Planet Descent
From the Front Page => Soupe Du Jour => Topic started by: TechPro on November 25, 2012, 06:16:35 PM
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Things were going fairly 'normal' and as expected, up until the lights went out, casting every room in the dark, except for those with open curtains. Immediately, growls and rumblings of frustration were heard from nearly every corner (except for my wife and I) as devices and computers suddenly became as worthless as the proverbial boat anchor (tho in truth, boat anchors are VERY valuable ... to the boat). Sure, as a Tech by trade, I rely heavily on electronic devices and have five desktop computers in the house in active use plus a laptop and a couple mobile devices, not to mention the devices my off-spring have. Seeing the power go off, and stay off for quite a while has to potential to be very perplexing and frustrating.
Oddly enough I suppose, my wife and I were hardly fazed. We simply handed flashlights to those who needed one, and used the opportunity to give young ones the chance to get dressed for Church by flashlight (a novel idea from the youngest's perspective). My oldest though, was at a bit of a loss. Complained he types and thinks much faster than he can write, thus making traditional writing by hand a fruitless venture. I just smiled. My daughter wondered if Church would still be held without power to which I assured her Church would probably still be held. Without electronic distractions, it's curious how simple it was for everyone to be ready in plenty of time for Church. Church was held as expected, a bit in the dark, but held anyway. The congregation respectfully quiet, thus aiding the speakers to be heard without the benefit of a microphone. When power returned part way through the services, I couldn't help but notice the increase of 'background noise' from the congregation throughout the remainder of the services.
All this reminded me that years ago, services such as electricity (not to mention running water, sewer service, phone service) were considered a luxury, and benefit, and not the standard or normal expectation. People lived quite comfortably without such things, sure life was different then, but they did just fine without those things that we now rely on, not just as a convenience, but as a requirement to daily living and most difficult to do without at any given time. Society has become so embedded with such services that we have forgotten how to live without those things.
I have the Power !! I remember how people lived without those services. I have (on occasion) lived without those services, my parents taught me how to live without those things. Thus I can stand, do a cheesy impression of a middle-aged (and over-weight) He-Man and proclaim "I have the Power!!" because I can live without the services.
You know, this is something I should teach to my off-spring. I think I will. Right after I finish another D3 mission set.
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In my defense, I really do think faster than I write. It's tolerable while typing, because I can type at a sufficiently fast enough rate to keep up with myself, but writing by hand is just not fast enough. More often than not through handwriting, I'll be in the middle of writing one sentence when my mind is already another sentence or two ahead. Then I start getting prone to skipping whole sentences of intended writing because what I'm writing and what I'm thinking don't sync up with each other.
But I did seriously consider trying it anyway during the power outage in question, only to opt not to simply because my notes are all on the currently powerless laptop (battery wasn't in it, much less charged) and thus inaccessible, which meant that any writing I did would have to be from scratch, and I didn't currently have any ideas coming to me that I felt were in a good enough position to work from scratch with. So instead, I drew (my other hobby). After that, I probably would've pulled out something to read if the power hadn't chosen to come back on at around the same time.
So I'd like to think that the power outage hadn't left me completely helpless.
Just mostly.
(there's a big difference between mostly helpless, and all helpless.) ;)
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You know, this is something I should teach to my off-spring. I think I will. Right after I finish another D3 mission set.
I'm with you. D3 missions come first! 8)
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There are so many things we have come to take for granted that as kids, or our parents as kids, did not have or considered a luxury.
Cars and phones (and I don't mean cell phones... when I was kid not everyone considered a phone a necessity), cable TV (never even had cable until after I got married, and my wife insisted) just to mention a couple.
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I think that's been the same for every generation that's been born around the same time as a major invention that changed at least a part of the world; or soon enough after it that their parents had to live without it.
When the printing press was invented the parents of young journalists and writers and publishers probably complained that the new generation was 'lazy' because "in my day we had to copy out every book, article, and essay two-hundred times before the end of the day". And then the renaissance started...
I think it's a privelege to live, arguably, on the dividing line between two ages just like those kids and their parents when the printing press was invented; especially when this is the first time the new age affects the whole world, all at once. Not just reading about a change to the entire world in a history book two- or three-hundred years after the fact, but experiencing the change first-hand.
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Back in the days when IM's were more popular, chat rooms, etc, AOL was more known, I had penpals. We did email, but also did it the old fashion way. Pen, paper, stamp, envelope.
not a biggie, but when I worked at a grocery carts, I "pushed" in carts. Now I see people with a machine ::) lazy.
