An aspect of modern life that boils my blood

Is wearing earphones at work. Try to talk with someone and they a) can't hear you or b) you feel like you're interrupting.

Grump.

Austrian German is not German German.

I have received a letter recently from the Austrian embassy regarding upcoming European elections, and popping it through google translate does curious things with what I am sure are colloquialisms in the text.

For example: "In dolphin fields you can get used to your community.", "The shipwreck shipment through the southerly community wird ab 02 May 2019" and "Steam cabinets and wheelchairs in the wheelchairs and the wheelchair access, all the way to the bus stop 26 May 2019 at 5 pm."


Think I need to find me a German speaker to help out a little.

Reading a post this morning made me slightly sad.

It seems that my son and I are the only people who wipe water from their bodies after a shower or bath, before towelling dry.

At least, that's true for the small circle of people that we know.

And it made me feel slightly lonely too. I've always been different from others: sometimes I can dominate a group, sometimes guide it, sometimes be present watching what goes on, sometimes be ignored by it - I seldom feel just a part of it. Note the word feel - these are feelings, not necessarily how things really are - and feelings should not be the ultimate arbiter of reality.

I wonder too if this is one of the reasons for wanting adventure, to pioneer a bit - when you're doing that loneliness is not a problem, because OF COURSE you're alone. If you're in the trenches with everyone else then it can remind you more of feeling alone than solitude.

Blummin' 'eck, this is maudlin for a Monday afternoon, though I was even more maudlin this morning.

More on the 'to vax or not vax'

Moron?

Regardless. I read some statistics the other day, that before we had a meases vaccine the disease would kill 2.4 million annually worldwide. In countries without a universal vaccination program it STILL kills thousands every year. And those are just the dead, rather than brain damaged or with other long-term diseases remaining from the infection.

Vaccination really should not be a freedom of choice issue.

Never thought I'd see the day

But I find myself agreeing with someone who used to be a more prolific blogger. His experience is quite different from mine, both because of culture and world view, but it seems the disease of disinterest has spread to his part of the world too.

I was interested in his view of the cost of being part of church, particularly as church is no longer seen as the place we go to get re-filled and energised for the week ahead, but a drain on energy & resources on what would otherwise be a day of rest. I went looking for a post where I talked about this, only to realise I'd posted it as a comment on Backyard Missionary recently. In the post linked LT described himself as $20 in the plate and another voice drowned in the music - perhaps if that's all church really is then it's time for those gatherings to close?

Where is the real issue? Is it the people or something bigger?

Makes me wonder if a part of it is that what was underground and experienced with joy when persecuted has become the ordinary, commonplace and mainstream, sucking life out as it becomes increasingly democratised and mundane. The church has a long history of thriving and being healthy when suffering, but causing suffering when in power.

To vax or not vax?

Italy has begun to require vaccinations for children to be permitted to attend school. I hate the compulsion, but knowing that the parents who refuse vaccination will cause some of their children harm, and also cause harm to children unable to develop immunity through vaccination, it's not a completely unreasonable step.

It's amazing how short memories are, of how the diseases these vaccines prevent did so much harm.

Toni Ertl, like you never saw him before.

 Toni Ertl and Pilgramsreuther Blaskapelle - Rosen und Flieder.

Hipsters all look the same - fact. ;-)

An amusing Friday morning article from El Reg here.

Essentially a 'hipster' saw an article from MIT Technology review suggesting that for a variety of reasons anti-conformists all end up conforming in appearance that was accompanied by a picture of a typical hipster that appeared to be himself. He complained angrily, only to discover that the photo was actually of a model, thus proving the point of the article and demonstrating that sometimes hipsters conformed so closely they couldn't even tell each other apart.

The comments after the article were also comedy gold:

Yup. I remember at a large bike rally a small child was found wandering around early in the morning and was taken to rally control.
"Ok, lad? You've lost your parents?"
"Yes"
"What's your Dad's name?"
"John"
"Ok, and what does John look like?"
"He's got a bald head and a long beard and tattoos down his arms!"
"Let me take a guess. Is he wearing jeans and a black shirt and a leather jacket?"
"Yes, do you know him?"


Was conformity ever so similar?
 

Just driven through horrible countryside

I'm working for a couple of days out towards East Anglia, pretty much directly east of where we live. I won't name the towns, but driving through the grey drizzle and pre-dawn light this looks such an ugly, almost blasted countryside. Possibly sunshine and clear skies would help, but I doubt it.

