Caveman

     The shift from mechanical to digital,the last great leap our society has made,has been going on since the advent of the personal computer.  It's hard to believe,before 1978,most people only knew computers through movies and books. Now nearly everyone uses them,and we realize there is still so much more we can do with them.
     I was one of the last cavemen. The live,out in the country,not in a city,guy. One of the last of a dying breed of backyard machanics.  You know the type.  Always looking at stuff that may,or may,not need repair.  Fix it with sticks or rocks.  Maybe use some duct tape,or bale wire or string.  The guys I'm refering about,saw machines as a collection of nuts and bolts.  It didn't matter what make or model.  It didn't matter if it was a car,a bike,a chainsaw,or whatever. It was all the same. Except it really wasn't the same. But,some stuff was alike,if not in looks,then in function. Sometimes various parts were  inter-changable,so a person could swap a part from one machine to another. It's getting harder to do that now days.
     Rule change! Darn I never got the notice. Actually I failed to take notice,things were indeed changing,and I never got swimming, now I'm sinking like a stone. So,this caveman,always the rebel,always fighting the status quo,failed to notice the changes taking place. They were small insignificant things that anyone could miss. Newer items,were now sealed units,made to fit a particular something. That meant of the same make,model and year,and any other criteria that pertains to the part in question.
     I did notice,though I'm not sure when. I can't work on some of the newer cars. My newest is a "1992" and I can still do most of the repairs to it. That is, I am able,but presently my tools are somewhere else. At least, I can still work on my car,my landlord allows it,so I dont have to take it to a shop.
     The shift,should have been more financially motivated. I have always fought the influences of money,even more than the changing mechanisms. Poor dumb caveman....I was raised to know,you worked or your bread. Job choice is important. This country runs on the dollar bill. I still hate it tho...One's worth shouldn't be measured only in dollars and cents. I always thought people were supposed to be equal. I thought one job would be equal to another,as well. Work all has to get done. I don't deal well with illnesses,so being a doctor would be a poor choice for a profession. I can fix junk,but it turns out,no one wants their junk fixed. Don't fix it,throw it out,and buy a new one! I saw that comming and did nothing to stop that trend.
     Now we leave the mechanical,and begin to go digital. Yep,you guessed it. I have fought the age of computers,every bit as hard as the other things I've fought. Nope,you'll never get me to use one of those stupid things. I hate electronics. Famose last words. Welcome to the "21st century".
     Everything uses the new technologies. In 2002,I was taught the very basics of using a computer. The local employment office told me to"get on it,and see what you can do. You can't hurt anything". After the office manager rebooted their system,I was taught what to do, if I found myself somewhere I didn't want to be. After that little mishap,I successfully avoided using that technology for nearly another decade. My kids have taught me most of what I know about computers.
     A caveman just doesn't want to have to learn some new and possibly difficult task. Especially an old guy,with no real knowledge of the internet,or the web,or computers,or even all those fancy phones. I won't answere other people's phones,as I dont know how they work. Mine has a red thingey and a green thingey. Just like traffic lights,red means stop,and green means go. I like simple. Must be my mind set. So you ask "whats that got to do with anything?"  Absolutely nothing,but my point is,I have 30 years worth of catching up to do,before I'll truely be welcomed into this century.
     Now it's probably,politically incorrect for me to refer to myself as a caveman,and next week I'll get in trouble for saying I'm a modern troglodite,but,do you know what I found out? Software is facinating. All those ones and zeros. Who would have thought it possible? Software,invisible like"power air". You can't see it,or smell it,so the caveman has a hard time dealing with such things. Those atomic particles,right there on the monitor,doing I'm not sure what,though some say,doing it well. How can I use something I can't see,hear.feel,taste,or touch? My kids tell me to hush,and just press the button. Growing up,pushing the button was akin to firing off the A-bomb. But, I pressed the button,and now I'm hooked. They forgot to warn us of the effects of software. The whole world is now digital. I'll slowly catch up,or I'll speed up my learning program,with software