TubaOrNotTuba

It has been almost a year since our last major road trip. In that time a lot of the world as we know it has closed to us for political reasons. That is I am taking S off my compass. Anyhow the question then comes up where would I go next. Truth be told I almost want to do parts of last year’s trip again. We did not see everything. At least I did not. And so I found myself earlier today wondering what lies beyond the border of where we went. Like, what if we went over on the ferry and then another fairy and then we traveled for days into new territory that could take us back home. A giant loop if you will. Of course you can find almost everything if you spend some time looking. What I could tell from the videos I watched this afternoon is that there is a lot of rock and water in the area that interests me. That is not a problem. I wonder what it would be like to redo our steps from last year but to go further. For days. We would obviously end up back home at the end of the trip and so the danger of being forced to spend a winter away from my front yard is low. We still have the same vehicle and we are even better prepared in how to do things with the least amount of interference to the world around us. There are no firm plans in place just yet but if you get word that I have gone off on another long road trip do not be surprised. So much left to discover and as I said even with my compass has lost the South heading there are other places to visit or revisit. Summer is still a couple of months away from what I can learn. Take it as a given that I have the easy part of such a trip. I am a willing traveller with none of the heavy hauling. No need to paddle my own canoe.

I did not see the event. That does not infer that it did not happen. Last evening our weather wizard, J, was positively gleeful. Filled with the sort of pride down a new parent excludes. This morning at sunrise we would have a partial solar eclipse. Visible along the shore because that is where the sun best crosses the horizon with the sea. One more reason why I was not present. Shall we review. During a solar eclipse full or partial the sun is not actually covered up. This is a visual thing based upon where you are in line with the sun and the moon. Something that every schoolchild learns even if they never witness an eclipse. There in lies the reason why I did not bother getting out of bed to possibly see something that was only partial. Not even important enough to be marked on my kitchen calendar. But I am sure there will be pictures tomorrow or the next day. On a weekend everybody puts that sort of thing aside for a busier news time. Based on my assumption that the eclipse actually took place I will let you know what happened. Outside it was a little bit darker. Almost as if the sun had been partially obscured by a cloud. Or the moon. Take your pick. Around here we know the clouds are a constant risk and trying to plan ahead for something that is of minor importance is often difficult. So if you ask me where was I during the big eclipse of 2025 I can only respond safe in bed. I will wait to hear from others. Perhaps someone was out there with a camera hoping to see what happens during the big mystery. Or I can wait for the weather forecast and report on Monday. At this time of year we have no big storms so this may be the lead story of the evening. Back to you J.

Advice is often inexpensive and rapidly received. However if a school offers you options, explore them. Take your time. We had arrived in a new province just as I was about to begin my time in high school. Given that it was summer time I stopped by to meet with the guidance counselors and get some direction. In those days that came down to choosing your options. Would it be art or music or manual arts. Actually I was offered only drawing or music. My previous experience with a cheap guitar and a introduction to bagpipes had led me to believe that music was for others. I opted to take up my pencils and learn to draw. It sounds easy but in my case it was not. If I was to say that I lacked talent that would be an understatement. I was not drawn in by the myth that anyone could be an artist and I failed to catch that ink and pastels and pencils were meant for others. And so I settled in for a very long year. Yes I received a passing grade. In truth I believe that everyone did. And so when I returned the following September due to demographics there was an option open to me. I could put aside my pencils and transfer over to music. To me it did not matter that I had missed a full year of instruction on instruments. I want it out and as the numbers played out I was given the chance go down the hall. The only catch was that I would have to learn a full year of music theory in a matter of a month. I was ready. The stains to my fingers the previous year show me that there were other ways to live and I was willing to learn all the key signatures and all the time signatures and all the odd Italian words required I made my move. I had no background in piano so the teacher was left with few options. At the bottom of the room there was a chair for someone who would learn to play drums I was ready and willing and able and so I did. Changed my life. And for those that wonder I have never looked at a box of crayons in the same way again.

