Can you hear me now?

What did we do 20 years ago without cell phones, email or the infamous blackberry? How did we manage to go to a movie or a house party without making sure our cell was charged and our contact information was full with friends’ numbers? The only thing I made sure I had was a quarter for the Bell payphone that I used to call my parents from to let them know that the movie would be over in 2 hours, and to pick me up at the front of the theatre. Today, you see 12 year olds walking around texting and emailing like it is their life line. A Christmas gift for me in Grade 7 was a pair of Cougar boots, not the latest pink Blackberry Storm. You hear parents justifying the fact that they like their kids to have a phone because at least they know where they are at all times. Now there is OMG, LOL, BFF,BTW, LMAO, and of course WTF! We are now living in a world of text and talk. I don’t think I have seen a payphone since my days of high school. Every week there are new phones, new plans and new features introduced for the Iphone, the Blackberry, the Itouch the bla bla bla..lol. I cannot keep up. I am not that old, and I don’t remember half the functions and features each phone offers. You talk to these teens and they text faster than I can read a sign, they are so tech savy, but if you ask them to give you change for a $20, they look at you like you’re an alien..lol.

We have all become guilty of tech dependency, I turn the car around if I realize that I forgot my phone. I might need it, just in case. I have 4 kids and you never know if they may need me. When we were going to school, our parents had to fill in the emergency contact information and put a home phone number or a grandparent’s number. Now, we have cell phones attached to our ears (literally) so we will be sure not to miss a beat. It has gotten so out of hand that they had to implement a new law against driving and talking..wow..that’s pretty bad. Isn’t it nice sometimes not to be reached? To make people wonder where we are and what we are doing and who we are with? Do we have to be available to almost everyone 24 hours a day? Do we really enjoy eating and texting, walking and texting or working and texting? I say, turn off your cell, close your laptop (after you finish reading this.lol), grab a cup of coffee, a good book and read. Say goodbye for just 1 hour to the world of high tech and say, “No, I can’t hear you now.”
That’s my peace today!

Shrimp a la Diavola
1 pack of jumbo raw shrimp
1 can tomato sauce or fresh tomatoes
2 clove of crushed garlic
2 springs of parsley chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 white wine
2 tbsp chili pepper (or more if you like it spicy)
Olive oil
Salt to taste

Heat pan with oil, add garlic and shrimp. Cook for about 7-8 minutes. Add lemon juice and wine and parsley. After liquid disolved until about half, add tomatoes or sauce (whatever you are using). Add salt, and chili pepper until sauce is cooked.