TubaOrNotTuba

Some years ago I did a session as a tourist. Weeks upon weeks as a tourist. And one morning I arrived in the parking lot famous monument. A huge monument. The side of a mountain with faces. I’m sure you know where I mean. Like most visitors I joined the endless queues and admired the pageantry. So many flags. And through my time there I kept flashing back to a famous movie. No need to name it. I was convinced that I was on the site have a huge chase scene. I would have loved to explore but they take that kind of thing very seriously. No wandering. I was glad that they had taken the time to go on a chase and carry large movie cameras up and down the side of the mountain. It seems like a monumental feat. Today I learned that much of what happens in the world is an illusion. In particular what happens in cinema. Although the film crew may have been there as tourists, all of the real stuff was done on a mock up. A model. On a sound stage, elsewhere. There were no near brushes with death. In fact in one interview I learned that the monument had been tilted on its side so that the only way you could fall off was to truly defy gravity. I will probably never look at the footage in that movie in the same way again. There was also a scene where the star is being buzzed, over and over again, by a small plane. That too, never really happened. Somewhere else there are dishes. They flew the plane back and forth across the field. Then the actors jumped up out of those stitches and pretended to be dodge in the airplane. Even the corn stocks were a prop. From now on when I watch movies such as Titanic, I will ignore the big iceberg because it is not real either so many ways to trick us. So much is based on illusion even the text here did not really involve carrots. Just a note to my editor.

One thing that studying my family tree has shown me is that I am not nor have any of my ancestors being entrepreneurial. Looking back from father to son to grand father or is it father to grand father anyhow going back through the generations and looking forward none of us had that gene that made us want to take other people’s money. Taking other people’s money is not the same as accepting a wage. I am rather thinking about those we’re constantly trying to find ways to increase their own net worth. I have not nor will I ever be a rich man. In fact I am always drawn to wonder about those who are able to turn a dime into a dollar or more. When I was young, doing the normal things like clearing a driveway of snow I took a minimum amount of money for a modicum of effort. When I worked during all those years at real jobs someone else set the salary and I accepted it at face value. I never wanted to cheat someone nor did I feel that their money belonged to me. I would be lost in a world of rich people. Or I would become victim. I was watching something about international finance and I learned that there are certain cultures that place high value unconvincing others to hand over their money. If I had been a farmer I would probably feed the family. I would not spend my time trying to figure out how to convince someone else to give me more money for that potato. I’m glad that I never had the urge to call myself an artist where selling my production becomes a production in itself. I was asked why I have not tried to monetize this blog. Simple answer. It goes against everything I believe in. Like my father. Like my grand father. Simple folks in a simple world. It does limit the amount of leftovers on my plate. We have been watching videos of dogs and I’ve learned that the lab will eat at every opportunity. A true entrepreneur or Robert Berry. Take your pick. Our last dog was the antithesis of a greedy animal. Anyhow that is my reflection from today.

As I had mentioned we are far from the end of winter. Today some light snow that was driven to movement. Not exactly drifting but pretty close. We have also noticed a slight change in our satellite dish. The device is magical. It finds passing birds that we don’t even know about and it also responds to weather. There is a heating element inside so the snow cannot build up but this is the first time we have seen icicles forming. Just warm enough to melt the snow just cold enough to freeze back. Now those magical pillars that used to format my parents place. As big around as my leg and to remove them you used a small axe. Or hoped the gravity would kick in and takedown the icicle without taking down a section of roof. A carefully measured game when you are a young man. Such things depend on where you live. I had seen them in Ontario but almost never in Quebec. Here, not yet. That might be one of the things that I miss but with water freezing less often. No big displays of ice and no possibility of building a fortress. I used to have a degree of mastery shovel. I did it all. I cleared off roofs. I cleared walkways. I built tunnels in the banks. Never was given to using salt, or sand. Here, I have in certain seasons gone to collect small sacks of sand from the beach. Enough to sprinkle on the driveway. This year again not yet. It is amazing today depending upon technology fit for science fiction to get my little pile of icicles. And for what it’s worth I am happy to leave the heating cycle on. That way, I will not be out there with a broom trying to break something. Oddly enough, the birds have not figured out that there’s a warm place to sit.

