Thursday, November 17, 2011

Adapting to change....

I'm going to veer off the daily news story theme for a bit because I'm doing something entirely new. I'm writing this post with my all new Kindle Fire. Cool, eh?



I, like many novelists, hesitated with the whole E-READER thing. The romance of holding a book couldn't be replaced by a machine. No way, no how. Nuh uh...

I went through the same thing with digital cameras. Nothing could replace film. No way, no how. Nuh uh...

But... I was wrong. I know, I know. Not easy to admit, but I'll be a big girl about it. I love the immediacy of digital cameras and the ability to shoot and shoot to my heart's content without the time and expense of film. And I tell ya... the instant feedback has made me a better photographer. I remember the days when I'd make notes on a little pad about each frame then try to compare those notes to the images once they were processed and printed. It wasn't easy to experiment. But with digital?? ENDLESS experimentation.

So when Kindle came out with the Fire, I decided to give it a try. I'd been wrong about digital cameras; maybe I was wrong about this. And besides, if I hated it as a reader I could still use it for web access, movies, music... and the price was right, so why not?

And guess what? I've had it less than 24 hours and I love this thing! Last night when I pulled this sucker out of the box, I immediately went for the book selections, and found the forgotten (on my part) third part of the Hunger Games!! After reading the second book in the trilogy, I couldn't wait for the third to come out but somehow got buried in other stuff and forgot! Mockingjay was my first Kindle download. Within seconds I had my book with no trip to the bookstore! Dang! How cool is that???



I thought I'd hate reading off a screen, but after a couple of paragraphs I forgot about the device. The page background can be set to off-white, like most books, and it's easy to hold, turn pages, and simply lose yourself in make believe without the bulk and waste (hard as it is to say) of paper.

So... adapting to change isn't too bad, right?

Which kinda ties into one of my news stories today about a new retirement study. Talk about adapting! Instead of the hallowed 65 to retire, most people working today will have to work until they're 80. Yep! I said 80. The graph below shows the percentage of each retirement dollar people expect to get from the government. I'd say it's pretty accurate. I look at the difference between my parents and I. They retired a couple years ago, and in addition to a lot of very smart saving, are getting social security. Can I count on that same supplement?? Who knows. I know I'm not counting on it, which fits into the 20% for 40-somethings!


And man! The way my 401k continually gets devalued. Yikes!

The big fear for me is this: Can I carry all this heavy gear until I'm 80? Years ago, my feller and I talked about the impact carrying fifty to sixty pounds every day might have on me physically and we decided I should retire by 45. Well... that's less than a year away, and I sure don't think I'm financially close to retiring, nor am I mentally done with it either. I still enjoy what I do. Look at all the great people I meet, and the amazing things I see!

Hmmm... The whole workin' til 80 thing might not be as easy to adapt to as switching from a book to an E-Reader.

In addition to the retirement story, the day started with an explosion in Anaheim (and an early call for me) and ended with an Occupy OC event at John Wayne airport.

But really... I don't need to go into detail. I've rambled on entirely too long with this post and truthfully, I want to go play with my Kindle Fire.

(Confession here... Halfway through the blog post, I switched to the computer to write. I'm thrilled I have the ability to post from the Kindle, but it's tough to two-finger type on the screen pad, especially when I can whiz through it on a computer!)

Until another exciting day tomorrow...

Later gators!

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