Making It Up As I Go Along #588

First blog post not being shared to Facebook.  Makes me feel like I’m likely now only writing to my parents… but that’s fine, I suppose.

I’m now at that age where you can have to deal with aches and pains through the act of doing nothing.  Sleep can cause it… apparently.  I now have a tender spot on my hip.  It doesn’t affect walking but if I push in that area, it aches… and if I sit funny on the sofa, it barks at me pretty good.

And now my left shoulder is acting up.  Several years ago I injured my right one fairly badly.  Right now the left feels kind of like the right did in the week prior to blowing out.  And all I can put to it is sleeping on that side.  I suppose I could have done something to it while mowing the lawn or vacuuming the house, but the sleep seems like the most likely answer.  Perhaps it’s time to invest in a better mattress.

In some ways I feel like I’m becoming a bigger fan of the Dunedin Blue Jays than the Toronto team.  I follow them on twitter and keep an eye on how the team does.  And I find myself wanting to make a summer trip there to catch some of their games.  For the last three years I’ve gone and seen Spring Training Blue Jay games in Dunedin.  But I’ve always been curious about how it would be to watch the minor league team during their regular season.  It’s an amazing difference in fan support between the big leaguers Spring games and the minor leaguers regular season ones.  Almost 6,000 there, selling out during the spring.  Barely 1,000 there during the summer.  And through it all, there’s more temptation to jet down to Dunedin for a few games there than to pop down to Toronto for games in the Dome.

Backyard Bunny
My yard is his oasis
Stretching out
The occasional grassy snack
He lounges against my hammock frame

Twice of witnessed
A glance out my back door
And he just sits
Ears attentive to danger

He isn’t the first
Melting snow shows pellets
Hints of a garden toilet
On snowy winter nights

But it’s the first I’ve watched
Comfortable enough for daylight hours
Nibbling his supper
In the early evening shade

Spotted during TV breaks
When I go for a snack
And glance out the door
Freezing in double take as he sits

Has me glued to windows
Snapping pictures
And simply observing his life
As my TV goes unwatched

Making It Up As I Go Along #687

Not much to say this go ‘round.  I could complain about Trump but simply have no desire to devote any energy to him when I’d simply be saying the same thing over and over again.  I did see several people calling for Twitter to suspend his account.  And then read, in the news, that his tweet storms actually make twitter somewhere in the vicinity of $2 billion.  So I suspect there will be no suspension of accounts if that’s the reality.

Has anyone on America’s Got Talent ever done anything beyond getting on that show?  I admit I’ve never watched it, but it seems Rogers thinks Blue Jay fans are into the show, cause it’s constantly advertised during a Jays game.  And in those ads, I see clips of an audience going wild and judges proclaiming how they’ve never seen anything as spectacular as ‘you’… and then, as best as I can tell, the contestant disappears back into the rest of society.  If that’s all it’s supposed to be, that’s fine and good I suppose.  It’s just felt to me like this show is supposed to find the next big star or something… and that never happens.  Either way, I don’t care.  I’ve never watched it and have no plans to.

Walking yesterday, a went by a house where a man in his fifties or sixties is sitting outside, blasting Guns & Roses ‘Welcome to the Jungle”.  The world has gone full circle.  When that music was new, people in their fifties and sixties proclaimed it to be ‘noise’ and they ordered younger people to turn it down.  Now the younger generation play lots of soft music where you wouldn’t be able to find a drum or guitar anywhere in sight at a live show… and their grandparents are sitting around, relaxing to their hard rock music.

I know a few people who either got off Facebook or never even got on there in the first place.  And, I must say, I kind of envy those people.  I have to admit I don’t get much enjoyment from the world of Facebook.  The format is pretty ad filled and cluttered.  And much of what shows up in my news feed… well… it’s basically there to be scrolled by.  But I stay in the Facebook world in order to have some semblance of an idea of what’s going on in the lives of some family and friends that I rarely see or hear from otherwise.  So it seems the choice is either to endure that which needs enduring or to completely lose touch with a group of family and friends.  So I endure.  But, with that said, I think I am going to stop linking my blog to Facebook.  I can’t say I’ll never link it there again, but at this point in time, I think I won’t bother doing so.  I’ll keep up with the blog.  So if you’re interested in checking it out, maybe the best thing to do is bookmark it on your web browser and check in every week or so.

