March 29, 2024

It’s all in the follow-through

This may come as no surprise, but let me clarify ... I have nothing in common with Mark Zuckerberg.

The young computer programmer and co-founder of the social networking website Facebook — who has challenged himself the last several years with tasks like learning Mandarin or reading a new book every two weeks (and succeeded) — recently announced his resolution for the new year is to build an artificial intelligence, in other words, a robot butler.

Me? I still have a 10-pound block of wax I purchased 13 years ago, when I thought I would start making candles.

I also have ingredients for making my own soap, fabric and batting for making microwavable soup cozies, materials for transferring photos onto wooden boards with mod podge ... yeah, you get the idea. Obviously the “follow-through” gene didn’t make it into my DNA.

Therefore, I don’t make resolutions.

Another thing Mr. Zuckerberg and I don’t have in common is $44 billion. He has it ... I don’t.

And since I lack that “follow-through” gene, it’s not very likely I will ever even come close.

Oh sure, I like to daydream as much as the next guy about how I’d spend that money I get from Publisher’s Clearing House or the lottery. I’d pay off my mortgage, take care of my kids’ students loans, allow the hubs to retire (like he’s been begging to do for a couple of years), make sure my parents and in-laws were comfortable ... stuff like that.

Admit it. You’ve done the same thing. We all do it.

The problem with my daydreaming is I don’t enter the PCH sweepstakes, nor have I ever purchased a lottery ticket. So my chances of winning aren’t great.

A third matter that separates the worlds of Zuckerberg and myself? Computers. Let’s face it ... the kid knows a thing or two. He was programming computers at the age of 12.

When I was 12, push-through tabs on pop cans were invented and pet rocks were the rage. I mean seriously, I wasn’t even bright enough to come up with the idea of a pet rock?

However, I do know how to use a computer for the things I need to use it for. I can handle my duties at work. I can keep my checking account balanced — thanks to a program probably designed by some other little kid. I can keep track of pictures I take with my camera and my phone.

And I can keep in touch with my family and friends on — dare I say it? — Facebook.

Contact Dana King at
dking@shawmedia.com

Dana King

Dana King

Multitasking duties between the Newton News, PCM Explorer and the Jasper County Tribune.