An early departure meant a clear run and early arrival, and now I'm looking at mouldy grey and orange brick buildings with ventilation stacks on top surrounded by a high fence topped in barbed wire. I came for a job interview at this place in 1997 and was pleased not to work here then. Hopefully I'll complete their training adequately today and not have to return in the morning.

Presently my throat is not happy, and the less I need to talk the better. At least it's just a demo, rather than teaching.

A man has been charged with assault by beating:

Presumably with beating an egg? 😉

Sometimes reality seems stranger than fiction, and the law only partially connected to reality.

BBC News - Jeremy Corbyn egged: Man charged over Finsbury mosque attack http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-47438562

How are you Toni, I hope you're having a great day?

I had a call from a recruiter at lunchtime that I'm sure I've never previously heard of. Then I saw this:


Last month, a world-wide telephone survey was conducted by the UN.

The only question asked was: "Would you please give your honest opinion about possible

solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?”

The survey was a complete failure because:

In Eastern Europe they didn't know what "honest" meant.

In Western Europe they didn't know what "shortage" meant.

In Africa they didn't know what "food" meant.

In China they didn't know what "opinion" meant.

In the Middle East they didn't know what "solution" meant.

In South America they didn't know what "please" meant.

In the USA they didn't know what "the rest of the world" meant.

And in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Great Britain everyone hung up as soon as they heard the Indian accent.

You know it's not big, and it's not clever. Well it's not clever anyway.

Artificial intelligence.

Do those words scare you? Excite you?

Well, perhaps they should, but not for the reasons you're thinking.

As a couple of people I know these days like to say, AI is not what you think it is. It's not a cold, dispassionate and amoral mind of greater sophistication than any human could manage, but simply a set of algorithms that have been trained to interpret a limited aspect of the world through a block of data presented to them.

There's an article here that's intended to be what passes for Friday afternoon humour in the IT industry, but is actually so accessible and levelling that it should be mandatory reading for people concerned with the care of people and the impact AI might have on them. Yes, it's a bit nihilistic, a touch sweary, but it's insightful and also funny. The article is probably biased too, but then again, everything people produce is only neutral from their reference point.

Seriously, if you don't really know what AI is then you should read it.

Suppose I should make some lunch.

I'm just not hungry right now, but I bet I don't lose any weight. :-p

Lurgy is back with a vengeance.

My brain isn't quite right, and I read the title of Chris's Hilary Mantel book as bring up the boobies.

Now that's a pleasant thought for a sicknote Thursday.

Spring is almost here.

The snowdrops have peaked round here and the wood pigeons are sending out invites to make more pigeons.

You know you have a cold when.....

You can't remember whether you need 8.5 grams or 85 grams of NaCl for a litre of physiological saline - and you don't seem to care.

Meh, as the kids used to say. So much for the benefits of a week in the sun. 🙁

The computer cooling system is whistling away merrily.

Lightroom is building previews from the pictures of Fuerteventura, where we spent the week as Chris's birthday present. The island is interesting, sunshine good, but 15'C with a strong breeze when the sun has gone down *feels* distinctly chilly.

Spanish doesn't always translate well.

I've just seen a lorry with www.quimiventura.com on the side. 😲

My phone made a notification chime.

Chris asked "was that you?" to which I replied "pardon me for tinkling in public".

Somehow that was funnier spoken out loud. 😛

When you don't feel at home when 'at home'. (former draft)

Or am I "getting old"?

For those who don't know, the group of churches we're connected to has regular 'celebrations' where everyone from across Oxfordshire gets together for communal worship and teaching. They're a slightly mixed blessing, in that it's a major effort to get into Oxford (though less so now than when we all met in the cinema in George st.) since it would mean using the park & ride because of council restrictions about vehicular access. When all the churches across the area came together there could be more than a thousand bodies squeezed into the auditorium.

That was back in the mid-late noughties.

Cue 6 year break due to our time at Heyford park - what has been a large, thriving, excited charismatic congregation seemed to have shrunk to be mostly middle aged or retired with a few exceptions and suddenly as a guitar player* I've gone from being a bit 'surplus to requirements' to often being in the band for these things - it's nice, but also feels like one is only wanted when there's no-one better available. A part of the reason for the change is that different groups of churches now meet together at different times instead of all at once, but it seems to reflect the fragmentation of the Salt & Light organisation in a wider sense - see previous posts here and here. Thinking back, I can see when the change started happening in the mid 2000s, several years before we got involved in Heyford Park, but the vague feeling of disquiet that I had then didn't mean anything.

