How did we ever live without computers and all these high tech gadgets we have today? I was thinking about this the other day when I found a box of stories that I had written in Agweek magazine before the days of personal computers.

The articles were clipped from the paper by hand, put into folders and arranged in the library by date, subject matter and the author’s name.

Whenever we needed to find an old clipping from the paper we would pore through drawers and drawers of these folders. Then we would return the clipping to the exact place we found it so it would be available for others to use.

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Now I just go to the paper’s website do a quick search and the info I’m looking for is right there.

Also, if I want to contact someone, I can look them up on the website and find out their email address and phone number.

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This would have come in handy in 1997, when the building I was working in flooded and burned. The one item I really needed was my Rolodex. I was lost without it. I had built up a pretty substantial cache of ag industry people and their contact information in my Rolodex over a seven year period, and it was all gone.

Today I can look at my bank statement 24/7 any day of the week, instead of waiting for a paper copy to come in the mail or calling my bank.

I could pay my bills on my computer. But I don’t because I don’t trust that method of payment.

I can find the weather forecast without waiting for the evening news. Heck, I can even read the news on my computer.

Then there are other technological advances that I could probably live without.

I have an Echo Dot and every morning I ask Alexa, “What’s the news?” She rattles off the top news stories and tops it off with a weather forecast for the day.

She also wakes me up in the morning and lets me know what time it is. I don’t even have an alarm clock anymore.

I just wish she could find my car keys that I lost somewhere in the house last week.

Should have bought one of those key ring gadgets that I can push a button on my phone and it buzzes so I can find my keys.

If only they had a device that could jog my memory when I lose something. It always happens when I place an item somewhere where I know I will remember where it is. If I had a memory device I could rewind my memory back to the minute I did that and play it back in my mind.

Instead, I’m going to have to spend all weekend searching the house for my keys.

Then I’m going to buy one of those key ring gadgets. ❖