I think that’s about it for this week.  With so much of the news dominated by racism, politics and terrorism I just don’t feel like writing about any of that stuff.  And it doesn’t feel like the proper time to write about turtles, frogs, trees, or any other part of nature.

Doxing

I’m writing this not to inflame or prolong a debate but to finish my part of one. As well, I know I’m a social media light weight. So anyone who doesn’t agree with my thoughts are welcome to simply ignore me. I don’t expect to change anyone’s mind. And I’m not even writing this to tell someone else that they are wrong to feel the way they do. It would be arrogant of me to think I wield that kind of power. But I also know too many people whose lives have been, and continue to be, in the field of law enforcement, to simply sit quietly at the suggestion that our law enforcement agencies can’t be trusted.

I write this all in relation to the subject of doxing people via social media. This has most recently come up in the white supremacist march last weekend. And, to be clear, I have no sympathy for any white supremacist. Those individuals sicken me and I don’t believe they have earned any place in a civilized society.

My concern through all this is the idea of the general public sharing screen grabs of these individuals with the goal of publicly sharing their personal information for all to see. And again, that concern isn’t based on any feelings of sympathy for the racist people being called out. The concern is for the misidentifications that can, and have, occur. Innocent lives can potentially be ruined or, in a worst case scenario, ended, all based on a similar appearance to an individual from a screen grab. My thought was, and remains, if you think you know one of these people, inform law enforcement, and let them investigate the matter further… privately… out of the public eye.

I’ve previously shared that concern and, in a civil Facebook discussion, I’ve had several people disagree with my thoughts. Fair enough, I’m alright with that. But the troubling part of it all, for me, is hearing others saying they can not trust the police to do the right thing in regards to these potential hate crimes. That people are better off outing these individuals via twitter than informing the police that they may know a potential suspect of said hate crimes.  And I’m concerned with the thought that if a few people happen to be misidentified, well that’s the price to pay for the greater good and their lives won’t be drastically affected anyway (an idea that none of us actually know to be true).

And it is this lack of trust in law enforcement that bothers me the most from these discussions. The fact is, I work directly with law enforcement. I’m not a police officer but I work with many. I’m related to several police officers. I consider several more officers to be friends. And in my work, I interact directly with dozens of police officers from many different police agencies throughout North America.

By no means am I saying law enforcement in North America is a perfect thing. I understand and believe that there is work to be done in both the United States and Canada to better the relationship between police and racial minorities.

But I can say with confidence, due to fourteen years of experience working with many of these people, if my goal is to get it right. To not make the mistake of misidentifying an innocent person and to be part of a just society, I would trust sharing information regarding potential criminals with the police 100% over sharing the same information with the multitude via twitter.

The great majority of those working in law enforcement are good people. They’re trying to help society and are trained specifically in order to keep us safe.  They have resources at their disposal that far surpasses the world of Twitter and they are trained to use them. And, bottom line, they have willingly put themselves in harms way, willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.  These people deserve our respect.

That’s it, I don’t hold any ill will towards those who feel differently during our discussion. A difference of opinion is okay and, when given respectfully, as has been my experience these last few days, these differences are good and make us consider and think more completely about complex issues.  Plus these are disagreements among people on the same side of the bigger issue. None of us support these racial supremacists.

I just felt that, if I said nothing, I’d be doing a disservice to dozens of people I have worked with, as well as several people I consider my friends and several others who are part of my family.

Making It Up As I Go Along #686

So if course, in less than nine months of presidency, Donald Trump has threatened nuclear war on another nation.  Though news agencies won’t actually acknowledge that.  They keep repeating the terms Fire and Fury… as if they’re taking his threat to North Korea literally.  That Trump will go to North Korea himself, dressed up like Rambo with a flame thrower in hand.  Not once did I hear the people at CNN speak plainly on the fact that their president threatened to use nuclear weapons.

He’s an idiot with nuclear toys.  A bully aiming to come off as cool.  Fire and Fury… Locked and Loaded.  It’s just all too much.

And then, of course, you get the Trump supporters on CNN.  One guy quoting how Obama once told the North Koreans that “we could destroy you” and still, none of the liberal media took issue with that.  Frustratingly, nobody on that panel took issue with that guy either.  Because the Obama quote continued from the “destroy you” part.  In fact, he didn’t even say it in a manner of speaking directly to North Korea.  He said “we could destroy them”… talking to a reporter.  And knowing how huge the US military is, it’s hardly a shocking fact to hear.  But what the Trump supporter left out was that Obama then went on to say how doing such a thing is inhumane.  And would also put the allies in South Korea in danger… so a diplomatic solution needs to be worked on.

