TubaOrNotTuba

During the last few days we have been on alert. Weather alert. Along with forecast, watch statement, hashtags, and any other number of things that made me think maybe the final storm of the season was coming. Until two hours ago when it all stopped. And now I want to know, did we run out of snow. Did someone forget to order enough and then they just left the rest of us here on our own. Imagine the stress for a plow driver. Maybe they got the name of this place wrong. There is according to an Atlas another place in the world that has a similar name. Did the weather people simply misread their maps? Tiny letters on the field of blue. We may never know. I was watching a video from some people aboard a ship. Sort of a local ship. One that leaves some down the road aways. And all I could think was what a horrible fate to be trapped on the ship with these people for more than a couple of hours. Enough to make me stay at home. Meanwhile New York City had an earthquake. From what I can tell nothing fell down and there is no real disaster but I’m sure they will sleep less soundly tonight. ‘Cause you know aftershocks. I then watched another video of people traveling here. And they too got the places’ names wrong. Maybe this is the fault of our dependents on a GPS program by someone far away. I had to watch their video just to make sure we were talking about here because it all seemed so confusing. The fact that they visited in early Spring and were surprised to find that summer was not here is another sign that many travellers are ill equipped for the differences that they will encounter when they go somewhere far. Come on folks, take the time to study before you go. And don’t remind yourself too often that you think you know it all. You don’t. Stop believing cheap video feeds and logs. You will notice a marked absence of places names on my part.

In just a few days the sky will grow black. I know, the sky goes black pretty much every day but this is special. We’re headed into an eclipse. Locally we are prepared. We have special sunglasses to be used when there is no sun. And it could be a social thing. Unfortunately the eclipse is not happening right here. So there are maps. And you can try to decide at what time things will get dark. I’m sure there’s a more scientific manner. We’re just not there. No, the question is whether or not we should head up the road for several hours and pick a place where we can stand on a cliff and then go to a restaurant. I know you can go to restaurant at almost anytime with this as I said is special. And if the cloud cover comes in than we will have to come back in half a century. I mean I might not be there in a half century but you can plan ahead for it. I have a better idea. I think I’ll wait for the movie version. There is sure to be something and I can watch at home on my TV at another time. No need to be synchronized with the sun and the moon and all the stars. I am being realistic here. Even if I go out and stand and watch, I probably will not see the level of detail that others are looking forward to. I can wait for the photos in a magazine. Or buy a poster. So many other options. But if you are one of those people who has to be there when it happens so that years later you can say that you were there when it happened take this to heart. You will be there whether or not you see the sun. And if you stay inside the sun will still do its thing. So do not despair. I have larger issues. I’m trying to decide when I should say.. (I meant: period) I guess I’m not being fast enough.

If you are the sort of person that understands that a screwdriver is a useful instrument then you will probably agree with me on the text that I am about to create. We should repair more things. The idea that any given article and in particular consumer articles is destined to be thrown away long before the article has worn out is simply wrong. Taking a small toolkit and restoring a given product to useful life is actually fun. Recently we notice that a set of consumer headphones had worn out. Not stopped working. Simply worn out. Those foam covers that are around your ears were degraded. There are many people who would notice that the headset was wearing and simply throw it away. Order a new one. However if you have purchased something of quality in the beginning there may be simple paths for repairs. The corporate website might have what you need readily available and at a reasonable cost. When you get the new ear cuffs for lack of a better word, the actual replacement may only take a few minutes and instead of throwing away something that you like, you get it for another few years of use. And the sense of satisfaction when you are able to keep a product that you already enjoy around for another few months or years is worthwhile. I say that with the emphasis on a few years of course. I spent decades repairing things for my employer. We tried to buy quality from the start and when something broke you could after Julie repair it. Knowing which end of the screwdriver to use was the starting point. Convincing the people around me not to repair it themselves but to bring it to my desk what’s the next step. And at home I found that most things that I had bought over the years could be repaired. Some of my old radios were a perfect example. And also, photo gear. My father came from an earlier generation and he was able to repair wool socks. Something that he had learned from his mother but neglected to teach me. Not everything is meant to be repaired with tape. And so the headphones used on a daily basis here in the living room are now back to good as new. The cost of parts was quite reasonable and the delivery time was exceptional. One more article that will not go straight to landfill. Title try to fix it first