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Why in my day, we had to actually park our cars. And we didn't have no fancy ABS or traction control. And we didn't have no all wheel drive.
And somehow I still manage to be more worried about the people with AWD, ABS, and TC than I am about my own driving. Minnesota drivers... ::)
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@ Vanguard: the machine thing hasn't gotten around everywhere yet. I still people around in my hometown who still do it the old fashioned way, but I can't predict for how much longer that'll last.
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...Minnesota drivers... ::)
Must be the opposite of Manitoba drivers.
I've heard horror stories about Ontario drivers... but that was in a humour newspaper so they were probably exaggerated.
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Sometimes people forget that all their fancy electronic handicaps (I mean aides...) don't make their car weigh any less or stop any faster. I can stop just as well by feel than you can with your ABS, difference is I'm going 20mph slower than you because I'm not stupid.
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...I can stop just as well by feel than you can with your ABS...
No you can't. Because I don't drive. Ever.
I leave an hour or so earlier than other people and take the bus, or walk. Or walk half the way and then take a bus for the other half. And I don't appreciate you calling me an idiot. I'm not an idiot. That's why I don't drive. I have a feeling that with my ADHD I'd only get myself killed. And then I'd be past worrying about this ABS BS.
Don't assume. You just make an @$$ out of you and me. And I don't like being made an @$$. Or other people making themselves @$$3$. Or any other kind of equid/elimination hole, for that matter. Or any combination of those...
I would agree that new drivers being so dependent on all kinds of external systems is a very bad thing because if you can't drive without it then as soon as one system fails the driver is lost, and I think that's what you're getting at. But I wouldn't say that makes the systems themselves such a bad thing. If it saves lives, no matter whose lives those are, then I say it's worth it. But it's the driver's responsibility to make sure the system doesn't become a crutch.
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Apologies, I did not mean you as in YOU. I meant you as in whoever happens to be flying by me doing 80 in the snow. That's just the way I talk. Come on man, I thought you know me well enough to know I don't start attacking fellow forum posters for no reason.
Yes, the system saves lives, but far too often people use them as crutches or excuses to be wreckless. And no amount of electronic aids can make a car stop any faster in the snow. They just make sure you're going in a straight line when you plow into the car in front of you. I pride myself on knowing that if I can handle this wild bull in the snow I can drive anything.
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Y'know, it's starting to get to the point that I can't take people's claims that their location has the worst drivers, because I've heard that claim come from literally anywhere there's people driving cars, so by the sound of it, there's bad driving EVERYWHERE.
Maybe we should just say that people (on average) are bad drivers. :P
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Manitoba has the best drivers.
Not as in the most skilled, necessarily, but everyone who comes here says they're the most considerate.
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Y'know, it's starting to get to the point that I can't take people's claims that their location has the worst drivers, because I've heard that claim come from literally anywhere there's people driving cars, so by the sound of it, there's bad driving EVERYWHERE.
Maybe we should just say that people (on average) are bad drivers. :P
We get enough people from Michigan around here, that I know that Ohio does not have the worst drivers. ;)
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Speaking as a native Minnesotan, people are scary when it snows. Some do fly by too fast. I was going 40, others were passing me. I slipped and smacked into the ditch. very very poor tires.
Got new tires now though.
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That's true anywhere it snows... here in NH there will always be some who try to drive on snow like they do on dry pavement. ie, too fast!
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There's a university nearby here in Idaho that gets students from all over the nation (and then some). It's always fun (and a little worrying) to see those from the warmer climates try to drive when winter rolls around. :P
It's even more fun to hear them gripe about the cold when little ol' me who grew up with these winters is sitting nearby all calm and comfy about it. :P
That said though, because of those students, we have a rather diverse blend of drivers around here.
Of course, I'm one to talk, because I, personally, do not drive. I mean, I learned and everything, I just never bothered to go and get my driver's license. According to my driver's ed teacher, though, I was a very careful and considerate driver, and he frequently complimented me on my skills at freeway-driving (which is ironic, because I hated freeway driving the most).
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A little late on replying here, but we had some storms blow through late yesterday afternoon that knocked out our power from 5 PM on through the rest of the night. While my folks were griping and griping that they couldn't watch TV and go on the internet, I was thoroughly enjoying the serene silence and lack of electric buzz. It was truly a lovely sound (or lack thereof). It brought about a certain level of tranquility, save for my folks griping of course. So there we were, in the candlelight, no power, and in the SAME ROOM as each other for the first time since, oh gosh, Hurricane Ike in 2008 when we lost power for 8 days? Anyways, I took it upon myself to crank up the old Victrola and play some old 78s that my great-grandparents had purchased throughout their lives ranging from the 1890s to the 1920s. The music blasted LOUDLY from that Victrola, and I danced and just had a good ol' time. Now, I'm 28, and here's my almost 75 year old dad bitching that the power is out and that he can't go on the internet, so he's going outside every 10 minutes to check the power company's truck down the street. I asked him, "now who do you think the older soul is?" He just grumbled. lol!
