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Into the Wild...
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Music
- Hits: 2075
Listening to Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild (Rise). Because it's cold and it's work and it's that time...the halfway point between all bills paid and summer, all moneys now will be invested towards the next years expedition, the last before inexplicable wealth and fortune overtake me, the last before I'm faced with the overwhelming responsibility of a lifetime's worth of indolence and free time, and the music, well, it's strangely apt...
It's not just about finding money, wealth, gold, diamonds, it's not at all about that, but it's easy enough to imagine, no, it's about finding peace and yourself...
And to hell with the ending, that's the chance you take, fair enough. But this is prospecting, this is living, this is life...
Vacuum Cleaner
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 2253
8 months now in the apartment, without a vacuum cleaner. Other than the kitchen it's pretty wall-to-wall carpet.
Guessing by the color of my shed hair and belly-button lint, I'd guess it was grey, but the dark mouse colored patches along the wall and the centipedes brazenly marching across the living room floor were clues that maybe I should vacuum...
I have a vacuum, hidden away somewhere deep in a storage locker, I remember it, and on one of those rare weeks where the payments are current and the weather is nice I go and do a quick raid...I'll find it. Opening the door, the first thing to fall on me is the long-carpet-sweeper attachment...this has to be a good sign...
...but the world is full of false omens, and a more thorough search of the locker turns up no further trace...it could be anywhere, under a hundred boxes...I do manage to find an old spare tire, however, from the old Volvo, I had wondered what had become of it, now I know...it's here...
So I need to buy a vacuum, and I hit a few thrift shops, nearby, on my days off, eventually I find one, $20, working, and I set to work in a particularly difficult corner...it works a charm, a few passes with the furry attachment and I find the carpet, I really should have raked it first...
And so I clean, it seems a bit obsessive, I think to myself, but no-one looking at my apartment would find me obsessive, really, it's just my own prejudice, and it kind of feels good, like a hot bath or brushing your teeth, there's a zen-ness to cleanliness that I respect and admire, only I haven't the patience or training for it...
When I'm done I wonder if I should throw away the vacuum bag, or try and sell on ebay, easy 5 lbs of gold dust and diamond bits in that, remnants from the summer...
World's 2nd Largest Diamond Found in Botswana
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Found
- Hits: 1883
The World's 2nd largest diamond found in Botswana, apparently on the news yesterday and everyone was telling me about it today...we had customers reserve tables just to tell me...
Don't count me out, I'm not done by a long shot...
Read the full article here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34867929
Found by the Canadian Mining company Lucara, and at 1,111 Carats (that's only 210 grams, or a little under 8 oz) the 2nd largest gem quality diamond ever recovered.
Immigrants against Immigration
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 2317
Every single one of them, barring one exception, is an immigrant, the Philippines, Italy, Romania, in the past we've covered Croatia, Tunisia, Mexico, too many other countries to list...
And they're all curiously against this Syrian immigration thing, "They don't like to work" the owner tells me, "they're all terrorists" G*** tells me, these immigrants, they're a real problem.
I have some prejudices too, not necessarily against the Syrians that will be arriving, but against the knee-jerk politics that sees us rushing with outstretched arms at every problem with a good headline and heartbreaking photo-op, we'll love 'em all to death, that'll show them. Good intentions don't always make for good choices. And I'm cautious, too, there have been a few waves of immigrants lately that have been nothing but problems, look closely at Calgary's murder rate and you'll find that about 50% of the murders in the past few years have been committed by nationalities and new arrivals that represent less than 1% of the population, hardly a stellar track record at integrating and welcoming our new citizenry...
Still, it's funny this, listening to them all talk, immigrants against immigration...
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