What the Dongle Is That?

I recognized a while ago that I really don't watch a lot of tv; certainly not enough to justify my monthly cable bill. In fact the only thing that has kept me from calculating the estimated cost per hour of view time is how depressing the result would be. So when Netflix was recently recommended to me (and well after my youngest extolled its virtues based solely on his upcoming party for the release of Arrested Development) I decided to jump in and sign up to see what all the fuss is about.

Here's the thing... I don't have an XBox or Playstation or whatever other "device" they recommend to stream the feed through. But wait a moment... I'm sure I've seen the Netflix logo on my tv before, but from where? Turns out, my BluRay player shows that it's capable of playing Netflix (or so I think). So over I scroll, highlight the Netflix logo and wait in breathless anticipation. Only to be dissuaded by this message:

Install WiFi Dongle to continue.

I beg your pardon!?

Google, would you mind explaining what a wifi dongle is? And Google, as always, did right by me. Turns out a wifi dongle is an antennae. That's it. Which begs the question, who names this stuff? And why not just call it what it is?

I think the IT super-brains who create all the new toys that we can't live without like to name things by a name that means nothing to us just to further impose their superiority upon us. Yes. We love your product. No. I can't explain what a dongle is but if you say I need it, I KNOW I do. I should buy a few.

But wait again... I have a bin full of cables and plugs and spare accessories from IT purchases over the years. A big bin. A really big bin. A really big bin that I thought I was going to throw my back out lifting. A really big bin with heaps of tangled cables and wires, five old cell phones and yes, a wifi dongle! Who's the gal? I am.

Anyway, dongle installed and Netflix linked. I'm tired. I'll watch something tomorrow.

I do

Two former colleagues were married this weekend. Two more women declaring publicly their faith not only in their chosen partners but also in the institution of marriage.

In the face of growing statistics regarding the percentage of failed marriages and the attached string of broken hearts, they have faith that they will be happy. Ever after. Or maybe they have faith in being together with their partner is better being alone. I could agree with that one. Alone is certainly not for everyone (and I think I have stated many times here that I really don't think it's for me either but life carries on, right?).

But as I scrolled through the ongoing Facebook stream of wedding day photographs with smiles and loving looks and palpable support and love from those witnessing the declaration of vows, it seems like such a good thing to believe in.

Faith. It is a wonderful thing. Faith in love is the best thing of all. It's enough to make my cynical heart believe as well.

Adding Up

I seem to be fixated on numbers of late. Maybe because my job is increasingly numbers-focused. Maybe because I'm turning 50 soon (now there's a number for ya). Maybe there's no explaining it at all.

But whatever the reason, I think more and more of the sums of what I have made of this life. Today's number topic? Birthdays.

I was talking with my oldest son's partner earlier as she and I were making plans for "The Boy's" upcoming birthday.

Note to Christopher: Quit snooping to find out details! Geez!!

I made an off-handed comment about the number of birthdays I have been given the delight of celebrating because of my boys. Adding them up, 30 for the oldest (counting the one coming right around the corner), 24 for the middle and 22 for the youngest. That's 76 birthdays.

Seventy-six.

McDonald-Land Birthdays. Chucky Cheese Birthdays. Airport Birthdays. Bowling Birthdays. Sleep-over Birthdays. Superhero Birthdays. And more Superhero Birthdays.

That's a lot of parties and cake and presents and loud kids. And it's a lot of love. Throughout all, the smiles remain exactly the same.

Faster than you think...

I've written about karma before. I absolutely believe in the concept and have faith in its existence. I had a great conversation with friends over the weekend about karma.

We all have people who either are still in our lives or who have exited that we are less than fond of. Come on, admit it... You know you do. I know I do. But whatever my feelings about them, present or past, I always have faith that the universe will take care of everyone with the respect and love they have earned. Call it kismet. Call it fate. Call it whatever you want but I have absolute certainty that it's true.

So when the conversation turned this weekend to what happens to people who have been unkind or even cruel, of course I invoked the "karma works" provision.

