TubaOrNotTuba

When you travel I hope that you, like me, take the time to enjoy the scenery. I’ve tried a variety of methods in a variety of places. By bicycle, the road went by at a speed that was reasonable. In a car, even when you were driving, you’d get a good view outside in both directions. But, when you move to mass transit for a number of reasons the game changes. I am not referring to when you travel by air, there you see almost nothing unless you count the clouds. But on the ground, things are better. A bus is reasonable and the train is even better. Oh! I have not done so for awhile. I did take the time to see about 1/3 of the country by train. The wonderful part is that the roadways were laid down a long time ago. And even after more than a century the view remains much the same. Trees may grow, rivers stay between their banks. I know that if tomorrow, I’m going down to a train, I could still tell where I am going. No need to worry about the distance going by. Fun details but not part of the experience. Where would I go if I had the chance? That is easy. I want to see what lies across the border. They too have a lot more highways than in the beginning but the rails stayed in place. When you travel beside a majestic river, you have a chance to see the same view as the people did when they laid down those rails. You cannot say that about roads. There was a time when everybody travelled through the woods. That, too has changed. I remain confident that I would still be able to tell where in the country I was traveling; although, if you leave the train signs in place that will help. One of those small things makes Canada so stable. Sadly, here in the east, most of our tracks have been taken up. Not a sign of something to celebrate nor a recognition that things were done right the first time around.

I required a long time to move from being a student to being a worker. It helped that I went to a residential school where I could live very close to my classrooms and get my meals there. Five years in one case and then another year at another place. A workplace supposedly; but I would go from my desk in the office to my place in the pool or my place in the gym, or my place in a sit down restaurant without any moment to hesitate in my life choices. I bring this up because I’ve been listening to the work experience of others and I always had it good. I will not go as far as great. These were jobs but on the whole I think I lucked out. I also decided for a number of reasons to continue working in that kind of environment summer after summer. Much easier than finding an apartment for short term. Just stay on campus and eat on campus and socialize on campus and profit from what seemed at the time to be a great deal in the financial sense. I think that even my children got caught up in it when they were very young. Or maybe we just dragged them along and they had no say in the matter. You can get used to the small beds and the shared bath and the hotline food if you’re a happy camper. I was. Going on 30 odd years since the last time I stayed in a student residence but I remember the experience well. Did you know that you do not need a double bed when you’re there to sleep? And did you know that industrial carpets are no worse on the feet than anything else. My kids learn to walk on exactly that kind of carpet. And we didn’t need the luxury that people now think of as necessities. No foam beside my bed because there was a payphone just down the hall. Food Sir from a tray? Fine by me. The odd bursts of noise from dozens and dozens of neighbours? All part of growing up experience. I could write a book about it except that no one else really cares.

I am developing a true interest in history. There’s a lot of it and I’m old enough to know that I will not learn it all. Not even a small percentage. Some concentrating on things that might be applicable to me. I live in an island. One that is just large enough. And people have been coming here by ships for centuries. Not all of them make it in with the boat intact. I find this whole idea both heard and soft. I mean, a lot of my ancestors came here by ship and they must have landed in good shape. This afternoon I listened to a documentary concerning a disaster that took place within a day’s sail of here. The idea of that distance is relative as you can imagine. This is one of a rather large steamship that was built when sails were still included in the kit. I am not going to name the ship but I will tell you that crew can affect the results. The term hubris comes to mind. Too proud to realize that they’re in trouble and not wanting to let the rest of the world know how they may have failed at their task. Anyhow this particular ship which is en route to the United states decided that there supply of coal might be low so they diverted to another port. At a time when navigation was really done by guessing. There is a lighthouse in this story but it was never seen by those on board. Instead they found a huge rock and that point on the story goes downhill. According to the newspaper reports hundreds were lost. The rock was attached to a small island with a few families living there. Fishers, all settled down for the winter. And yet, they jumped to the task. Dragged their boats out and across the fields to get close to the shipwreck. And they rescued as many as they could. I imagine that the story that I heard was made into something more interesting but seriously, jumping into the frigid waters in the middle of a storm is never a fun time. As I said, hundreds did die and their bodies were taken ashore and then tourists came and looted. Some people are less heroic than others. There are an artifacts to be found in a couple of museums just across the way I may never go there but I do have a sense of the story. And this story serves as a lesson. Back in the old days lifeboats weren’t quite enough

