I'm one of those people you cite when you recount all the things that have been discovered in the last half century or so, to illustrate how the world has changed. First World, that is. Third World knows all about it, though, from the movies and television. There is a wider gap between haves and have-nots than ever before in history. That's an aside.

I can remember when a refrigerator was delivered to my parent's kitchen. I remember the kitchen therefore the house, therefore my age. I was four years old. My mother never stopped calling it the ice box for the rest of her life. I don't remember not having a telephone but I remember a patient from the country coming to the next house to see the doctor. Mother invited him in to phone my father's office and make an appointment. When he had completed his call, he was shaking and pale; it was the first time he had ever used a telephone. Well. And since then we have contact with everyone unless they'e in a bank vault or in a mine six miles under the earth's surface. The "watch" that Dick Tracy used to communicate had two-way radio plus a picture, like Skype - well, you know. You, being younger, know much more than I do about all the techie stuff available now in cyberspace (the word was coined by William Gibson, did you know that?).

Well, you can look up long long lists of things that have changed or new things that are available that never existed just a few decades ago. You can use me as a touchstone. I am 83 years old today. (Do NOT say "83 years young," or I will throw up.)

Look for me tomorrow. I'll be here, blogging along.