Cat scratching? No. Sign of the times? Yes.

We have a friendly and competent plumber named Bobby who needs to visit now and then to fix something. Recently a pressure indicator valve began leaking on the water tank associated with our well. Bobby stopped by and I showed him the problem.

He looked at the valve and then pulled out his cell phone and took a picture of it, saying: "There's all kinds of these things so when I get to the supplies store, I'll be able to find the right one easier, thanks to the photo."

This reminded of an incident that occurred several years ago. My wife and I were in a small town on the Mississippi River in Minnesota and we had a flat. I didn't want to drive far with the space-saver spare so we went looking for a tire dealer. I soon found a converted gas station with used tires stacked floor to ceiling in what had been the repair bays. There were also various new tires.

The place wasn't neat and orderly and in fact I'd say it was downright dirty, just like the used tires it held. When no one came to greet me, I started looking for assistance and wandered into what originally was the office area of the station. Didn't see anyone there either but I could hear something coming from what appeared to be a small room in the corner.

I walked over, looked inside, and saw a rather grubby-looking serviceman with filthy hands...studying a screen and typing away on a computer keyboard, which also looked like it hadn't had a bath in while.

This made me imagine a young Bill Gates or Steve Jobs or another computer genius back in the early or middle seventies saying expansively to a bunch of dubious peers: "Yes, I can foresee a time when even the most down and dirty tire place in a small town in Minnesota will need a personal computer..."

And, no, once the guy at the computer looked at our tire, he was unable to repair or replace it. This modern world.