Home › Daily Prompt › #FOWC › THAT POOR HORSE! – Marilyn Armstrong

THAT POOR HORSE! – Marilyn Armstrong

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FOWC with Fandango — Jaded

A poor tired horse looks jaded. That’s the origin of the word. It has come to mean “worn out” or “bored with everything.”

Lately, it also means fed up. Exhausted. Too much news, too much hassle, too much of everything.

I’m jaded with the news, jaded with the tragedies we seem to promote and then deny. It used to be that when you got like “this,” you could flee to some deserted part of the world. An empty beach on a warm sea or ocean maybe. But where is there a deserted anything anymore? Is there anywhere to go where you don’t get the news? Short of going back to live in a dark cave which, I admit, isn’t awfully attractive, I’m not sure there’s anyway “out” for anyone.

We live in a world where privacy and peace are banished. Between social media and more television channels, radio stations, and Alexa, there’s no escaping.

Phones

It’s why I loathe mobile phones. Who needs to be in constant touch with everything and everyone? Don’t we get to have a little quiet time or is that forbidden?

This morning I saw a new SimpleHuman invention: Alexa linked faucets for your sink. you can make your kitchen sing from anywhere in the house and if that’s not enough, you can adjust the sound levels at your bathroom mirror while your electronic toilet device measures your output.

The toilet? The sink? The mirror? All of them will all give you the news, too. It somehow fits that the toilet will give you news. That’s pretty much where it’s coming from anyhow.

“Hey, Alexa? Tell the toilet to give me the news. Then, when it’s done, please flush!”
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Categories: #FOWC, Daily Prompt, Fandango's One Word Challenge, Humor, Marilyn Armstrong, Technology

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17 replies

  1. Fandango
    10/14/2019 • 02:07

    My iPhone is my constant companion, but I have it on silent mode so it doesn’t make any sounds. It does vibrate when I get a phone call, most of which are robocalls, or text messages, most of which are from my kids. I also have an Apple Watch that vibrates whenever there is “news,” most of which I ignore. And I use it for WordPress. But this week I’m hosting out-of-town guests and my screen time is down by around 60% from last week.

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  2. Taswegian1957
    10/14/2019 • 01:45

    Funnily enough, my mobile phone turned itself to flight mode in my pocket today. It made the screen jump about in an annoying way and I had to turn it off and turn it on again to get it to behave. They are useful I admit. I am relieved that Naomi finally caved in and got one because it’s useful to call for help if your car breaks down and so on and she has to do a lot of long drives. I don’t like the noise though and when I am at home don’t carry it around. A lot of businesses now consider the mobile phone the default phone number. I don’t like giving mine out to all and sundry. What I really dislike though is that at one time if you went on holidays or out for the day you could relax because you were out of reach but now because of mobile phones people can’t really escape. The boss can call you when you are on leave, family members call to ask things like where are their keys/socks/ wallets or when you are coming back. How is that relaxing?

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  3. swo8
    10/13/2019 • 20:50

    FBL (full belly laugh) well that takes the cake. Now we are going to be run by our toilets. Is that progress?
    Leslie

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  4. slmret
    10/13/2019 • 17:14

    I have a “smart” phone. I keep it with me away from home to use in an emergency. It has phone contacts that I use also if I’m away from home, and EMT people could look at it and figure out who to call in an emergency. Otherwise, I don’t use it to capacity! I like the idea of turning it to flight mode, though — if everybody would do that, they wouldn’t have to tell us in theaters to turn off our phones!

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    • Marilyn Armstrong
      10/13/2019 • 22:09

      I keep ours so when we travel, we can call for directions, or say we are running late or early, etc. I turn it off at home. I really don’t like the telephone anymore. I think the last time I REALLY liked it I was 13 or so.

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  5. angloswiss
    10/13/2019 • 16:51

    Just one word for the mobile phone. It is more than a phone for me. I rarely make a phone call, just doctors and tradesmen. Personal calls are usually Facebook messenger, it costs nothing. My iPhone is my memory, my details, and connected to Mr. Swiss. It is also my timetable for medicine and my notes not to forget to remember. It makes a signal at certain times with the reason why, because I programmed it. It has become a necessity for my daily needs. An extra is the camera, a very good one.

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    • Marilyn Armstrong
      10/13/2019 • 16:58

      You use your phone exactly the way I use to use my digital memo book. It didn’t HAVE a phone, but it had a calendar, lots of room for notes, messages, tasks, lists I really loved it.

      Then they turned them into phones and made them really complicated. To be fair, I’m not good with phones and printers. I’ve never figured out how to change the ink in the printer, either. But MOSTLY what I don’t like it that the new phones are always making some kind of noise. Ringing, jingling, dinging, bonging, pinging. If they would just shut up, I wouldn’t mind so much.

      Liked by 1 person

      • angloswiss
        10/13/2019 • 17:03

        I switch my phone to flight mode through the night and during my lunchtime sleep. Otherwise I might mute the tone, although I often rely on a signal. I leave printer ink to Mr. Swiss.

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  6. Sadje
    10/13/2019 • 13:16

    Lol! Are you kidding me or is this real. I can believe anything these days.

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