FA+
Shop
20260216R1200
a month ago
General
Slowly Thawing Out
It's been a fort-nite since that Wascally Gwond Hog gave us the bad news. The storms are diminishing and there is some melting.
I've been feeding the birds and the black seed hulls look a little messy on the receding snow, but so far so good from management (I have no idea how I'd do cleanup).
I've only been venturing out for necessities; however, yesterday, I did get a new plush toy -- Lil' Roy, a Springer spaniel type that is a child's version of the Dog Food Mascot, Ol' Roy.
Slowly Slowing Down
Another marker of my years traveling this rock approach-eth, and these old doggo bones are most happy just being and not doing.
My one aunt and uncle were given the moniker of "the turtles" by my father (then in his 50s); they did one thing a day outside (bill paying or shopping or what have you) and then went home (sweet retirement schedule). It was a bit snarky, but not out of the norm for an ex-navy man.
The run to the Big W and then to the local food market was about as much gumption as I had in me for Extra Domicile Activities yesterday. I can now see the reasoning for my relatives light scheduling of things done outside the home. Fortunately it's a holiday weekend, so I'm doing the other half of my Sunday Chores today. The day before was laundry and some cooking, and then some play.
Knackered is how I call my state of being.
The same goes for my tech: not much improves with age like a fine wine outside of the bottle (say vacuum of time). My 2020 vintage gaming PC is not loved by MetaQuest when I try to play VRChat in PC mode; it wants newer, faster hardware. My 2020 cell phone is also reaching end of life, and I am juggling the books to see where to apply my hardware budget in what order.
With age comes wisdom, so it will be the phone and then, maybe, a new last gen PC gaming -- moving me up from a 1660 to 4060 card, that is built into a laptop that will pull yeoman duty as a bedroom entertainment system for those days I want to stay under the covers. This enables my stay at home / work at home situation -- the way I like it (at least until the weather improves).
I also got a reminder on how advances in technology march on: I helped my cousin upgrade his cell phone last week and was surprised to find out there are now e-sim cards that are downloaded, no longer a physical chip to be installed. Forewarned is forearmed for my eventual upgrade.
It has been said we have another 5,000 days before the world shifts with the new AI and robo tech and most everything will change. I will be in a different place or plane of existence by then, but looking back at how much has changed since before Covid, it's no wonder.
My computer skills are almost two score old, but what I have added on post Covid has been phenomenal: video meetings, VPNs, two factor authorization and SMS texting. The old skills and tech are the bedrock, the shoulders of giants upon which we build, but the generations are slowly forgetting their foundations.
It reminds me of the old Star Trek story where the childlike populace in a Utopian world worships their 'Oracle" (A 1960s vision of a supercomputer) and a Priestess is their interface. They forgot what it took to get to their coddled life, and fought tooth and nail not to look behind the curtain. We are seeing the rise of our own Oracles: Chat GPT, Grok, and others that are now doing the tasks that are human drudgery. The same cry of doom and gloom about being made obsolete arises again. sixty-five years after the prescient The Twilight Zone episode aired.
(I would be literally be lost without my Google maps; not really, but land nav is a PITA with maps, chronograph and odometer).
I regale this to the upcoming furs, not as a curmudgeon, but as a teller of tales of how the technology past was once "Lit," Winters before their Springtime (dial up Internet working off a landline), but
This, too, shall pass.
Here's to another Spring and whatever blooms.
It's been a fort-nite since that Wascally Gwond Hog gave us the bad news. The storms are diminishing and there is some melting.
I've been feeding the birds and the black seed hulls look a little messy on the receding snow, but so far so good from management (I have no idea how I'd do cleanup).
I've only been venturing out for necessities; however, yesterday, I did get a new plush toy -- Lil' Roy, a Springer spaniel type that is a child's version of the Dog Food Mascot, Ol' Roy.
Slowly Slowing Down
Another marker of my years traveling this rock approach-eth, and these old doggo bones are most happy just being and not doing.
My one aunt and uncle were given the moniker of "the turtles" by my father (then in his 50s); they did one thing a day outside (bill paying or shopping or what have you) and then went home (sweet retirement schedule). It was a bit snarky, but not out of the norm for an ex-navy man.
The run to the Big W and then to the local food market was about as much gumption as I had in me for Extra Domicile Activities yesterday. I can now see the reasoning for my relatives light scheduling of things done outside the home. Fortunately it's a holiday weekend, so I'm doing the other half of my Sunday Chores today. The day before was laundry and some cooking, and then some play.
Knackered is how I call my state of being.
