I am already in the loop for elderly drivers. When I turned 75 I had to pass a medical before I could renew my license. The medical was fairly superficial and easy to pass. Eyes were checked. Blood pressure taken. A few questions were asked and check marks placed where applicable. I have epilepsy and it is controlled by medication so I can drive. With that I was given a driver's license until I turn 80.
When I turn 80 I will only get a one year license and have to pass a medical each year to get it.
Okay that's the ticket to keep a license when your elderly. I would like regulations to be more stringent and have a driver's road test. In fact, I think drivers of all ages should have a road test.
So I can see down the road that someday I may lose my driving privileges.
But wait a minute! Technology may be riding to my rescue.
The technology is here to have cars move in traffic without a human driver. They've been tested.
When computer technology can successfully be applied to drive cars, the blind will be able to drive their own cars. We know that GPS is highly accurate. The GPS could easily be voice activated and controlled. Now GPS can give you voice instructions.Cars nowadays are really just one big sensor. What's the problem with a few more sensors which will steer the car in the right direction, read and obey all traffic signs? These cars would stay in the right lanes and sense all objects around them. These cars could even be programmed not to go over the speed limit. Drunks could get home as they wouldn't be driving the car.
.. and little old guys could still drive their cars long after they've lost their licenses. So once I lose my license the computer can take over for me and take me from place to place. Hey, I could even go on a long road trip. Come to think about it , they should include a sensor that indicates that the driver is still living!
Readers will be thinking that I'm on a roll as far as posts on war is concerned.
A number of things have come together at the same time to make this post more meaningful. I was born in October of 1939 so it was a few days after the war started. I remember small bits of the war from the experience of a young child. We saw many soldiers. Our farm was near a training airport so planes flew over all day. As a child I was very interested in planes so I stopped to watch each plane. Some of our uncles were overseas so Mom sent many parcels and I remember watching the packing of the parcels. I remember news reports and it seemed like all they said was German, German, German. We did not get what the message was.
After the war many people came back and the war was a common topic. Some things about the war were taught in school. There were ceremonies to mark some of the points of the war.
As an adult I've read a few books on the Second World War. I've read a couple of biographies about Hitler.
Right now I'm reading a biography of Matthew Halton, who was a major war correspondent. He was also carried by the United States news. This biography covers the period before the war and some of the things that lead to the war. The major battles were covered. Halton moved across North Africa and then up Italy. Later he was there for the liberation of Paris and Holland. This has brought back many parts of the war.
So when remembrances are made on the end of the war I just happened to be reading about it's history. Major remembrances were made in Holland as Canadian forces were key in liberating Holland. Canadian veterans always remember the kindness of the Dutch people.
So I had to take a few moments and post about a major historical event as I was reading about it when the remembrances took place.
Dispatches from the Front is a very good read. It's written by David Halton, who is the son of Matthew Halton.
 |
| Cadets |
I have been listening to a CBC radio series on The Current about Vietnamese people who escaped Vietnam after the war was over. We all saw the miserable little overloaded boats that carried people to other countries where they were held in camps. Slowly the world organized and these people were taken by countries around the world. Countries were uneasy about taking the boat people as they thought they would be an expense. They turned out to be anything but an expense and contributed to the local economies. Many communities have very active Vietnamese communities.
Today I was reminded that the Vietnamese war ended 40 years ago today. I will never forget the chaos shown on TV of the last Americans leaving Saigon as fighting continued all around them. I looked on with horror as I saw people try to escape by hanging onto the helicopter as it lifted off.
The country was left in ruins and with it's own civil war.
I also thought back to what a very terrible war this was in so many ways. Many troops and civilians were lost. Many troops came back and suffered horribly for the rest of their lives.
The war ended and Vietnam was left with many problems and a very harsh ruling government. The two sides were still very angry with each other. After Ho Chi Minh died things slowly began to change.
When I think back I have a hard time to think about the cause of the war. It's difficult to remember why the Americans entered the war.
Since I was a little news junkie nerd, I remember the French in Vietnam. Vietnam was a French colony. The French were booted out of Vietnam in the 50's. That was also a long drawn out and brutal conflict.
One can only look back with sadness at the horror that took place in Vietnam. Have we learned any lessons from Vietnam?
There was a time when some of our coins were gold. These coins were used as regular daily currency. Now there were a few enterprising types who could skillfully cut off part of the coin or sand it and collect some gold and then still use the coin. Some gold coins were found to have lost value! So the smart money stopped making gold coins.
To leap far ahead of gold coins, we've recently quit using the penny in Canada. The penny cost more than a penny to make. As the price of copper went up, other metals were mixed in with the copper to make the penny. At the end of the penny's life massive numbers of pennies were sold as scrap copper.