While discussing the weather with family members who live away from here I realized something. We are at the end of January and this might be the easiest winter of my life. So far, the Big Blue tractor has visited one time. Only. And that happened more to show that the service was still there. No real need. In sharp contrast, people in the far South have had more snow. Places like Florida. Now I know, we are a long way from being out of the woods as they say. Many weeks to go with ample opportunity for heavy precipitation. But I do worry. Will I be forced to ration water next summer? That is a real possibility. Meanwhile, the ocean is ice free. No need for that pesky scheduled shift that used to put the ferries in the dry dock from before Christmas. That changes a lot of the math in the industry. If you have to run a big fuel hungry ship for many more months in the year then you’re bottom line is going to be affected. The number of available passengers falls far short of the number of available berths. Also when we lack sea ice we run an increased risk of erosion. Our beautiful beaches may pay the price of a soft winter. But no matter. I have no control. Who knows? Next week could be very different for us. In this house, skis and snowshoes and other winter sports apparatus are considered to be important. If you have never tried to go on dead grass with snow shoes then you just need to stop by here. Again, it does not really matter. Four months from now we will be able to start our usual spring and summer season. Street shoes and light shirts. Quite different from when I was very young and the snow covered the wires on the Telegraph lines. I really should find some old pictures to show my children.

Anyone who has lived with a dog realizes quickly the dogs are smart. Do not be fooled. Under that furry face there is a whole lot more going on. We had one that could open doors. Another, or maybe the same one could open the side door to our van. From inside not outside but why quibble. So, today on a news broadcast I watched a dog that was mastering speech. There was a gimmick involved. This dog would push a button and a gadget would say a word. I found it a little unfair because the dog was able to use human speech to talk to a human. Why not up the game to a point with a human has to interpret barking sounds. You know it can happen. Those of us of a certain age remember Lassie. Mainly because her people ask her questions and she would answer. And they would understand. Tough questions like Lassie where is Timmy? Is he down the well? I guess you had to be there. No, I am making a broad assumption. The dogs have something useful too communicate. The last thing we need is to give the dog another way to ask for cheese. Or a walk. If we’re going to set up a system of communications let’s go for something useful to both species. I have not yet decided what that might be but I still have time. It takes more than an hour to train a dog. Believe me. And that fault might lie with the human.

There is an ongoing battle in the working world between industry professionals and people who want to repair their own goods. You bought something and you believe bunks to you. By extension, if it breaks, you should have the right to repair it. Companies have been fighting back in the courts. They want to be able to refuse to sell specifications and parts diagrams and parts. Now having spent my working life fixing stuff I have found this whole argument curious. But I think I have it figured out. It hinges in part unplausible deniability. Stay with me on this one. If people cannot fix their own stuff then the manufacturer can more easily figure out who broke something after the fact. But there is a hitch. I ask you to look at the recent press dealing with aircraft manufacture. Or more precisely aircraft manufacturing shortfalls. The kind that can turn an airplane into a long fall. It turns out in the case of one of the larger companies that many, many pieces are not attached according to specifications. In some cases the bolts and the nuts have nothing between them except air. My own thought is that they probably know exactly who the culprit is. When all the missing bolts come from one area of an aircraft I’m sure that they know exactly who was tasked with tightening the bolts. So far no one has been outed. Doxed. But it is just a matter of time. For those who want to fix their own airplane before takeoff, hang in there. Eventually the manufacturers will have to admit that they have fallen short. And you may get handed a small wrench as you board. Just in case product. Something along the lines of if you see a bolt give it an extra twist. It might not be the best solution but it beats what’s going on right now.

Part of improving my education includes learning new words. Or at least, the origins of words that I know. Today’s random fact is the word hobo. As in the people who traveled around the continent a lifetime ago looking for work. Generally by rail. Without tickets. Now you remember. Anyhow I did not know the origin of the term and apparently it goes back to the end of the American Civil War when people were first starting to travel looking for work. This was an agrarian economy and if you had your own tools you had a step up on the competition people on farms make great use of the hoe. With an “e”. And the people that traveled were known on the farms as a “hoe boys” certainly shortened. There, now you know. I’ve also watched a number of documentaries on the buying and selling of antiques. Objects that are one of and unique. Including leaf from a famous Bible. Remember this is all about the words and a leaf refers to a page with printing on both sides. You may ask why would someone buy a single page from the Bible. Even a famous one. And it turns out that a certain entrepreneur had come across a very old Bible pulled all the pages out and then sold them one at a time because that worked for him. It also made him more money. And those pages still come up at auctions. Each one has a value of a small car. Pretty good profit if you can be in the right place at the right time. I am sure that those involved have no interest owning a complete book. Or, if they came across a copy they would also break it down into components and sell them off. Anything to make a buck. Next to my list is to find out the origin of the term buck. So. I might have to go and look in a book.