So, Trump shill, that is why the liberal media didn’t freak out.  Obama was saying America has the power to destroy a nation but can’t go down that path.  Donald Trump is picking a fight with a crazy man while trying to come up with “cool” sounding catch phrases of power.  He’s a spoiled, rich, thirteen year old bully in a 70 year old body… with toys powerful enough to end the world and enough ignorance to make the rest of us worry he may just do it.

Anyway, enough of World War III.  Thar be turtles within my pond!  Well… one turtle anyway… in the pond across the street from my house.  It’s the first time since I moved to Trailsedge that I’ve seen a turtle in any of the ponds here.

In four days, I saw him sunning on a rock three times.  Of course, the one day I went out with my camera was the one day he wasn’t there.  And the zoom on an iPhone just isn’t worth the time.  And any closer than twenty feet from him, and little Mr. Turtle simply stepped off the rock and slipped into the murky water.  He’s a cautious little fellow.

So in honour of the turtle…

Turtle
Steps
Into the murk
Out of fear
Of me

Smiles
Across my face
Summer Christmas
Seeing him

The pet
I never had
In childhood times
Steps away

Legs
Mosquito gorged
The price I pay
To catch a glimpse

Making It Up As I Go Along #685

Actually back on the laptop to write this one.  First time I’ve written a post on the laptop in about two years.  All others have been done on the iPad, in that time.  Part of the reason for that being the slowness of my laptop.  But I turned it on, yesterday, for the first time in two months, and it’s working pretty well.  So I figured “why not”.

Cough is just about gone.  I’m down to an occasional, throat clearing type of cough.  And it isn’t interrupting my talking with coughing spurts anymore.  One month… and I’m pretty well back to normal.

Went to war with Yellowjackets this week.  Last week, I was stung while putting the cover back on the BBQ.  This week I found a small nest on the underside of the BBQ.  Sprayed it… and I figured it was all done with. 

The next day I found another small nest.  This time in my backdoor light structure.  I thought these things were territorial yet, in two days, I found two nests within five feet of each other.  More spraying took care of this one.  And I took the hose to it too, to get rid of the bits of nest left behind.

The following day, I notice yellowjackets going in and out from part of the siding of the house.  More spraying (three times in three days within a 10 foot space). 

I think it may be done (knock on wood).  Since then I’ve seen a few yellowjackets fly through the yard.  But haven’t seen any perch anywhere around the house. 

I also have had a small battle with backyard ants.  A while ago, I noticed a little squad of them around my patio stones.  But I thought “if they’re going to stay around there, I’ll leave them in peace”.  But now I’ve noticed that they’ve pretty well laid claim to my entire back patio.  Scurrying about looking for food.  So I took out the spray bottle and had a go.  I may have gotten some of them… but that is a war that surely is not won.

I booked a flight home.  The annual, September trip is a go.  I won’t be there overly long but it’ll be a solid week.  Not sure if Fogo Island will be included or if I’ll just stay around town.  I had been back and forth about going this year.  Wondering if I’d be better staying in Ottawa and having more available vacation time to help mom and dad with the condo in the fall.  But, in the end, the deciding factor was the knowledge that if I didn’t go in September, I likely wouldn’t go until next summer.  That would have meant being away from Newfoundland for a year and a half.  When, in the past, I’ve been going home about three times a year, the idea of going once in eighteen months just didn’t seem right.

Summer Dreams

I used to dream of summers.

Being woken by the morning brightness.

No other season could match

The summer glow

Against my bedroom wall.

Summer lasted forever then.

With school’s end

It brought a year of adventures

Sports, sleepovers, backyard play and family trips

All packed into months of golden green warmth.

Years later, summertime work has never seemed right.

What was spaced over months back then

Is now crammed into a few weeks.

Strict bedtimes and alarm clocks

Shedding the magic of summer youth.

In fact now I prefer the autumn.

With comfy fleeces to keep us warm,

Backyard wasp battles over and won.

And the postcard beauty of changing leaves

Making the forests a quilt of colour.

But nothing replaces those summer memories

Which come trickling back

In those quiet moments of newly woke mornings

Bringing a warm, childhood glow

To my adult home

So many years away.