Love or Ugh

My husband and I have been on an Everybody Loves Raymond kick lately. Did you know the show premiered in 1996? I didn’t relate much to the show when it first aired, but now I totally get it, and it is hilarious. It’s also fun to see how much has changed in the past 17 years. They talk about things like car phones and the daunting task of balancing a check book. Sometimes I think about what I will say when my children or grandchildren ask me how we managed without GPS, the internet, cell phones, and digital cameras. And to that I will answer “I don’t remember”. 

Remember when you had to make sure you caught the 6:00 news or check the local paper to know the weather report? Me neither. Back then all you needed to know was in winter it's cold, in summer it's hot, and dark clouds mean rain. These days they are getting better and better about predicting the weather down to the hour. I check the weather on my phone at least once a day. I don’t know why I bother I still end up wishing I had a different pair of shoes or a jacket. I admit, I’ve got entitlement issues when it comes to the weather. Even with as good as we’ve got it some people still throw a fit if the forecast gets it wrong. “The weather man said it was only 30 percent precipitation today. What a crock! It’s been raining all day. I am wet. Unbelievable!” 

I feel bad for the weather channel. It’s got to be hard for them to keep up with the trends. With most of us being able to have the forecast at our fingertips it is no longer the coveted cable network that it was in the 90’s. When it first came out 30 years ago the concept was brilliant. You can check the weather anytime of day. I’ve got to hand it to them for trying to stay relevant though. Now they’ve got a website, an app, and all kinds of stuff. One day I went to check the weather on The Weather Channel website  and I thought maybe I typed in the wrong domain. There was a sports illustrated swimsuit model wearing nothing but an unzipped parka and I was like what the hey-diddle-diddle is this all about? Turns out it was an article about how little miss bikini (or lack thereof) got frost bite while doing a photo shoot. Well, I guess that’s weather related if anything is. On top of that I’ve noticed they’ve worked hard to fit in with the social network trends too. You know how you can like things on Facebook or Instagram? Well now you can like the weather too! Not just like it out loud, but make it online official. 

That’s right, there is a button for “love” or “ugh”. I would hate to have to check the weather without being able to express my emotional opinion on a virtual level. You've probably detected my overload of sarcasm, but really, I am grateful for all the advancements in meteorology weather or not I can count on it. Heh, heh. 



This post is linked up with Miscellany Monday at Lowercase Letters!