Mr Nethead's WebChunks

Yes! It’s Wednesday! I’m so excited because that means it’s time for another exciting installment of Midweek Thoughts.

In my younger days I thought it would be fun to live in a shack in the forest. I still think that would be sorta fun. Living in a cave would probably be fun too. Unless there were bats in there… or bears. Bears are the number one threat to America! *eyes bears suspiciously*

Due to new federal restrictions, banks are now required to have their customers “opt-in” for the option to overdraft while using their debit cards. Unless consumers opt-in, attempted purchases exceeding the available balance while using the card will automatically be declined. Because of that, banks are scrambling like mad to get people to opt-in because they don’t want to lose their “revenue stream.” (Which totals  many billions every year.)

So ummm, why would people opt-in to have their bank charge them $35 for the privilege of spending money they don’t have? You’re probably better off without that $38 coffee drink from Starbucks.

The United States government is an equal opportunity employer. In fact, Department of Justice is seeking 10 lawyers for employment, and being disabled or mentally retarded does not preclude you from applying. Personally, I think having retarded lawyers working for the government is a bad idea, but what do I know? And I thought it wasn’t politically correct to refer to mentally handicapped people as “retarded.” Shame on you, politically incorrect Department of Justice!

There are a lot of things we take for granted in this modern world. The toilet is one of the greatest inventions of all time, yet how often do we stop and think about it? The refrigerator, the spoon, locks and keys – these are all amazing things too.

But there’s something so prevalent that it’s hard to imagine a world without it. I’m talking about plastic.

If you look around your home, you’ll see hundreds of different uses for plastic. Your television, your phone, your computer, your alarm clock, your food packaging, and many of your dishes are made of or contain plastic.

Yet, human-made plastic is a relatively young substance. It was invented in 1855 by a man named Alexander Parkes. The substance was intended to be a synthetic replacement for ivory and was given the name Parkesine.

So if we stop and ponder it, the American way of life in the 1850s was very different from our way of life in 2010. Sometimes I  think about all of the things I do throughout the course of the day. I try to imagine which things could’ve also been done back then. There really aren’t very many things.

In fact, probably the most enduring activity throughout the ages is the act of reading a book. But even that is now changing thanks to e-book readers such as the Amazon Kindle. Will Americans still be reading paper books in fifty years? Perhaps they will be. But perhaps they will be a novelty item that only old fogies pick up when they feel nostalgic and yearn for the good ol’ days.

By the way, the Kindle contains a lot of plastic.