My brother arrived in this world one year, eight months, and twenty days before I came along.

When it was my turn to join the family, it meant that for the rest of my life I would be … a little brother.

Now that may not mean much to you but it was an important part of my upbringing.

Big brothers were obviously bigger but they were also stronger, quicker, smarter … well, the list could go on.

The fact is, those of us who were little brothers had to learn certain survival skills.

Early on I learned that one of the most powerful skills I had was the ability to cry on demand.

If my brother and I were playing in the house and knocked something over, when an adult came into the room to see what happened, all I had to do was cry and point at my brother.

It didn’t matter if I was the one who knocked the item over.

If I cried and pointed, he got into trouble … and I didn’t.

Trust me, I got very good at crying.

Every year I try to attend the Consumer Electronics Show and see what new products and services are coming our way. Some of those innovations make it into the stories that I write and some of them I share through this newsletter.

This year there were “only” about 110,000 people who attended the show — they usually get a whole lot more — but there were a lot of things to see.

Rather than just list a bunch of stuff, I’d like to share with you a couple of the items that impressed me.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2112710

I really do know how to swim.

I mean I can go from one end of the pool to the other without touching the bottom, and I don’t need any floaties to help me.

Of course, there were those two times when …

www.clintmorey.substack.com

We feel we are so smart because we live in the “information society.”

All we have to do is turn on our phone, or tablet, or laptop, and almost immediately we have the answer to any question that might confront us.

But the information society leads us to a place that isn’t healthy.

“In the information society, nobody thinks. We expect to banish paper, but we actually banish thought.”
Michael Crichton

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Finally, I was on my way to Advanced Individual Training (AIT).

When I arrived at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, I was directed to the barracks that would be my home for the next two months. And even though it was a barracks, it had a nice feel to it. The area where I was assigned had more space than I had back at Fort Polk and it had lockers that served as a wall separating me from the bunk next to me. Not a foot locker, mind you. An actual locker where you could hang up your clothes and store personal items.

It was luxurious.

Read the transcript on: https://clintmorey.substack.com/s/dont-play-with-things-that-go-boom