Being without power brought about a serene level of peace and I got to thinking; "What the hell do 'I' need electricity for?" Sure, these Mario Maps that I've been making are my number one obsession, but if I were to suddenly be transported back in time to, say, the 1890s, taking everything I know about modern times, I am most certain I would adapt just fine... and I'd CONTINUE to make my Mario Maps! How the hell would I do it? EXACTLY like I'm doing it now, but without a computer. I'd cut a bunch of squares out of thin wood and make each and every "sprite" for the land and the trees, et cetera, and I'd literally paint the graphics on each one. Then, I'd glue a magnet to the back of each "sprite" and put them onto a board. It could just work! Perhaps, someday, when I live off-grid (if I follow through with that plan), I could create this!
I'm also a big music fiend. In order to live without power, I'd need to convert my ever growing CD/Digital album collection BACK to vinyl and play them the same way they did in the 1900s; just literally "crank it up". Also, I use electric cigarettes, and that, of course, requires electricity. That's easy: solar chargers. Could also work for cellphones, but I may not WANT a cellphone if I'm living off-grid. Water could come from the atmosphere powered by a solar-powered condenser, and gas from propane or good old fashioned metallic barrel set ablaze for cooking.
Bottom line, there's a magical feeling of being able to hear your primeval self once again when electricity blows out, and it is something we all need to quench every once in awhile.
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Did they have vinyl in 1860? I think not. And a solar charger for your electric cigs? No, sorry. Even your magnets would be hard to come by, and very expensive, me thinks.
But other than that I hear ya bud. My wife, as soon as she gets up or walks in the door, turns on the TV, and it's on untill she goes to bed or leaves the house. Drives me crazy, especially after a long day of working with noisey power tools, and I come home and the TV is blaring, even during supper. Ok, sorry for the rant... :-\
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I was thinking the same about the magnets.
The vinyl didn't cross my mind but it didn't need to. I know that much about music and audio history by heart.
I doubt they'd have had most of the music you would be listening to in 1860 either. Or even the genres.
Wouldn't you need an old-fashioned gramophone though, one that would operate by wind-up or... something like that? I'm pretty sure all the later models used electrical power to spin the turntable. I know the one my parents have (and still use on occasion) does.
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Easy fix then: Just stick Alieo in the nineteen-twenties. Save the solar charger, everything else should be able to be found for his use.
His recent choice of music was real popular in around that time period too. :)
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I still don't think you'd find vinyl records. I think vinyl records started in the 60's, prior to that was a much more brittle plastic. And I don't think you'll find electric cigs in the 20's either.
EDIT: This article: the invention of vinyl records - where it began (http://eil.com/explore/guide/vinyl_invention.asp), says during WWII vinyl records were developed, so that means late thirties, early forties.
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They still have records in the 1920s, and I would think that would suffice for Alieo, regardless of what they're actually made out of.
And no, no electronic cigs, mostly because the real thing was still all the rage, so why go for a similar replacement?
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Oh, no, I know vinyl records didn't exist in 1860. The first voice recording didn't exist until the 1860s anyways. They used a more breakable material back then. As for going back in time with my e-cigs, of course, if I'm going to go back in time, I'd take such things as a solar charger with me, and when those batteries couldn't charge anymore, I'd switch to "analog" cigarettes, but not before paying Mr. Edison a visit to see if he could replicate my batteries.
Here's something interesting about early wax recordings:
Wax cylinder recording - He's In The Jailhouse Now (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVTMPbMrU_0#)
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...but not before paying Mr. Edison a visit to see if he could replicate my batteries.
And then we get into the issue of altering history, and the potential outcomes of that. Actually, it probably wouldn't be so bad, since batteries already did exist by that point in time and were in commercial use (they just weren't nearly as refined, portable, or efficient as today's), so much so that you could, theoretically, jury-rig a system using batteries of the period for the electric cig. But since I assume you'd want Edison to replicate your rechargeables that you brought with you, well...I wouldn't recommend it without considering the full outcomes of doing that first.
Sorry, I know this is all hypothetically, and not entirely serious, but apparently I have a thing for time travel, and I think about these sort of things. :P