Column: This guy needs to buy a calendar

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There is a lot of going on this time of year. That means my mind is more unorganized than usual.

A thought jumps into my head and a few minutes later a new thought replaces that first thought. I’ve never been the type of person who uses a calendar — written or on a phone or computer — to keep track of meetings and birthdays and birthday parties and appointments.

I once did a pretty good job of remember those things.

That time has passed. The time has come to start using a calendar

Despite more than two years of use, I still struggle with the intricacies of my cell phone. For that reason, I’ll be shopping this week for a new paper calendar. I bought two in December, but can’t remember where I put them.

Until that calendar is in hand, I’ll carry on … with some help from friends.

I know I’ll I get a reminder phone call Stephanie Parr’s office, reminding me that Jack has an appointment at 2:40 p.m. Wednesday. My own doctor thankfully calls me a day or two in advance.

But remembering anything else is a crap shoot.

A friend is getting married May 19. When I got one of those “save the date” mailers five or six months ago, I hung it on my refrigerator. I unfortunately later covered that reminder with some photos of friends and family I received at Christmas. A month ago, I was carrying some groceries inside when I tripped over Miss Beatrix. Fortunately, my refrigerator broke my fall, and that ‘save the date’ reminder was atop the 10 or 12 things I knocked off.

So Christopher Tucker, I’ll be there.

But why is it that the one thing I never fail to forget is my golf swing.

My muscle memory — when it comes to a driver, fairway metal or iron — never fails me. For some reason my unproductive swing returns each spring … unchanged. It’s all arms. I may as well sit in the golf car when I tee off as much as I use my legs. My back swing ugly and choppy and too quick, as is my follow-through. But every two or three founds I par a hole, so I have that going for me. On Saturday, I parred a hole in my first golf outing of the year. The other 17 holes were a disaster. But that one par? It was a beauty.

Oh, and thanks Natalie Cass for the “save the date” reminder for your wedding. It’s already on my refrigerator. A save the date reminder that doubles as a magnet? What a great idea!

Here are a few more random thoughts from my very cluttered mind.

Good kids doing good

I love the service requirement for Galion High School students in order to graduate. They must average 15 hours of community service each year. Not only are the community service requirements a positive for the Galion community, but the benefits of community service can increase exponentially through the years.

It stands to reason that students who perform community service become adults who also see the benefits of giving back to their communities. Their involvement leads to others being involved. And parents who care are more apt to raise kids who care.

Community service is a gift that never stops giving.

Silence is golden … and rare

At work — and often at home — the ringer on my personal cell phone is turned off. Neither does it vibrate. For the first 40 years of my life, I got along just great without a phone being attached to my ear. Phones are a necessary nuisance. But I’m OK with not being connected to the rest of the world 24/7.

I get 20-50 phone calls daily. Every few hours I’ll glance at my cell phone, open up the call history and see what I missed. It’s rare that I feel the need to call anyone back, because most of the calls are bogus .. or so I suspect.

Rarely do I miss something important.

According to an recent article in the New York times, Americans receive billions of robocalls each month.

The article, by Tara Siegel Bernard, says:

“Those pesky robocalls — at best annoying disturbances and at worst costly financial scams — are getting worse.

In an age when cellphones have become extensions of our bodies, robocallers now follow people wherever they go, disrupting business meetings, church services and bedtime stories with their children.

Though automated calls have long plagued consumers, the volume has skyrocketed in recent years, reaching an estimated 3.4 billion in April, according to YouMail, which collects and analyzes calls through its robocall blocking service. That’s an increase of almost 900 million a month compared with a year ago.”

So I apologize to my friends and family and acquaintences who wonder why I pay so little attention to incoming phone calls. I thought I was being anti-social and un-civil.

Turns out I’m a rebel, a maverick. Maybe I’m the leader of a cell-phone rebellion. If every other person in America would ignore phone calls from strange or unknown numbers, the calls would eventually stop coming.

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Russ Kent

Galion Inquirer

 

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