The computer swallowed Grandma

Hi, You may or may not know that most home-computer users are those of the 'Golden age' The 'Third Generation' 'The oldies' The 'Retirees' etc etc… This phenomenon brought the following poem to my door via a friend's email. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did Renate

THE COMPUTER SWALLOWED GRANDMA

The computer swallowed grandma.
Yes, honestly its true!
She pressed 'control' and 'enter'
And disappeared from view.

It devoured her completely;
The thought just makes me squirm.
She must have caught a virus
Or been eaten by a worm.

I've searched through the recycle bin
And files of every kind;
I've even used the Internet,
But nothing did I find.

In desperation, I asked Jeeves
My searches to refine.
The reply from him was negative,
Not a thing was found 'online.'

So, if inside your 'Inbox,'
My Grandma you should see,
Please 'Copy,''Scan' and 'Paste' her
And send her back to me.

This is a tribute to all the Grandmas who have been fearless and learned to use the Computer........ They are the greatest!!!

We do not stop playing because we grow old;
We grow old because we stop playing.
NEVER Be The First To Get Old!

Renate
Artist, poet & the Author of
From the Promised Land to the Lucky Country
http://www.promisedland-renate.com/

Computer Blues

It’s a couple of months now that I have endless problems with my computer. It crashes several times daily and gives me a blue screen with a lot written on it. The only thing I can decipher is, that it is unhappy with some new hardware I have.The only new hardware I have is a router. So we change routers, but it’s not any better.

It’s very hot and humidity is at a constant 65% and over. We think, the computer does not like this.We put the air conditioner on, and a fan to boot, close the doors and windows, and it seems to work. It’s the only room we air conditioned, and its freezing in here, even though it is set at 26 degrees C. Each time I come into the room, I wonder if I’ll end catching a cold. My dear husband caught one already.

Well, I can persevere with that, but my Internet connection is extremely slow.At times, it does not react at all. I find it very frustrating. We change routers again but it’s not any better.

We return the router, get our money back and buy one from a recommended shop and - The best on the market – that’s what we are told..It does not work either.

We find we need a modem between the computer and the router.We go to our Internet provider and he gives us one.We take the one given, but pay no attention that the package isn’t sealed; how careless of us.We set it up but nothing has changed.

The weekend arrives, and I think it’s a good time to get good personal technical support. I phone at 7am and am through immediately. For about 4 hours we go over every detail the technicians can only think off, and we get always the same reply – error 678. Conclusion,

‘ We’ll send a technician to see if the modem is faulty. But it will be only tomorrow.There are no technicians on weekends.

The next day has come, and so has the technician; a lovely, good looking young man, with long black curly hair and a bright smile, ready to serve.What more can I wish for…

He starts going through the same process I spent 4 hour over yesterday.

I say,

‘We did it all yesterday.’

He says,

‘Did you?’

I say,

‘Yes’

He says,

‘Just to be sure, I’ll go over some of it again’.

He does, and lo and behold, he comes to the same conclusion.He changes the modem, this time without the router, and here I am:

Technology

I am as guilty as you are

For loving all that’s new

All that comes my way

From here to Timbuktu

I am a modern woman

I shop for all there is

Technology - my right

Advancement is my thing

Yet, I have a problem

One I can’t control

It’s not just mine –

It belongs to us all

Why can’t we leave

Nature alone

Why don’t we stop

Probing around

Why do we prod

The skies and the seas

Why do we split the atoms

As well as the genes

If we develop

What we naturally have

We could astro-travel

And need not pay

Numbers we could add

In a second or two

Without the crutch

Of a CPU.

So why don’t we expand

Our sixth or seventh sense

And bring some logic

To our beloved land

©Renate 21.4.2006 renate555@gmail.com

Renate

Artist, poet & the Author of

From the Promised Land to the Lucky Country

http://www.promisedland-renate.com/

Nature and us Humans

In my last posting I wrote about the culture of cutting trees and the results that follow, as well as a way to combat this negative trend.

Today I wish to enlarge on this subject, as it did not leave my mind since my last posting, so here I am:

Unfortunately, we in the western world have instituted a negative way of looking at nature and much of what we do, and the way we live, is contra to nature’s laws: We fight nature instead of going hand in hand with it. We poison everything that crosses our way, and our scientists do all kind of changes in nature to ‘better’ it.

I feel, and am convinced, that in the long run, we of the Human race will be the losers. Nature does not really care if we survive of not. Nature adjusts. It changes, and the changes it does are slow, but are the ones that keep everything in working balance.

I INDICT YOU MAN
(Nature verses man)

I indict you man
Before Heaven and Earth,
I indict you man:

I indict you man for polluting
The breathing air,
The drinking water,
The food for eating,
I indict you.

I indict you man
For cutting forests,
For diverting rivers,
For moving mountains,
I indict you.

I indict you man for the loss
of beast on land,
Of fish in water,
Of birds in sky
I indict you.

I indict you man
For high-rise ghettos
And asphalt pollution
I indict you.

I indict you man
For nuclear radiation and waste,
For deformities and death,
I indict you.

