Stuff and Nonsense

I’ve been meaning to write something - anything - for the last several days. I just haven’t managed to start. I’m hoping that typing these few words will somehow hand crank the part of my brain that looks after suck things. I struggle to understand how I used to pour words onto the page so easily. Perhaps it’s like a muscle - writing - and if you don’t use it enough, it becomes more difficult.

Maybe.

I’m just re-winding in my head through the last few days - wondering what I might tell you about.

I finally made my way to the opticians a few days ago - a year late. My distance vision hasn’t changed at all, but anything close has got a little worse. I guess this will be the pattern until I need glasses thick enough to turn me into the mole man from The Simpsons. I ordered two new pairs - both with completely different frames (a lesson learned the hard way) - one for occupational use, the other for reading.

The reading glasses are wire rimmed. After putting them on and looking at myself in the mirror, there was something of a double take - either James Potter, or Steve Jobs was gazing back at me.

I’m still tinkering with the Commodore 64 - learning more about it all the time. I still get a kick out of dialling into the WOPR at NORAD, and filling my name in as “Joshua”. I still haven’t caved and ordered an Amiga.

I still haven’t bought a typewriter either.

I do keep picking up the bullet journal and writing half a page in it - I’m not back to using one full time though. I can almost feel the pull back away from technology at the moment - back to cassette tape Walkmans, analogue wristwatches, flip phones, and paper notebooks.

Commodore have started making a flip-phone that won’t let you use social media. When I first saw it, I thought “that’s terrible!”, but the more I think about it, the more appealing it becomes. I’m thinking I have two phone numbers - one that only close friends and family know - the basic phone - and the other for everything else - the smart phone.

Anyway.

The rest of the household are helping at a summer camp in town called “Lighthouse” this week - run by all of the churches in town. A small army of red-shirted helpers provide “edutainment” for several hundred local children. I’ve never helped because I’ve always felt it would be a bit hypocritical - given that I don’t believe in any sort of god.

I’ve always wondered how much more popular the summer camp would be if they removed the religious angle entirely - given that (if statistics are to be believed) over 50% of adults in the UK no longer have any sort of religious leaning.

After work this evening I met the rest of the family in town - at Spoons. It was sort of my idea, based mainly around avoiding washing up (I somehow found myself washing up five times yesterday).

Why is it while walking any sort of distance into town, you’ll invariably find yourself directly behind a couple walking slower, who will be completely blind to you walking directly behind them - and if anything will slow down once you’re stuck behind them?

Maybe they were non player characters? Or extras in the TV show I’m not supposed to know anything about.

A pint of cider, and a beef madras cured most of the world’s problems, while hearing all manner of stories from my daughters - who are now “lighthouse keepers” at Lighthouse (read: helpers).

Tonight has been mostly spent noodling around with not much in particular. I’ve been slowly building an old DOS based computer recently, and filling it with “abandonware” - software that is so old you can freely download and install it without the copyright holder bothering to chase you to the ends of the earth. I’m still intrigued by George R R Martin’s use of Wordstar as a word processor when writing books - on an air-gapped PC.

Perhaps that’s what I should use the Commodore 64 for?

It’s getting late.

I should really go fall into bed I suppose.

I just downed a cup of coffee, and it’s made me more sleepy, if anything - figure that one out.

Oh - I nearly forgot! Last weekend we visited somebody I used to work with for lunch, and then went for a walk in the woods with them. It was kind of wonderful - not only to see some friendly faces from the past - but also to just go for a walk, and leave the list of things that need doing behind for the day.

Perhaps I need to do that more often - the whole “downing tools and going for a walk”. I will admit to walking into town at least a couple of times a week at lunchtime - purely to stretch my legs. That the route takes me past a supermarket that sells great sushi is a happy accident, honest.