In life, we sometimes come across things that we were not meant to see. Things from behind the scenes if you will. In high school we had a large student body. Larger than my eventual university to give us some scale. And, at one point, circulation of an underground newspaper began. Silly stuff. Some gossip some jokes but completely anonymous. The masthead proclaimed it, anonymous. End of one particular weekend morning I showed up at the school to go to basketball practice. No, I was not a star. But, during a break, I got across to the other side of the building to go to my locker. Where I store all of my treasure if you will. And, in the hallway by the lockers, I met some of my classmates. On a Saturday. Not there for basketball or band. I had to know why and they refused to give me any kind of clue. And so, like any child detective, I put the clues together. The next issue of the newspaper came out two days later. Properly mimeographed. This was not a basement production obviously. Can I put the dots to the lines and realize that I had walked into an editorial meeting for that newspaper. I never revealed what I knew to anyone else. I have however kept track of the people who were in that hallway. And of the five involved two have had careers as lawyers one has been a top official for a government office and the other two moved away. If you ask me who was on the staff of that newspaper I have no reason to give their names. You will never read that newspaper. But I know that being in the right place at the right time is how most secrets are revealed. Sadly, I have not kept any of the back issues but I wonder if those staff members have them hidden away in their personal archives. A question to ponder.

You learn at an early age that you cannot learn everything. Unless, of course, you are delusional in the clinical sense. I take great pleasure in learning new things and I have realized that others have bodies of knowledge that I can sample. A question of asking pointed questions or listening at the right time. This afternoon I sampled an interview with a top level guitarist. Someone who presents songs during the Grammy Awards. Able to do a lot in a number of fields. I have a working vocabulary and his speech pushed me to my limits. He was discussing tools and methods that I barely recognize. But there was a pleasure because it proved to me that I am still capable of learning. Not to do what he does but to appreciate it in a deeper sense. Actually, I have been using this method for a number of years. I now have little bits of knowledge in a number of fields. The way education used to be and should still be. I really wish that I could use a time machine and go back to talk to some of my ancestors. To learn how they did things like taking care of horses or going fishing at sea or felling trees. I have little bits of knowledge but not enough to throw myself into the fields. I wonder how people handle these things a lifetime ago. Did they simply accept that they could not know about a given subject or did they try to get enough working knowledge to be able to stand by and recognize what was going on. Removing the magic from the equation. And back to the guitar player. I get the feeling that he can do just about anything he wants with his instrument but he is also smart enough to recognize that he does not know it all.

There I was. Out in front of the house with a shovel trying to clear a tiny amount of snow. What I realized was that I could not see what I was doing. A combination of poor eyesight and too much sunshine. I know how to point a shovel. Something I have been doing since I was a child. And I know the format of my steps and sidewalk. Right now, after 20 minutes or so, I have decided that they are as cleared as they need to be. This is winter. There will be more snow. But if you stop by and you decide that my job is mediocre, so be it. I work cheap. Perhaps a better question to ask is why do I bother clearing the steps. We have, on average, a visitor a week. No particular schedule. If they find that there is too much snow on my walkway they can simply go to another entrance. There. My confession for today. I did the best job I could and I am satisfied. As for the lane, that is someone elses responsibility. The man with the Big Blue tractor. And this winter, to date, he is only needed to visit one time. In other words winter is not what it used to be. Yes, I know, there are many months to go but I somehow suspect that when people ask how was the winter of 24 I will answer that it was easy. I may even take a couple of pictures just to prove that to someone else but I suspect that no one will ask. Those who are offended by our climate have already headed South. And you will notice that I have not opted to join them.