I indict you man for destruction
I indict you man for you are the destroyer,
I indict you man for I am Nature
And I, Indict you -
Man…

©Renate All rights reserved, June, 1992 renate555@gmail.com

Renate

Artist, poet & the Author of

From the Promised Land to the Lucky Countryhttp://www.promisedland-renate.com/

Drought - Australia

Hi to all,

Firstly, I would like to thank all of you for reading my blog. I have noticed that several of you are living in Japan - The land of the Rising Sun - and I hope you are enjoying what you read. Please do not hesitate to comment, as I love you to participate.

Australia is at the moment experiencing its 6^th drought year, and our farmers are having a hard time.The land is as dry as can be and water restrictions are everywhere. However, much of the difficulties come, from what I can see, from bad water management that goes back to the time white man first landed in this vast land.

White man has brought with it animals and agriculture foreign to this land, cleared the land of its trees, and instituted monoculture agriculture of annual crops.These inturn, produced vast areas of extended dessert, like the dustbowls of the USA, and in some salt levels rose to render the land unusable.

With much of the crops going to other lands, Australia has/is in fact, exporting much of its water and, there has been little attention given to harnessing water resources.In the area we living in, for example, there are quite often heavy dark clouds hanging overhead, but there is no cloud seeding; and in years where floods are abound, with farm animal up to their necks in water, there are no dams to collect that abundance.

Drought - Australia

In marginal land
no rain in site
the ground is cracked
like shattered glass

Salt has risen
no plant in sight
cattle and sheep
just wander about

They wonder perhaps
a blade of grass -
will stand up right
or semblance of wet
will denote a site

We uprooted the trees
lay waste the terrain
we destroyed all life
in this our land

© Renate 6.4.06

Renate
Artist, poet & the Author of
 From the Promised Land to the Lucky Country  

http://www.promisedland-renate.com/

Our Poetry in Paradise

We have a Poetry Club on the Gold Coast for poets and the lovers of poetry. We meet every 3^rd Sunday of the month in one of the most beautiful spots you can imagine.It is on the veranda of a teahouse that is sat in a tropical garden with colourful birds tweeting all around us.We have afternoon tea served and listen to poetry our members read, some of which are very good.

The other day our Bob read a poem you must read.It has a message I completely concur with, so I have added it here.Bob also played the Didgeridoo for us.An aboriginal instrument that is very hard to use, and he has done a wonderful job on it.

Also, our Joan has made a web page for our Poetry club and I am inserting its link. Go and have a look, and if you live in on the Gold Coast or nearby, why not join us, even if you are only a listener.

Here is Bob's poem:

Being Old By Bob Dever

I have a regular chats with m grandkids Where tantalizing subjects just seem to unfold The other day one of them innocently asked ‘Grandpa, do you like being old?”

a ticklish question if ever I heard one My answer had to leave them with no doubt I didn’t have to agonise over it for long I guess mu feelings, just flooded out.

I would never trade my amazing friends For less grey hair or a latter belly I’ve shared a rewarding life, with wonderful memories Not like that rubbish served up on the telly.

As I’ve aged, I have become my own friend Yes, I reckon I’ve become kinder to my self I’m less critical and more tolerant of other points of view Quite content to be blessed with good health.

I don’t chide myself or eating that extra bickie Or for not making my bed when I oughta Or buying that silly cement goanna, I really didn’t need That looks so avant garde out on my veranda.

I am entitled to overeat and love something sweet And to be messy, or extravagant with a little fling I have seen too many dear friends, leave this world too soon Before they understood the freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read till late And having a nanny nap doesn’t mean your over the hill I will dance with myself to those wonderful tones of the 50’s And if I wish to shed a tear, over lost love, I will.

I know that sometimes, I can be quite forgetful But then again, some things in life are better forgotten I eventually remember the really important things And learnt how to cop we my heart was broken.

How can your heart not break, when you lose a loved one Or when you see a small child suffering But broken hearts are what give us strength and compassion And the experience to cope with understanding.

I am blessed to have lived long enough for mu hair to turn grey To have my youthful laugh lines forever etched in to my face So many have died before their hair turned silver So many never laughed, before they lost the race.

I find as you get older, it is easier to be positive You care less about what others think when you make a stand I don’t question myself, I’ve earned the right to be wrong Confident my loving family will understand.

So to answer the question, I like being old It has set me free and I am at ease with that I like the person that I have become I can say yes… or I can say no… and mean it.

I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here I’ll not waste time lamenting, of what could have been Or worrying about what will be, as it certainly will be For the time that’s left, my mates and I can still dream

For the fest time in my life, I don’t have to give a reason To do the things that I feel, I want to do I have put in a lot of time helping other people So I can be a bit selfish, and not fell guilt too.

If I want to play games on the computer all day Or lie on the couch and watch old movies then I might And if I don’t want to go to the beach or go shopping Then I consider that I have earned that right.

I sometimes feel sorry for the young ones these days They face a far different world from the one I knew When I was growing up we were taught to fear the law You always, looked after your mate in a blue.

We respected the old…the flag… and our country There was a lot more to life than just building wealth And I never felt the need to use filthy language While simply trying to express myself.

I am grateful to have been born, when I was Into a kinder, gentler world, with principles to uphold So the answer to your original question is Yes…I really do like… being this old,

Bob Dever 14.12.06

Renate

Artist, poet & the Author of -

From the Promised Land to the Lucky Country.