724 Calendar Boy

724 Calendar Boy

Keeping an electronic calendar has its drawbacks. Like when you're at the doc's or the dentist's and you have to make a follow up appointment. And his or her office is the only one in the world that doesn't have a Wi-Fi connection. So you say "well, I can't get to the calendar but let's make the appointment and if it's no good, I'll call you later in the day." Anticipating this, you can print a few months worth of future calendar pages and have them with you at the appointment.

Then when you go to read the pages and make your follow-up you realize you can't read the compressed fonts you've printed. Or worse, yet, you can't figure out what you wrote. "Py Am Ex" on a calendar entry. Does that mean "Pay American Express," or does it mean "Pay Alimony to my Ex?" It can be especially confusing if you have neither an American Express card nor an ex spouse. In any event, such a calendar note would not preclude you from making a follow up with the dentist. But what if it says "Brd?" Is that Brad? Or Bird? Or Byrd? If you don't know a Brad, you can narrow it down. Bird? Is that my volunteer day at the Audubon Society? Or is that the day of Robert Byrd's funeral?

Sitting in your home office, you might pick up other clues in familiar surroundings. But when you're at the doc's and there are six people waiting behind you to check out, the pressure's on and you can't think. So what's the solution? A Blackberry or iPhone? C'mon. $80 bucks a month for a glorified Palm Pilot?

Another answer is carry a date book. A Day Timer or Day Runner. Too bulky. Plus smart appointment makers know that having more than one calendar is an invitation to time disaster. It always comes back to this: Little scraps of paper. No technology beyond a pencil. No internet connection needed. No cellphone needed. No $80 bucks a month needed. It's easy. It's convenient. It's free.

On January first of any give year, you may have to tote around 365 3x5 cards. But each day your burden lightens by one card. By the end of June, you're down by half. Keep the internet calendar as a reminder of birthdays and anniversaries, but nothing else. Sometimes, the best tech is low tech -- or even no tech.

Shrapnel:

--It's really tough to mourn the loss of a former Klansman. But Robert Byrd did a lot more good in his later life than he did harm in his earlier life. Bye bye Byrdie.

--"Progressive" lenses in your glasses, are they really progress? The eye doctor says "they take some getting used to and sometimes you feel a little dizzy or drunk for awhile." A cheap high, Dr. Matt. But you don't want to be ahead of me on the highway any time soon.

I'm Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you're welcome to them.®

©WJR 2010