Thank you, keifermiller , you have made my day. The link you provided is now bookmarked, for daily perusal and reflection.

I am bit old geezer-ish sometimes, on account of being an old geezer. Also, I work with wood, so if a computer and/or the Intertube were made of wood, I'd have a lot more finesse with it.

Thanks again.

Sounds like you appreciate redundancy too, with 2 different hard drives!

Me telling you what happens in my life is not a statement about nor a judgment of yours. I like how we are both adopters of technology in different ways. A smartphone certainly is an always-on, always-connected (with friends and information) economical use of space in your life, and as you say, the data is replaceable in the case of damage or loss.

Do you live in the city? One day I may be more mobile; for now, I am rural, so the internet is not wireless hotspots, it's cable or landlines. Is that part of reasons for the difference?

Yours is a very portable lifestyle, and I can appreciate the economy of space. I agree, I've slowly needed fewer and fewer devices as the ones I have can do more and more.

I like redundancy. Redundancy helps systems survive shock. I have a few different ways of doing things, in case one method fails. This can be due to power outages, poor quality construction of the item, theft, or damage.

I call people on my actual phone, which always has great sound quality, even in bad weather. I text message if I'm in transit. In my car, I listen to the news on CBC. I meet friends and visit with them. When we visit, we discuss the current events, philosophy, books we've recently read or refused to read, what to do about Ty the beagle's 'houndini' escape antics and other soul-stirring tidbits. At home, I have an enormous-screen desktop computer with an old-timey mouse and keyboard with the number pad, on a big ol' desk, with a comfy chair and a footstool, and a place to put my coffee mug.

Different worlds!

I use Google or DuckDuckGo as if it were the card catalogue of the Internet Library.

Put in a good search term, track down links to sites that aren't sponsored (page 2 or 3 or 4 or 5...!), read some stuff, click on hyperlinks in the text (if they are there- see highlighted words above), read that stuff; put in another search term using info you learned in the links you just read, REPEAT.

Hours of fun, completely off the beaten track!

I am glad I am not alone in this.

Have you also never spent even 1¢ at WalMart?! Not a cent. Never. If so, then the Venn diagram becomes more interesting.

I may be the only person on the planet who has no Facebook, I'm not a Twit-terer, I don't use Instagram or Snapchat, and I haven't got a smartphone.

I do have a fairly useful desktop computer, an unlocked original Nokia C3 phone , and a rotary dial telephone, in case of power outages.

When I post or email, I use hyperlinks inside my text. I think it's cool and groovy. I agree with the author of this article; we need to save the nodes of the net. Use 'em or lose 'em!

Be open to change, keifermiller. The strip will be the same, but different. If BB feels strongly that it's comeback time, he's feeling the flow of his art. I look forward to the maturity of Opus, and the possible rehab exploits of Bill the Cat. I want to find out what, if anything, happened to Milo's field.

Thanks for letting us know about the return of Bloom County.

Perhaps it's time I actually get on the Book of Face; so far, I may be one of few not-yet-old-codgers who has embraced technology while successfully avoiding selling my ID (Facebook) or my soul (the cost of an Oople iFone).

deepflows , it was you who made the comment! Thanks for finding the link.

Yes, Chomsky is a smart man; interesting how the best linguists are often also scientists and social justice activists. This sentence could be true any way you write it: the best social justice activists are also scientists and linguists, the best scientists are also linguists and social justice activists. Seems like a whole brain thing.

'best' in this case is defined as: most useful at focusing on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health and well-being of individuals and society.

Thinkers like Chomsky always end up at the understanding that some kind of anarcho-syndicalism is required to straighten out the problems with top-heavy power structures, such as politics:

[anarcho-syndicalism] is a conception of a very organized society, but organized from below by direct participation at every level, with as little control and domination as is feasible, maybe none.

Noam Chomsky explained that the bottom 70% of the US population has no political control, despite marches, protests and/or votes. Influence increases as income rises, with the final biggest influence going to the top 1% of income earners. This state of political powerlessness for most of the population is called plutocracy.

Greek people clearly thought they were in a democracy, when really they (and I would imagine most of the Eurozone) live and operate in functional plutocracy.

Chomsky was quoted somewhere on Hubski recently...who's the wizard who remembers, and can give us a link?!

100% pure essential oils are usually steam-distilled plant essences, that is, the extracted and concentrated juices from flower petals, seeds, fruits, fruit skins, stems, leaves and/or roots.

I say 'usually' because there is the possibility of lax methodology or outright chicanery. What are sold as essential oils can be lab-made blends of scents in carrier oil. These will be cheap, and will not retain an intact scent after they are opened. Real, pure essential oils, if kept stoppered in a cool, dark place, will retain their scent for years with very little degradation.

Sometimes essential oils are blended with a carrier oil, like almond oil, and the essential oil, such as rose or oregano. This will happen because the 100% pure oil is either considered too strong (oregano) for the general public, or it is too expensive to produce (rose absolut). They are often labeled '100% pure' but you have to look closely to see the caveat '20% volume in a carrier oil', or similar. I consider this to be a questionable practice. Of course, blending strong pure essential oils with a carrier oil is a good idea, especially for use on the young, the elderly, or the infirm; this can be done by the informed user. Pre-diluting the oil prior to sale, while still exhibiting the large-print '100% pure' label, is misleading.

Essential oils do have actions upon the body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Tea tree oil is an excellent anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. Basil and Orange are very uplifting, and is used as an anti-depressant. Lemon is astringent and uplifting. Lavender helps heal skin, is calming, and will promote sleep.

You can perform an experiment with any one of these oils to satisfy yourself that they work. Sprinkle a few drops of orange essential oil in a place used by someone who is often down or depressed. Notice if anything changes. Try a drop of lavender on the top of the head of an excited pet or a cranky baby. See if they settle. Use a drop of basil oil on your forehead before a test or exam. Record your experience.

I have an extensive collection of essential oils with which I have doctored myself and my family. My current favourite is 'Medieval Thieves' blend of cloves, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus and rosemary. A drop, rubbed between the hands, appears to provide anti-bacterial and anti-viral protection when handling money or shaking hands. Pure essential oils are an excellent adjunct to conventional medicine, and they are valuable on their own as a first line of defense.

Hope this provides a starting point for your research!