2002-02-14 - 1:20 a.m.

If you ask me, the moment when all of America shifted towards a techno-centric lifestyle was when whoever-it-was invented the lightbulb that comes on when the fridge door opens.

That was the point of no return. The oh-so-necessary fridge was not enough. That convenient and clean bulb was the launchpad for the appliance-as accessory-as-appliance movement.

TV can�t just be TV. All of a sudden, the haves own color, and the have-nots are stuck with black and white.

The fridge-door lightbulb invented the internet. It spawned the cell-phone.

I�m struggling to write this because I keep paying attention to the modern-dating-expose�-survivor-oriented program in the background, despite my effort not to. These programs are like the song you employ to wipe out the song stuck in your head. Erase thought. Change the subject. (For Randy, it�s the commercial jingle �by Mennen!. For my S., it�s the Mexican Hat Dance.)

The world has changed for the better.