I have been reflecting on situations I’ve been in that could have gone so much worse. Financially. My time in university is high on the list. Going into a field that had no chance of getting a job spending the money to live on campus and go to classes for five years and then walk away with a minor debt load. But I have worse. When we decided to buy a home we were not planning to do so. We went out of curiosity to what was termed a Home Show where various manufacturers and realtors and all the associated noise were showing potential homeowners what was out there. Product printed presentations. And partway through the afternoon we ended up talking to someone who worked for a local home builder. I think we were unprepared for all the positive arguments he presented. And about 12 hours later, seriously, he took us for a drive to a small subdivision and showed us the only lot left. All the rest had been sold and in many cases already had structures on them. And without really understanding the math involved we decided that this would be our future home. Right there, on that corner. The one covered in boulders, left behind by others in the area. He showed us a floor plan and told us about how the houses were built and like fish in a pond wee bit hard. Now, in retrospect, it all turned out for the best. We stayed in our eventual home for three decades. We came out with a fully reimbursed mortgage. But given our total lack of knowledge in the field it could have gone so much worse. I am not someone who believes in angels but if there are such creatures they were watching out for us because we were totally over our heads. And yes we had to pay someone to cart away all the boulders.

Back in school I learned what I was taught. As I grow older, I realized that my education has some very large blank areas. My worldview was offered through a pinhole and now I realize how little I actually learned. If we look at the high points of a standard high school education, I was taught to calculate the number of atoms in a mall. Or was it molecules? Probably both. I also memorized poetry, in Latin. Serve me not at all in the rest of my life. I can solve simple quadratic equations even though I never used that knowledge again. What I did take away from it was that letters and numbers are interchangeable in certain concepts. As for history, I feel that I learned nothing at all period of value. I grew up in a world that believed that Great Britain was the centre of the universe. And the kings were important. In reality sport really was important was that you could trade things for money. I was taught only to trade money for things. And since i had little money I received few things. I still cannot wrap my head around the idea of $1,000,000 and that you could get there by trading. In sharp contrast others in the world have had this figured out for a very long time. I was given name recognition without being told why those names might be important. Did I waste all my time in high school? No because I learned to play the tuba. One of those life skills that has given me pleasure even if nobody else cares. My sense of geography was centred on Toronto. I know. My fault. There were better maps available but I chose to ignore them because my teachers felt that knowledge would not serve me well. Keep me close to home if you will. Of course, I have picked up little bits and pieces of what makes up a worldview but it has taken me decades. And I have no way to double check what I think I have learned. My time of writing exam papers is over. So if you were to ask me to give you a capsule view of the world it would take you very little time. But I am going to continue to study in my own way. A sense of curiosity.

Here we are. Early January. The time when people, some people, decided that going back to the gym would be a good thing. I come from a different time. For a number of years we had compulsory gym. Part of the curriculum. And we had to do things that in retrospect made no sense. Ignore the simple stuff like exercises and running. For some reason our teachers also included things that were better fitted to life in the circus. Let me explain. There were those ropes that hung from the ceiling. The ceiling was very high. You could not hit the ceiling by throwing a basketball unless you were very strong. We were told to climb with those ropes using our hands in our feet. Happily, in my class at least, no never fell from the top. But the possibility was there. And at the first sign of spring weather they took us outside to a field. A repurposed cow pasture. And we tried to emulate heroes of old. There is a reason why mankind stopped throwing cannonballs. And as for that stunt where you took a long pole and ran across that pasture and then try to swing yourself into space to go over a bar. Neither myself nor my friends ever managed. We had all seen the sport on TV and it seemed so easy. Until you actually run the long pool and try to stick it into the ground and then throw yourself into space and then not fall on your head. Too much effort and coordination required. We were young and we would probably bounce if we ever hit the ground but As for a way to keep us fit? I think some teacher had fallen on their head. Also, when you run around the track there is no easy way to explain to your mother why you were supposed to jump over little fences and not skin your knees. There you have it. A generation who dressed oddly went around outside trying to injure themselves and then decided that a gym was just too dangerous.

