On this blog, I rarely feel the need to write about my deeper thoughts.  Some of my shared thoughts are slightly deep but I usually couch them in humor to avoid becoming one of those bloggers whose posts I tap out on around paragraph 2.5.  The thought I’m about to share, though not a deep thought from my perspective,  has been percolating for a while, but yesterday became a viable opinion…again, not deep as much as grateful (or deeply grateful?).

If I were living as a single person in the, say…40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, even 80s, life would’ve still been manageable, but probably would’ve required greater resourcefulness (or lower expectations of ability/productivity).  However, I’m living single in 2008, the height, thus far, of technology and I love it!  Now, I’m usually frugal.  Not cheap-I like quality, but I ALWAYS want the best quality for the least cost and am therefore willing to wait months or even years for something as I do my homework and evaluate the cost vs. benefit.  Yesterday, as I was on the internet researching tires for my car, I felt a surge of  empowerment that I had been able to quickly access useful ‘man’ information and based on that info could determine if my tread pattern was too worn down and if so, why (based on the visual inspection)…traditionally a ‘man’ job.  With my lithmus test knowledge in hand, I walked into my garage and examined my tire treads.  It was dead on. 

If you know me, you know I don’t believe everything I read (or hear or see), so please know that I don’t share Michael Scott’s confidence of Wikipedia or the like (he doesn’t really qualify as a ‘man’ either…does he?).  I still believe in seeking the input of the Trevors, Scotts, Brads, APs, uncle Joes: trusted guys, who have different areas of expertise, but who all instinctively do ‘man’ things like re-build their own houses, rebuild their own cars, rebuild their own computers, etc (and bonus: they know how to teach me without being lame).  I don’t know how single women confidently buy houses, remodel them, buy cars, etc  without the ‘man’ family/friends who freely share their ‘know-how’.  I guess those women constantly wonder if they’re getting ripped off.  I always assume the attempt to rip me off will happen (thanx to the tutlage of almost all the men in my life), but to ward that off, I usually do my homework (different resources than 1950!), run my findings past some trusted ‘man’ source, synthesize the data and then…buy an Ipod…or change my career…or buy a house…or buy a new set of tires (pretty confident that I’m not getting ripped off).  Hear me clearly, if I could spend my time doing what I really want, it would usually not include researching any of these tasks.  I’d rather those stay ‘man’ jobs (car maintenance, home maintenance, electronic purchase knowledge, etc).   However, as my stage of life allows me to be single, use my life for a variety of avenues, and be required to make LOTS of decisions on my own, I am SO thankful for the tool of the internet coupled with the gracious provision of wise and reliable men (and women) around me.

I wish people (we) didn’t abuse the internet because it is such a profound tool for all humans (regardless of marital status).   But if you are single and a female and don’t have a Trevor or a Brad or a Scott or an uncle Joe…you might want to. Example Note: At one time or another, I’ve called every single one of these guys from Home Depot to ask a ‘I’m standing in the aisle and have 12,768 brands to choose from.  What’s the story here?’ type question. 

DIAGNOSIS: Oh, due to the wear pattern on my tires, looks like my tires are slightly under inflated.  They can wait a bit longer to be replaced…but I’ll probably confirm that with Brad next time I see him. I don’t want some retail tire guy to try and sell me some new set of tires that I don’t actually need. If I was in the 50s, I probably would not be able to detect the difference without a ridiculous amount of arduous research with meager resources.  That was then and this is now!