Three Gratitudes - Day 8

Continuing on my quest to feel happiness, I'm going to post three things I'm grateful for for 21 days.

1. Al Gore for inventing the internet. (OK, I know Al didn't invent the internet nor do I believe he meant to say that he did. Get off Al's back!) I'm planning a 50th Anniversary Party for my parents this summer. The party is going to be in Milwaukee and I'm doing it all from here in Arizona. The internet enabled me to consult with several peeps on locations and using Yelp I found a source for the catering and Evite is helping me keep track of the guest count. Well, as much as it can. I actually have relatives that don't have email which is nearly unimaginable. Think back to the olden days. I would have had to use intermediaries on the ground in Wisconsin or go to the library to find a Milwaukee phone book and, gasp, call around. And, I would have had to mail money back. How primitive! You can complain about how the internet is an evil timesucker but for all the Youtube rabbit holes you go down, you can save just as much time by getting things done faster.
2. Continuing with the internet theme, I'm grateful for Facebook. It's allowed me to reconnect and newly connect with so many people, some even extended relatives that I haven't physically met. I love seeing baby pictures as much as cocktail pictures and being able to join in on others' celebrations and commiserate with them on their sorrows. I always enjoy when I have friends that don't know each other have entire conversations of my timeline. And, nothing tickles me more when I start a threading that goes into double digit comments. Hey, I sparked something!
3. Snopes.com. As much as I love Facebook, I don't love the blindly reposted BS and plain craziness. Think, people! I swear that people just look for something that aligns with their craziest views and throw it out there to justify that belief without considering the source. When I'm feeling cantankerous or the claim is too outrageous, I turn to Snopes, find whether the claim is true or false (sometimes, it can be true!) and post on their post. I'm like the Snopes police. Of course then I get the "I don't always believe Snopes." response. You don't believe Snopes but you'll believe that Obama eats puppies for breakfast? Come one... And, by the way, Jackie Chan is still not dead.