Without comedy we might not realise just how silly some of our gadgets really are. Today I caught her routine dealing with the George Foreman grill. I know it well. I bought 2. Slightly used at a discount price but the brand was on the box. I think one of them is with one of my sons although I cannot say whether or not he ever takes it out-of-the-box. Anyhow the comedy routine was dealing with the design flaws in this gadget. There are many. If you would like to have grill marks in your hand this is the perfect device. No way to use it safely but if you are hungry it might be the fastest way to a party Chard burger. Or a grilled cheese sandwich. One with the cheese has the consistency of flowing lava. The grill is hot and there is no way to change how hot that is. Other than counting down the seconds. We bought ours without knowing what it was. This was not something that had ever been advertised on TV locally. It’s not hard to learn how to use one plug it in put your food in press down on the cover until your hand is burning and then stop with any luck your burger or your grilled cheese will be done to perfection. And that was the point of the comedy routine. Although advice in the industry was available the company decided to forget about it and go with low cost. Let the buyer figure out all the other parts. I keep mine around just in case I ever need to destroy a sandwich or burger patty. I can clean up after the fact when things have cooled to a point where 3rd degree burns are no longer possible. I should check in with son #3 and see if he ever uses his. If not I will forward the video to him so he can be equally warrant. And if you think that you should read the instructions, there are not this was a device designed without objective other than keeping the cost low. As I said, I purchased 2 in a used goods store nearby. The perfect impulse purchase. Do I have birthday buyer’s remorse? No and most of my burn scars have faded overtime period.

I am guilty of overthinking certain situations. Not all of them but once in awhile I find myself wondering what led me down that path. Here is an example. Outside in the backyard at the top of pole there is an anemometer. I’ve had it in different locations for going on 20 years. A week ago we noticed collectively that the wind speed was no longer showing on the big wall gauge. And after a quick look outside even though the wind was blowing the anemometer was still. Oh no. Was it dead? Was it broken? Finding out would require some effort. Either taking down the pole which seemed like a lot of work or taking out a step ladder which seemed precarious. I mean if the wind is blowing and I can’t tell, do I want to climb a ladder. The snow might cushion my fall but I thought of another idea. I could send someone else up the pole. You know spread the work around. I figured out how to describe the repair to someone else and then we waited for a good winter day. Hint there is no sustain. Right now the schools are closed because of the most current storm. Anyhow at the point where we thought we had everything figured out and I knew exactly where to find the step ladder and how to find my way down into the field and put things in place and make a concerted safe effort to give the wind vane that little twitch I knew it needed, we looked outside. Guess what? The anemometer was turning in keeping with the wind and the gauge was showing the current wind speed almost as if it knew we were thinking about climbing up and giving it a tap. And now after seeing it work, I can put that problem away and move on to the next one. Probably it will involve something like deep snow which would have cushioned any fall I had from the step ladder if I carried on with my other plan period.

If you are of a certain age and your friends had musical tastes that were at least a bit eclectic, you can remember the pleasure of exploring their album collections. Unearthing gems that were virtually unknown to you depending upon your background. It kept us all routing through the stacks because like I say you just never knew. Anyhow I still have those moments. Today I found something from the Zeppelin. That I had never listened to before. Nothing rare just coming from a time in my life when I had moved to other areas of the spectrum of music and I missed this one. And there’s still a pleasure in putting together the pieces of the puzzle. Recognizing familiar voices or familiar riffs even though the music was recorded a lifetime ago. I am sure there are many more moments like this now that the library of the world is available to us. I have not gone through a personal album collection in many years. Most of us no longer have one. And a Spotify stack doesn’t carry the same weight. Anyhow I can confirm that when you are a world class musician you turn out world class music year after year. Unless you are a one hit wonder. I think it’s great that despite the number of years that have gone by the tombs still hold up. Did I mention world class musicians? I shall because those who had careers spanning a lifetime had more than one tune in their back pocket. And the good old days to have made it to an LP meant that someone else believed in you.

Here we go. A little more of my work history. I am digging deep on this one going back to one of my very first jobs. As a trophy I still have my name tag. One of those ones created using a plastic label maker. It fit well with the job. I was hired by the nearest supermarket just across the back fence to pack groceries. No experience necessary just a willingness to get in and out of peoples cars. Curves were larger back then. I thought I was doing well. I had learned right off the bat to put the heavy cans at the bottom of the bags and the squishy stuff on top. That is how it’s supposed to work right? But I can also do simple math and I figured out after only a matter of days that I was not getting the same number of shifts as my coworkers. I was a little kid with a little paycheck. And I had to figure out why. It turns out that I was hired to hide a common secret in retail. One of the other people, hired exactly the same day as me, was the son of the store manager. One of those little details that you cannot beat when it comes to looking for the best deal in the business. He got the hours and I got to go home with my name tag. The economy was good back then and it did not take long for me to find a better job that paid more money with a chance to stay around for more than a few days. The only downside was that I had to walk a little further to work. Having your employment just across the back fence is nice. And in future I learned to look at who was being hired with me. Does it matter in the long run? No, not really, this was not a job with long term opportunity. And I did get to keep my name tag which is worth something in the nostalgia business period.