TubaOrNotTuba

Imagine having a job where every day is different everything remains a challenge. That is the exact opposite of a job. Remember that your employer pays you to be there doing boring stuff because that is the way the world is tuned. Almost like a one string guitar. I was fortunate in retrospect to have had work experiences that remain memorable even now. I have talked to a lot of other people and they never came close to that dream. When my own children despair of getting summers from their efforts I have to remind myself that that is the way life works for the majority of the world. At the same time I have to continue trying to encourage them. My efforts are not always great. Hence those weeks where I hear little from the outside world. I am not the sage on top of the mountain. I imagine that if they have questions they will be asked. Meanwhile I listen to others who tried to explain their path through professional life. And reality for the majority is that it never gets wonderful. Let us go with satisfying. Maybe even satisfactory. No mystery about why employers have to keep paying all the time. I will continue to think about this even though my time in the workplace has ended. At least I have some good memories in the absence of my fortune. Right now I am more concerned about staying healthy and avoiding near occasions of hunger. Real life with real people. And as for my new disciples, that being a small family of foxes that’s it outside waiting for a miracle I will try to find some biscuits that I can throw outside just to watch them move. Just like an employer.

I hear a lot of things that do not affect me directly but I still have a reaction. This morning I learned that the United States government for some of their plans to charge more government RV camp sites if you are there as a tourist. I am not an economic genius but it seems to me that punishing the people who want to come and give you their money is an odd way to attract more clients. Especially when it turns out that the amount of money that would be realized in such I decision will not affect the bottom line. Some say that it will not help rebuilt or fix any of the parks equipment if outdated. Some parks are very old and only offer basic services and it would take a major investment to modernize the premises.Nothing more than expensive symbolism. If you do not want tourists think close the gate. You know you can do it. As for me I have lots of choice right at home. I do not need to cross the border to find a place to pitch a tent or park and RV. Actually I have that available right here on the property. Now you might say that a big part of the pleasure of going away on a camping trip is the going. I am less sure as I get older. Somehow spending hours in a car seat to get to another place that has trees seems like overkill. Did I mention that I also have trees? So you go ahead, U.S.

I have no more excuses. I was outside just a few minutes ago and two blades rolled by. That is an affirmation that this is all real period now to be fair I cannot claim to have seen anything clearly but that is definitely the largest object to come by my door since I arrived here. Longer than the actual sections of my house. And the other part is that there will probably be nothing else like this for the rest of my life so feel good about marking it on the calendar. My way of saying that I am glad that I had enough eyesight remaining to see the object pass. Do not ask me to describe it. Think of it as something like a flat elephant. There. Close enough. These are huge mechanical forms that were constructed in another continent and they came here by ship. In pieces. The original mechano set. Even Lego has nothing to compare. And when the windmill construction project is complete I will be able to give directions to my house. Not just go east but go until you see a giant windmill or two. Not going to be any more exact in the count biggest the project is still not completely determined. Seems that they have run into a bit of boggy ground in the middle of a bog. Who knew. Certainly not the engineers. There are already people wondering if the project will fall sideways and become a story for the world’s newspapers. Still too early to tell. But I will be able to confirm that the project is ongoing. But all those documents that were posted on the internet years ago we’re a commitment to do something larger than life. Will they dwarf our local lighthouse? I think so. Will they last as long as that lighthouse? I have doubts. They don’t build things the way they used to.

I had a chance to interface with a new gadget today. We were over to the local dentist and in order to provide X-rays I was asked to stand in what can only be called a high tech phone booth. Stand steady. Place something in my mouth. Wait for the big piece to rotate around my head. Profit. I was even provided with a neat jacket filled with what was probably LED. And yes it was heavy. Protection. Now that the X-rays have been taken the dentist can do an evaluation. Much better than the old way where you placed small rectangles in your mouth and waited for the sound of electricity nearby. And then the dentist would go off to a dark room and develop the film. I tried to imagine what my life would have been like if technology like that had existed half century ago. Not for the dentist but for standard photography. Of course everything has advanced since then we now have digital cameras that have placed the darkroom into something of memory. What will be next? I have those wireless headphones that allow me to listen to the radio or television without a wire. So many changes in a short period of time. We also did an initial test with our new satellite dish. The one that will go in the RV. Not a real test but rather just to see that the power system would turn on a little blue light. Satisfying. We will soon move to the next step which will require us to send money off to the richest man in the world. At least that is how I visualize it. He will never notice that I’ve been in contact. Apparently you’re busy when you have that much cash on hand.

The clock in the kitchen sounded for noon. 12 times. An odd sound because my life is regulated by a cuckoo. And I hardly pay attention to the time except to count fact bird. What brought it to mind today was an odd moment of synchronicity. At the same time the podcast I have been listening to end it. Almost as if it had a cue. Which it did not. For several years now my life has been deregulated. I no longer wait for the start of the next program on television. Closely regulated by the studio time clock. For me I am indifferent. There is a new freedom of using the Internet to do things. Programs are running all the time. On demand. No need to be sitting and waiting for the next hour to start. And it brings a remarkable freedom. Yes I understand why clocks used to be important. Making the trains run on time for example. Or assuring that you were on the wharf for the next sailing of the ferry. For television, time allowed them to charge for the ads that they were going to show. But we have moved beyond that. When I watch YouTube I am aware of advertising. Almost too aware. I am watching on my schedule and the advertisements seemed to be superfluous. Yes I realize that there are ways to check if a viewer has seen a particular ad. In order to charge the advertiser for the work that the network has done. But in the grand scheme of things I am now also indifferent to the clock. If I want to stop watching I stop if I want to skip and add there are ways to do that. None of it tide to the clock in my kitchen. Sorry cuckoo but you have been made irrelevant. I now wait for sunrise and sunset because those are the times that best fit my lifestyle. And if the phone should ring I realized that the collar on the other end is also not tide to a timepiece. A remarkable way to live.

