In between playing with cars with our smallest grandson, and building stuff with Meccano (modern Meccano with all the parts made of plastic is, by the way, far inferior to the all metal stuff my younger brother played with in our childhood - the plastic nuts and bolts come unscrewed far too easily!) and other such pursuits today, I have thought about technology.
Yesterday I read this article about recent British contributions to modern technology. I was quite astounded to find the “swikini” listed among the technological advances of which we can be proud. Is a swimsuit made with a sort of mesh to cover your stretch marks or any bulgy bits so that it looks as though you are wearing a bikini really a technological development? Maybe! But why not just wear an ordinary swimsuit? Vanity? Fashion?
Then there are ePants: SMART ePANTS — Smart Electrically Powered and Networked Textile Systems. In other words clothes that can track your movements, possibly as an alternative to wearing an electronic tag for criminals out on parole or under house arrest. Such clothing is supposed to be washable, or will be once properly developed. How do you ensure that the people you want to track actually wear the stuff? And what if they wash it on the wrong cycle and shrink it or otherwise ruin it? I find the concept amusing and interesting but I’m not sure about the feasibility. I bet Woody Allen could make a great movie about it.
As it is, we are all monitored all the time, it seems. How otherwise does social media know what sort of adverts to target me with? You only need to go on a website for a particular product to be bombarded with adverts for similar stuff, even if you have actually bought the product and are unlikely to buy another in the near future! Sometimes it seems that your phone earwigs on your spoken conversations - not actual phone conversations but face to face stuff with your phone in your pocket - and before you know it you have offers for deals on stuff you have merely mentioned. Big brother may not be watching but he is listening in!
Anyway, that’s enough of that. The small boy was spending the day with us because his big sister is back in school and his teacher mother has had an INSET day. He is due to start pre-school but in the cautious way that things are done nowadays he is attending for part of tomorrow. Daddy will drop him off and I will collect him somewhere around lunchtime. Other children will have a half day on Wednesday. Then they all begin properly on Thursday. So he’ll spend Wednesday with us as well.
We went to a local playground - The Sandy Park as it is known in the family for its large sandpit - and there we met a small boy who also starts the same preschool tomorrow. Instant friend? Will they remember each other’s names tomorrow? That remains to be seen.
My week, however, has been organised for me. An old friend has been trying to organise for us to walk round a local beauty spot in the sunshine which is forecast for this week. i think Thursday might be free at the rate things are going. We shall see.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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