The Importance of the Day

Every year around this time is the Boy Scouts of America Scouting for Food event, when bags are dropped off at people’s houses by Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts alike and are picked up the following week filled with food to be donated to local charitable organizations for distribution. It’s a good cause and usually runs pretty well. This year, though, my little corner of the planet didn’t get a bag to fill. This was fine because I’ve been missed before and have easily supplied my own from the bunch of paper and plastic bags I’m constantly trying to recycle. However, no one came to collect my bagged items. I had called early in the day to alert them that I hadn’t gotten a bag and had three to be picked up, giving both my name and location. I was told someone would be there to pick them up. I waited until late afternoon and when that someone never came, I called to find out the drop-off point. On my way down my street, I found four others whose filled bags hadn’t been retrieved. This was not a good sign. I took two of the bags where I could contact the donators and ask if they wanted their bags taken over with mine. My arrival to an empty parking lot said that the event was over, although there were still two gentlemen there to take my donations and give me a thank you.

I found myself upset with kids who hadn’t dropped off bags to my entire section of street and then didn’t collect donations along the street where they did leave bags. How many other places had they missed? I was upset with parents who weren’t instilling in their children the importance of completing this task, of making sure they truly scouted for this food from empty to filled bag. Values, people, values. I was upset with the person I called earlier in the day who said that someone would arrive to pick up my cans and boxes of precious food cargo that I had so diligently gone out and bought for this event starting back in September. Waa, waa, waa.

Yes, that was the point when I realized I was whining about things I knew nothing about. They could have run out of bags to leave. There could have been miscommunication about whether a particular street had been checked for donations. The person I spoke with this morning may have been in the middle of a swirl of activity that likely was going on when I called. Scouts, their parents, scout leaders and staff are human and imperfect just like the rest of us. If you’re not involved in this huge process, you can’t really appreciate the effort that’s gone into it even when you read about it the next day in the newspaper.

When I shut up and listened to the caring side of my brain, the side that knew the importance of purchasing extra foodstuffs and donating them, I realized my error in being upset with others when it was myself I should be upset with. We’re all part of this good deed and if we have to do more than just put out the bag with food in it, then so be it. It’s the thought and effort that count when it comes to helping others. Just a little reminder to myself.

And you.

And it’s Over for Another Year

Seems as I get older, I grow tired of the political rhetoric faster each year. Everybody’s got their own idea how to make things better. Everybody thinks their opponent’s got the wrong idea. The amount of mud that gets slung gets deeper with each Election Day passing. I’m fairly certain that there was enough of it this year to create a large adobe style city.

The voters were unhappy, to be sure. Some voted for the other candidate not out of believing that they’re right, but out of needing to change the status quo. I’m not sure it’s the right approach, but it’s the only one we’ve got short of out and out civil war (and no, I don’t advocate a civil war). It’s hard to believe in those who represent and lead you when things are not right. But, things have not been right with our great nation of the U.S.A. for a very long time. Certainly longer than the current administration, possibly going back as far as the year of my high school graduation. That’s 1975 for those who don’t read profiles and/or don’t want to do the math. The repair of things will not happen overnight, will not happen in a year, or two years, or even in the term of a president. We’d like to think that a miracle worker will come along and fix it all in flick of a magic wand, but we know it’s not going to happen.

It’s sort of like being overweight, a subject *ahem* I am somewhat familiar with. The weight did not just instantly appear. The problems associated with it didn’t crop up out of nowhere in the blink of an eye. It takes years of overindulgence and lack of discipline in areas where it’s needed to get to the point we are today. The problems of our government, whether we’re talking local, state, or federal level, slowly developed as any weight problem and aren’t going to go away with the “pill” of ousting what is perceived as the source of all our ills, officials already in office who haven’t made us better on a fairly short timetable.

Those who will benefit as a result of this changeover in representation and control in January likely know that their political careers may end just as quickly as the ones they just ended if they’re unsuccessful in moving to right what’s wrong and take us back to better times. We as a voting body are not fickle and are not stupid. We know it’s not going to happen right away, but we expect positive results that we can live with and we don’t care which party brings about the improvements so long as it happens in the not too distant future.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Those are the opening words of the Declaration of Independence, for those who don’t recognize it. Don’t let me need to be reminded of this passage when I’m voting in the next big election.

What Everybody Needs

Monday was laundry day, not by design, but by necessity and downright laziness because I couldn’t make myself go the laundromat on the weekend. Had I gone on the weekend, though, I would have missed the young gentleman with the ukulele. Tall, dark-haired, bearded, off-beat, cute. About 30 years ago, I would have smiled, made eye contact and possibly started up a conversation. Instead, I kept to the folding of my laundry while he played that little instrument in serenade to a young lady who was there. He explained that everybody needed a minstrel to follow them. She ignored him, not appreciating his philosophy. I suspect they were together, though. As I was leaving with my folded clothes and saw him out in the parking lot still playing the ukulele, I couldn’t help but stop and tell him that I agreed that everyone should have a minstrel. He laughed and said that at least the world would have more music.

