THE 21ST CENTURY

When the USPS closed the Strawberry Post Office after untold years - we were the Strawberry with the ZIP CODE! - I vowed NOT to buy any more stamps than necessary.  I actually was dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century.  I now send out reservation confirmations via e-mail and receive an acknowledgement that it was received by the intended person!!  Who said that "an old dog can't learn new tricks!"?

So thanks to a majority vote of the owners at The Rivers Resort, of which we are 1/10th, and have managed for over 23 years now, we will have wi-fi available by Mid-December.  THANKS also to Tim Holden at Sierra Nevada Communications, our cable provider,  who has spent ten years of his life making this possible.  IT WILL NOT BE FREE, but cheaper than across the street at The Strawberry Inn.  And the folks who DON'T want to "be connected" don't have to be, or don't have to make it available to their kids, wives, or even themselves.  

Recently, I have had several dozen families have to go elsewhere to vacation as they HAD to have the connection available for work or for school!  That's life in this speedy world!

It took awhile to develop the techniques needed to send email confirmations; it will take a bit to get used to SELLING the wi-fi connection and changing the passwords when needed, but I am game and so is my computer guru husband Tom.   WELCOME to the 21st Century!! 

SEMANTICS

I am OFTEN amazed at how the language has changed in MY LIFETIME!  The most recent is the sign by the USFS which reads "STAFFED FIRE - DO NOT REPORT!"   Nearly 40 years ago when we moved to Strawberry, the mile-hi hamlet surrounded by National Forest, the term was "Controlled Burn - do NOT report" but so many of those small fires got OUT OF CONTROL that the term used was "Prescribed Burn - do NOT report"  So burning the forest was a way of helping it but only if the burn stayed in bounds!!

So now we have evolved to "staffed fire - do NOT report" - does that mean that someone in an office somewhere knows that there is a fire here? Or that there are trained fire suppression officers ready and willing to put their lives on the line to put out this fire should it become "out of control!!"?  I really don't know, but praise GOD, especially this year, that there are fire fighters ready and willing and well-trained to do just that. 

Now if ANY of these fires in Northern California, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, or even Southern California that were human caused - I hope that the perpetrator doesn't brag about it as I would personally string him or her up over a smoldering fire!  Maybe some Vigalante Justice would put a stop to the thoughtless acts we see so often on the news!  OR MAYBE NOT?!

Scary Times we live in.