I wonder, if we'd never left & returned, would it have been like the theory of frogs and heated water, so we'd never have noticed the difference?

The way we do church locally now doesn't feel like church either, and I'm finding it difficult to take seriously. Everything feels random, haphazard, a bit meaningless . Perhaps I've become fossilised and can't adapt to the changes and lack of pattern or systematic organisation?

Some of it is certainly me, and I definitely don't see faith, the bible or the people leading these things in the way I used to. Having seen the other side of church leadership, so many things that are done may happen from the best of intentions, but often they also seem pragmatic or simply someone's good ideas (and not always so good). A common problem for leaders seems to be seeing something done elsewhere and the leader thinking to themselves "THAT looks really good - let's try it at home" and of course it's at best a bit mediocre, because it may be good, but it was never intended for the new recipients. The 'hearing God' part of the process is often a little tricky because who hears an audible voice, sees angels or messages in 10ft high letters of fire that cannot be mistaken? I can see that I was guilty of doing that at Heyford Park, with a teaching series on Ephesians 5 ministries, but of course *to me* it looked really good & seemed right, while causing a certain amount of puzzlement & confusion. At least it wasn't outright damaging, like some of the things we've seen imported, driving away people who were otherwise committed and trying to work out how to live as part of a community.

So where does this leave me?

Still going through the motions (cue jokes about swimming and Southend pier) trying to be useful, make a positive contribution, not pull people down, serving a bit as ability allows. Someone I know who was looking for a church went along to a few meetings at an associated group, but didn't see the point: bible studies were just a series of questions with no teaching and little apparent guidance, meetings were disorganised. I keep doing this because the alternative seems less good, rather than because I'm convinced it brings life and builds faith. It's tempting to find another church, where I've no expectation or investment, one which is a bit more teachy and a bit less fluid. But I won't (for now).

* I realised that on Sunday I was the oldest person on stage by 17 years, and when I started doing that I was one of the young, dynamic guys - the drummer hadn't even been born when I first played in a celebration meeting.

Don't we love a night without sleep?

I know the warning signs: manic time putting data together for a report, getting home later than usual & then an evening full of activities which require significant concentration and attention detail, feeling fired up when I should have been lethargic.

And so to bed: body feels uncomfy and in my case fingertips are slightly itchy and very rough on the bed sheets. And the mind simply won't close down. Flight details, data from the report, gifts for someone at work, gifts for a birthday, ache in the hips, skin feeling cold, what arrangements for getting the car in for new tyres tomorrow, a need to sort out insurance, should I upgrade the camera and which one to get. The list goes on and on.

Here I am at work, unable to concentrate, head running one day ahead and wanting to get on with tomorrow when today has troubles that are neither of interest nor easy to fix.

Happy Friday. ;-)

It shouldn't make us complacent, but.....

Interesting article about Finland's approach to homelessness on the BBC website.

It seems they have made dealing with homelessness a priority, in contrast to the UK which deals with it in 'a more traditional way'. The article also points out the number of rough sleepers in England has risen from 1768 in 2010 to 4751 in 2017.

In 1987 Helsinki had 18,000 homeless and now has 6,600.

You Canuk be serious.

No hidden meanings behind this - I hope my Canadian friends also find it amusing.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/01/29/moose_canada_norway/

Who will take ownership?

Or how, when you think a job is being looked after, it's STILL your job to sort it out. 🙄 😡

Trust and modern life.

This is a post about online information for buying stuff.

Remember the 'good old days' of shops and businesses that sold stuff, making recommendations tp their customers?

I've just ordered a new set of tyres for my Mini: for those who care, Bridgestone Turanza T005s. I need something with decent grip, economy, comfort, not too much noise, good handling. Just like almost everyone does. 10 years ago I'd have rocked up at the local tyre place, asked what they recommended from the premium brands that wasn't too expensive and gone with that.

And been happy*.

Now I have to spend several hours online, reading roadtests, checking reviews, trying to guess who is telling the truth, who is still in honeymoon phase, who has an axe to grind and who is being paid by the manufacturer. To make matters more compliocated, aparently a tyre type is developed through the course of its lifespan, so older reviews may not even be meaningful.

While ignorance is not bliss, getting expert advice in an area about which one really knows little and has almost no chance of developing deep & meaningful knowledge is not foolish.

