5: Like Magic

Ever have one of those days when things just don't go right and then, bam! Things go exactly right? For me, this morning: I overslept (something I very, very rarely--almost never--do), so I was running later than normal to work (also something I never do, but, if possible, do even less often than oversleeping, because I have a lot of extra time built into my morning, so I can usually skip stuff and make up lost time). Then I couldn't find anything clean and ironed to wear. And I had to take my second cup of coffee to go. And I almost forgot to feed my cat. And, and, and...I was still on track to get to work early, just not as early as usual. I was walking up to the office building, past the parking garage, which was rather noisy. Because all of my coworkers were standing around in the garage. Because there was an electrical fire in the building. We stood around for a while, then decided to grab breakfast while we waited. As we finished, we got word that... no work today. The fire blew out the transformer, so there's no power to the building. And, no work from home, because...there's no power to the building, which means the server room is down. So, I magically have a day off. I know, not really magic, but it feels that way. And, I realized that I use "it's magic" to describe a lot of things I can't explain. Which reminds me of Clarke's third law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Although, I use it for stuff like: Why's it snowing? But, my favorite "magic" items:

1. My iPhone. I feel guilty, being "one of those people," but I freakin' looooove my iPhone. Like, don't know how I lived without it, love it. I never felt the need to have a cool phone before it, but, but... now I can call people and check my email and look at stuff online and play games and find the name and artist of songs on the radio and check the news and the weather and, and, and... awesome. Who'd've thunk, even ten years ago, that I'd be able to do that from a tiny little thing like the iPhone. It's magic.

2. My automatic coffee maker. Another thing in the thought-I'd-never-want/need-it category. Sure, I have to feed it the coffee grounds and water the night before, but when I get out of the shower, there's hot coffee waiting for me. The genius that thought of that has my undying affection.

3. DVR. I can pause TV and fast forward through commercials. Sure, you could do that before with a taped show, but this is possible before the show is even over. And, I don't have to remember what night a show is on, because the DVR will and it'll magically appear on my list. It's like it can read my mind. Which, I'm okay with, because TV is an essential part of my existence.

4. Cameras. Now I'm kicking it old school, but... it just freezes a moment in time. Or, if you're Amish: it captures your soul (or something like that). But really, it's better than memory, it's what actually was there at that moment in time. I swear, I'm not high right now (or ever), but that just blows my mind, in a lot of ways.

5. Cloning. Yeah, like Dolly the Sheep. It seems to make sense that, if it's been done once (the original), it can be done again (the clone). But, it's not that simple, huh? After the invention of copying machines for paper...came the technology for living things. Weird, but not: all rolled into one.