Out With The Old

 I’m throwing caution to the wind and planning for a year without...care to guess?

A. Taking daily showers

B. Eating Meat

C. Using a paper calendar 

And the winner is...C 

That’s right! I’m bagging the Mead At-A-Glance calendar for the first time in 30 years, in favor of using my Google calendar app, which I can access on my phone, my laptop, and anywhere I have connectivity.

Every now and then I surprise myself and take a big step forward. Having such a tech savvy partner who thinks everything should be managed electronically and doesn’t let up until changes move in that direction would explain why, in large part, I was moved to give the app a try in the first place.

I began to integrate it into my life in November (of 2020), when I’d normally go to Staples for my new calendar for the upcoming New Year. David told me he found the same calendar I had purchased on Amazon for some $10 less than the $27 it was going to cost at Staples.    

While the Amazon price was clearly a better deal, my ritual of walking into the store, assessing the options but always picking the same one and walking out feeling like a fresh start is in the works for me may have just been a metaphor for starting fresh for the New Year, but it truly did wonders for my psyche.  

However, I told him to go ahead with the Amazon purchase because it seemed foolish to pay more unnecessarily; yet, when it arrived, I didn’t even want to open it up, and I didn’t. Instead, I dove into the calendar app.

It wasn’t a natural transition initially; I found it frustrating at times, but once I was in the habit of using it, I was able to see that continuing to rely on Mead wasn’t the smartest idea. For starters, I was so stressed out that I’d lose the calendar if I took it out of the house that I left it at home but then didn’t have the information accessible when I needed it.

There were times when I would go to a meeting and cringe when it was time to plan for the next one, because everyone else would immediately go to their phones to check their calendars. I pretended to do the same, but what I did instead was text myself the date and then I had to remember to write it into my paper calendar when I got home.

This scenario also played out when I’d get together with friends and we didn’t want to leave without knowing when we’d see one another again. In both situations, I could’ve said to the others that I’ll check the date(s) when I get home – that was the reality – but I knew that kind of comment was antiquated, and I didn’t want to reveal just how old school and resistant to technology I was.

It’s been over a year now that I’ve used the Google calendar app exclusively, and I can confidently state that I’m ready to part ways with Mead. I have added all the annual dates (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) and set them to repeat annually; I won’t have to re-enter in 2023. I can access my schedule in real time, like everyone else, and quickly make appointments; I can also ask my girlfriend Siri to add an event, and she’ll do what I say, no questions asked. 

For those of you who guessed I was giving up meat...Never!