Why I Love the Internet

How did we ever live without the Internet, and who could have predicted what an integral part of our lives it would become?

I leave my computer on all the time because the Internet has become my constant companion. This week alone I used the Internet as my research assistant, my recipe helper, my kitchen counselor, my clipping service, my secretarial aide, and my entertainment committee.

Let me explain...

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Last night at 9 p.m., my husband explained that he had invited six people over for dinner tonight. They're from Israel, and a few of them eat according to the rules of kosher. Okay, I knew that serving pork or shrimp was out. But what could I cook to avoid mixing meat and dairy? Then I had an idea: I'd serve salmon! David and I went online, and YES! that works. (No, I don't have a kosher kitchen, but our friends assured us that as long as we adhered to the meat/dairy thing, they could, indeed, eat at our home.)

RECIPE HELPER

Next, I discovered that the second page of my best salmon recipe had gone missing in the move. I went online, typed in the URL, and here's what we're having for dinner Crispy Salmon with Risotto and Slow-Roasted Tomatoes.

MY KITCHEN COUNSELOR

But how on earth do you clean leeks? Inquiring minds want to know. Back to the computer, and here's the video How to Clean Leeks.

CLIPPING SERVICE

As for the clipping service? Years ago, if you wanted to know what the media was saying about anyone or anything, you hired a clipping service. People read the print media with scissors in hand and cut out any articles relating to you or your interests.

Not any more. Today we have "google alerts," and it's a smart idea for anyone in business or with a public presence to put an alert on his/her name.

I have no idea how this happened, but a photo of me and my husband wound up on this website, Broadway to Vegas. Scroll down and look at the right side. I'm doing something incredibly impolite...I'm pointing. It'll be a long time before I do that again! Ever! Anywhere!

And I guess I won't be joking about not knowing Mandarin, either.

Sigh.

I don't even know who was listening in!

But whoever it was, got the name of my book right. Gotta love them for that!

SECRETARIAL AIDE

All of us Killer Hobbies Blog Sisters are working on a project together. We were having trouble exchanging files. So Mitch, who has since been officially designated as "my assistant" by my husband, suggested we all use Google Docs.

Voila! The problem is solved!

ENTERTAINMENT COMMITTEE

Once in a while, I need a smile. I went to You Tube, where I watched my friends at Apollo Piano Moving hauling our 1,100-pound, 9-foot Steinway Grand into the Chinese Embassy with its 55 steps.
Apollo Piano Movers at the Chinese Embassy

Okay, maybe that bag of groceries wasn't so heavy after all. Way to go, Jake!

TELL ME!

So tell me, how do you use the Internet? Do you refer to it daily, as I do? Do you keep your computer on all the time? Use it as you watch TV? (We do. We look up the names of actors, and we check to see what's factual in movies.)