Last evening we had pizza. And again today because it was a rather large pizza. This was not a delivery product. We had to go ourselves and pick it up because we live in a part of the world where delivery is an unknown unless you request Amazon to do the last mile. The pizza was rather good. A change from the normal. In fact it was so rare that I cannot remember the last time we did this for ourselves. There was that occasion last summer when one of the boys brought home a pizza but that was also an exception. Something saved for summer. What is it like for those of you who live in a big city where cars stop at the end of your drive and bring you hot food? Do you do it often or do you also make it into an exceptional practice. I know pizza is expensive but it could be almost anything. Not around here mid you. You would think that fish and chips be heavily featured on the menus but it is not. All of the fish caught around here seemed to go into traps for lobster because that brings a larger profit to a fisher. There’s very little interest in eating something that you catch yourself. And do not even consider going out to catch your own lobsters. That could be a shooting offence if someone saw you. A different world from that of my grand father. Thinking back the only food that was delivered to our home back in the day was milk. Brought in on the train from the big city. Actually a small town but we exaggerated everything. And the milk came in glass jars. The container probably weighed more then the product inside. But we got by. Proof? That I am still here to tell you about it.

We can all have hobbies but we cannot have all the hobbies. Along the way we learn to pick and choose based on the opportunities available to us. And as we grow older some of those interests will be placed on the shelf. No access and lessened interest. For me a long time ago I learned how to dive. In large part because I live so close to the ocean it was a good fit. Also I knew some other people and the chance to take a course came up so off I went. A whole winter of going to the pool and studying and finally making my open water dive and getting my treasured card of proficiency. The one that allowed me to buy air. Now a lot of the gear is still around here even if I have not gone down for many decades. I learned also along the way that some activities require that you have a friend along. Similarly trained and in this part of the world with a car. Believe me lugging all your gear down to the beach is enough of a physical workout. This hobby turned out to be a good fit. It also provided me with employment at a time when that was very important. So if my children were to ask me what should they do with their spare time I would suggest learning an activity that someone else is willing to pay for. Not full time but often enough to cover your expenses. Also for the record none of my children appear to have an interest so this equipment well be passed along to who knows who. Actually when the equipment is old enough there is only one place to put it. A government landfill. I am not there yet but I am starting to consider my options.

1st a little background. We live in the country and electricity is important. We are very sensitive to power outages. And so about a decade ago we installed what is known as a generator. A big box with an engine that turns on once a week to make sure it is still there and then kicks in when the power goes off. I understand the process on a basic level. To fuel the motor we have a contract with the local propane supplier. If we say we have run out or if his calculations show that we should have run out they send a big tanker and it pumps things full again. Again I understand the process on a basic level. Today for the first time the propane people showed up with two trucks. Not a tanker. And with some machines and some careful maneuvering they took our old tanks away. And put new ones in their place. Or at least reconditioned tanks. There is a rule that says that after 10 years a tank must be retested. That job will happen elsewhere. For me the only detail of importance was what happens to the propane we have already purchased. The technician reassured us. They will calculate how much fuel was in the 3 tanks and they will issue a credit and then they will come and pump the new tanks full again. This is their game not mine I am nothing but a spectator who pays the bills. Like so much else in my life. And when the lights go out I trust that the job will have been done properly and I will hardly notice the need to think about such things. Other than resetting some clocks.

Some things are meant to be. Summer not. Again this morning I received a phone call saying that part of a windmill would be heading by. This time it was only 5 minutes away. And so I did what I had to do. I went in the garage and open the door and waited. Of course the truck could have taken an alternate route. That was a given. But I am running out of time. At this rate all of the pieces will have been delivered before I ever get a chance to see them out of place. Soon I will be able to look out my front door and finally see the monster. Shades of that man who saw a windmill and saw it was a night in shining armor. It does not really matter. This was more for the bragging rights than anything else. If someone asks me did I remember when they delivered the windmills I will lie confidently. I will be able to quote the date and the time and put down not having seen anything to my failing eyesight. Carry on. In other worlds we are waiting to see what the effect is going to be of the stifled hurricane warnings. I mean the wind will blow and we will get some warning just not as much. I hope it is worth it to those people trying to balance a budget that is out of control. Because in the end this is all about a government trying to mask the amount it spends. And for the rest of us we will just pay more attention to what the weather is doing. When they get out of bed this morning to go and close a window against a sudden rain shower I did it out of prudence. Nothing got wet and by the time I returned to bed I was once again ready to sleep. All good.

I will keep track of the progress just so that you do not need to. We have been living in an ongoing construction project for what seems like years. Actually years. But with only moments of excitement. Today someone cited that 2 of the blades for one of the windmills is in the area. Out for delivery if you will although that’s a big term. The beasts are modular. Carefully constructed and transported across the ocean. Every movement carefully planned and executed. You do not want to get your shiny windmill blade broken in transport. Save that for later. Will I see a blade come by on the road? I do not know something like that will only take a minute or so to pass by and I refuse to sit outside waiting in case they decide to use a different route. I will know when the job is done because these will be in place for decades hopefully. At least that is their plan. Too big to fail. Although one of them did do exactly that over across the water. Again not seen but word spreads. None of the generated power will actually be used by me. We are a transmission site and a production site for the safety and security of others. Keeping the lights on in case the world runs out of fuel. It might. I read the press as do you and we know that we are about to get into a hydrocarbon shortage. Better to plan ahead and put in a whole bunch of windmills wherever you can find a piece of ground someone else has not already claimed. That too is not a given. Between windmills and potato fields there ain’t much left.