Losing my way in this age of ignorance

At 51, I'm starting to understand a little bit of how my dad possibley felt.  Harry was a simple man, a good man but a simple man. Hands in the horse shit bucket to do the garden type of guy! RESPECT!

Harry couldn't cook though and he often used the wrong tools to mend things that would probably need mending again 2 weeks on. He had a very unique view of the World that was a bit skewed to say the least. I often watch old British sitcoms just to hear Harry...

Bless the man! He did his best and that was always good enough and beyond. I miss Harry!

With a foreign English education equalling about grade 6 in Canada during the 70's, Harry answered an ad in the paper and became a prison guard at the infamous Burnaby BC penitentiary named Oakalla. He managed to get through that and ended his work life in a half-way house in Marpole. He retired on Vancouver Island with my mum. Harry could talk to "inmates" quite easily.

Harry was a blue-collar dummy. I mean absolutely no disrespect in giving him that title. I too describe myself as such.

Like my dad before me, I haven't got much, but what I have accomplished, I've done it on my own! Nothing has been given to me. I'm not a member of, as Warren Buffet calls it, The Lucky Sperm Club. Not sure if that makes me more grateful or jealous. Jury is still out.

The World seems to be getting smaller and faster. Thanx (I guess) to technology, we now know what's going on 12,000 miles away in about 42 seconds. I'm old enough to recall a time when we'd hear bits of news about our Southern neighbours probably due to America television feeds. Africa? Middle East? Not a peep. We had a battered black and white tv that got 6 channels on a clear day if Harry was in good enough mood to readjust the roof antenna after a wind storm. "Bloody thing". I recall coming home one day to my excited mum. We got a thing called cable. Now we had about 15 channels. I went into the garden several times looking for that "cable". I never did find where they put it. I wasn't going to touch it...I just wanted to see this new marvel.

I'm about 5 smart phones behind the trends and it's the only gadget I currently own save an introductory Canon camera. Come to think about it, I still don't use either to their apparent potential. I'm a bit dim in that area I guess.

At the grouphome the other night, I had to type out a Missing Person Report on a 17 year old addict on the computer and "save the document to the desktop" I had to wait for relief staff to arrive to show me how to do that. She thought it was "cute" that I didn't know. I took a photo of my report in the event it was lost. (insert laughter, how cutes and eye rolls here)

I remember Harry getting a car with an automatic transmission, he would often gear down when climbing steep hills but take his foot off the gas peddle as he did it as if working a clutch. Poor car.

So yes, my simplicity comes to me honestly. I'm in no way book smart. Hands on chap actually!

My present struggle is trying to master a few chords on my ukelele. They just won't stick in my brain. God knows how you musicians can actually play? Aren't you all on heroin or the Pot?

Still. Mustn't grumble. I'm rather good with humans and can usually chat with anyone. P'raps theres enough people out there who can play ukeleles. I'm not giving in just yet though. My own speed...not anyone else's. I'm doing it for a giggle...no Royal Albert Hall appearances, no desire there.

At the risk of beginning to offer up the illusion that I even know what's going on culturally, I can't help feel that instead of being left behind, p'raps people are in too much of a hurry to obtain and use the latest and greatest trend, that they're missing a few things? Quite like driving too fast to enjoy the view. New things are nice, but the industry has baited us with language like "upgrade" trade up" etc and many of us feel like we MUST obey! 

Pay attention to grocery store shelves around September and you may notice NEW AND IMPROVED written on many familiar products. What was the former effort? Old and stagnant? 

I went to the motorcycle show a few weeks back, a little over the top for me if truth be told. I didn't see any carburetors anywhere but I did see an electric Harley Davidson. Really? The carbs I knew about but an electric bike? I had no idea.

I wonder where the time went. What else have I missed? What have I been up to?

It seems to me that I have little precious time to sit down and fiddle with some new thing for a few hours in order to figure out how to do something with it that I was already managing to do with its predecessor. I don't get it?

I'm watching a series on Netflix called The Walking Dead. I'm a few seasons behind apparently, even so, I gain personal comfort watching these humans struggle through seemingly insurmountable odds yet still carry on.

So...as I continue to lose my way in this Age of ignorance...MY ignorance, please feel free to join me when all things electric go to shit. I may be of some value to you.

Peace