9/9/25 - Digital Media, Clock Botching, and Tom Hanks Gets Dissed

Tuesday 9/9/25

Celebrate:

Care Bears Share Your Care Day

International Buy a Priest a Beer Day

International Sudoku Day

National "I Love Food" Day

National Ants on a Log Day

National Steak au Poivre Day

National Teddy Bear Day

National Wiener Schnitzel Day

Tester's Day

Wonderful Weirdos Day

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We need to monitor kids' use of digital media. They can be addicted and spend way too much time on it.

Well, there's someone else that should be checked, Baby Boomers.

Nearly half spend more than three hours a day on their smartphones and a significant number experience anxiety when disconnected.

The poll, conducted by AddictionResource.net, surveyed 2,000 adults ages 59 to 77 about their digital habits and found signs of emotional dependence, compulsive behavior and difficulty reducing screen time.

How many hours per day do you spend on your smartphone?

Less than 1 hour – 15%

1 to 3 hours – 35%

3 to 5 hours – 30%

More than 5 hours – 20%

Do you feel anxious or uncomfortable when you do not have access to your digital devices?

Yes – 40%

No – 60%

How often do you check your smartphone within an hour of waking up?

Every day – 50%

A few times a week – 25%

Rarely – 15%

Never – 10%

Do you use digital devices during meals?

Always – 10%

Often – 20%

Sometimes – 40%

Never – 30%

Experts say adults who spend more than six hours a day on screens are at increased risk of depression. While screen addiction is not defined by time alone, experts recommend recreational use stay below two hours daily.( Pokémon Go.....um...)

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The term "clock botching" is trending, but people don't seem to agree on what it means.  A writer in the U.K. coined it last month and said it's when you work more hours than you should, because you can't get through all your work.  But a writer for "Forbes" defined it as when you're "stretching small tasks into entire afternoons," just to fill your day and avoid working.

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Tom Hanks was set to be honored at West Point on September 25th for being a veterans' advocate.  But that's off now.

Hanks was going to receive the Sylvanus Thayer Award . . . not only for the work he's done on behalf of veterans, but for his movies that include positive portrayals of servicemen, like "Saving Private Ryan" and "Forrest Gump".

They were gonna give him a parade and everything.

But they pulled the rug out from under him.  An internal email claims they had to cancel the event so the Army can focus on its core mission of, quote, "preparing cadets to lead, fight, and win."

It seems more likely he's out in the cold because he's a Democratic supporter.  Because that's where we are now.

(This nonsense has to end.)

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Today's Useless Fact of the Day - It takes 27,000 trees to make all the toilet paper the world goes through in one day.  If you expand that out, it's 9.8 million trees per year for toilet paper. (Buy a bidet!)

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