It has been almost a week. My presence is lapsing, my influencer status reduced. I am shrinking into oblivion…….and it is not all bad.
Of course, it’s not me. It’s clearly the vast lack of you. Like the age-old question about a falling tree making noise in the forest if there is no one to hear it……is there a writer blogging if there are no readers save for the Magnificent Seven (a few of whom are on vacation it seems)?
No judgment, mind you. Just philosophizing.
To be fair, reading doom and gloom is no fun. Reading about old people doing chores is even less fun. Does anyone even care about the whales going by anymore? And so it segues……
Is there any fun out there anymore?
We’re still having OTG fun but more and more of it is actually less and less of it. Love seeing others socially….just don’t really wanna do much of that right now. Love a good dinner but, damn…..my appetite is half what it was and the cost of it is still twice what it was. Love a good scotch but, again, one just seems to be enough these days. I love to travel, see new places, experience new cultures, have an adventure or two…..it is just that I now hate airports, the dogs don’t travel in the car well and it seems as if YOU TUBE can at least half-satisfy my curiosity regarding Malaysia or Ecuador (two of the latest favourite travel destinations).
I am starting to like convenience, to be honest.
A few blogs back I wrote that ‘TRUMP IS DONE!’ And more and more he is looking done-er and done-er. I confess to quite enjoying that. Looks like Mitch ‘the turtle’ McConnel is done, too. And that is also good news. But, really, who am I kidding…..in a world of Yin and Yang, we are unlikely to run out of either. There are Trump-lites all over the place. Ya gotta wonder. Trump-lites still deny climate change.
I hafta point out that (gasp) the government is once again lying to us. Inflation is much higher than they state. I won’t bore you – you already know – but everything I just bought at the hardware store was not just 5 or 10% higher, it was 30 to 50% higher. A roll of hardware cloth was $165.00!!! A few years ago it was just under $80.00. Sal buys $200.00 worth of groceries (no meat) and puts them in her small, cute little backpack!! Five gallons of diesel was $40.00!
I am not really complaining. NOT really. It is what it is. But you’d think they would at least report the truth, wouldn’t you?
Anyway…I am mostly just rambling….the only real thing on my mind these days is that we lost Howard Adelman. He passed away on the 23rd. I have mentioned Howard before so I won’t add to the boredom by citing his record or even his lengthy obituary. Suffice to say, the guy was brighter than brilliant. Way better than just good. A great human being. I will really miss him.
Our Off the Grid Home 
I still luv ya Dave!
I was back east for two weeks.
Got stuck in last Fridays downpour in Halifax.
Never seen rain like that in life.
Torrential for 3 hours and then it backed off to just “heavy rain”.
7 inches of rain in three hours.
My sis lives in Bedford where the worst of it was.
I flew out last Saturday. back to BC.
Could see lots of fires from 39,000 feet.
Now im back at work. Slaving away.
How’s your water supply holding out?
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Water is good. It rained for a couple of days (lightly) but the stream rose and we have enough in the cisterns to get through to mid September. We are going to be OK.
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I’m sorry to hear about Howard. Although I read your blog religiously, I must admit I never heard of Howard Adelman. Perhaps when we were disconnected and my computer took it upon itself to file you away in ‘junk’?
Anyway, back to your observation that the government is lying to us! I’m in the fortunate position that I don’t have to buy anything, right now! And I hope to be long gone from THIS location before I have to. Still hoping to experience some laid back living in an obscure location for the winter, but they are getting harder to find. Someone else keeps ‘discovering’ them and they’re no longer obscure!
I’ve still got a couple of months (4 actually) before I make a move.
Point me in the right direction to read up on Howard!
Cheers!
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It is hard to ‘read up’ on Howard. 27 books written. A bazillion ‘papers’. He was a philosopher.
Like, professionally! Professor at half a dozen international universities. So incredibly smart AND educated that every sentence he spoke was like a live documentary on every imaginable subject. He and I worked together helping refugees. Then together again with the UN (UNHCR). HA had access to the prime minister and not just one. I needed a personal favour for a friend (Chinese doctor from Skid Row). I asked Justin. He sent crap. I called Howard. The next day, 30 personally signed photos written as if I had given him the words. Howard was great and always will be great. Howard talked with Jimmy Carter, Bush, Clinton, Obama, Kissinger. He hosted a talk show in Tel Aviv. Wikipedia has him but NOT the human side. The human side is bigger than the resume side. HA even told me how to get rich (he was very wealthy). I chose not to. But that’s me (I’d be horrible if I was rich, handsome or even very lucky). Some things should be left to those who can handle it. Howard could handle it.
