Surrounded By Devices

Could be worse!

I have never been a big proponent of all the devices and new technology that tends to dominate the lives of many. I have never gone out of my way to buy the biggest and best phone, computer, etc. Overall, there are a few things that I use on a daily basis (namely my work computer and my cell phone) and everything else doesn’t really matter. This is why I was so surprised when I looked around this weekend at all the devices that fill our apartment.

While I really only use my phone and computer, I also have a small stockpile of old laptops teetering on  shelf in the office closet and a few outdated mobile phones that my wife and I haven’t used in years. And that is just the beginning as between the two of us we also have several tablets, cameras, and other ancillary items that we used briefly at one point or another for work. For not buying a whole lot of technology we sure have a crap load of it floating around.

It just seems like these things have accumulated around us without us knowing about it. We each have 3 or 4 generations of computers, 2-3 cameras, 1 or 2 old phones, and three tablet between the two of us. Many of these items just kind of hung around and fell into disuse like the island of forgotten toys and most of them were remnants of previous employers and previous incarnations of our hobbies (i.e. game systems and cameras). I guess that is the down side of employers allowing me to keep my computer (and being a bit of a packrat).

Other items that are orbiting the clutter have been either free (Kindle, Nook) of really, really inexpensive (several laptops, Wii, no name tablet). Of course, all of this doesn’t include the random little pieces of antiquated hardware like portable CD players, old iPods, and portable dictionaries. Kind of makes you think about doing a little extra cleaning and getting all of this crap out of our living space. While none of the items are particularly large of taking up any significant room individually, when you add them all together it does take a toll on the limited space that we have in our apartment.

Never took notice of the latest devices but, over time, they just seem to accumulate. They all work, sometimes the old ones are preferred over the new ones, but are they worth the hassle of storage and the random times that we pick them up and use them? I guess I will just have to keep closer track of whether or not I pick them up and put them to work. If not, I will have to salvage what I can off of them (this is mostly regarding computers) and find the best way to get rid of them (possibly at long range). This could get interesting.

Mail Day

It’s amazing how fast the mail can build up in the mailbox. Between junk mail, bills, and donation solicitations addressed to someone who has never lived in our apartment it makes you wonder how much money is being wasted everyday by some of these people, companies, and organizations. I’m also surprised at how much can be crammed into our little piece of real estate in the mail room.

The real problem with so much mail is not necessarily the volume, it’s the fact that I no longer look forward to the mail. Remember when you were a kid when it was something special to get a letter in the mail. It didn’t have to be anything particularly special it was just the fact that someone sent something to you because after all at that age you are the center of the universe. It was a time when you felt like you were getting your very own speedy delivery.

But now it is just a mass of wasted paper and pleas for money that I am not willing to hand out even if I had the money to give away. There is the occasional card or letter but that is quickly disappearing and morphing into the empty void that is email. Don’t get me wrong, I like email and I use it constantly throughout my day but sometimes you just need to take the time, sit at a desk, and pull out a pen. There is still something to be said for a signature on a white page.

I miss receiving letters from people. I miss having enough space on my desk to write letters to people. I have always enjoyed the act of writing. Not just the formation of thoughts on a page but the fine motor skills involved in the swift flowing motion of a fountain pen as you watch the lines slowly morph into letters, then words, and finally sentences until the thoughts are fully formed and the ideas are bouncing around the margins. Think about it, when is the last time you wrote a letter?

I like seeing the personality in the handwriting. This is something that is completely lost in the quick glance of a perfectly spaced email. And, in some instances, tone can be lost between the ink on the page and the words on the screen. It’s almost like an automatic cooling of the sentiment occurs as soon as technology is put into play.

I guess this is a long way of saying that I like getting a lot of mail as long as there is a personal touch to the correspondences I receive. Maybe the best way to start doing that would be to stop typing so much in my free time, break out the fountain pen, and stain the good paper currently being segregated in the closet. Who knows, maybe some of you will be getting a letter soon and some of you may even read it before shredding.

Where Is The Sanity In Sanitation?

This past week I came across a quote that, unlike other times when I have read similar statements, got me thinking. West side artist Art Schmaltz, who turns trash donated by friends and strangers into sculptures, said the following:  "I’ll wake up in the morning and say, ‘Oh, look at that! There’s a bucket of junk. Let’s get to it!’" It is just one of those little tidbits that you stumble upon… I have no idea how I got to the site to read the quote but here it is.

We all know there are plenty of buckets of being pitched this week with the question of whether any of it can be salvaged and made into something useful or, at the very least, appealing. The ideas and perspectives have been a polarizing force in this nation and it makes one wonder if there is a middle ground, a meshing of the trash found on each side that can bring to fruition something that is palatable to the general public. At this point, I sincerely doubt it.

It is one thing to deal with junk like in a junkyard where bits and pieces can be culled from the heaps of rust and given new life. Sometimes you don’t need a new part to make a car run. Will it be as efficient as a new one, probably not but it is cheaper and there is a chance that it could work quite well. That is not what we are dealing with today.

Garbage even has its benefits. Allowing an idea to breakdown and serve as compost for future concepts is not necessarily a bad thing. However, you have to keep in mind that compost piles, like the federal government, contain a lot of crap.

Trash is essentially useless. It doesn’t offer anything of value in its present state nor will it break down and serve as fertilizer for future legislation. Trash is trash. It is a blight that effects us all and leads to such situations like the one we find ourselves in right now… too much trash in a landfill and you will have to cover it up as best you can and move on to someplace else.

Both the current legislation and the tactics being utilized by both parties are more harmful to the political environment than dumping barges of Styrofoam into the Chesapeake Bay. You can say it’s a good thing and that it would offer wildlife free floatation devices but at some point you have to call them on their bull burgers and then you have to deal with a massive clean up knowing that things will never return to 100%. Trash is trash and we no longer have enough sanitation workers to handle the problem.