This Modern World We Live In!

 Good morning! As I sit here pondering the day before me, I am concerned. I don't think I've got a lot to do today! This is probably a sure sign that senility is setting in, and I have just forgotten something important and time-consuming that I need to do.

As I ponder the short list of things I should do today, I am amazed and so thankful that I live in the day and age that I do. I have a load of laundry that I need to do which consists of stripping the bed, throwing the sheets in my washing machine, transferring them to the dryer, then putting them back on the bed. Probably doesn't burn 50 calories in the whole process.

There are a few dishes in the sink that need to be added to the dishwasher. Until last fall, I had been out of a dishwasher for several  years when my old one quit working. I found one on Facebook for $100 and figured I could surely get that much use out of it, so dishes are no longer the process they were before. In a few short minutes I can have the sheets washed and the dishes done and not even break a sweat.

Our house is full of labor-saving devices, blender, food processor, hand mixer, electric knife, anything you need to take the time and effort out of a job. These items have been around for years but never lose their usefulness, unlike many of the specialty cook items you can buy. Goodwill is full of George Foreman grills, egg cookers, hot dog cookers, sandwich cookers, air fryers, instant pots, and all the other specialty appliances that you have to store somewhere. But there are many handy appliances and devices that make our lives easier.

Last Christmas Mike bought us a new labor saving device...a robot vacuum cleaner. I've known several people who have one, and they all rave about how wonderful they are. I have just gotten out the broom or vacuum cleaner and spent the time doing floors the old fashioned way. This is definitely a basic, first-generation Roomba but I am impressed. Just push the button and off it goes. We joke that it's like a kid: It just wanders helter-skelter through the house, going over some places over and over and missing others. A few times I've had to put it in the bedroom because it kept missing that room. And when it deems itself done it goes back to the dock, whether it's covered everything or not. So, just like a kid, you have to send it out to finish the job! Like I said, it's a basic Roomba, and they have much more efficient models out now that will vacuum in a grid or start automatically based on the time you set them to run. We will definitely replace this someday when it wears out and will upgrade at that point now that we know more about them.

Another device we invested in this year is an Echo Dot Smart Speaker. This may not have been the most necessary addition to electronics ever, but it has made things easier at times. It is just a small round box that sits in the main part of our house. All I have to say is "Alexa, add milk to the grocery list." and we have a list of groceries to take to the store. The list appears on my phone, so if you see me wandering around the store looking at my phone, it's not because I am checking Facebook or email, I am just shopping off my list. It will also remind you of important times or dates, make any kind of list that you can set up, play any kind of music you request, and it will even tell you jokes if you ask Alexa for them. (Her jokes are really lame!) I think it will even read books to you although I prefer to read to myself. So far there is a lot of untapped potential with our Echo Dot that we need to explore in order to make it more useful. Modern technology!

I have a few ideas for labor-saving devices that someone needs to invent...and I'm sure that eventually someone will. We could use an automated lawn mowing system. Mowing the lawn is still one of the labor-intensive chores that we hate, although we hate it less when we hire our granddaughter Sami to do it for us!  I realize that a riding mower is getting close, but our lawn is too small for a rider to mow. Likewise with a lawn sprinkler set up. It takes the work out of dragging around hoses and setting sprinklers, but the size of our lawn makes it pretty ridiculous to invest that kind of money in a sprinkler system.

Modern technology has invented labor-saving processes that we don't care to take advantage of. Food preparation comes to mind as a way that our modern lifestyles have been simplified, but we refuse to give in to. There is no need to garden as you can buy all this fresh produce or the canned products in any grocery store. And it's good to know it's there in case the garden fails, but it also removes the joy of
growing a garden. Plus the quality of store-bought products is inferior to the freshness of just picked and home-canned products. 

Manufactures have also made meal prep easy. There are a multitude of frozen entrees or boxed mixes that will guarantee that you can be out of the kitchen fast. And they have their place for those who don't have time or the inclination to cook from scratch. I come from a long line of wonderful cooks who have passed down recipes and ideas to me and helped me appreciate from-scratch cooking. So I use my labor-saving blender, food processor and mixer to blend, whip or chop my basic ingredients to make our meals. 

We live in a wonderful day and age labor wise. Our grandmothers, and possibly even our mothers, had to drag out the old wringer washing machine on wash day, heat the water to wash the clothes, using the same water for all loads, then haul them out to the clothes line to dry. It must have been an entire day's work to do laundry for a family! House cleaning, which was done religiously each week, consisted of all manual labor, not even a vacuum cleaner possibly. They drug the rugs outside and beat the dirt and dust out of them. Every job was labor intensive and exhausting. I am so thankful for my labor-saving appliances.

I hope your day, whatever tasks might be on your agenda, will be an easy day. Hooray for modern technology!