Rule?

 

In movies and TV shows, there should be a rule that one never, never, kills off the pretty blond boy.

(And by "boy" I mean, "young man in his twenties".)

Declining quality

I bought a new fan yesterday.

It was a model I have owned before and liked.

When I opened the box it turned out it is made of very lightweight plastic and high speed on this fan moves the air at most at the same rate as medium speed on the old model.

 I can't remember if I wrote about the replacement desk lamp I bought a while ago.  It was so shabby that I just threw it out and decided to try and get the old one rewired.

I hear people saying similar things about fridges and other appliances.  

Perhaps with our new consciousness of the environment and waste we will be able to demand some quality in our purchases. 

In the mad dash for profit all these conglomerate corporations seem to have lost all track of the idea of supplying a good product at a reasonable profit.

Junior

 

Thank god I wasn't named after my father.

Imagine going through life (until your father's death) with "Jr." after you name, let alone being called "Junior".

What a demeaning thing to inflict on a child.  What an egotistical thing to do.

I wonder what percentage of patricides are committed by "Juniors"?

(But then I grew up terrified of my father so I do have father issues.)

My First Apartment

For some reason the last few days I have been thinking about my first apartment.

It was a studio and furnished with hand-me-downs (in the days when you were glad to get them and didn't just go to IKEA or Dollarama and buy new stuff) and discards picked up on the street from people's garbage (amazing what a bit of paint can do).  It was on the expensive side but was in a nice building in a good neighbourhood and had an unobstructed view over the city.  And it was quiet - I never heard a sound from any neighbour.

I was very happy living there.  I left only because I decided to go to graduate school and needed to save money.

I have lived many places since then but I don't think I have ever been as happy with my residence.

 

Minimalism March 7, 2023

This morning I went to IKEA to pick up a lamp that I've looked at at least twice and this week finally decided I would buy.

As a minimalist I'm careful about what I bring into my home and this lamp was a replacement for an old one that is shabby, but still working.

But, they were out of stock.

So I've taken that as a "message" that I really don't need to replace a lamp that is still working, shabby or not.

It's not like a lot of my other furnishings are not looking a bit tired.

I remember when I was young thinking I would never be like old people who let their homes get shabby.

But here we are.

TV Viewing

So, continuing with the three free months of AppleTV+.

I really like Slow Horses.

I've tried several other things but nothing has caught my interest.  So that seems to be the end of that experience.  I'll wait until closer to the end of the three months to cancel the subscription before they start charging me for it.

I also haven't been finding much to watch on Netflix of late.

Perhaps I'm just tired of TV period.

I am tired of series that take a storyline and drag it out for 6, 8 or more episodes, which crawl along with lots of acting but very little actual plot advancement.  And then in the last episode they leave you with a hanging ending because they're hoping to get a second (or more) season.  

I may drop Netflix and give BritBox a try.  The British do such a good job with their detective type series.

The good part of that it that it leaves me more time for reading which has for a while taken a back seat to TV.  

Withdrawal

 

I'm pretty sure I've posted before about my introversion and not being upset with the pandemic caused isolation.  

Now though I find many things are back to "normal" and although I'm doing some socializing I'm not back to the limited amount I did pre-pandemic.  One friend died during the pandemic, not from Covid, but I'm still seeing less of my other friends.  I'm not upset about that, I'm quite happy on my own, but I do worry a bit that it isn't good for me.

I've heard that older people can easily become isolated and that is certainly true for me.  I don't have any young people in my life and I don't/do not want to/will not get involved in volunteer activities (that would involve dealing with people) even though that is the usual suggestion.

The recent unprovoked subway and street attacks on random people are not making it any easier for me to go out in the world.  I feel even less comfortable walking and moving about the city than before, and I never have felt all that secure.  I don't know how women navigate this unsafe world.  I feel somewhat vulnerable as a gay man but women are even more of a target.

But all that aside, what has become clear and does concern me is that I'm feeling quite sure that I'm not going to travel again.  I've never liked travelling but now the idea of dealing with airports and sitting on an airplane just seems impossible.  I am so irritable around people and the idea of sitting surrounded by strangers on a plane just brings on a response in my head of, "No, no, no!".  I am usually invited to the Atlantic coast for a week during the summer and just feel I can't cope with the travel or restaurant meals and unfamiliar situations.  But this also means that a large number of longtime friends who live other places, and are unlikely to visit here, are probably never going to be seen in person again.

So I see this withdrawal from the world happening and it clearly does concern me but I don't see that I'm going to be taking any action to avoid it.