One of the great frustrations of listening to the news is that so much of it is not newsworthy. Apparently the tax that most of us do not pay has gone up slightly. At the same time the tax that we do pay which equals that of top political salaries has also risen. Hard to believe that they’re paying the guy who is the chief complainer more money. Over the next three years his salary reaches close to $1,000,000. Without him ever having to actually do anything important. I wonder if he will spend his raise on Bitcoin period. I know in politics you do important work until you don’t. I accept that we have to pay the people in charge to do the tough things but at what point did complainer in chief become an important job. Especially when you need no actual work experience to get the job. Hardly a lesson for those who believe in furthering education. I am better off to watch that squirrel outside who has figured out how to profit from the system to the same degree. I figure he will hide 1,000,000 seeds in the next three years. The weather forecast tells us we have another snow storm coming which will be spread out over three days. Probably a good thing for my water table. At least we have had no wildfires in this part of the world. I tend to watch the news for that sort of thing in case I get a sudden urge to travel to I don’t know the West or the South or the North. At least my east is ocean. But back to the pay raises for top politicians. The ones they vote for themselves. You can tell me over and over again that we do get to vote for these people but the reality is that we do not. I get to vote for a local person who is actually not so bad but he has a lot of greedy friends. And then unlike any rational business these people do not even have to pay for their employees. We do that part too. Oh well I still have coffee.

History comes with some hard lessons. In particular that attached to economic activity. Unlike governments companies exist not to spend the money but to make the money. To earn for the shareholders in most cases. I live in a country that has a lot of primary industry. No need to try and name them all because I would not be able but in each case the workers end up paying the price. Try to find any industry that has had a long lifetime. I have been lucky in that I have never lived in a town that died. I have always learned about such things after the fact. I was watching a documentary on the closure of a particular small village when the fish went away. No matter how many rounds the government dances eventually the cost goes beyond the benefit and with it the plants close. No need to wonder why because, there is always a good reason but for those on the front lines and it never gets easy. I think what is hardest to accept is how long a simple story can be stretched out. There are very few miracle answers. When the fish go away or the trees are too small or there is no mineral left in the ground the jobs are going to leave and for those living there, they rarely have a choice. You can always pack up and move on. Will this ever change? I doubt it because in the end a business opens for only one reason; to increase their wealth and for those involved in the jobs when there is no money there are no wages to be paid. You don’t have to go far to find the bleak stories. Around here time has been gentle but just across the waters hardship is an integral part of the history.

If you’re looking for a good movie to watch let me recommend something that played here yesterday. One of those movies that would have been made. Before, in the middle of the last century. But this was a remake. Something, with name talent from Hollywood. Reflecting a period gone by. The movie was Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson. And from what I can tell, they hit the mark. I am basing my report purely upon what I heard. Others have mentioned that things were good on all counts. I was intrigued by the quality of the music. If I had a chance to play in a band that good, I would be proud. The percussion was flawless. And I am not referring to the gunshots. At no point did my attention lag? Sure. I was working overtime to try and figure out what was actually going on. But it was based upon one of those standards from before the Second World War, so I could guess a lot of the details. To be sure, this was a crime story. I am not sure about what the crime actually was, or who actually did it? Remember, I was listening. I only wish I could imitate the detail that they drummers provided. There had to be more than one of them. I say that. Based upon my own experience. No matter how adept you think you are with the sticks, you cannot do everything. Anyhow, this is a movie that I will probably want to rewatch. Again and again. Each time, I will pull a little more of the details or the fog. And yes, there were other instruments. My attention stayed with the drummers. They knew what they were doing. I am unsure  how many. Different books are included in the Marlowe library (Philip Marlowe). But if they do another film from that set, I want to add it to my watch list. Not because of the story, but because of the action.

Earlier this week I received a message that my house had burned down. Not my current house. Rather an apartment building that I had lived in back in the early 1960s. A long time ago but I remembered the building well. At least parts of the building. I can destroyed many features and tell you about the various stairs but for some reason I have no memory of the bathroom. The one room in a house that I would have used every single day. Just a blank spot. Memory is in constant. Perhaps next week I will have total recall our building that no longer exists. Or maybe not. I’m one of those people that can tell you every place I’ve ever lived. I am a resource for my siblings. At least, I think so. Given that the building is now in ruins I will not be going back to fact check. And given that the building contained apartments, I have little faith in my ability to find images from whatever. People do not stay in apartment buildings for their whole life usually. I do know that living there must have affected my family because they avoided apartment buildings thereafter. Seriously, my mother never lived in another apartment building. Odd because we did not become suddenly rich enough to own homes. We always found rental houses until such time as we bought the one that my family still owns. I wonder what happened in that building. What changed the way my family regarded potential houses. At least it did not burn down while we lived there so that is a blessing. My very first home has been gone for many decades because it burned down after we had moved out. Going forward, I hope this house will resist as well. I rather liked the idea of descendants stopping by decades from now to say that’s where my grand father lived. The story of blog posts and family discussions.

