“If it weren’t for electricity, we’d all be watching television by candlelight.” George Gobel

Before I am severely chastised about writing this column, by no means do I want to diminish the destruction from the hurricanes that continue to demolish our Southern neighbors. What happened in my household is a hiccup in the wind in comparison to the devastation that has taken place from Florida to Texas. I might have been without a computer for over a week or more, but when one looks at those who might go without a home for months, or maybe even longer, suffering resulting from a computer that no longer functions is comparable to breaking a fingernail. I should be careful stating that, however, because I have seen people throw a temper tantrum because they broke a nail.

Having suffered through several computer breakdowns I have come to the conclusion that the longer any one of us engages deeper and deeper into our electronic world of today, the more many of us might become addicted to it. When the hard drive on the computer I was using began to make funny noises I wondered what was happening. Then suddenly the computer died. I tried to reboot it but all of that work was to no avail. I figured that the best thing to do was purchase another refurbished computer but sadly I had failed to routinely update our backup files. So we have once again a well-functioning computer missing much of our once current data. Live and learn. So some day I might  leave electronics behind, but when I think of licking those nasty tasting stamps and envelopes of the past, I would much rather do things electronically. Besides, the U.S. Postal Service is looking for a huge price increase in the near future, something like 20 to 30 more cents per stamp.

Such a price increase might very well be needed. There’s a reason that many private companies handle the delivery of packages but no letter mail. I ran several military post offices in Germany and South Korea before the age of computers and the mail volume was huge. Soldiers and their families were anxious to receive not only letters from their families and friends thousands of miles away, they also looked forward to catalogs, newspapers and magazines, which I called dirty mail because one would become covered with black ink after sorting. I am digressing, but I often stated that at least the USPS had free labor with the military postal workers. I am sure some things have changed for military post offices overseas since the computer and other electronic devices invaded our personal space. That brings my mind back to what I was supposed to writing about.

At first without a computer, my wife and I missed the parts of our daily routine that revolved around it. OK, we both have smartphones and I have to guess the reason they call them smartphones is that us old fogies will never use them to their full potential. Ah, if we could have transferred our brains to those electronic machines decades ago our memories would never fade. It’s not like I would miss email all that much, but I have fallen into a routine of checking some news sites every morning (yep, I still do too much of that). We balance our bank account on a daily basis and there are some games that my wife and I love to play. Of course I use the computer for my column and the research I feel necessary to write a column that is somewhat coherent at a minimum.

I also like to watch the Windham Town Council meetings and some other meetings as well. It is nice to get the agenda for the next council meeting electronically, although I have often asked why those agendas are in place only a couple of days before the meeting instead of a couple of weeks. I can only conclude there is an ultimate reason. I don’t expect any change with the present management of Windham remaining in place. Time for a change.

Lane Hiltunen of Windham hopes more Windham citizens think about running for office.