Danger Will Robinson, Danger!

Quick what's that line from? Do you remember it or are you too young? I'm really going out on limb here by owning up to it coming from one of my favorite shows growing up,
 Lost In Space.



For all you youngsters, this show aired for three years from 1965 to 1968. It tells the story of the Robinson family, (mom, pop, and three kids), plus a space ship pilot who venture out into space in the year 1997 (yes, you read that right 1997, sounds sorta ridiculous now, doesn't it?) in an attempt to colonize another planet. Their mission is sabotaged by a villainous secret agent, Dr Zachary Smith, who is a medical doctor and some environmental control guru. His plan is to sneak on board the space craft before liftoff and reprogram the Robinson's robot to destroy the ship and the passengers in it. Unfortunately for him his plan goes awry and he  is accidentally trapped on board. The Robinson's are able to save their ship but it sustains heavy damage and the crew finds themselves hurling away from Earth, "Lost in Space."

What happens from there are three seasons of the space gang trying to find their way back all while dealing with the antics of the treacherous Dr Smith and the perils found in outer space. Pivotal to each show is the "Robot" who displays extraordinary knowledge, strength, and is equipped with futuristic weaponry. Robot is not just a machine though. He shows emotions such as amusement and sadness, and displays talents for playing the guitar and singing. He soon becomes an integral part of the family and his friendship with the young Will  Robinson  makes him appear almost human. The line "danger Will Robinson, danger" is quoted at least once in each show as Robot warns Will of some impending danger.

I guess this show was the beginning of my love for Sci-fi. And while today it would never make it as a science fiction show, back in the day it was a hit that actually beat out the "other" sci-fi show of the decade "Star Trek"

Lost In Space was a mild ratings success, unlike Star Trek, which received very poor ratings during its original network TV run. The more "cerebral" Star Trek never averaged higher than 52nd in the ratings during its three seasons,^[8][9] while Lost in Space finished season one with a rating of 32nd, season two in 35th place, and the third and final season in 33rd place.

Lost in Space was a weekly staple of TV watching at our house, enjoyed by all but my mother. She hated that show! Ask her about it today and she'll let you know just how annoying it was to her. But for me, thinking about it brings back warm, fuzzy memories of watching TV with my Dad. I'd love to be able to watch it again. Unfortunately I don't think it's available  on any cable stations but I know for a fact that Netflix has it. So, if summer TV gets too boring I'm totally going to join back up and rent the DVD. Maybe I should do it the weekend Mom comes to stay and see if she still hates "that silly Dr Smith and the annoying Robot"!

Speaking of "danger, Will Robinson" I need to tell you about something that happened today which actually was the catalyst for this trip down memory lane.

Several weeks ago, back when we were having all the bad weather, I bought (yes, I actually paid for an app and shhhh, don't tell my husband) an app for my phone called Weather Alert USA  . With all the severe storms we were having  I figured it couldn't hurt to have extra warnings. It's been quite an adventure having this thing on my phone, starting with the first time it went off.   While I know it's important to hear the alert go off, there's no reason that it has to send me into cardiac arrest each time. So, I learned pretty quickly that I needed to have the sound turned down fairly low whenever there was the threat of bad weather... loud enough to hear the tone but low enough to maintain my composure.

We've been free from the severe weather conditions for the last week or so but never fear, I'm still getting my money's worth out of this app. Temperatures here are soaring into the 90s every day and we are finding ourselves under the threat of  bad air ... yes, you heard that right ... bad air.

I am now getting "Air Quality Alerts."  I know there are some people who need to take some precautions when the air quality gets bad but really, is it necessary to send out a daily alert? I mean think about it people - it's Atlanta, it's 90+degree outside, there are 9 million automobiles sitting in stop-n-go traffic farting out emissions- it's a given that the quality of air is NOT ocean breezes or mountaintop clearness.

HELLO, We're the East coast version of LA smog! All you have to do it is step out the front door and you get smacked in the face with the stifling stinking stale air of metropolis USA.

In my opinion sending out annoying heart-stopping tones on the phone really isn't all that necessary. What's wrong with using the little email "ting"?  However, I'm not in charge so unless I want to delete this app that I paid money for, I guess it's just something I have to live with. And I will  "live with it"  because it's only June 4th and we've got a whooooooole summer of thunderstorms to go. Gotta stay prepared ya know.

I do wish I could do something about when the alert comes through. It's one thing when it happens at 6:30 in the morning (I mean who minds being woken up early? It can just be thought of as an early wake up call, right?). The other extreme of the alert coming through at 1 a.m. doesn't bother me much because I'm usually still up, however my husband isn't really a big fan of being startled out of deep sleep just a few hours after nodding off. But ya know what really is the killer here? It's that in-between middle of the day alert that gets me every time.

Today's mid-afternoon alert  (3:08 p.m. to be exact) - while standing in the middle of the juice aisle at Kroger ...now that was totally uncalled for. And if you don't believe me, just ask the four other people standing around me at the time. I really thought I might need to call 911 for the little grey-haired lady who almost dropped her bottle of prune juice. I really couldn't decide if I should try to console the infant who started screaming or run from his father who looked like he was ready to strangle me. And the teenage girls with pink hair and booty-showing short shorts, pointing and giggling - them I wanted to smack.

But you know what? I didn't do any of those things. Nope, I just reached into my purse and silenced the phone. Holding my head high I turned and walked away, pushing my cart of fresh veggies and Cheeto's,  muttering under my breath "Danger Will Robinson, danger!"