What I didn't think of then and what has occurred to me since is that karma has already done its thing. If two people part, whether they be life partners, family, friends, colleagues, coworkers or whatever, after one has been heartless to the other, pay attention. From my experience, one person, the individual who has been unkind, remains in that place of darkness that allowed them to treat another individual in this way. And the other, the person who felt the sting of words or actions, now being free is also free to feel true happiness. Oh sure, once in a while one person will have to deal with the other but they are now inherently separate. Positive from negative.

Isn't that karma in its most simple application? Karma works faster than you think. And thank all goodness for that.

Inversely Proportional???

Today's math lesson: Inverse Proportion.

Take for example the beautiful day we have just enjoyed today. In most of south-western Ontario it was very hot (close to the hottest day this year, actually) and humid and sunny and perfect (insert editorial license here). As the number of days that we can enjoy this kind of weather slip through our fingers (in fact, we really don't know if this may have been the last such day for 2013) I, for one, become acutely aware and appreciative of days like this. And thus, today's lesson in math.

Love of Hot Weather = 1/Hours of Sunlight. We are in love with the heat in inverse proportion to the number of hours of sunlight we enjoy in a day (simply put, fewer hours of sunlight = more love of heat). Think of how you feel about a hot, humid day in spring or fall as compared to how you feel about the same conditions in the middle of July. We love it now. We love it in the spring. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the number of hours of sunlight. What else could it be?

Other examples of the principle of inverse proportion?

Love of Christmas shopping = 1/Days until Christmas

Patience for Puppy Training = 1/Cost of the Item Being Chewed/Peed On/Pooped On

Ability to Fall Asleep = 1/Time Until Your Alarm Goes Off

Grade 10 Math Teacher Mr. Hay would be proud of me.

Drawing the Line

Drawing a line in the sand. I'm sure we've all done it at some point or other in our lives; maybe when we're ending something... maybe when we're about to being something... Sometimes the line in the sand is to announce to others where you stand in no uncertain terms, sometimes it's to confirm it to yourself. Whatever their reasons or purpose for being created, they are hard to ignore once declared.

In my life I've drawn several lines in the sand. I've ended relationships when they've crossed that line and I've refused to do things because what was being asked went beyond the lines I had drawn for myself. I've also used them often with my children. I used to say to the boys when they were growing up, "we don't have a lot of hard and fast rules in this house but the ones we do have are absolute. Don't cross them." And when they did (which happily they didn't do it often), they knew the line had been crossed and an equal and opposite reaction was about to come (proof that physics comes in handy in real life... Thank you Newton).

Of course, lines in the sand don't have to be threatening in nature. It's not always about "if you do this, I am going to have to do that." Sometimes they are more like yardsticks... benchmarks. I am face to face with one of my classic lines in the sand these days.

Many of the lines I drew as a parent were created more as advise for my boys than direction; I was hoping to offer my perspective on life in tangible, measurable ways that were easy to absorb and hopefully follow. I have often shared my thoughts on relationships here (when it comes right down to it, I talk about little else) and I was equally communicative with the boys. It seems to have worked in one regard because my eldest has thrown one of those "perspectives" back to me recently and my how that came as a surprise. So what's come back to stare me square in the face?

"Don't get married before you turn 30." Something my eldest is about to do in 21 days. Three weeks. Actually, I told them they didn't ever need to get married because, as I used to tell them, "what matters is that you love the person you are with, treat them with respect and accept nothing less from them. But most of all, show them you love them. All the time." Marriages fail every day (been there, done that) and relationships with no legal proof of existence carry on. What matters is love. So my eldest happily reminded me of my "30 Rule" just a few days ago.

He is in a long term relationship with a beautiful gal who I adore as much as I could anyone who is not my own child. My son and I have talked about them getting married so if it happens this week, this month, this year or this decade it would come as no surprise. And of course I'm not so self-involved to think that any one of my three boys has not committed to marriage because of this advise I was always so happy to dole out.

But the reality is that as time marches on, so does the likelihood that my children will marry, have children, establish their own families to nurture and grow. So what's my latest line in the sand? Be happy. Love. Absolutely.