BOBBIE PIN PENURIOUSNESS

It's not that I am a cheapskate.

I'm not stinting, or depriving myself.

I just don't want to keep losing them, buying them, losing, buying ...

Did my mother hoard them? No. Did my sisters? No. And I'm not hoarding them, I just keep them in a 2 X 2 plastic container (it used to contain thumbtacks), and every time I use a couple of bobbies, I put them back in their little plastic house. (See my post "Saving Rubber Bands & Bobbies, 4/4)

I use two in my hair -- one on each side, more or less behind each ear so that longer, lose hairs will stay neatly in my pulled back hairdo (my hair's pulled back into a bun or a ponytail).

I take the bobbies out when I wash or comb my hair. And routinely, use the same two pins again, not new ones.

Please, don't think that I'm neglecting what's new --no way! I'm listening, watching, observing, learning, and trying to use the latest developments in office equipment, entertainment, and household appliances -- even though I'm definitely a grownup who can already do what I need to do in every area of my life. Hey -- I am staying in touch with the times, even if I'm not "in tune" with the times.

Some of the TUNES (the new things) are ridiculous -- dissonant, unpleasant, irritatingly noisy, sloppily produced, faddish, time-wasting, silly -- blown up big deals that'll fizzle, shrink down, die out and disappear.

Take cell phones, for instance -- everyone has one or wants one -- it's so IN that not having one somewhere on your person is embarrassing. It's marvelous -- it's progress -- it's worldwide communication, but ... well ...

Sometimes I look at things and feel like an alien who just landed from outer space. lt's strange to see humans moseying around, talking into a cupped hand (clutching a cell), or someone addressing the air (using a hidden headphone probably).

Eye contact? Seems like it's thing of the past. Rarely do I see people looking around, enjoying the sights. It's as if just plain walking, going for a walk, is out of date.

I remember when wrist watches had tiny electronic adding machines on them, bells and whistles for jogging, measuring your heartbeat, up and down timers, 3 to 5 alarms with different sounds. People back then were mostly eyeballing their wrists, wrist watchers deeply involved with checking, winding, setting their beloved wristwatches.

We've got IPods, IPhones, Blackberries -- we've got "Apps" that do everything except eat, and use the restroom -- games, browsing, email, media, investments, gossip, sports, social networking maps, medical advice-- messaging -- there's even a new device that "enables phonetic text input in a text disambiguation environment and outputs the text in an improved window!" Wow, all that and heaven too!

HiDeho! I'm out there bravely asking questions (embarrassing myself sometimes, when I'm not sure what I'm talking about), but I'm asking away, osmosing, soaking in what's new like a sponge that's already wet.

Maybe one of these days I'll give myself a squeeze.

Anyhow, I'm using, reusing my bobbie pins -- their little plastic house is still chock-full. (I lost a bobbie, found three when I went on a hunt to find the one I'd lost .)

Using what I've got, not misplacing bobbies or losing or throwing things out, keeps me perking -- like dancing.

NOT losing the know-how, knowledge, talent, abilities that I've developed and honed -- using myself more and more, AND MORE -- that's what I do.