Times They Are A-Changng

Two examples of our changing world: a few days ago when in the ATM vestibule of the bank I found there were no deposit envelopes. The guard said, "No more, you just put the check in the ATM." After a moment of incredulity -- I'm going to put my check in there naked!? You gotta be kidding. I saw the screen messages were new, clearly there was a new program. Okay, I'll try. It showed me the check and asked me to okay that that was the amount to be deposited and it worked. We are moving a little more toward a paperless world. I know I could have direct deposit, except that's not a choice right now. One I did have it until the frequently changing powers-that-be where I work found it unweildy. So much for the world of high finance. [Don't I wish?]

For the first time in quite a while I had time to stop at my fav Chinese restaurant for lunch. Another eating-alone-woman at the table next to mine was reading a book -- but not the usual book. No holding the page open so it won't close when you pick up a fork of chopstick. Her "book" was about 5x8, which is trade paper back size. Not more than an inch thick, with a small keyboard at the bottom and a button she touched to "turn" the page. I stared shamelessly but she was absorbed. Had she not been I would have talked to her about it. It looked like the print was a comfortably readable size, in fact on the large size. I wanted to ask if she could adjust the print size -- I suspect the answer is yes. I wondered where she got the "books" and how she downloaded them. I wondered if it has rechargable batteries, if the screen lights at night. I realized I could find out all those answers either online or by going to an electronics store.

When she was finished with her lunch, she turned off the picture, I assume saving her place, and closed a thin lid and slipped it into her fairly large purse. It looked very lightweight. I've thought UGH! I want a REAL book to hold in my hand. But after watching even those five or ten minutes I thought the time may come when I'll want one of those "books". And what about paying attention to the food you eat and savoring that experience? I like the theory, but I don't do it very often -- how but at meal times can I get through the papers and magazines since evening reading is for real books?

No, I am neither reading nor eating in the above photo, but actually pausing to enjoy a view of the Great Salt Lake from a small promentory on Antelope Island which is a park in the lake. It was a lovely, lovely day, the start of the vacation I am still savoring in moments of clear and treasured memory.