Ancient or modern? Time for a Friday Five

just to prove that I am still a real blogger, I'm here with the RevGals Friday Five,this time an offering from Singing Owl

Yesterday I had two separate conversations in which people were musing about how much change is occurring. The WW II generation, of which my mom is a part, went from horse and buggy to automobiles, saw the lessening, or even the end of many diseases, went from widespread use of kerosene lamps and outhouses (in the country, and most folks were rural)) to a totally electrified and plumbed society. The fastest means of communication was a telegraph. The second conversation--gulp--was about MY generation and how much change occurred in the last half of the 20th century. The person said his 13 year old had not seen a vinyl record album until a few days before, couldn't remember a time without cell phones, and on and on.

As for the questions!

1. What modern convenience/invention could you absolutely, positively not live
without?
I become positively tearful and definitely not easy to deal with if the internet is down for more than a few moments at a time. With the imminent departure of Hugger Steward, our geek in residence to Africa, I'm suffering from anxiety attacks about this. Who knows WHAT might happen while he's away?


2. What modern convenience/invention do you wish had never seen the light of day?
Why?
The tv remote control. It seems to be the central cause of so many evenings of bickering, and I hate the idea that we are all so idle that we can't even drag ourselves to our feet to change channel when we've had enough. Yuk.

3. Do you own a music-playing device older than a CD player? More than one? If
so, do you use it (them)?
I do have a cassette option...but I have to admit I rarely use it. However, Hattie Gandhi was very firm in her desire for a system that would allow her to play vinyls (and has been collecting vinyls specially)so as a family we have something that covers most eventualities barring the wax disc.

4. Do you find the rapid change in our world exciting, scary, a mix...or something
else?
I love it. I was so resolutely "young fogey" in my 20s and 30s that it's just joy to engage with the new world that is all about me now. Do you know, I've made some of my very best friends through that new-fangled thing, the internet? ;-)


5. What did our forebears have that we have lost and you'd like to regain? Bonus
points if you have a suggestion of how to begin that process. When I was in India, a popular saying was "In the west you have clocks...Here we have time"
As one who spends her days trying to fit quarts of activity into pints of time, this spoke loud and clear to me...I ought to be able to be helpfully diverted en route to some task or meeting...the diversions are almost always creative and life enhancing...but the timetable makes them also potentially inconsiderate and rude. Don't think I have an answer...maybe if I sleep on it.