65 Years

January 14, 1959. (In no particular order:)

• Sputnik had launched and was cheered by some, scared many, and cheered and scared plenty. There was a call for aerospace engineers. I eventually became one.
• World War II was only fifteen years earlier, about as long ago now as the Great Recession.
• The Great Depression was only about twenty years earlier. 
• The Roaring Twenties were only thirty years earlier.
• TVs were black and white and novel, and there were fewer than a handful of channels, and they didn’t broadcast 24 hours a day.
• Slide rules ruled.
• Nuclear annihilation was imminent, and the Cuban Missile Crisis was years away.
• Dwight D. Eisenhower was US President and would be followed by John F. Kennedy.
• Boeing’s 707 was revolutionizing travel. The 727 was years away.
• The US Civil War was less than a hundred years ago.
• Most of my grandparents were immigrants, and the ones from Poland were discriminated against.
• Pittsburgh was a dirty city.
• Encyclopedias were books on bookshelves. I read my family’s even though it was years out of date because I was the youngest.
• Telephones were plugged into walls. There was one per house. Party lines were still common.
• McCarthyism was over and we had yet to see an assassination, Watergate, trickle-down economics, and politics over pragmatic management.

January 14, 2024

• I’m certainly not going to list current events, accomplishments, and concerns. That’s what the internet is for.
• I turn 65. Browse through my books, blogs, and social media posts for three million words describing a subset of my life.

January 14, 2089

Ha! Let’s see…

• I suspect the Earth will continue to orbit the Sun, and the Moon will orbit the Earth.
• Life will continue, despite what we do. That does not guarantee that humans will be involved or like it.
• Geology will continue.
• Climate and weather will continue.
• The solar system and the universe will continue. Universes, in the plural, will also continue, if they exist.

2089? I’m not even sure what will survive to 2044. 

Once upon a time, a nationwide radio program interviewed me about my decision to get a 40-year mortgage. I wrote a book about personal finance. Didn’t I understand that math? Sure, I did. I also understood some of the assumptions behind the system. What would the US be like in 40 years? Would there even be a United States of America? Would there even be a dollar? Would democracy or capitalism survive? 

Once upon a time, I was chastised by an engineering supervisor for believing that a computer would have more than one chip in it.

Once upon a time, I was chastised by another engineering supervisor because I preferred to type rather than write in longhand (a term becoming an anachronism) or print.

Once upon a time, I was told by another engineering supervisor that I was being repeatedly passed over for positions and promotions because I was “too comfortable with new ideas.” An interesting declaration considering that I was in research and development at an aerospace company.

I have doubts that the organizationally controlled aspects of civilization and society can continue because change is happening faster than they can change. I have no doubts that individuals will make the changes necessary. I don’t know which influence will be stronger. I don’t know if either will be in time to avoid massive disasters.

I suspect we will give artificial intelligence increasing control, and it will make tough choices that we decide to evade. We may not like the results. We may worse at it, but trusting AI anyway.

–

I am now officially old, or at least old enough to qualify for various senior discounts. I feel my age, but these aches seem like the ones my Dad had when he was 45. He lived to 89, and felt it was time to go. My Mom died at 72, and one of the doctors took my Dad aside to tell him it was because of a mis-diagnosis. Her doctor didn’t listen to her, nor review her decades-long health log. 

If my Dad was born now, he wouldn’t have spent all, all, of his educational years legally blind. He only learned he needed glasses after he graduated because he tried to get into the Ari Force. He went into the Merchant Marine instead. In almost every job and position, he ended up running things. If my Mom was born now, Wow. Even as is, she started and ran non-profits, including an ambulance service. She should’ve been in politics or diplomacy.

My finances are my biggest worry. I have many worries (a trait I learned from both of my parents, and that story was revealed to me by mental health professionals), and almost all of them trace back to not having enough money to sustain even a frugal lifestyle.

I am also an optimist and know that the work I’ve done, my professional and personal networks, and good luck, good fortune can change that in a moment, an email, a phone call, a social media post, a chance encounter.

I also reflect on a comment I recently heard. 

“The only thing sadder than a pessimistic and poor young person is an optimistic and poor old person.”

I don’t agree, but as I wrote, I reflect on a truth within there.

Change is the only constant. Within a Digital Singularity, as I believe we are, change isn’t constant because it is constantly accelerating. It isn’t a straight line of change. It is a curve that curves out of sight. We can’t see where these changes are taking us. 

That impossibility of a reliable vision makes planning almost a farce, and yet, we must, I must, plan. I think I filled out everything for Medicare and Social Security, and won’t be surprised if I made a mistake. I am human. My current financial position is uncomfortable, so I must plan to make more money or move or both; and I know that can change as I wrote above.

I envy those who have more comforts. I pity those who have had too many comforts. Too many are comfortable and clueless. I am clueless about many things, too; but, my journey has shown me some of the foundations, crumbling or not, at the base of society – and I feel sorriest for those who fell deeper into that basement.

I have a good idea of what is enough for me. I am glad to see it isn’t far from me. And I hope it gets closer and I regain that level of comfort. 

I’m sure by now you know it is my birthday. Actually, I am writing this one day early so I can spend my birthday relaxing untethered from a computer. Be amazed if I don’t log in, anyway.

It is January 2024 in Clinton, Washington on Whidbey Island. The temperature is in the teens. A friend’s pipes froze last night. Others have no heat. This is suburbia, and such things happen in middle-America. We’re due to thaw in two or three days. It is a good time to be thankful for enough food for a month, heat, electricity, health, good plumbing, – and I’ll stop there because, if I start counting my blessings you’ll get bored and I’ll get carpal tunnel. Not everything has to be typed to be respected.

To those who wish me Happy Birthday, thank you. To all of you who have been there to help, thank you. I think I’ll take the Universe’s hint to pause, rest, and relax for a day or so. Then, the future, oy, the future. Let’s see what’s next.