technology Archives - A Cowdogs Advice

Well, this old cowdog finally undid the technology that sends out my opinions to the world.

Perhaps it was my dog paws whacking the keys with too much dingo enthusiasm.

I’m told I drink like an alligator and drip a lot – maybe it was a little water.

I’m certain it was not dog hair in the delicate and secret interior of that flat metal suitcase we call a laptop.

Nonetheless, the infernal machine alerted the boss to a major cooling fan failure, then set about sabotaging my Heeler tales.

So, handicapped by tech failure, I offer a past tale from this low-tech dog:

Even a cowdog such as myself, who lives a decidedly backwoods rustic life, suffers under plenty of technology. But lately I’ve become a doggone low-tech dog. It’s been a cascade of tech failures that brought me here.

In our very rural country, they’ve finally started repairing the many miles of poor dirt roads. Now I’m a truck enthusiast, but riding these roads is beyond adventure. The deep potholes, pools, rocks and corrugated ridges make staying on the seat a test of balance, muscle and claw, I tell you.

They start grading, graveling, trying to make them better. And all the new sharp rocks started the tech cascade; we’ve had several flat tires this month. Two more today!

After that, mom’s tired old Explorer wouldn’t start. After checking battery and solenoid, we were resigned to replacing that infernal starter; thank goodness Jess got it fixed. She also cleaned it up , detailed the inside, and put new seat covers on. That old beater hasn’t looked so good in 20 years I hear!

On our second outing, the water pump went out; fortunately, it did so in town, and Jess and a merciful neighborhood mechanic got it fixed. But tires and internal combustion – this is all pretty low-tech failures.

Well, the modern world doesn’t penetrate our neck of the woods much anyway. I don’t have to have a smartphone in my paw at all times, I don’t wile away my life looking at frivolous stories and social media, commenting on a stranger’s story or looking at crazy cats. Our use of a cell phone is primarily for safety on the long drive to town, and even then there is no signal in the country air, much of the way.

Well, mom dropped the fragile little thing, and now it’s splintered screen bars any possible use. Oh, you can still call and it will ring – it just can’t respond through it’s delicate broken glass portal.

Now I’m told there was a time when a phone was a sturdy black device, made of unknown hard material that could probably make a decent self-defense weapon also, as well as survive a nuclear bomb – and still keep working. It probably would make an excellent chew toy. They could easily last 20 years and some are still ringing today!

This dainty thing isn’t that.

This old Heeler isn’t a big fan of social media. other than putting my antics, adventures and smiling face out there for other cowdogs to enjoy. And it is fun to see family photos from people far away, some I may never even meet, except in a posted pic.

But I guess we expect such things to just work when we fire up the computer. This week my social media program just failed. Oh, my page comes up, little more than a static heading. I see I have messages and notifications, but all the clicks in the world display nothing more than a few vague gray blocks.

But when all these things quit working, we find how terribly unimportant they are.

No, I’m not advocating for a totally tech-less world, but there is plenty to do when worldly invention fails.

Here’s my list, things I did just this week:

Go for a walk in the wet morning grass.

Weed the garden. Do it again.

Plant, keep planting, think for more places to plant.

Send up a prayer of thanks for the rain, because so far we haven’t had to water all that was planted.

Sit on the porch and watch the hummingbirds.

Listen to the birds sing. Watch new ducks – they are funny!

Lay in the meadow and watch the clouds, looking for the cowdogs in the sky!

Walk along the creek, watch the water and listen to the current dance over the rocks; it is still plenty high with every rain adding more.

Herd everything that needs herding, monitor all the critters in my world.

Explore all the changes wrought in the countryside – from flooding water, passing critters, falling branches and trees – imperceptible transformations of time.

Talk to others – friends, strangers, anyone you meet. I only practice this when I go for a truck ride – there better not be any strangers out here on my ranch!