Time Passes All Dinosaurs

Have you got some “good stuff” that you “haven’t had very long” that “works really well” and you “will never got rid of it”?

Case in point – our fax machine operated well up until about 6 months ago. Then, it developed this interesting quirk – it would give a “Dark Paper Used” warning, which is supposed to let you know that the fax coming through is on dark paper, so you can elect not to receive it. This saves you from using lots of ink (yes, it was an ink cartridge model).

The only problem was that the sheet wasn’t on dark paper and it wouldn’t let you clear the message. Plus, when you gave the ok for it to print the page, it would print that page, as well as any other faxes that had been sent that day. Which meant that whenever we got a fax, we got 10, nine of which we had already printed, some of those nine times …

So, was time for the old unit to go. But I faced opposition. It was a “good machine” that we “haven’t had very long” that “works really well” and we “will never got rid of it”. It turns out that it had been a good machine that we had for 10 years that worked really well up until 6 months ago and that we needed to dispose of.

The new one is a laser machine that prints 5 times the pages using a cartridge that is half the price of the old cartridge and the new machine cost one third of what the old one did 10 years ago … and that’s without inflation.

Want to buy a really great fax machine?

Speechless

I think I might need to soften my image a little. I’ve heard that the face/eyes are a window to the soul. Mine tends to be very good at that … particularly at the dark end of the spectrum.

I was having an uncomfortable conversation with a person recently. This person had done something negative and I was confronting him with what he had done, the effects of the action and what he should do as a result.

I know it was getting uncomfortable, because he pulled his shirt up over his head so he couldn’t see me and refused to come out. Kind of like when you’re in bed and you see a monster, you pull the blankets up because monsters won’t bite through blankets.

A Close Follow Up

Another pet hate when talking to people … “ I forgot”. That might as well be, “I heard what you asked me to do, but I couldn’t be bothered.”

Honestly

Does anyone tell the truth anymore? Even when they are confronted with evidence of their actions?

It seems to me that most of the people that I speak to in an official capacity just lie. Their children lie. Their children lie to me, then lie to their parents, so when I talk to their parents, the truth has decomposed into something unrecognizable and the stench that surrounds the resulting conversations affects everyone.

So, perhaps from now on we all should lie all of the time, then everything will be consistent.

Nothing will be authentic, but there will be no more feelings of disdain and pain caused by people not respecting each other enough as humans to be honest.

Over to the Dark Side

For years I have been an avid computer gamer. BC – Before Children, I spent many hours gaming. I also enjoy getting involved in the on-line communities which spring up around the common theme of a game.

Today I spend many hours gaming, but to a lesser extent, shoe-horning it in between many other things. It’s also a source of tension – people who don’t enjoy games don’t see how you can “waste so many hours” gaming.

So, it came as an incredible shock when for my birthday I was given an X-Box. Now, I’m very careful to limit the time I spend on it, but like all games the code warps time, so that the quick 15 minutes you allocate yourself soon becomes a double-digit measured in hours.

I also now understand what the console owners have been saying for years. I have enjoyed arguing the PC perspective when it comes to games, often referring to the games on the consoles as inferior. I’ve eaten humble pie and on it was written the word, “Halo”.

Must fly, bad guys to kill.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

I really enjoy blogging. Not that many people read them. I really enjoy participating in on-line communities. I really enjoy browsing the internet. But then, I just stopped.

There’s lots of reasons, I guess. For stopping for a while, I mean. None of them probably make much sense to you.

I don’t have a lot of time to give – it seems that I’m quite stretched out. So, for a while, I got jealous of that time and horded it. Life seems to be a matter of priorities and they all take time. My roles as husband and father take precedence. Then there’s social, spiritual, academic and relaxation pursuits. All of these are necessary for well-being and I was finding as I pursued these, on-line interests became a smaller part.

But, like life itself, such interests have ebbed and flowed, so that their order of relative importance has shifted, hence my renewed commitment.

Take all of the above and summarise: I needed a break.

In any case, I trust that you had an excellent festive season and that this year is shaping up to exceed all of your expectations.

CRACK POTS

CRACK POTS (from ASSN Update #112)

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.
"I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

To all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers.