a dollar short.




Now to sleep, perhaps to dream - of better departures in simpler times.

- Re-booting Rod