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I often wonder how I’d have turned out if I’d been born rich instead of handsome. Oh I’d have been an unbearable P….k if I’d been both!
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I do not have to wonder. I’d be a puke! As an ugly, old, poor person, I am still obnoxious and arrogant, opinionated and not-at-all nice. Rich? I’d be a pig. Handsome? I’d be a pig. Rich and handsome? Unbearable. Ask anyone…they’ll tell you….
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I had no idea that you are in prison, as thats the only place where its “free ” to live. How’s that working out?
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Sad to hear about Howard. Thanks to you, I got to know him a little bit in the not-too-distant past and he added me to his blog, which was always interesting.
Yes, the rain we had helped some. More would be nice. Now that you have sufficient water for awhile, how is log hunting going? Do you have an adequate supply yet? Where I am, I can’t recall when I last saw one float by. But, in a bay to the north of me, there’s a collection of refugees from a log boom.
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Woohoo! We may just visit a refugee camp near you.
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Everything is sooooo expensive. The price of essentials, like food, seem to have gone up so much more than discretionary items. Makes sense that there is a lot corporate profiteering in the former.
Yeah, I’ve been busy so I’m not keeping up with my favourite bloggers. Been working on a re-wilding project with a few neighbours. I enjoy it. It is quite social trying to change the world for the better. I love retirement. Gotta make hay while it is winter (feels like spring) and we can still go outside without being fried. We’ve set up a trail cam under the house. The rats are huge and plentiful! Hope you are coping with TEOTWAWKI. I’m sorry for your loss. Sounds like HA was a good bloke and a dear friend.
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Yeah, he was. Really great. And lots of good humor, too. Fun guy. An hour with a traditional philosopher was hugely interesting and entertaining. Hard to believe but true.
Wow! Rats manifesting TEOTWAWKI…..that’s unpleasant.
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Sorry David but you are sounding a bit of a pity party today. Write for you, not for anyone else. “Care not for the aderations of others, as a clear mind can not be swayed by attention, contention, nor neglect”. Just made that line that up but it fits.
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Well, I was feeling a bit down about Howard. ‘Specially since we were gonna meet up in September. His passing hit hard. I suppose it should not have – he was 85 and had a full, rich, interesting life. But he was one of the GOOD guys. Rather lose a thousand Trumps instead. So, in that sense, I was writing for myself albeit a bit self indulgently. But I must confess to having a muddied mind very much reliant on the attention and adoration of others. Sheesh.
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Aderation, is that a word,?
Years back when davidicus was on about Howard I looked into his blog
No clue about needing his blessing to access, people write to be seen.
I am quite certain he was using some type of word recognition dictate software
My impression then was as an academic he was certainly trying to boost his word count.
I noticed then that David would sometimes adopt the wordcount vanity, most often to no good effect, not so much these days.
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No, ‘aderation’ is not a word. It was supposed to be ‘adoration’.
Now Aldo, you are unfair to Howard and me. Howard just had so much knowledge that he went on and on so as to back up what he was saying…sorta like Philosophy professor might. I never try to UP the wordcount. The opposite is true for me because I learned a long time ago that 700 words is the preferred reading length. I do write more words too much (i.e. this answer), I admit that, but it is because I was also taught never to take shortcuts when writing. “Assume the reader knows nothing about what you are saying and use as many words as you need to to make it clear”. Admittedly those two lessons are not compatible but there you have it – yin and yang of writing. Elmore Leonard wrote spare, terse, short sentences. So did many great writers. Leonard said to write as if you weren’t trying to write. So, I tend to write as I speak.
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You are right JD? I am on hollidays (also for the next 2 weeks). I have very limited access to internet (which is a good thing – kinda like being a bit OTG). But still, as 1 of the seven, I try to catch up on the blog whenever I can. We have lots of rain here now (in France – but generally all over middle part of Europe). Bit of a bummer when on hollidays, but I have been asking for rain for so long, I can not complain.
But weather is more and more extreme. While we have moderate rain, southern Europe is frying at 45°C and other parts are flooded
I will try also to read up on Howard (1 book at a time). Always enjoy a good philosopher
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