In the 70's the price of silver rose. Silver in dimes and quarters was mixed with lower cost metals. For few years in the 70's massive amounts of dimes and quarters were worth more for scrap than their face value. Coin collectors watched in dismay as some valuable coins were destroyed.
The nickel has fought the same battle. I don't know if there's any nickel in the five cent coin today.
So I've started to wonder where we're going with our coins. Are we going to have a system of plastic coins with chips in them? Will we eliminate coins and paper money altogether? How will we ever flip a coin? How will we ever have a dime a dozen? How can we have a penny for your thoughts? What about plugged nickels? What will happen to "two bits?"
It's surprising how much of our common sayings are derived from money.
So what kind of coins do you see for the future?
A week or so go , a blogger I follow, found her marriage certificate in a place that was surprising. It reminded me of my marriage license.
I met my wife in Inuvik NWT. We dated, courted , became engaged and got married there. We were in our late 20's so to go back home to be married was not an answer as most of our friends were gone. My wife had only lived in this country for about ten years and she did not have parents here. We decided to have a small wedding in the north with our friends. Some of our relatives were a little upset. It just seemed too much of a challenge to plan a wedding at a distance of 2000 miles. All went well. We had a great time.
One little incident that we've never forgotten is getting the marriage license. We were able to make plans and set things up as we went along. Of course , getting the marriage license was one of the little details that had to be taken care of. We decided to visit the minister and tell him of our plans and ask him to marry us. Marriage licenses were a dollar.. Ministers and others issued marriage licenses. We asked Ted for a license. Ted couldn't find the book with the licenses. Ted also said that the fee would be $2.00 as the last couple didn't pay for their license. He couldn't remember if the book had been used up, but he promised us he would find a license for us.
We've always wondered who the next couple was to get their marriage license from Ted and if they paid $2.00, $1.00 or nothing.
The micro manager just had to get this issue looked after. The hostel administrator was a minister and he had licenses. He also issued them like he was supposed to...for $1.00!
We never did find out if Ted got more licenses.
We've been getting rid of some of our treasures. By coincidence the wedding veil and a few other treasures were sold yesterday. Somebody was renewing vows and wanted some of the paraphernalia.
After 49 years it's time to dispose of some great treasures.
So the little story of our marriage license is one that we have a chuckle about from time to time.
I would think anybody who gets married has a story that's enjoyed.
Yes, it snowed last night! I looked out at 12:30 AM and there was heavy snow falling. It was my favorite kind of snow. The air was full of large snowflakes . I should have put my pants on and gone outside to take photos!
The sun rose this morning at 6:17 and sets tonight at 20:48 for a total of 14 hours and 31 minutes of sunlight.
Don't ya just hate it when you can't hear people on the phone? I'll admit right away that I have a hearing problem , but it's not that severe. I do have the volume turned up on my phone.
So what are the problems I have. People talk too quickly. I would like people to talk slower and then they have more precise diction. I get upset when somebody answers the phone with rapid fire speech and I'm not too sure if I even have the right number. I have to ask the person to repeat. You can ask some people to slow down and they get it and keep their speech at a slower rate. Some just can't adjust the rate of speech. Some people are probably a little nervous on the phone and become tense and the rate keeps up.
Some people will not talk into the receiver so they are not loud enough to be heard. Their volume goes up and down.
Some people use a speakerphone and you get too much echo for consistent sound. My daughter tends to use the speakerphone when she calls so they can both get in on the conversation.
Many call centers use headsets and they are very poor as the mike gets too far away from their mouth.
Sometimes there's too much background noise to hear the caller very well. I had a friend who lived very close to a railway track. Sometimes the train was going by when I would try to speak to Lloyd. It was impossible.
Some of the little cell phones are extremely cheap so the voice reproduction is poor. Last night I had a call from somebody who sounded as if they were at the bottom of a well.
Sometimes there's too much noise in my house. That's one I can handle myself. SHUT UP! I sometimes say give me a second to turn the radio off.
Sometimes you find a very long recording of options to choose from. By the time I get to the end I forget the number I should have chosen. Large stores are bad for this one. Home Depot or Walmart are bad. In fact, Walmart's phone system is just all bad.
The recording that bugs me the most is to my doctor's office. There's a long recording. Half of it I cannot hear. The voice is weak and I'm sure gum is being chewed as she's making the recording. Why do they always choose the poorest voice to make the tape.
So there's my rant. I hope that some call system might see my rant and have a session with their employees. Fat chance though! Call centers are just happy to find people to answer phones.
How about you? Do you find it difficult to follow things on the phone?