I am trying to master a new skill. That is. Letting auto punctuation. Turn my magic words into magic text. It’s working when you pause it. A bit of a mystery. But then, so are many things in my life. I tried. And they failed. And I tried again. Like learning to ride a bike? So be it. Right now I’m watching videos. From Newfoundland. Learning about the different places that people walk on trails. No big plan in mind, I just want to know more. I have some trepidation. Based on previous experience. Our last time in Newfoundland that we went out walking. We came to the edge of a cliff in the fog. It was only the change in sound. They gave us a cue that something was different. And wisely, we halted. We were on the edge of a very high drop to the ocean. So you can see why I am more willing to take my time going forward. It seems that the trails in Newfoundland are rugged. In keeping with the rocks, I guess. I want to find out more. The videos are deceiving because I no longer see as much. If the narration is up to snuff. I have a pretty good idea of what they’re doing. But otherwise. Some days are just gray. There’s nothing to do with the fog. Take it from me, I will not be going on a bicycle tour anytime soon. That can be very challenging. Right now, we’re into a rainy period. My trip out to bring the bin to the road was enough to awaken one. A cold shower, if you will. Last evening, I had food from a community kitchen. The food was good. Although I do not know, the who or the why? But there was lemon pie. I should point out. The people who prepare meals for others are almost like angels. And that goes for my own meals. However, community kitchens still like to push bread. Apparently this is a holiday weekend. I mean. No sign from outside. But I do try to check the calendar from time to time. I do not want to be surprised. At least, not more than I already am. We are less then three months from the onset of summer. Tourists. And tourism? For those that can or will. I have not made any travel plans yet. Because that can be done. Rapidly. Still waiting to hear. If members of my family are coming by. I would hate for them to arrive to an empty house.

My high school was by my calculations large. After all, we had more than 1200 students; a small town in itself. We did everything there: mass, gym, cafeteria and sessions standing around by our lockers. It was our place. The only problem was that we had to, from time to time, write examinations that required a minimum of study. The school actually scheduled time for us to stay at home and crack the books. Some of us however, had better ideas. We could go to school, hang out with friends and study, assuming of course that we could find a quiet place to sit. Not in the classrooms and not in the cafeteria where people went to play cards and make noise; instead a small group of us discovered a stairwell leading to a machine room off the beaten track highly uncomfortable but it was our place. We kept it secret and at regular intervals we would go there to review all the material we thought might be on our exam papers. Important things like verb declension and obscure chemical formulas. Did you know that H2O makes water. Anyhow, I wonder who took our place when we left. No way to tell because the whole school has been demolished. It was a long time ago and for those that wonder; knowing how to decline a verb in Latin turned out to be inconsequential for my life. But back to the stairwell, we could be there for hours at a time as long as we remained quiet. The number of actual workers in the school could be counted on the fingers of one hand. They had no reason to go there. The school would ring its bells just like on an ordinary day so we knew when it was time to go home. Few of us had watches. Did I study much? No, I like most people of my generation, knew it all and besides no one ever failed. We could always promise to our parents that next semester would be better. We would study the next time round and the teachers were just glad to get us through at the end of June, so they could begin the next intake of minds and bodies. I wonder if any photos of our secret stairwell ever made it into a yearbook, probably not. The people who did yearbooks studied at home.

After listening to a friendly discussion about the merits of being punctual I decided to take a few moments and reflect upon how my life has been ruled by the clock. For starters, I grew up in a railroading family. Every employee with a job of any importance carried a watch. An accurate watch. Each time you went into a station you checked your watch against the clock on the premises and you initialed an entry in a ledger that you had done so. The clock in the station received a Standard Time check from further up the line every day. The worst thing that can happen on a rail line is that two trains are in the same place at the same time and so the clock was always right. It carried over into real life schools, they started and finished at a given scheduled time. We even had the angelus bell to let us know when we could have lunch but that’s a whole other story. If you wanted to watch TV you had better know the when of a program otherwise you were out of luck. In sharp contrast for those living on the farm you received subtle signs that it was time to do things. The rooster crowing is a perfect case. If you were out to sea you depended on the tide. That tide times and daylight were on a changeable schedule would have driven me completely bonkers if that’s how my life had been controlled but that was not me. Instead I ended up choosing a lifestyle where there were clocks all around me and where even the times the bus would go by was important. I did not make the schedule but rather I lived by it. One soon realizes that not everyone has the same appreciation of punctuality. No sense fighting about such things but you can always provide example and the time check.