* Last week, we tackled the monumental issue of digital cameras and the great wealth of pictures this item can create. (I have pictures of a kitten playing in a large pickle jar languishing on my digital camera if anyone needed proof of the urbane items that will be captured for prosperity.)

Keeping with the technology-theme, let's consider another area which has been taken over by advances in technology: phone service centers.

Hearing a human voice when you call a company for help or for information is now the rarity rather than the rule. Rather, an automated voice leads the caller through a list of options which put most toddler Christmas lists to shame.

Most times you have to listen to the entire list before choosing a number because choosing the wrong option is like ending up in the check-out lane behind the person paying with pennies -- you will be there forever.

And you can't fall back on the fail-safe option of hitting "O" anymore, which sometimes wasn't listed as an option but was available anyway by just pushing the button. Now, many call centers no longer even have the "O" as an option. Pushing zero just sends the caller back to the main menu.

My most recent frustrating experience with an automated service center came when I was trying to get help with -- of all things -- a cellular phone problem. I didn't feel any of the options on the automated systems applied to my situation and just wanted to talk a person.

After hitting zero several times with no luck, I finally chose an option, figuring there had to be a person available somewhere down the line if I just played along with the company's little game. The system kept trying to narrow down the problem by asking me to enter more and more numbers. I was so far invested into the process by now, the only way I was going to hang up was if either my cellular phone battery went dead or I was dying of thirst.

Eventually, I realized I was never going to be allowed to talk to a live person, none of the menu options applied to my situation and I gave up -- with one battery bar left on my phone and severe thirst in my throat.

So, did I ever get my cellular phone problem resolved? Of course, I did. I did what any adult with a technology problem does in this situation: I asked my 8-year-old son to fix it for me.

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* When a gas station closes, the price sign is usually just abandoned and the final price is frozen in time. Small towns regularly harbor old gas stations featuring gas pumps with gas available in only double digits. Even I can remember when the number of gallons and the price paralleled each other, for example, 10 gallons equals $10.

With several closed gas stations in McCook, who knew we would someday look longingly at those price signs which proclaim gas at "only" $2.30?

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* I would like to apologize in advance if anyone is following my family in our pickup truck after we leave the swimming pool.

No, we do not litter with the wrappers from the afternoon's mandatory snacks. We do not hang our towels out the windows to dry on the way home.

Instead, we have a large collection of inflatable toys which ride in the back of the truck bed because I refuse to deflate and inflate the plastic animals on a daily basis.

It's a gamble every time we load these feather-light items into the back of the truck whether they are going to make the full ride home or blow out along the way.

And this is where the apology comes in.

One of the blow-up toys is a nearly life-size shark.

I can't imagine driving behind someone and having a giant shark in my path. While most people are accustomed to deer, skunks or raccoons darting across the roads, sharks in Nebraska are not an everyday occurrence.

So, if you do come upon a giant shark laying in the road, please don't feel intimidated. After all, it's the shark that can be deflated in one fell swoop.

-- Ronda Graff realizes there are other options instead of calling human-less service centers. There is always the company's Website on the Internet.