Turn the Page

It’s freakin’ hot!

Rather, it’s freaking hot outside.  At present, it’s a tolerable 25 Celsius (granted, the humidex pushes it to 29).  For those that are unfamiliar with metric, that totals up to 77 Fahrenheit, with a humidex reading of 85.  So, still relatively tolerable, but we’re supposed to get higher.  Right now, as I type this in the cool confines of my office, it’s great.  Step outside, however, and it feels like a wall of really moist, hot air.  You become wet in seconds.

I’m not a social justice blogger.

I’ve had a few people ask me about that and what my views are on different subjects and I really have to say, I am not a social justice blogger.  There are way more people on tumblr or on wordpress or on livejournal or any other blogging site that do an infinitely superior job keeping up to date on issues that affect everyone.  Me, I’m just the guy who reblogs stuff and has an opinion.  But most importantly, I’m also still learning about a lot of stuff.  I remain quiet most of the time because I don’t know what it’s like to be an Afrcian American woman, a woman in general, trans*, gay, lesbian, disabled, or any number of other things that affect people a great deal.  I merely read what they say, and go from there.  If I have an opinion, I try very hard to actually formulate an intelligent opinion.  So I’ll research about a topic and learn as much as I can.  What I do know about social justice blogging is that there are a greater number of people who do it way better than I do.  And I’m pretty sure a lot of those people will say that they aren’t even that good.

A lazy day means installing a new OS on the office computer.

For years (since 2007 in fact) we’ve had iMac computers in the office.  And a couple of years ago we had started to get messages from different software that we couldn’t update to current version because our OS was the wrong version.  Finally, we decided to get Snow Leopard.  But the thing I really hate about this situation is that we have been begging our head office for new machines for three years.  But each time we get told no.  I truly believe it’s because we’re one of the smallest newspapers in the company.  But it still irks me that we have to file such things and then get told that it would be a frivolous expense.  Dude, seriously, if we didn’t have computers, then there’d be no newspaper.  So therefore it is not a frivolous expense.

A lazy day may also mean some writing.

Maybe.  I’m not sure right now, because I have new ideas bouncing around in my head (stop it brain, stop it!).  I do want to get more done on Rocket Fox (not only want, but need to), plus work a bit more on the rewrite of Black Mask and Pale Rider.  And then this morning the words “Dragons of N’ftara” for some reason came into my head.  Don’t ask, my brain does weird things like that and just makes up words.  So thanks brain, now I have another world to craft, societies to make, and characters to design.  This on the heels of Rocket Fox which has already had a huge amount of world building.

I can understand the differences between summer and winter.

I really can, but it still is something that I weigh the pros and cons about.  I know that in winter if I get cold I can just put on more clothes, and in summer I can’t walk around naked (well, I probably could, but no one wants to see that now, do they?).  But I also like summer better for one big reason.  The days are longer.  The sun is up here at 4 in the morning.  I’ve lived in places where it was up at 3.  And in the evening, the sun doesn’t go down until 10 or 10:30.  Again, in some of those places I’ve lived, the sun was setting at 11 at night.  That’s just freakin’ awesome!  Compare that to winter, when it’s still dark at 8 in the morning (or 9 depending upon the locale).  Or it sets at 4:30 or earlier.  It’s one of the biggest reasons why I hate winter, because I have to deal with a heavy feeling for a good number of months.  It’s called SADs, and it really hits me hard sometimes.

I come up against this saying many times at work when I deal with our older subscribers and customers.  For a time, I used to just shrug my shoulders and think “yeah, I can see that”.

That saying is “I’m just an old man of (insert age here), I don’t know that fancy technology”.  That excuse, and I suspect excuse would be better than a saying, but that excuse is absolute garbage.  For me, that excuse became garbage when my father, my 70 year old father (saying how old he is out loud kinda scares me) bought a Fujitsu digital camera (better than mine, by the way) and a netbook, and then a three in one printer.  And then they got a Hi-Def digital TV.  I don’t even have a Hi-Def digital TV yet!

But saying “Oh, I’m just an old man” is bullshit!  I know people ten, fifteen, even twenty years older than me who are well versed in several computer languages.  Who have different electronic devices.  Who even play MMO’s, for crying out loud!

There are some that might say “but Arthur Black, who happens to be one of your favourite humourists, he says he’s too old”.  No no no.  I must correct you there.  Arthur Black has never once said he was too old for such devices.  He’s actually written about such devices and their affects on the world (and him).  He doesn’t use them because he’s too old.  He doesn’t use them because he’s a luddite.  There’s a difference.

We know the definition of “too old”.  Here’s the definition of luddite.  First, from Wikipedia:

The Luddites were a social movement of 19th-century English textile artisans who protested – often by destroying mechanized looms – against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their way of life. The movement was named after General Ned Ludd or King Ludd, a mythical figure who, like Robin Hood, was reputed to live in Sherwood Forest.

From dictionary.com:

Lud·dite

/ˈlʌdaɪt/ [luhd-ahyt] - noun

a member of any of various bands of workers in England (1811–16) organized to destroy manufacturing machinery, under the belief that its use diminished employment.

Origin:

1805-15; after Ned Ludd, 18th-century Leicestershire worker who originated the idea

That would be a much more acceptable thing to say than just “I’m just an old (person)”.  I just will not accept that.  Unless you are infirm, or feeble, there is no excuse to learn some new piece of technology.

That is, of course, you happen to be a luddite.

I guess you could say that I’m not a really exciting person.  I don’t go rock climbing (because I’m afraid of heights), I don’t often go swimming, I hate crowds, couldn’t be bothered with going to a vacation spot (because of the aforementioned crowds), I’d rather spend a quite time with a close friend (or by myself, because books can be friends), and I don’t get excited about rock concerts or sporting events (like I used to when I was younger, also, see aforementioned crowds).

So, when I say that I did something this weekend that kind of excited me, You might think I am odd.

Out of all the things I did this past weekend (which really wasn’t much, but then again it’s the weekend and I begrudge no one who does nothing at all except lots of me time during a day or two off), the best things I did were to go shopping for new pants.

I bought four pairs.

And a belt.

Which I didn’t really need, because the pants I ended up buying fit quite nicely.  I’m not big, I will admit.  Which has at times been something of contention with me.  I’m really skinny.  And rather tall.  So trying to find pants is difficult at best.  At one time, my size was a 30 waist and 34 inch leg.  Now that’s changed to a 32 waist and 34 inch leg (I’m not getting bigger, I’m just getting wider, which considering the first time I went for measurements my waist clocked in at 28).  I’ve always found it hard to get the right fitting jeans for myself, so whenever I see a pair of pants with my measurements, I scoop them up (if I happen to have money within budget)

It’s rather boring, to be honest, to talk about buying pants.  And quite an interesting take when I step outside myself and look at the things I get excited over.  Two years ago, I got excited over a new vacuum cleaner.  Last year, a new microwave.  Six years ago, it was my couch and chair.

Twenty years ago, it would have been a new car.  Or a kickin’ stereo system.  Or the stop sign that I stole from the four way stop at the top of the hill in Flin Flon, Manitoba (because, it’s daring, and made a good wall hanging, and in a pinch, also makes for a good coffee table, granted, I now own a coffee table which I bought with the couch and chair).

I guess the little things really do excite me.  Even buying new books (though, the day I finish off one of my rooms in my apartment as a library, I am gonna blog for weeks about that).  That’s why four pairs of pants at $19.99 each really did excite me.  New clothes and I’m not spending a fortune on them.