Our Day in Reno

Did I tell you how much I love technology? (See yesterday’s post!) Well I do! Yesterday we explored Reno while we waited for D2 to arrive. I had been given the address of a really good vegetarian restaurant and for lunch we tried to find it, but couldn’t. When traveling I do everything in my power to avoid the chain restaurants and find local restaurants. I used to do that by asking local people where to eat, but I now have an app on my Iphone called Around Me. I logged on, asked for restaurants and it told me that 98 feet away was a restaurant. We were in an area that was once residential with quaint streets lined with beautiful homes which were built in the early 1900s. So I was surprised to find that there was a restaurant on the next corner.

It was in one of the old homes, a two story On the outsides was a big sign “Daughters Cafe.” So we ventured in, liked the menu, and sat down for lunch. The waitress was the owner. Her mother was the chef. We sat in an old window nook and soaked in the shabby chic ambiance. The friendly waitress treated us like family and told us the history of the area, it was the first subdivision in Reno, and of the home, which is now haunted by friendly ghosts.

I ordered mushroom leek soup and Mr. J ordered paprika chicken. The soup came with a grilled Swiss cheese and dill pickle sandwich (I know it sounds weird, but it was so good!) and a salad and a small Strawberry Cassada. Everything was delightfully delicious!

In short, the food was divine, the atmosphere enchanting, and the down home friendliness heart-warming. The waitress loved taking care of people and did it well. It you are ever in Reno, be sure to stop at Daughters Café, 97 Bell Street. They serve breakfast, lunch, and only desserts at night. 

So, hurray for the “Around Me” app. I love technology!

I'm Grateful!

I am in Reno, Nevada. D2’s son is playing his tenor sax at a Jazz festival tomorrow and we came to hear him compete with his school’s jazz ensemble. He is very talented and we have never had the opportunity to hear him play except via the Internet (which we are very grateful for). But tomorrow we get to hear him in person.

All of this has made me even more thankful for technology. When Mr. J and I had only been married  three years, we went to Germany to live for a year. The cost of long-distance telephone conversations then were extravagant and since my parents never had much money we lived that whole year with only a few letter passing back and forth between and never hearing their voices. 

When we left home my dad had the same brown crew cut that he’d had for twenty years. One day a lady in our Serviceman’s branch brought me a newspaper from home and on the front page was a picture of my dad (he was mayor of the city at that time) and he had grown out his hair and wore it combed back. But even more startling was that his hair had turned white. I’ll never forget the strange feelings of seeing that picture of someone I loved very much and who I was intimately related to and yet at the same time suddenly felt like a stranger to me.

In short, with children living all over this world, I love Skype, Internet, and cell phones and am very grateful to the amazing people who invented such things and now maintain them.

Hurray for Technology!

I was reading a historical fiction book last week and was surprised to come upon a passage that was condemning modern technology. The technology was dangerous and would change the way people interacted with each other. It would ruin the sociability among people. It would speed life up. The characters in the book were unanimous in decrying this terrible new invention and how detrimental it would be physically, emotionally, and socially. And what was the invention? The automobile.

I am amazed at people who decry the same thing about every new invention that comes along. Computers, television, cell phones. Everything. People get on a campaign to ban them, but instead of banning them we just need to learn to use them correctly. They all are advancements and bring wonderful blessings into our lives. But they can also be detrimental if not used correctly.

I’ve listened to people who brag about the fact they don’t have television in their homes. That’s fine, but I’d miss watching General Conference cuddled up on my couch or the BYU devotionals. I don’t watch a lot of television, but there are some things I adore like PBS specials that lift and encourage me or historical documentaries. And there are some wonderful old movies!

The same things can be said of any technology. Remember, “It must needs be that there is an opposition in all things.” The secret to life isn’t to put your head in a hole and wish you lived in the dark ages. The secret is to learn to use technology for good and to discipline yourself. If we do that, technology can bless our lives.