Upgraded, 20

So as planned I headed  to mom’s condo after work to set up her new PC to replace her long in the tooth Toshiba laptop.  Setting up the computer was without incident.  I showed mom the differences with the new system but most of them are are basic or just cosmetic. For the very basic things that mom uses a computer for, web browsing and email, there isn’t much direction required.  The bigger screen and much faster system should both contribute to making mom’s computer experience more enjoyable from here on out.

As normal mom had a short list of things for me to look at or do while I was there.  They took me all of 5 minutes to complete.  After enjoying a nice dinner consisting of a salad, ziti and garlic bread we got back on mom’s computer for a bit to look at a couple things.

We tracked down a new negative ion bracelet.  We bought one that seemed to be the Rolls Royce of such things, sporting two negative ion loops instead of one as well as a pair of rare earth magnets.  I am very skeptical of any tangible benefits these items provide but mom is convinced she has had benefits from the bracelet(s) she has been wearing for a couple years so I figured we might as well go top of the line.

We then looked at cell phone upgrades available to mom since her phone, which is on my cell plan is eligible for an upgrade.  We didn’t really see a compelling reason to upgrade her.  The new phones seem like her old phone and getting mom a smart phone just would not make sense since she wouldn’t use 95% of it’s capability.

Mom thanked me for the new pc and I headed home.  On the way I stopped for a very unconventional Thursday evening coffee from Dunkin Donuts.  It provided fuel for me to get some laundry done, Tuki’s cage cleaned and the indoor plants watered, despite not getting home until after 8pm.

For some reason this morning as I was getting ready I was reflecting on the time period of 20 years.  Perhaps it is because of my visit with my mom who is 20 years older than me.  I thought about that amount of time in both the forward and backward direction.

When I realized that 20 years ago I was already married the first time, living in Wernersville in the townhouse and already working in the computer business at Entre, it shook me up a little bit.  That does not seem all that long ago in my minds eye yet it occurred two full decades ago.  What shook me up is in that same period of time, in the opposite direction, I would find myself my moms age.

As you get older, the perception of time’s passage accelerates at a constant rate, meaning the next 20 years would fly by even faster.  That is a damn scary thought for someone like me.  Although I obviously put mountains more effort into my personal health than my mom ever has, I still can’t be immune to the toll the flipping calendar has on a human being, no matter how hard I try.

It was not a good way to put a bright and cheery spin on my Friday.

This weekend will comprise mostly of labor, but I’m ok with that.  It keeps my mind busy so it can’t dwell on old age.