Holidays are the same. "We'd like to go to Greece, the mainland looks nice and this is what we can afford - what do you have?" Now I spend hours pawing through hotel features, location information (is it really by the beach or is the sea actually 200 vertical meters BELOW the accomodation?) reviews etc. Cars ditto. Cameras - well, that's a little more personal, but ditto. etc. etc.

The purpose of the internet is, apparently, for us to review things so that others can read our reviews and then make a different choice anyway.

And for a few key characters to make lots of money from us, but that's another story.

Is there a point to this post?

Not really, other than to observe that mankind will always spend just a little more than is in their budget, regardless of whether it's money, emotions, energy, time or anything else that's available to be traded away. And nobody wants to take responsibility or be sued.

*Generally this has been true with 2 notable exceptions.

1) I had a blow-out while driving through France, the spare I had was functional but of dubious legality and the 'good used' spare I picked in while in France was outrageously expensive and apparently made of teflon. For the journey home I actually found the bald spare to be safer than that replacement.

2) Toyo. Apparently a great brand just newly available in the UK, therefore very cost-effective according to the tyre supplier. While OK in the dry, at the first sign of rain they lost all adhesion, as I discovered by slithering into the back of another car at low speed, causing £600 worth of damage (mid 90s). The 'borderline' Michelins I'd replaced were MUCH better & safer, and within a few weeks I'd replaced the Toyos, even though we couldn't really afford it, because they were absolutely lethal - one brand I will never buy again if I can help it.

Edit
The new Bridgestones are good, more grip than the worn tyres, pleasantly supple on bumps, not too noisy. They roll a little less easily & fuel consumption is slightly up, but that's to be expected as a trade-off for grip.

Never trust a man bearing discounts

Or other things, but that's a different story.

Booking airport parking this lunchtime, got a price going direct, then went with an email from people we've booked through in the past. They had a discount code etc, lots of possible 'off-site' parking, but the one that I really wanted by the terminal was more expensive than booking with the airport.

That's my business they've probably lost forever.

It's a little sad to see the slow death

Of the Windows phone. I KNOW it's going to be unsupported at the end of this year, but rather than keep it running right up to the end, it's getting the death of a thousand cuts (if there were ever that many apps available to be closed down). Contactless payment is the latest victim.

Once again, I'm staggered that Microsoft really have so little clue about running a business that makes and supports stuff. I sometimes see this kind of behaviour in other, smaller businesses, but somehow I expect an organisation that turns over multi-billions of dollars to be better guided, more consistent and thorough, less forgetful. If nothing else I expect managed, planned obsolescence, ESPECIALLY in public-facing areas where ordinary people are expected to buy stuff from them & become repeat customers. This seems to just be a trainwreck happening while I watch.

More than 6 months after jumping ship I miss my Lumia 640. It was slowish, didn't have much screen life (or a great screen) but I liked the interface - the Xiaomi is a much better phone, but Android isn't that great an OS to work with.

If you're a Chromium user that doesn't love adverts

Then you may soon have to think about another non-Chromium based browser. It seems that Google are about to block ad blockers except where the ad blockers are already on-board with Google, passing through ads they are paid to whitelist.

I don't use Chrome/Chromium. I'm not a fan of the interface and I feel that Google already knows far more about me through my phone, web searches and this blog. So if you're a Chrome/Chromium user or your browser of choice is built on the Chromium engine, IF this happens and you start getting served ads then let me encourage you to change your browser. Brave is recommended at present.

So we had snow last night

Winter in Britain is a bit pathetic these days, and despite the snow coming down in large lumps, it barely settled at all around here. The harshest winter experience I've known in the last 12 months was actually back in September between Caronport  Canmore and Wetaskiwin in Canada, as their autumn was getting going.

In some ways it's great that things aren't so cold, but we've seen a big change here, even compared with 15 years ago when the valley floor would sometimes flood & freeze hard enough to skate on.

Life in draft format

It seems I have written more than 3600 blogposts in the >18 years of bleating here, and have 101 drafts that have never seen the light of day.

Often this is a result of being stimulated by something, starting to write and then running out of energy/enthusiasm/newsworthiness before completing the post. Sometimes I'll start and think "this really isn't somewhere I want to go right now" and just park the thing as a draft, if it doesn't get deleted. And sometimes I'll just click 'new post' and then not write anything at all, which then saves a blank page as a draft.

So I may try to review and complete some of those 'parked' posts over the coming weeks. I'm sure that will make for a roller-coaster ride of thrills and excitement. ;-)