TubaOrNotTuba

The national news gave me a message that I hardly expected. We have children coming to school hungry in Canada. You may believe that we are rich compared to other parts of the world but there are still some corners of our life that are shaded. Here’s the thing. The government has just promised maybe a billion dollars to feed children in the morning before classes. Not all children. Those in need. Our failure is much larger than I expected. Or as politicians would say what’s a billion dollars form a good cause. I was unaware of student hunger when I was growing up. If you came to school without having breakfast that was your fault. Fussy or finicky as my mother would say. End it all would even out by the next day when you would have eaten enough food to fill that hollow in your stomach. We did not consider student hunger as an issue. So what happened along the way? I am unsure. I will make a guess that schedules for parents have become too tight. Get the kids out the doors before you go to work. And if they are fussy that is their problem. You’re not going to follow them down the sidewalk with a jelly sandwich. From the news report I learned that going to school hungry is a true issue. You do not learn well on an empty stomach. I have no idea how I made it through university because going for breakfast was just too much effort. Maybe I would have been a better student. That the government is willing to put their money where our mouths are is promising. And if the school is going to set aside the time before classes for people to actually sit down and eat that shows that we have some idea of how this whole thing works. Did I have breakfast this morning? Yes actually but I’m old, I know that with breakfast I can go all the way to supper. And I have no classes to worry about. My own children? I do not know because I would be always out the door to catch my bus before they left to catch their bus. Tightening schedules. In the old days there was porridge and if it didn’t stick to your belly it stuck to the pot. Or you had cereal in boxes. In fact some years most of the available space in the cupboard was taken up by half full cereal boxes. Lots of choice. I should ask my kids if they remember going to school hungry because maybe they do but they’ve never mentioned it in the decades since. Things even out by supper time. And I noticed that most of the news broadcast mentioned the city we’re all bad things seem to happen. World hunger is a big issue hunger before lunchtime less so. But what do I know. We did not do life that way.

This is where I throw in a hint that I am not too old to dream. Not referring to what goes on at night when I should be asleep. This is more where will I go when I travel. According to the calendar we could actually leave home sometime in the next month. And in anticipation we have been watching videos to see where we might like to go. Something within a few hours travel of here. Getting close to when I can say: Oh yes next week we’re going to that place. There are so many places to go. All of them require a bit of effort but I have the time so why not. I just need to make sure that I get my eye drops replaced and find a water bottle and make sure that I pack a charger for the iPad. Details right? Actually if things go according to plan we might make it back to Newfoundland for the first time in decades. I doubt that things have changed radically because that’s not the way that place works but we will travel with different intentions. Us in an RV as opposed to us in a car. It will change where we put up each night. And where we eat probably. I understand the RV is equipped to cook. Well rather equipped for someone else to cook. I am a passenger. But I can eat a hamburger with the best of them. If we find ourselves down by a shore we can simply pull out something from the fridge and get a meal on the table in short order. Will we? Yes this time around I think so we could be back before any of the family comes for the summer. Months to go before the beach. There are some minor preparations scheduled before that point but they are scheduled. Keep an eye on me because I might not always be right here. I am free to move. And if you want to send me a postcard from where you have been go ahead.

At some point I was told that the whole point of having time zones was to get rid of confusion. Back when the trains first started to run, noon happened at a different time in each town. And so the scientific world got together and figured out how to make times that made if you will sense. How quickly we forget. I have for the last two hours been trying to watch an eclipse via television. At the same time I am aware of the light changes outside. But what I’ve learned from watching CBC is that they have no hesitation in changing the times they talk about. A mishmash of clips taken days ago mixed with live cameras mixed with forecasts and nothing else that will allow me to synchronize what I was hearing with what I was seeing. As near as I can tell we have moved past the eclipse. It is now safe for me to go back outside etc. While I was out I listened and watched and I notice only that it was dark for awhile. Not dark, dark but you know. They feed different segments to try to give the idea that they are actually covering the subject. For someone like myself, I have to assume the times they mention cannot allow me to anticipate the arrival of the event. And so, I gave up on the TV coverage and went back to what I could base upon my own senses. I could not see the eclipse but could feel the cold and see the light go down. 

I do not want to say that any given system is broken. However, in Canada getting a family doctor is akin to winning the lottery. Not a large lottery but nevertheless. When we move back it took us several years to actually get on someones list. Gave us a chance to avoid those horrible systems or you end up at the doctor’s office to scramble for the openings that are there just that day. We survived. And yesterday son #3 announced that he had finally got a family doctor. Like us he had to wait about a decade. It is fortunate that we are all in reasonably good health. For someone wanting to come to this country be aware that we may have free medicine but you may never get to see a doctor on your own terms. At least not in your lifetime. Do not despair we’re getting a new medical system a new medical facility a new Medical College if you will. We have been told that there will soon be a school for doctors here in the province. I have not yet figured out what that will actually mean for people living here because when you’re a doctor you can go where you want. You can follow the money as many of them do. And yes it’s a wonderful thing to imagine a medical school with doctors coming out the indoor and the outdoor overflowing into the streets but somehow I do not think that is what will happen. Like everything else that the government gets involved in, there will be strict ratios and strict accountability. But back to the current case my son now has a family doctor and that is worth celebrating. He’s one of the fortunate because roughly a quarter of the population of this province is still on a waiting list. And no he does not live in this province but the same rules apply. I went outside this afternoon into the backyard and what I can tell you is that this time of year the wind is still very chilled. Also someone sighted a beaver in their driveway yesterday not me but it does make me wonder period. Was this critter seriously lost. Just going to add it to our list of wild animals seen around the yard.

I enjoy watching sports period. Not the traditional ones. Watching a hockey game leaves me a little bemused. No I found something even better. Give and take a political rhetoric. And we have lots to watch. Multiple channels in a worldwide wreck network if you will. Right now I’m watching four simultaneous court trials. Or at least the lead up to those trials yeah some may never happen. And what I notice is that with the right rhetoric even something I can only watch from a distance becomes more interesting. I was unaware before this just how much posturing went into any given situation. And I’ve tried different levels. From the mundane traffic court cases that are out there. All the way up through constitutional debate. For those involved at the bench level these are serious battles. For those of us watching from our living room, not so much. We can walk away at any point knowing that there will be a new battle tomorrow. Just like sports and TV I guess. I mean, do we really need hundreds and hundreds of hockey games to get us through the long winter in Canada. Unlike those hockey games some of the political battles may actually affect my life at some distant point. Language is a tool. Some of the people involved in the discussion of these court cases have a wit that is sharp edged. Not too much blood drawn yet but one can hope. As for those hockey games well they’ll be around. People make careers out of those. I actually have to admit that I have not been to a proper hockey game in decades. The seats were not that comfortable. Here in my living room I have an excellent couch and it fits me.

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.