{"id":12432,"date":"2018-07-25T11:43:30","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T15:43:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=12432"},"modified":"2018-07-25T11:43:30","modified_gmt":"2018-07-25T15:43:30","slug":"set-in-my-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=12432","title":{"rendered":"Set in My Ways!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As I have gotten older I find that the concept of \u201cbeing set in your ways\u201d is mostly true.\u00a0 I find I am most comfortable if I have a routine that I follow.\u00a0 My days go better if I wake in the morning and fall into my routine without disruptions such as robo-calls, internet outage, or work.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mind work, I just don\u2019t want to do it first thing in the morning.\u00a0 Another thing I don\u2019t want to do first thing in the morning is to get upset by reading comments on Facebook.\u00a0 I used to look forward to \u201ccatching up\u201d on Facebook, but not anymore.\u00a0 Here is how it was.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Each morning I would get out of bed, weigh myself, stumble into the kitchen and prepare my first cup of coffee for the day.\u00a0 Following that, I would quickly scan Facebook for updates from family and friends, maybe make a few comments, go to my email and process my inbox, get another cup of coffee, and move on with my day.\u00a0 This is the part about being set in my ways.\u00a0 I have followed this routine for a great several years, even before I retired.\u00a0 To assure I could follow this routine I would get up at 3:45 a.m. to afford myself enough time before having to report for work.\u00a0 That was truly being set in my ways.\u00a0 But now, that has changed.<\/p>\n

Nothing worse for an old man set in his ways than to have to change those ways because of circumstances.\u00a0 The circumstance I am referring to is Facebook, and what it has become.\u00a0 I now find myself dreading that part of the routine which was \u201ccatching up\u201d on Facebook.\u00a0 It is not as though I have changed, after all, I am set in my ways.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t changed, but Facebook has.<\/p>\n

Facebook has become a political cesspool of hate filled rhetoric, threats of violence, and name calling.\u00a0 It has become a dark, evil place that I dread visiting.\u00a0 I am not going to roll out that old refrain \u201cwhy can\u2019t we all just get along\u201d, because it is obvious that we cannot.\u00a0 Facebook affords people the opportunity to hide behind their screens and say all sorts of hateful, and ugly, things that I would hope they would never say to another\u2019s face.\u00a0 Facebook permits actions without consequences, or so it would seem.\u00a0 Sadly, there are consequences.\u00a0 My son has quit Facebook, and this has taken away the ability to have quick and convenient conversations, updates, and pictures of the grand kids.\u00a0 I realize there are other means of communication such as email and telephone but for various reasons, neither are as convenient, informal, or friendly as a Facebook encounter.<\/p>\n

I also have a sister (who I love dearly) who no longer wishes to speak to me (or so it seems) because we have very different political points of view and apparently one or both of us are unable to reconcile these differences.\u00a0 The politics, or the different points of view are not really that important.\u00a0 Family and friends and love should always come first.\u00a0 I guess it is not right to blame Facebook, after all Facebook is merely the conduit that allows it all to happen.\u00a0 But I would rather blame Facebook then blame myself, or my son, or my sister.\u00a0 I can live without Facebook, but I cannot live without them.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is this.\u00a0 Although I will remain a Facebook subscriber, my contributions will be few and far between.\u00a0 I will check in on Facebook most days, but I will do so with dread and caution and I certainly will not be enticed down the rabbit hole of political debate, with anyone, and that includes you.\u00a0 Thumbs up!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?<\/p>\n

Feel free to comment, like, share, agree or disagree with this post.\u00a0 Please consider a free subscription.\u00a0 Options to like and subscribe can be found elsewhere on the page.\u00a0 Thank you for reading the Townehouse Blog.<\/p>\n

This material may be published, broadcast,\u00a0 or redistributed.\u00a0 In fact, I encourage it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I have gotten older I find that the concept of \u201cbeing set in your ways\u201d is mostly true.\u00a0 I find I am most comfortable if I have a routine that I follow.\u00a0 My days […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_daextrevo_audio_file_creation_date":"","_daextrevo_text_to_speech":"","_daextrevo_document_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Facebook-is-like-hell.jpg?fit=637%2C463&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12929,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=12929","url_meta":{"origin":12432,"position":0},"title":"Too Good to Be True","author":"Tom Lind","date":"January 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Each day, as part of my morning routine, I check into Facebook, catch up on notifications, visit a few of my favorite groups and usually find myself pissed off at someone or something said or seen on Facebook.\u00a0 Expressions such as \u201care you kidding me?\u201d, \u201cunbelievable\u201d, \u201cthis is really dumb\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Internet"","block_context":{"text":"Internet","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/cartoon-virus-on-laptop-vector-2153362.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":911,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=911","url_meta":{"origin":12432,"position":1},"title":"Shameless Self Promotion!","author":"Tom Lind","date":"June 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I have no real topic. 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Although\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"11100159_767888603280916_1591028541561745606_n","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/11100159_767888603280916_1591028541561745606_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14445,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=14445","url_meta":{"origin":12432,"position":4},"title":"I am confused!","author":"Tom Lind","date":"February 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I am genuinely astounded and perplexed by the almost daily reports of waste, fraud, and abuse that are being uncovered by DOGE. Millions of our dollars are being squandered in truly unbelievable ways. I fail to comprehend the negative consequences of uncovering this abuse and taking action to rectify it.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/cartoon-of-Uncle-Sam-handing-out-cash.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11590,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=11590","url_meta":{"origin":12432,"position":5},"title":"My Birthday Blog","author":"Tom Lind","date":"February 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me\" he sang to himself in his best Mortimer Snerd immitation. He of course is me, and I was singing in that fashioin as I stood before the mirror this morning while shaving. Then I begin to think exactgly what this day means,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellaneous"","block_context":{"text":"Miscellaneous","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=19"},"img":{"alt_text":"80750359v6_400x400_front_color-lightpink","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/80750359v6_400x400_front_color-lightpink-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p38YRh-3ew","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12432"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12436,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12432\/revisions\/12436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}