In the December 20, 2002 edition of JOHO (Journal of the Hyperlinked Organization) David Weinberger shares a “Scary Google Trick”: 1) Go to google.com 2) Type in your phone number, in quotation marks 3) When it finds your name and address, click on
“Maps” 4) You are here. I’m not sure why that’s scary but it is. A little.
I’m a two-time loser with mobile phones. I’m not safe when driving and talking and never seem to use the minutes. But it would be nice have one if I needed it. The Hop-on cell phone might be what I’m after.
“This unique cell phone comes with 60 minutes of prepaid calling time, with no contracts, long-distance charges or other fees. It’s easy to use, and when the minutes are used up, you can add more minutes, return the phone to Hop-on for a $5 rebate certificate, or simply discard it.” I’m there.
Have we talked about Carol yet? Some years ago Carol started greeting friends she had not seen in a while with the number of months (actuarially speaking) they could expect to live. “Steve, how have you been? You’ve got more than 300 months left, that’s great!” According to the IRS Life Expectancy Table , I have 29.5 years left but that sounds much longer than 360 months. You’d think Carol would have few visitors but she shares her macabre calculations with such warmth and enthusiasm, it’s not as depressing as you’d think. I think it’s because she never expected any of us to get this far.
If you’d rather not travel to Kennett, Missouri, to find out how much time you have left, you can find what you need online. The Life Expectancy Calculator will “calculate your future life expectancy based on a mortality table for retired individuals.” Less, I would think. The Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator was designed to “translate what we have learned from studies of centenarians and other longevity research into a practical and empowering tool for individuals to estimate their longevity potential.” Roy said it best in Blade Runner. I need more.