Tag Archives: #rmd

Tie a Yellow Ribbon… (#RMD 2023-02-15)

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Unknown

It is time for another of Rory’s Morning Dawdler (#RMD). Three times a week Rory, The Autistic Composter at Earthly Comforts posts several questions for the blogosphere to ponder.

1. If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be and why?

As a Canadian, it would be very easy to pick a Maple Tree. It makes delicious syrup for your pancakes and is the national symbol that appears on our flag. It would be the natural choice on this February 15th aka Flag Day in Canada. Happy Flag Day everyone but to be clear the maple tree is not my choice.

I remember the old oak tree out back of my Grandfather’s place. Us grandkids spent many hours playing beneath that tree. We collected and made bubble blowers pipes from the acorns it dropped and climbed its branches. We never did tie a yellow ribbon around that old oak tree though.

It was a sad day when the property was sold and the contractors took the tree down to build row houses. The old oak was wise and majestic and as I age those are qualities I can aspire to, well majestic may be a stretch but hopefully, I’ve acquired some wisdom along the way.

2. Name five (5) uses for a stapler other than stapling.

I’m pretty sure everyone has covered a myriad of uses for a stapler so instead of listing five, I am going to recount a story that I ensure will be the most bizarre use of a stapler ever.

I remember some years ago listening to an interview with a Metal band, I want to say Guns and Roses but it may have been Mötley Crüe, Metallica or another band of the genre. I really don’t remember.

The DJ conducting the radio interview and the band members were discussing the autograph signing session at the HMV on Yonge Street in Toronto when he asked, “What was the weirdest fan request for an autograph?”

One of the band members responded by saying that they’d had requests to sign body parts, boobs, butts or that type of thing but that the most bizarre was an incident prior to a show in San Francisco where a fan was requesting tickets.

Unknown

The fan approached the table and in the discussion, he said he’d do anything for a pair of ducats to the show that evening. There happened to be a stapler sitting on the table and as a joke one of the band members said, “Ok, would you grab that stapler and staple yourself with it?” The guy instantly picked up the stapler and before anyone could say anything, banged four staples into his own forehead. “It was surreal and it was the moment I realized how devoted our fans were. He stood there with blood running down his forehead so we had to get him a pair.”

3. Do you believe in tipping for good service received and do you think that tipping makes for a better service?

Personally, I don’t believe in tipping. That said, I accept that there are certain industries where tipping is traditional and I normally oblige in those circumstances. However, I believe tipping should not be considered when determining wages and as such expected. Employers should be paying their staff reasonable wages. I believe it to be a fairer business practice that will attract and retain employees and lead to better customer satisfaction.

What I find troubling is that the practice of tipping has seemingly begun to creep into non-traditional business environments. For example, I was at a concert this week where I purchased a concert tee for my wife. While completing the transaction the electronic payment terminal provided options to add a 15% / 20% / 25% tip to the already overpriced tee that the attendant grabbed from the giant box behind her. Seriously? Employers, pay your staff! I can cite other examples, the local grocery store that asks for tips when you buy food from the pre-made food counter, or the coffee shop app sending me reminders to tip the Barista hours after I’ve paid and received my drive-thru order. Again, EMPLOYERS PAY YOUR F#CK!NG STAFF APPROPRIATELY!!!

4. Do you have a blog to write or do you have a blog to socialise only and which one could you survive without if one was taken away?

My blog is first and foremost a vehicle for me to write. When I started I didn’t know what to expect but the social aspect has been an added bonus. And now for the shameless plug. Check out the rest of my site, visit us at…

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The Big Rip (#RMD 2023-02-09)

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hdwallpaperim.com

It is time for another of Rory’s Morning Dawdler (#RMD). Three times a week Rory, The Autistic Composter at Earthly Comforts posts several questions for the blogosphere to ponder. This set was posted yesterday but life and the ever expanding universe didn’t put me here to answer until this morning.

1. What is the weirdest fact you know?

Dark energy permeates the universe. Although science doesn’t know what this energy is the mathematics show it exists similar to dark matter.

No this is not some plot of the next Iron Man movie or the evil forces we see at work in our everyday lives. Dark energy exists in the space between matter in the universe and it could bring about the end of everything.

Jeremy Teaford @ Vanderbilt

Dark energy is driving universe to expand at an accelerating rate. That expansion will eventually outstripping the gravitation forces holding everything together. When the “Big Rip” occurs gravity will not be able to hold matter together. All matter from black holes, to star and planets, to living creatures. The atoms we are made of will rip apart into their subatomic parts leaving only a universe of single disconnect particles. The mathematical modelss show the “Big Rip” happening in about 22 billion years.