Although this blog has no comment section I do receive comments from some involved readers. Recently I received a question about the lack of modern content on these pages. As in why do I seem to avoid talking about the here and now. From where I sit that is not completely true. My content is basically anecdotal. Since so little of note happens in the here and now filling my pages day after day was mentioned that I had a bagel and coffee for breakfast or that it snowed last night become a little stale. Just like bagels. So for those that worry about such things here’s another way of looking at it most of my good life is probably behind me. Thousands and thousands of daily life and the big changes that would take place back when I was in the workplace are triggered by different things now. We have fox is by the front door but the raccoons only seemed to come out at night. Hope that helps a little. Going forward unless the world dissolves into a pile of mush I do not see my days filled with big changes. Even when we travel we know enough to avoid catastrophe. I’m sure that a few big moments would make this better for the reader but like reality you have to put up with the bagels and coffee. Will tomorrow be different? I am unsure but I do avoid putting myself in situations where change will bite me in the bum as they used to say. Right now I am staying tuned in to the important things going on. There is that election. And there is a crazy stuff down to the South. And we might get the bridge tolls taken away. Those are important things but they refused to become predictive hello I tend to be predictable. If the bridge tolls go away will I travel more often? Hard to say. I have not actually driven in years. And walking from here to the bridge would take the better part of a day even if the weather was nice outside. I can however plan for the future. If someone comes to visit I will be prepared and I will be able to offer coffee and bagels. Does that interest you? Let me know by whatever means you see fit. As an aside I will not be turning on the comment section any time soon.

One can learn many things from books. But, to be fair, some things are easier if someone shows you how. Many years ago a man came to our door and sold us some books. Dozens of books. So many they had to be delivered by railway train although that was a rule for many things. In our case although I was the only one apt to ever open them we bought a whole double set of encyclopedias. The person who came to our door explained that we could teach ourselves just about anything if we would only take the time to do some research . And so, in a couple of weeks, the curtains of books arrived. We had no plan. I decided to try and learn something based on the TV program that I had seen. Building a kite. I found some large pieces of wood which I tied together to make the requisite cross. Then I found a spool of thread and this used window blind. Do you follow me so far? I fabricated a kite that in proper conditions could probably have lifted a small car. It flew like a rock. Not my fault. I had followed the plan in the book. I had even constructed one of those tails that you see in pictures. Neither of my parents had any interest or background knowledge to help me so I put it down to experience. We needed better wind. I am glad that wind never came because I could have become a tourist in another province. This kite was well constructed even if it never had any chance of taking flight. And what I really learned is that even the best of instructions go better when you have someone to demonstrate where you had gone wrong. It took me many years to discover the errors of my ways. By that time you could get a kite at the local gas station and it actually worked. Plastics. And since that time I have tried other designs in other places and I have managed to fly a kite as the saying goes but the first time is a memory that will stay with me because I was so close and yet so far. Those books stayed around the house for many years mainly to hold windows open. Too much knowledge for the time and place.

Back in my day getting to school was an adventure. It literally was uphill in both directions and usually in a snow storm. At certain points the school board provided bus transportation. Usually. I have a fund memory of the day that the bus picked us up and took us to school. This was not great comfort. Our school bus I believe have been used for military transport in the day and then sold to the municipality. Forget those padded seats that children have now. Anyhow it was cold. How cold? Think of living in the high Arctic if you will. On this particular day the bus dropped us at the school door. We went to class but sometime before lunch the announcement was given that buses were cancelled for the rest of the day. That translates into find your own way home. And with that came our challenge. A group of us set out. Downhill in frigid cold in a snowstorm. None of us were lost or you would still be reading about it in the history books. What we did learn was that getting the school might be more of a challenge then we thought on certain days. I did get home and I did not freeze but at that point all of my trust in transportation by the school board went away. I would like to say that we did not go back to school until summer but that would be a fallacy. The next day we were back on the bus aware that getting to school and getting home was little more then a government promise. Keep that in mind kids when you decide to complain about having to go to school by bus. In your case if it even looks like nasty weather you will be told to stay home. I doubt that you will ever be delivered to school and then told to find your own way back. Yes it was a long time ago but some things remain etched in our memory. I also think that the school board decided to get better buses going forward but I am unsure because I graduated from school and for those that came after me they will form their own mythology.

Moving on from the big reveal yesterday that we’re going to have a snap election means analyzing what the companies are doing. Believe me, political parties are every bit as much companies as anything else. We have one side that has decided to go passive aggressive. They will allow the opposition to do the talking for now knowing that the things that are said cannot be taken back. As well the company that wants to be the opposition has a very simple strategy that comes down to 3 words that change every day. The model from a grammar point of view seems to be to verb the noun and any grade school teacher can fill in the rest. We used to call them slogans but in a world of social media in short news bursts a slogan does not have a long shelf life. Nor will the efforts in this campaign. Just over a month and we will move on to better things, I hope. Some of the numbers given for what it costs to run an election campaign are frightening. More money in those 30 odd days then the average family will spend in a lifetime. Yes you can say that the parties or companies run on donations but all of those donations are tax deductible so in the end the bills are paid by the rest of us. Keep that in mind. Unfortunately in politics we have very little actual accountability. You will have to take what you can from the substance that is offered to you. Think of the foam on top of the desert. If I had my dessert I would take some of those verb the noun moments and make sure that they stay alive. Nothing would be more just then to have some of these would be slogans stay around for years to come. Just remind the rest of us about how shallow some of the political choices are going to be. There will be no actual governance in Canada for the next two months so we will have to accept that slogans and things said by people with their own axe to grind will be the only meat in the meal. No wonder people hate politicians.

