Old fashioned

AGMA really enjoys those Progressive TV commercials where the self help therapist, Dr. Rick, is trying to help young homeowners who are “turning into their parents”.

He’s challenged by young homeowners wearing fanny packs (that are coming BACK into fashion by the way!) who have paper tickets at the airport, pack snacks from home for their plane ride, are worried about exiting a football game before it starts, and compliment the grocery store deli worker for great lunchmeat slicing…

You get the picture.

I enjoy them until it dawns on me that I AM the parent he is trying to help the young homeowners not be like.  What??  For some bizarre, AGMA-twisted reasoning, I think I am one of those young homeowners, not the older parent.

Considering we bought our first home in 1978, I’ve obviously been consuming too many gummies.

We are most definitely NOT young homeowners.  And we’re guilty of pretty much everything that the the commercial is poking fun at.  Although I don’t think I’ve ever complimented the deli person on their slicing skills.  Out loud.

Time marches on…. And AGMA has been feeling that quite acutely.

Now I know how my father felt in the 80’s & 90’s with the advent of personal computers, the internet, and cell phones.

Today it’s crypto currencies, VR, NFT’s, and the Metaverse.  I think they’re all connected. Maybe. I’m really not sure. 

Yup – AGMA is turning into my father. This is terrifying.

My brother turned 80 (OMG!!) a few months ago.  He’s a recently retired investment advisor.  When I saw him this past fall, he told me he invested in a cryptocurrency, but he has no clue exactly how the crypto thing works.

Join the club.

I heard this morning that the US government is looking into issuing cryptocurrency, and that we are actually behind the 8-ball compared to other countries.  Damn – just when I was getting ready to fill up my nickel collectors card… 

Clearly, crypto is hot and a ‘thing’. But, right now, when Matt Damon tells me from the TV that “fortune favors the brave” in advertising crypto investing, it all feels a bit like a Ponzi scheme.

AGMA is kind of a crusty skeptic.

Then there’s VR or virtual reality.  I have enough of a hard time with with reality reality.  Not sure I want to add another layer to my reality anxiety issues.

NFT’s are really interesting.  I think.  And bizarre.  Another thing that feels a bit like a pyramid scheme.  But since I don’t understand what they are, who knows?

NFT’s are Non-Fungible Tokens.  

What the heck does fungible mean???  Is that even a word??  It sounds like something I would use to describe the love child of the Orange Cheetolini, the Pillow Guy, and Kid Rock.

“Oh my goodness, what a fungible baby.”

AGMA can’t tell you how many time I’ve Googled NFT’s to try to figure out why people are spending millions of dollars on them.

MILLIONS.  

And all I get is that it has something to do with proprietary digital “stuff” stored in a blockchain (whatever the hell that is) somewhere in some cloud that you need a special code to access.  So I guess you’re really paying for that code, but, again, who knows?

Artists are cashing big time on the NFT craze, and it may expand to real estate and other “stuff”.

Now there’s an oxymoron for you – digital real estate.  I wonder if that’s like naming a star after your significant other?  I mean, it’s not REALLY named after them, but you have a piece of paper that says it is. It’s a gimmick. 

Can you raise crops on a digital farm?  Or cows?  How about building a house?  Or a sky scraper?

AGMA just has so many questions….

Which brings us to the Metaverse.  AGMA has a sneaking suspicion that cryptocurrency, VR and NFT’s are all part of the Metaverse, but I couldn’t swear to it.  Again, this is something that I’ve Googled multiple times, but am having a difficult time wrapping my very limited brain around.

If somebody out there can explain any of this to me, please have at it!

Honestly, the older I get, the more it seems like The Matrix is becoming the new reality and less just a plot for a movie.

Give me the red pill please!

Oh, to go back to the good old days of flip cell phones, email, and typing www before a website’s name.

The days before 9/11, MAGA hats, FOX “news”, the Big Lie, COVID-19. 

The days when women’s reproductive rights weren’t being stripped away, voter suppression of POC wasn’t wildly popular because there was Federal Government oversight, corporations weren’t considered ‘people’, tens of thousands of people didn’t needlessly die because of anti-vax propaganda, and traitors who attempt a violent overthrow of democracy would actually get imprisoned rather than elected to the US Congress. Or the Presidency.  

Silly AGMA….

Longing for days past where school children didn’t have to endure active shooter drills, school boards didn’t ban books/curriculum that teach actual history, libraries didn’t have to close because of threats of violence against their employees because they ask the public to wear masks to protect others, and fences didn’t have to be erected around the US Capitol to keep out the ‘tourists’ (who erect a gallows to hang the Veep.)

AGMA guesses both Hubs and I are just old fashioned folks who believe real estate should be real, doing our own ‘research’ is no substitute for listening to learned professionals, science is not subjective, history is reporting what actually happened even if it makes people uncomfortable, reading challenging books develops critical thinking skills, every citizen should be able to cast a ballot for the candidate of their choice and have it counted, black and brown lives matter, people who try to overthrow the government need to be in jail, and women should be the sole decision makers concerning their bodies.

So maybe it’s not a bad thing that my young, home-owning sons turn into their parents?

Gotta go now ‘cause AGMA has to pack up my NFT that I bought with crypto in the Metaverse and take a trip though VR.

See you, Alice (and the White Rabbit), and Neo on the Nebuchadnezzar.

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