Summer 2025

S ixty candles will crowd my birth- day cake this year, and it’s slightly surreal, but wholly acceptable. Living in the Carmel area, where the aver- age age is almost 69 (compared to 39 across the USA), I’m immersed in a culture that illustrates how much “living” still lies ahead. Reflecting on how much has shifted over the last few decades, I am struck with how much change we over-50s have faced. How much we’ve had to rewire our analog brains. I want to give us folks a collective pat on the back, a participation medal, for how well we’ve adapted. Darn it, we struggled to refold clumsy paper maps after prepping in advance of trips or appointments. Airplane tickets came from travel agents, and all phones had cords. Parcels ordered by mail took days—if not weeks—to show up. Electric cars sounded like science fiction. And if we didn’t know something, we prayed there was a dictionary or encyclopedia handy. Remember being thrilled when ATMs went mainstream? Back in the 80s, who woulda thunk we’d do our bank- ing on not-yet-invented laptops? Just half of my lifetime ago, In 1995, I was 30 years old, living in Carmel, and had just started dating my first husband. Carmel doesn’t have street addresses and he’d accidentally given me the wrong location of his house, leading me to walk into a stranger’s home unannounced after my night shift. I was lost in the dark. How did I clarify his location? Not by cell phone, which was then an accoutrement of the privileged few (and I wasn’t one of them). I drove to a pay phone at a gas station and plopped in a quarter.The undertaking of life’s every- day activities—work, driving, shopping—seemed to modify exponentially from that time on. Soon after, I, and most people I knew, had some sort of cellular phone. Remember the Nokia? What do we take for granted now that simply wasn’t around during much of our adulthood? Electronic maps (2007), laptop computers (2010), smart phones (2010), back-up cameras in cars (mandatory by 2018), keyless entry to cars and hotel rooms (around 2015).The great time sucker Facebook (2007) was followed by Twitter and Instagram (2010). When nearly a hundred cable TV channels weren’t enough (up from the three networks most of us grew up watching), along came Netflix (mainstream after 2010). Having to leave home to purchase any and everything ended after 2005 when Amazon started its world domination.Those of us who love the weight of a book or magazine in our hands reluctantly welcomed Kindle (2007). How do I know all of this? Artificial Intelligence (2023) generat- ed the answers on Google (1998). We no longer need to go to a casino to gamble, an arcade to play games, or a stock broker to play the market. “Lots of things have made life more convenient but also more isolat- ing,” a friend laments. “Instant gratification through technology is a double-edged sword.” There’s never been a better time to be sick, as wild as that sounds. Human error is lessened due to the expansion of robotic surgery (early 2000s).What was once only able to be seen by X-ray, ultrasound or human palpation is now crystal clear with magnetic resonance imagining—MRI (late 90s/early 2000s). The effects of chemotherapy and radiation are now enhanced or replaced by the use of immunotherapy (2010). And how about managing your own doctor’s appointments, test results and payments? “The online health app was a game changer for me. I loathed it at first and flat out refused to use it. It took five years (not kidding) to finally figure it out. Now I love it!” a 60-year-old friend tells me. On a more shallow note, we likely look younger, if not bet- ter. We, of the era where jogging, saunas and nonfat foods were the norm to get fit, can now turn to Ozempic or one of its many cousins in the semaglutide family (2017). Botox (late 90s) removes wrinkles, and fractional lasers (early 2000s) also smooth the visage. Overall, it’s a great time to be alive with these myriad advancements, while proving our mental flexibility. Just be vigi- lant about knowing where you’re signed up for autopay (2015) and never forget how to back up without a camera. Dina Ruiz is a former news anchor at KSBW TV, past host of “Candid Camera” and has starred on a reality show on the E! Network. She is a writer, editor and yogini. She resides on the Monterey Peninsula. BEHIND THE SPOTLIGHT D I N A R U I Z Having to leave home to purchase any and everything ended after 2005 when Amazon star ted its world domination. Rewired 54 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 5