Hey Siri, fetch me some supper, will ya?

The iPhone X came out. Whoopty-doo!

The home button is gone (amazing!) The screen goes right to the phone's edge (remarkable!) Instead of scanning your fingerprint, it scans your face (creepy!) And all for $1300 (so cheap!) I could buy two non-Apple laptops AND a flat-screen TV for that price. 

Don't get me wrong, I like new technology and I love my iPhone, but the marginal benefit of upgrading to an iPhone X at this point in my life is... marginal.  

Why? Because nothing compares to your first iPhone. That incredible feeling when your life took a giant leap into the digital age. The moment you realized you would never be alone again... "Hey Siri, tell me that you love me."  

Back in 2011, my Dad was the digital trail-blazer – the first in our family to buy a so-called smart phone. A person who'd never shown an interest in computers came home one day with a swanky iPhone 4S. He still uses it. 

Yes, six years later he still uses a phone that could belong in a museum. It's outlived my iPhone 5 and will probably be around when I ditch my iPhone 6. He doesn't want a new one. He understands the marginal benefits of a new phone are... once again, marginal. 

It's like getting your first car. No matter how big a junk heap it was, it was still amazing. My Pontiac Firefly's one-litre engine of pure gutless glory was all I needed to get from point A to point B. Sure, it once left me high and dry in minus thirty degree weather, but it was my first car. Its windshield frosted up in winter and it had so much road noise you could barely hear one another speak on the highway. It didn't have air conditioning, heated seats, bluetooth (hey, I was lucky if the radio worked) or power windows – but it was my first car.  

I felt the same about my first iPhone. It was revolutionary, it was monumental, it was the dawn of checking my phone every five minutes for phantom texts. As my friend said about her first iPhone: "It changed my life."

My second iPhone was even better - bigger screen and more options – but there wasn't the same sense of wonder and awe. After picking up a brand new, shiny iPhone 7, my co-worker said nonchalantly: "As long as it can text and surf the Internet, I'm good." 

Smart phones have hit the glass ceiling of human expectations. It's natural. Sure, there will be another breakthrough eventually, like when they can cook you supper. 

"Hey Siri, make me a lasagna, heavy on the cheese. And grab me a cold one from the fridge, would ya?" 

I suspect it will be a while. 

First and foremost, evacuate the stray dogs

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against animal shelters. We got our cat from a shelter, and were happy to rescue her from... um, death, I think. In the end, we're both better off. And now we can tell everyone we meet (with a hint of pride): "She's a rescue cat."   

Not only do shelters give us an opportunity to own a pet that's no longer able to reproduce, they actually play a useful role, in fact their primary role – to rid our streets of stray animals. 

Dogs roaming the streets are not just an annoyance, but a real safety issue in less developed countries and even in Canada. This spring a 24-year-old woman from northern Manitoba was tragically mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs. It shouldn't shock us that a dog cull was announced in response to her death, but it might. It's an issue we have trouble relating to. 

We love our animals. And our pets are becoming more and more human. It's to the point where they demand the same care and attention as children. To many adults, they are their children. 

While watching the news stories on Hurricane Harvey, I came to realize that we are a society that is inundated with pets. Image after image showed people and their pets seeking safety; kennels and cages nestled on top of flotation devices while their human masters (and children) waded through waist-high waters. 

Of course I would do the same. I couldn't leave my rescue cat to drown or starve while I seek refuge!

We care for our animals. But is it too much? Do we ever go too far?

I just read that an animal shelter in Florida flew 40 rescue dogs to New York on a private plane to remove them from harm's way – that being Hurricane Irma. That's right, a private plane. While humans are hoping to get at least a seat in economy to escape the coming storm, stray dogs are flying on their own private jets.

The article goes on to say that 60 dogs were rescued by the same organization from the floodwaters of Hurricane Harvey the previous week. These dogs are now awaiting adoption in a 33-acre rescue centre in... I'm afraid to say, Florida. But not to worry, as the dogs are safely "housed in air-conditioned bunkhouses that are fitted with hurricane-impact glass built to withstand 200-mile-an-hour winds."  

I suppose the rich can do whatever they want with their stray dogs, but it does speak to our world's vast inequality. While some communities are trying to cull strays out of self-preservation, others are flying them on private jets across the country. 

I presume it's a no-kill shelter.