I rarely use the word imminent. But here I am on a quiet Sunday afternoon waiting for the imminent drop of the writ. For those of you who do not follow politics that is a moment where the Governor General disolves the parliament completely and starts off the race to a new elected majority or minority. All we know at this point is that the call will be given sometime today. The actual term involved will be just around a month. Again I lack the specificity required to put a date on things. I can find these statistics on the number of ridings involved and potentially the number of candidates. In my own area some of those names are already familiar. When we finally get to the polling station the names on the ballot should be all familiar to me. Only because I pay attention to such things. I am curious if any of the candidates will find their way to my driveway. Such a visit would be a novelty. Because, anyone persons ballot carries very little weight in making decisions now. I am the equal of all those around me. I am similar to everyone else in the nation. For many when the ballots are finally counted and the totals are posted on the screen a lot of the writing names will be unfamiliar. We are a larger nation than we used to be. I will be watching the results a month from now for here because in the end I only get to cast one vote for one member of the parliament. I do not have a special vote to choose the nation’s leadership and so I will take the next four to five weeks to solidify my understanding of the issues and after the election is over I will move on to living my life. Based on past experience anyone election will have only minor consequences for my life. I have always lived in a time of peace. I just hope that the tendency will continue.

I am a little gobsmacked. I have been listening to political rhetoric again. Not a great way to spend the day. One of our premiers has decided that rules do not apply. Rather the idea that one province can decide for all the others about something as important as the environment in order to make money with the gas industry is outside my own experience. It seems that Alberta believes that they have a manifest destiny and I use this term in the best historical context to sell oil or black sand to the rest of the world. Something about money and more money. If Canada has laws that control that commerce but this province believes that those laws should be set aside because money is more important than anything else. Have we ever heard a thing like this before I wonder? Anyone who is growing up with siblings will be aware that sometimes members of the family speak without thinking. I hope that is what is happening here. I am not looking for a father over children role either. Rather I believe that we have one province that has loss the north. There are pipelines that had been built using the money of the other provinces. However since the oil industry is looking at a firm barrier and looking at a chance that the market will not be there in a half century, that industry wants everything now. I think there’s a Bible verse about that. Something about the prodigal son. But as I said it all comes down to money and I feel sure that the people working in the big offices in Calgary and Edmonton have no dirt under their fingernails. Stand by everyone, things are going to be rough for the next little bit. Anyhow when Alberta decides to have new pipelines going west and east and enter territories over which they have no control, we now understand the outspoken call on the Prime Minister to do things for them or they will do something else. Is this a 51st state? On the calendar in that office I am unsure that the Americans want the crazy stuff that comes out of our oil patch.

I tend to think of it as death by 1000 tiny cuts. Or if you will the zombies. Forget what you’ve seen in the movies. We now have a world where companies collect money for services that they might someday give you. In fact they are so sure you will love their product that they will bill you and collect their money in advance. Yes I am referring to those services that are done by subscription. Ones that require no effort on the part of the company other than to be there to take your money at regular intervals. Once a year in many cases. In going back through my e-mail box I notice that I have received confirmation of payment for a number of services that I had not thought about in years. Tiny services like the ability to collect data from my TV set if you will. The charges are not large taken one service at a time but the amounts add up. I now better understand what it would take to become rich. Subscriptions. I am not going to list all the offenders because they do not care. In fact if you go through the steps of trying to cancel some of these services you will receive yet another e-mail. One that says they cannot find any trace of your account. Note that they already have collected your money for the next year. And if I was willing to put more time into it and effort I could probably resolve each case to my satisfaction. At least, I hope so. It is hard to remember what a particular electronics service offered me in the beginning that convinced me to sign up in perpetuity. I doubt that the word perpetuity was ever used in the original offer of service. I will be working through this one company at a time. I just want to warn the rest to you that zombies are not a mess. Rather they’re little collections of money done electronically for things that you had not thought about in a decade. And yes all the fault lies with me big is at the other end there is no human. Just a carefully programmed computer that has my name and number and I need to provide revenue to their company. One small payment at a time.