The same goes for my tech: not much improves with age like a fine wine outside of the bottle (say vacuum of time). My 2020 vintage gaming PC is not loved by MetaQuest when I try to play VRChat in PC mode; it wants newer, faster hardware. My 2020 cell phone is also reaching end of life, and I am juggling the books to see where to apply my hardware budget in what order.
With age comes wisdom, so it will be the phone and then, maybe, a new last gen PC gaming -- moving me up from a 1660 to 4060 card, that is built into a laptop that will pull yeoman duty as a bedroom entertainment system for those days I want to stay under the covers. This enables my stay at home / work at home situation -- the way I like it (at least until the weather improves).
I also got a reminder on how advances in technology march on: I helped my cousin upgrade his cell phone last week and was surprised to find out there are now e-sim cards that are downloaded, no longer a physical chip to be installed. Forewarned is forearmed for my eventual upgrade.
It has been said we have another 5,000 days before the world shifts with the new AI and robo tech and most everything will change. I will be in a different place or plane of existence by then, but looking back at how much has changed since before Covid, it's no wonder.
My computer skills are almost two score old, but what I have added on post Covid has been phenomenal: video meetings, VPNs, two factor authorization and SMS texting. The old skills and tech are the bedrock, the shoulders of giants upon which we build, but the generations are slowly forgetting their foundations.
It reminds me of the old Star Trek story where the childlike populace in a Utopian world worships their 'Oracle" (A 1960s vision of a supercomputer) and a Priestess is their interface. They forgot what it took to get to their coddled life, and fought tooth and nail not to look behind the curtain. We are seeing the rise of our own Oracles: Chat GPT, Grok, and others that are now doing the tasks that are human drudgery. The same cry of doom and gloom about being made obsolete arises again. sixty-five years after the prescient The Twilight Zone episode aired.
(I would be literally be lost without my Google maps; not really, but land nav is a PITA with maps, chronograph and odometer).
I regale this to the upcoming furs, not as a curmudgeon, but as a teller of tales of how the technology past was once "Lit," Winters before their Springtime (dial up Internet working off a landline), but
This, too, shall pass.
Here's to another Spring and whatever blooms.
;-P
Vix
Oh, boy, can I relate!!!
Being side-lined by a maniacal Husky, playing the role of Don Quixote vs the damned V.A. as I struggle to know what's borked and just what it's going to take to un-bork things?... Slamming my face into a brick wall would be more fun, and productive! (I may just try this, just to say I DID?! Jury's out on that one...)
I feel ya Hon.. We get Olde, we slow the heck down (Most of us), and we start to become observers, watching the rest of the chaotic world race around tending to their own anxiety.
whew.
Just gimme a nice warm fireplace, drink(s), SANE Doggo/Catto as feet/lap warmers, some good eats and trusty company/friends/neighbors, and I consider myself a damned fortunate Soul.
Knee(s)... Kee-riste, becoming a bionic Bitch (Legs only plz, leave mah eyes alone, dammit!) is really, really starting to look appealing!
Technology? :: HISSES, backing-away, FAST! :: Nope! Too old, too rusty in my brain housing group to even TRY, now. Got mah rotary phone (That works even when the power goes out! Imagine?!), push lawn mower (When the livestock aren't doing their chores properly!), and regular ole hand saws/axes (Feeding the fireplace, yo!), and I think I can finish my days content, even with the splinters/nicks!
I happen to be damned fond of hand-held, paper/laminated maps, even the topo ones (Camping/Hunting/Hiking)! Gots multiple compasses, know how to use 'em, and for streets an' stuffs, I prefer 'em over holding any electronic contraption, 'Trusting Google' to actually know wth it's telling me, any day of the year! 'Ole School' still exists! (Even telling time with an analog clock/watch, writing and reading cursive, and STILL knowing and sending mail via envelopes and the venerable, questionable USPS! Bring on the asteroid/nuclear holocaust! I'm ready! lol)
's amazing how our priorities change, isn't eet?
:-D
What those full of [something] and vinegar, er vigor, fail to realize is what a visual world it is; I thought my eyes would be poached by now staring at CRTs for 40 years -- and TV before that (yes, I got too close on Saturday mornings). Perhaps Bionic Eyes or a VISOR like Geordi on ST:TNG will be next to keep us tuned in.
But I think it's just choosing a balance when it comes to technology. A scrap yard near me has a 1965 Corvair Monza (the same make and model as my first car) on the heap, and I get nostalgic when I drive by, but I appreciate how much better cars are now.
As long as we can take the best and leave the rest, I'll pretty much be content.