Perhaps, but that’s not why I appreciated his statement. Think about it -– a personal minstrel, there to play music, to change your mood, to make you appreciate the simplicity of the melody as you enjoy a special moment or go about your day to day. It’s also an announcement that you’re there and there’s someone at your side playing just for you until you tell them to to stop, and someone who take up that instrument again at your whim and make you happy once more, all of their own free will. It’s downright romantic in an odd sort of way.

Okay, the ukulele might not be my first choice of instrument to listen to. Perhaps it wasn’t that young girl’s, either (or maybe she’d been hearing it for a while). But, perhaps it’s the thought that counts. Love, support and sincerity wrapped in music. Simple things to be reminded of in our present tumultuous times.

Yes, perhaps we all need a minstrel to follow us once in a while.

Buckling Down

On the last day of March, I got a ticket. I had stopped at the local bakery on my way to work to pick up some rolls for myself and coworkers, then got back in my car and completed the ride without my seat belt on. Two blocks. I was spotted in the first block by a New York State trooper. I wasn’t even aware that those flashing lights behind me were FOR me until he followed me into the parking lot and wasn’t aware of the lack of seat belt until he pointed it out. Ouch. One full page ticket on thermal paper was all mine. The minimum fine for this infraction in New York is $50 (plus surcharges), but there are also the two points that can get added to your license that stay there for a few years and can make the car insurance rates take a leap skyward. Ouch squared.

On the day in question, my mind was not where it should have been, which was completely on my driving. I had a family member undergoing surgery in another state and that’s where at least a part of my attention was being focused. I’m not giving this as an excuse, just as a fact of the day. As I got into conversations about it, people kept reminding me that I really was a good driver and that I just had the misfortune of forgetting to wear my seat belt just once and just happened to get caught. I found I wasn’t above allowing myself to believe their words, even saying that it wasn’t like me, that I always put my seat belt on.

But the following day, reality found me starting to drive without my seat belt again, this time from the post office to home, a distance of about four blocks. I stopped and corrected within a few yards, but the error had been made. It was a different situation, but a similar set of conditions. This instantly brought out the investigative analyst nerd in me and I started to pay close attention to when the seat belt really went on.

I’m happy to report that I pulled and clicked my seat belt closed across me 98-99% of the time without having to think about it twice. I can also honestly say that I used my seat belt in any situation where I knew I’d be driving more than, say, a mile or greater than a few minutes 100% of the time. But the shorter trips – ah, those short hops – those were my weakness in proper driving protocol. It didn’t always happen that I’d ignore that piece of fabric beside my head and shoulder for that brief period, but it didn’t always happen that I put it on, either.

In those little Point A to Point B trips, where Point B is just a hop, skip and a jump away, all standard facts and logic have a way of disappearing for a bit. During that span of time and distance, nothing can possibly happen to you. Maybe to someone else, but never to you. You suddenly become invulnerable, impervious to any damage, totally invincible and downright immortal. You know damn well this isn’t the case, but you act as though it is, and I say “we” because I also know damn well I’m not the only one who has forgotten to buckle up when going around the block, across the parking lot or “just over there”.

Fact is, a lot of damage can be done in those bits of driving unbelted and it doesn’t take a high-speed impact to do it. All the statistics, all the gruesome details that they show you on the news and go over in any driving course are true. As a former EMT, I’ve seen it firsthand (more on that later). It shouldn’t take contact with the steering wheel or the windshield to convince us of that. Yes, a belt may break your collarbone, bruise or break your ribs, hurt a few internal organs and give you some serious muscle aches the following day, BUT YOU’RE STILL ALIVE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT IT!

As a passenger, I twice had my life spared drastic damage and change because I was wearing my seat belt. One of the accidents was a 45 MPH smack from behind and I would have been gone through the windshield had it not been for that durable strap. Back in the days of being an EMT, I had assisted and been part of the transport team for a decent number of motor vehicle accident victims. Not pretty and not all were fortunate. Most wore their seat belts. Some didn’t. The one memory that has stayed with me more than 20 years, and the one I’ve been thinking about a lot over the past two weeks, is an accident where I found myself laying across the back of a car for over a half an hour stabilizing the head and neck of a 17 year old boy while they worked to extricate all four riders. That boy was so very frightened because he couldn’t get out of the car on his own when the accident happened. He couldn’t feel his legs. He was in the back seat of the car and hadn’t worn his seat belt. Enough said.

Putting on a seat belt is a selfish act. It is the one thing we do during the entire process of driving a vehicle that is for our safety alone. Everything else we do is for ourselves, those in the car with us and those around us who might be impacted by what we do with that hunk of metal, plastic, glass and rubber. I for one plan on continuing to be selfish and not because I don’t want another ticket. Breaking the bad habit of Short Hop Syndrome (no seat belt used for short trips) is a work in progress. When it becomes as automatic as the other 98-99% of the time I buckle up, then I can say I’m cured. Other folks can chose to ignore their seat belts and deal with whatever consequences come their way, but looking out for Number One still tops the list of dumb things I gotta do.

Oh, we're moving now

At the beginning of March, my internet provider sent an e-mail to all subscribers saying that the service would be closing at the end of the month. I knew this was coming last year when I spoke with the owner, so I wasn't taken entirely by surprise. He said it would be closing within the year and that he would give adequate notice so that people could make other arrangements for their dialup service.

Did she just say dialup service? Yup, she did. I started with 56K service way back in 1996 and have never had a reason to change. My needs were not all that demanding of high-speed internet access and the price of high-speed, be it DSL or cable, was more than dialup and didn't fit into my budget. Until now.

As an interim move and not quite ready technically or psychologically to make the change, I picked up another dialup service. But, I also started looking more carefully at those high-falutin' IP cousins of dialup, and after a little comparison shopping, they started looking a bit more attractive. The price of higher speeds was greater up until not that long ago, but now, dialup and low-end high-speed access rates are running almost neck and neck. As the technology of high-speed has evolved and improved, the supply is greater and can meet and sometimes even exceed demand, allowing the price to decrease. As more and more people move to high-speed, either out of necessity or out of simple desire for bigger-better-faster, the demand for dialup decreases. However, the costs to maintain any IP service will tend to remain constant and will even tend to increase as other costs (electricity, etc.) increase. But if demand is dwindling, there are just so many economizing moves a business can make, and just so many financial hits it can take, before closing its doors becomes the only option left.

Good grief, my dormant and totally useless business administration courses just reared their ugly heads. Back, I say, BACK!

I digress. So, after my comparison shopping spree, I chose DSL. Yes, cable is faster, but cable is not as budget-friendly even as a package deal. So, I contacted my telephone service provider and arranged for it to start earlier this week, which it did almost anti-climactically. I came home from work, turned on the modem/router and the little light indicating DSL connection stayed solidly lit. Woo-hoo.

My internet hopping habits haven't changed. I've been teased that they will, but somehow, I don't see trips to the YouTube site increasing anytime soon. The one thing that high-speed has allowed me to do in a more timely and efficient manner are software upgrades. Do you have any idea how long a 66 Mb upgrade takes to download on a 56K dialup portal? I do and not because I did the math, either.

Dialup isn't dead, but it is being phased out. It hasn't happened yet and I personally know of people out there who are still dependent on such service because they have older computers, don't have the access (yes, there really are places in the "civilized" world where high-speed internet isn't available) and/or simply can't afford the jump to light-speed. As the technology continues to improve and decrease in cost (no, no, no - not supply and demand theory again - back, BACK), they'll eventually be able to join in or, more sadly, their providers will face the choice my prior IP had to make and those customers will have to find a way to upgrade.

As for me, I've always known that I'd eventually have to go to a high-speed connection and now that it's at a price I can afford, I decided the time was right to make the move. So, I take a moment to say goodbye to my dialup service as so many before me have done. It has been an honor to have been with you. You gave me the world at a pace that was more my style. Sadly, the world does not appreciate your more leisurely ways and is letting you go. Slowly perhaps, but surely. I leave you mostly out of necessity, but shall not forget how I got here all those years ago.

Now, let's see how fast this computer can really go.

Nothing New Under the Sun

I like to think I’m immune to the hype.  I’m not.  I like to think I have control and the patience to make it through.  But, I don’t. 

The sunrise and sunset are now noticeably earlier and later, respectively. The trees and bushes have leaf buds at the ready. My crocuses are up about 1½” and my snowdrops are not far behind. The birds are working on their territory and mating calls and one has chosen the eave outside my bedroom window as its nesting place for the season (I might have mixed feelings about that later). Even my cats are venturing outside more often, thank goodness – they were starting to get on my last nerve.

I notice these things and more. I search for signs that it’s safe to venture out without my wool coat and gloves protecting me from the elements. I long for the days when I can walk out barefoot and get my paper at 5 AM and take a moment to enjoy the colors of dawn and the sounds of reawakening around me.

Yes, I have that deadly combo of cabin and spring fever and it’s arrived right on time.

Vernal equinox, take me away!

Any time now ….