Of course this is just one of three theories explaining the universe’s demise. The first of the other two theorizes that gravity wins the battle with dark energy and the universe collapses back in on inself creating what is know as the “Big Crunch”. All matter would be pulled back to a single dense point at the center of the universe. This one seem the most unlikely as the universe continues to expand at an accelerated rate. The other theory is based on the principles of thermodynamics in which entrophy will increase until it reaches maximum value. Essentially the universe will die in a “Big Freeze” where the gases of the universe disperse so thin that stars can’t form and time becomes but an endless void.

2. Which meal is your favorite: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?

Who am I kidding, I am partial to food at anytime but if I had to choose I’d say breakfast.

tengyart vis Unsplash.com

3. What do you enjoy most about your blog?

I enjoy the creative outlet it provides. I take pride in putting together a site that I hope people find visually pleasing and find fun to visit. I do wish I had more time but life does have its way of keeping us from the things we enjoy.

4. What are you passionate about outside of writing?

My family, my home and my vegetable garden.

Greg Glazebrook @ GMGPhotography
Greg Glazebrook @ GMGPhotography
Greg Glazebrook @ GMGPhotography
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Rory’s Morning Dawdler (2023-02-05)

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thesistercookblog

A pattern is beginning to emerge. Afternoon has become the new morning when replying to Rory’s Morning Dawdler. I mean I’m 3 for 3 so far! I do still have at London Fog and a slice of lemon loaf next to me though!

Have you learned anything new about your personality that you didn’t know beforehand whilst on your blogging journey?

Greg Glazebrook @ GMGPhotography

I always believed my creative side was better served in hands-on pursuits like woodworking or pottery. Even when I began writing the concept for the blog was as a social commentary site. Mostly rants and opinions but as one can see from eight years of almost nothing that was a colossal failure.

I didn’t see this venture as a creative outlet until I responded to a prompt that I happened upon. From there it has become more creative, less opinionated and a whole lot of fun! The jury is still out on success or failure though!

Check out Forgotten, the first creative endeavour posted at Greg’s Blog and a turning point in the evolution of the site.

What are your last thoughts of the night before you turn your lights off, ready to sleep? 

Usually, as I’m pulling on my Darth Vader breathing apparatus, I’m just hoping I wake up in the morning. So far I’m sporting a perfect record!

What is the most ridiculous thing you have ever heard anyone say, write, or blog about?

Where to begin…

As we become more polarized politically people on the fringes say the dumbest things. I am not a fan of our current Prime Minister. I prefer a more fiscally responsible government and my politics lie somewhere between the ideologies of the two major parties. That said we held and election and when the dust settled his party was able to broker coalition using the rules of governing we have agreed to since the forming of this great country in 1867. Just because the horse I backed didn’t win the race doesn’t mean I can demand my initial wager back. That’s not how it works. Maybe if we weren’t all so wrapped up in our own lives and took a moment to do our civic duty things would be different.

That said I find it ridiculous to hear people compare the young Trudeau to Putin, Kim, or Jinping. Yes, he cracked down on a bunch of foolish protesters paralyzing the Canadian capital over COVID-19 restrictions. It was not the government or Ottawa police’s finest moment but the protest had run its course and it was time to move on.

Ottawa Trucker Convoy ≠ Tiananmen Square Protest

Still, The nutters would have you believe the restrictions were a grab at totalitarian power and the end of democracy as we know it. Truth is, as our understanding of the virus has expanded and as we move beyond the initial threat that the anti-vaxxers/anti-maskers movements refuse to acknowledge even existed the restrictions have been lifted and daily life has returned to a semblance of normalcy. Sometimes the greater good has to come before individual rights.

His record has not come close to the atrocities of the monsters these fringe fools group him with. He hasn’t invaded another country to restore some former illusion of glory while butchering men, women and children along the way. He hasn’t rolled tanks over protesting dissidents or jailed them indefinitely for opposing real government brutality and civil liberty violations. He hasn’t committed human rights atrocities against any number of ethnic minorities or anyone who may be a threat to his power. I would love to have seen how Moscow, Pyongyang, or Beijing would have responded to the trucker convoy protests. I can assure you it would have ended much quicker and more brutally than it did here.

What can you do today that you were not capable of a year ago?

More than one and a half pushups, longer than ten painful seconds planking, and certain death after 3 minutes on the Airdyne torture stationary bike. That may have been a bit of an exaggeration but as I continue exercising to counteract my sloth I can feel the changes that are beginning to take effect.

