With so many modern conveniences and amazing technological feats appearing frequently, there are still some things we still have trouble providing, and I preface this by saying others have surely talked, joked, or written about some of these…
Like the fact that we can see zit marks on people’s faces with modern day technology from outer space or read the tattoo on their forearms from special government cameras at malls and airports, but when some scofflaw robs a bank, the nightly news shows us a picture that looks like a baby ultrasound or a shaky Polaroid shot from 1968, with the perfunctory blurred guy in a hoodie and sunglasses.
And while I can jam 5,000 songs onto my iPhone and carry on amazing video chats and get instantaneous location updates, I simply can’t get through that short distance known as the Pali Tunnel(s) without losing reception- cell phone, radio, you name it. It is 2022, so can we install the technology which will enable us to get through that challenging transition from town side to windward side? I mean if we can chat on a phone (please, no) at 30,000 feet, can’t we get through one one-tenth of a semi-enclosed mile without losing connection (hands-free, of course)?
And speaking of the Pali Highway, we’ve heard of neighbors complaining that speed bumps are causing their houses to literally crack as some free wheelers go flying over the bumps, but now that growing potholes before and after the speed bumps are causing motorists to slow down (or zigzag) even more. No problem, we hear that Pali repairs will be done by year end… we just don’t know what year.
Kepler-452B is a cool (we think) exoplanet that we can apparently see, and it’s 8.2 quadrillion miles away. If we rode on our fastest current space probe there, it would take 26 million years to arrive on Kepler. Yet while we rejoice seeing that dot well, I still can’t get a decent pair of eyeglasses that don’t smudge every single day?!
These are the types of things that used to keep us up at night, or at least were weird wonders we pondered. But they were mere somewhat existential curiosities. Now we obsess over mask microfibers, whether we’ll need a fourth vaccination this spring, and why is that guy coughing who just got on the elevator?! Ah, the good old days.
Think about it…