Of TIme And Of Lights

I was at the park today eating my lunch (first time I have done that in while) and a thought came into my ever working mind. Where will I be in 20 years?

When I was a late teen/early adult (17-19 years old or so), I had trouble visualizing what life for me would be like in the 21st century. I certainly did not envision living in Texas, 9/11, the Internet, hybrid automobiles, bottled water, fatherhood, not owning a land-line phone, and countless other things that I now accept as common place. No, I was a West Virginia resident, a kid who thought that war/terrorism would never reach our shores. I got all my information from network news, the local newspaper, and the library. I drove a 6 cylinder car that got lousy mileage and drank water from the tap. I did not have a steady girl friend and if I was not home, I missed my phone calls.

Contrast and comparing where I was 20 years ago and where I am now, what will life be like 20 years from now? While I have a good imagination for things fantastic, I am not sure I can predict how things will look in 20 years.

I am pretty sure I will move to another state at least one more time in the next 20 years. In the last 17 years, I have moved from WV to NC to TX. The odds of staying put I think are low, but I wold not mind it too much.

I think that terrorism in the US will be very uncommon and the middle east will be a battlefield until Jesus takes charge. I just cannot see any other outcome considering the history of warfare that region has endured.

I see the Internet becoming even more mobile with more and more people using the web on the go via phone or PDA. The more mobile we become, the more we want our info to follow us. I suspect that "phone lines" and "cable" will be antiquated terms by then. We will have a "data connection" that will provide TV, phone and Internet all in one connection. As the lines for information become more blurred, you will see more and more entertainment and telecom companies offering moer services so you will have more of the "one stop shopping". I predict that fiber optics will eventually win out for urban and suburban customers while wireless/satellite will be the choice for those in the rural areas.

I think that the push for more oil will cause someone who is highly respected and very wealthy to push for alternatives fossil fuels. I see more homes with solar and wind power (in the southern half of the US), hydrogen/electric cars on the roads and the need/desire for oil diminishing exponentially. All this can be done now...the technology is there. All we need to do is implement it.

I envision cooking almost completely dying out thanks to cheaper pre-made foods. About the only time you will have "home cooked" is at a restaurant. I see this push today as people by pre-made dinners from the supermarket. We are giving less and less time for normal duties that 20 years ago were common place.

I am not going to have any more kids, but I do see having 1 grandchild. I have a son who is of that age, but he is not dating anyone. I would like to see a grand child within 20 years, but our son is a soldier and we do not know what God has planned for him.

I think the next wave of mobile communication will be live action high speed webcam phones. Hold a video conference on the go. Of course that will be dangerous until someone figures out a way to make a HUD for your windshield so your eyes will not be off the road.

Well that was fun...

One thing I rally do enjoy about living where we do is all the beautiful lights that people put up this time of year. While there are some displays nearby that will blind and confuse the pilots trying to find DFW, most are pretty subdued and are in very good taste. Once thing I have noticed is that if the lights are done well, so are the decorations...the two seem to go hand in hand. I gave seen many poorly done homes that seem to be a hodge-podge of themes, with no one standing out. One that comes to mind is about a half a block from our house. The woman who lives there has a projector lighting up the side of her house, a mixture of "Happy Holidays" and "Merry Christmas" banners and lighted messages, and a maddening display of Santa, reindeer, eskimos, sheep, nativity and penguins... among other things. She has multiple trees outside, the eaves of her home, windows and the lawn decorations all decorated with lights. Maddening.

In my humble opinion, the decorations should be tasteful and keep with a theme. More is not always better.