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Rory’s Morning Dawdler (2023-01-29)

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London Fog Tea Latte

Imagine that it’s the afternoon again when I’m finally getting to the Morning Dawdler. I do have my Afternoon Tea – Earl Grey in hand though! No cucumber sandwiches and scones though. Here are my responses to Rory’s Morning Dawdler for January 29th.

Should we fear the arrival of more progressive AI [Artificial Intelligence] or embrace it?

Tara Winstead via Pexels

Fearing AI itself is pointless, it’s here and it is not going anywhere. We need to embrace it and push our political and business leaders to use the technology ethically. There is great potential for AI to solve many of the problems humans and our planet faces but we have to be the ones to make that happen. If the internet is any indication, we have a lot of work to do. The key technology of the last half of the 20th century should have ushered in a new era of enlightenment. Instead, it has become a vehicle for misinformation, scammers, trolls and some of the vilest pornography. IT has brought out some of the worst in us. Furthermore it has polarized us more than at any time in history. While we squabble over our difference the enemies of freedom (Countries like China, Russia, and Iran, or politicians like Trump or Erdoğan) exploit us and undermine democracies and our way of life.

AI learning algorithms are a large contributor to the problem. The reason the chasm between left and right is so large is because AI has eliminated the middle ground. Everything AI feeds us tries to push us to the fringes. When someone tells you they’ve never heard about issue X there is a good chance they haven’t because the algorithm may have never presented it to them. Meanwhile, your feed is filled with content on issue X leaving you flabbergasted and suspicious that the other person could be unaware. It’s hard to have civil discourse when you find it impossible to trust the other person. Sadly all it takes is a few clicks for the AI’s algorithm to start pushing you one way or the other. Sometimes even innocuously. You watch a comedian do his shtick on gun control then your feed is flooded with gun control posts. You click on a couple of the links and your feed begins to populate with more radical posts, and so on and so on… Before you know it the other point of view becomes too far removed from the algorithm’s parameters to ever show up in your feed. Your personalized feed tells you that those other issues or positions must be on the fringes because you never see them and we end up isolated in our own little boxes.

Michael Steinberg via Pexels

Even scarier, the Google’s, Apple’s and Meta’s of the world aren’t even sure how the algorithms work. They have taken on a life of their own but none of the AI players care because the algorithms keep lining their pockets with gold. AI will be what we let it become. If there is anyone to fear it is ourselves.

What is your proudest accomplishment? [Having children not included] 

Surviving the crazy shit I did in my youth! I look back now and wonder how I’m still alive.

Are/Were you the youngest, middle, oldest or only child?

I was the oldest of three and the only boy. We didn’t always get along but I lucked out. Both my sister are great people. I wonder if they’d say the same about me?

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Rory’s Morning Dawdler (2023-01-07)

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Well it’s not morning anymore and today hasn’t been a dawdler kinda day but here are my responses to Rory’s Morning Dawdler for January 7th.

Camila Sanabria via Unsplash

Have you ever learned to fight or taken self-defence lessons – why did you feel this was necessary or was this something that you wanted to know to feel safer?

I was always one of the bigger, stronger kids growing up and could handle myself very well. There is something to be said for being naturally strong. Studies show that strong people tend to live longer. That said, I have taken some rudimentary self-defense courses as they relate to the performance of past job duties but nothing that I initiated of my own volition.

Do you spell grey as gray and also is it colour or color?

Being in Canada we tend to spell using the British English variation although our proximity to ‘Merica has influenced us somewhat. Grey I tend to spell both ways, sometimes in the same piece of writing. But always ‘our’ for words such as colour, neighbour and favour. Do not get me started on Aluminium!

Johan Extra via Unsplash

Are you now or have you ever been afraid of the dark?

Probably as a kid but generally not anymore. That does not mean that I will run headlong into a situation where I can’t see. I’m not afraid but I’m not a fool either. Also, I must admit that every now and then if I’m home alone and heading down into the cellar I get that chill that runs up one’s spine, usually invoking a brief pause before I continue on as if it never happened.

Where do you prefer to do most of your clothing shopping – online or in-store?

I became a big online shopper during the pandemic. It was a safer option considering my immunocompromised status however now that we have (for the most part) come out the other side intact I find myself shopping for the best deal whether it is online or through traditional retail. For a time online was the cheaper option, so much so that bricks and mortar refused to include online in price match guarantees but I’ve been noticing a trend in recent months where I can get better deals in person. Amazon prices have steadily risen. I guess Bezos needs to make up for what he lost in the divorce or to finance the mothership that will take him off this rock before we annihilate ourselves. Even bricks and mortar stores like Costco’s or Walmart’s online portals have become significantly more costly for identical products sold in-store.

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