Old Technology Crashing is Nothing New at My House

According to NASA, an old research satellite about the size of a bus is hurtling toward Earth. It’s expected to break up and burn up in the atmosphere, but some pieces are going to hit us. At least that’s what I heard a former NASA scientist say on NPR.

Specifically, debris pieces up to 300 pounds have a 1 in 3,200 chance of nailing someone or something. I’m not one to get freaked out by such odds, but I do seem to have a special relationship with outdated technology.

I’m not running around with a Sony Walkman or spending my Sunday afternoons playing an Atari 2600 on a black and white TV, but I am just about the tech-savvy equivalent of a grandmother in Amish country.

On top of being a Luddite, I live on a hilltop exactly across from another hilltop near Dodger Stadium that sports six massive radio towers transmitting Spanish language programming 24-7. As my service-provider explained, that radio station also ups their power during Dodgers games. Fantastico! It fries neighborhood technology.

So what good is an iPhone when it only picks up a signal in the middle of the road? Why have cable when it spontaneously channels a Dodger’s game–transmitted in Spanish–right into the middle of my White Collar episode?

Then there's the technology hiccup of not being able to access my Wi-Fi if I'm on my phone--my landline phone. Couple that with a cell that lets me text, but not talk, and suddenly I sound like a sitcom.

Frankly, though, none of these techie quirks ever bothered me--until I became an online journalist. 

Take last week, for example. I was awaiting a call from of . Of course, just then, my Mom called on my landline. Due to budget cuts, I no longer employ caller ID or call waiting on my landline. So I made sure Mom was fine and rushed her off the line as my cell phone rang.

I grabbed it, and despite sporting pajamas, ran out to the middle of the road for reception. I was not fast enough.

Leum, returning my call about the I was writing, then rang my home phone - which I could hear from the middle of the street. I ran back inside, but it had already gone to my answering machine. Yes, an answering machine. So I just picked up, which is always confusing for people unfamiliar with my technologically-challenged lifestyle.

Luckily, most people have a very nice sense of humor and understand the frustrations of having no bars. Explaining a busy signal, though, is a bit more challenging. 

Still, chances are 1 in 3,200, but I’m hoping a piece of outdated space junk takes out those towers. It would be a fitting way--and the perfect time--to usher in a new era of new technology at my house.