Politic Games

 The many new television "games" series are no longer about spelling and guessing words. They're about lives and lifestyles, but principly about money that most of us don't have enough of.  Our political figures seem to be using we, the public, as their game pieces, for winning a seat.  In my area, many of us in the vast middle of society, the ones who quietly pay taxes and help  families and live peaceably and with hopes for a better future and do not attend big professional rallies or protests, find it harder and harder to vote. It seems that like bathwater, politics sploshes up and down and clings to one side or the other of life's tub when it's all done. There appears to be no calm middle water on which to sail one's life. And a regular citzen's vote once meant something. There are awash, politicians who want only to win and in doing so try to seek out the side that will get them there. Period. Politicians who do get IN, make good money and benefits and perhaps appear to work "hard" at orations, dictating letters and rubbing luncheon shoulders with the right people who will do things. Political life is by terminology, people handling. They are those who get into power that we ordinary humans have no time or talent for, and hopefully they do it for us. We hope they do it for us. Of late, I have no one to vote for because the two rather extreme opposites are having too much fun jousting  or joining up with the other side. Who is in the middle? The middle man is pretty much what most of we, the public are. We like things to run smoothly and efficiently and give us the truth and information that we need. It's all that we elected them to do for us. We trust whom we vote for. Plain and simple. This time around, I have no one to vote for to express my citizen responsibility in the franchise. What happened to the middle?

Kids And Old Goats

I use this image of goats only for the cuteness of a title but in reality, there are similarities that apply. Our self-owned, no rental, no pets, no smoking condo building is close to forty years old, and  has always been a quiet, adult place with seniors living in it. We are told that is no longer. For some odd reason, related to making more housing available, political leadership has decided to mix "kids" and "old goats". Where we live does not have facilities for children. All of the units have two bedrooms and two bathrooms in spaces that range from one thousand square feet to a couple of hundred more. The floors are hardwood types, soundproofing is not present. There is an elevator in the three storey wood frame structure.  It is a rain proofed sound building with underground parking and storage units. Most of the outdoor garden is not safe for activities due to, on two sides, a steep slope and the others only a narrow strip of lawn. The sun decks are not large and all 23 units are said to have had views of the ocean but only a few now, have a peep of it that lies a block or two down the hillside of this tiny city. It has always been a very fine place to enjoy the peace and pleasurable companionship of elders.  Now, we are forced to have young children and rentals because the provincial government has made suddenly, the decision to change our life styles to suit their housing crisis solutions. I see it as a coming social disaster. Those of who live here are aghast. We love children since we have grandchildren we adore and who visit us. We do not want to live in a place with children for obvious reasons - we reared our families and now we deserve a quiet life. But we are given no choice. Because young families cannot afford a house and will turn to condos at a fraction of the price, there is going to be a mix that I doubt will be as successful as it sounds.  It's a question of domicile choice on both sides. It's not a battle between young and old.  It's a right to live in a place that fits individual wants and needs, not one for elected politicians to force on others. There will be conflict in places where people live. Plain and simple and natural conflict that is unwanted.

What Have We Become

We have become The Media:  small, big, social and the personal kind. There are no  holds barred and there is little, if any, outside actual control over it. It has caused, in some cases, lethal harm and continues to do so.  Anything goes, it seems, in the user world. Our marvellous technical wonders have come along and are now biting us. We feel innundated and that we have little control in stopping its mayhem. Everyone with a cell phone can become a newscaster, apparently. Professional media folk, welcome amateur "reporters"  and often invite their participation and pay them. The  amateur reporter can brag about their exploits. Privacy go figure. Our faces can be used as "keys" to enter our homes and places of business but can now be generated by an AI program.  We have no break from the worst the world has to offer and it's beginning to affect our psyches. It's just too immediate. There may be good intent with our new inventions but there are humans with evil intent, and they will find a way to use the media advantage, also. We are  out of control and are realizing that we have built a technical monster. It isn't all hopeless, however. We can still unplug if we chose. We are flesh and blood and a technical piece of hardware can't replicate that. We have brains and choices and know just how much is too much and that a piece of hardware isn't life itself. It takes courage to use the hardware your way only  not because of the influence of others and what they say and want. You choose. It's your life.  I have all the technical "stuff" that I want and need, and  I do enjoy it enormously, but I know exactly what works for me and what doesn't. I know that I have the power because I can turn it on -  or off.

Friend Divorce

Friends are one of the most important parts of our lives. We gain them from early life until the day we leave life. Along the way some friendships come and some go. Others last a lifetime. A friend is someone we bond with, one we have and never forget, good or bad, long or short. In my time on earth I have had many friends and all of them occurred naturally. If you asked me how they began, I wouldn't be able to tell you. Friendship happens overnight and at other times, it grows slowly. My early family moved constantly, never very far away, but to a new house, another neighbourhood. My younger sister and I, went to a new school every one or two years until our mid teens when we  protested to our father so long and loudly that my parents, my mother in particular, stopped her habit of moving to a "better" place. The only cure from the "moving" sadness was finding new friends. Along the way, I learned to be more selective about friendships. I wanted them to last no matter where we went. I found out, as well, that it's okay to turn off friendships that are not healthy for your personal life path. Today I "divorce" a friend. I didn't want to hurt my  friend but I had to be honest and ask for cooperation and understanding. I had to enlist my friend in this breakup because our relationship had to end. My once friend did nothing wrong. It was simply that I was heading down a path that wasn't mine. It was that of my friend's. It nagged at and bothered me for some time. Friendship unlike romance should be honest and helpful under any circumstance, because there are never, nor should be material assets at stake. Friendship is a cloud: delicate and impermanent. The parting journey of friends is sad, but in its way, as beautiful as a memorable sunset. 

Fat Pill Pusher

Somebody is getting fat on the fat pill that belongs only with those who have diabetes and even then with professionally considered thought. There is a kind of sickness lurking in current day folk, well-off people mainly, that tells them they must "lose weight". Their warped thinking is influenced principally by fashionistas and social media buffs who say "you can't be too rich or too thin". Thin is no joke to those who don't have enough food. And it's no joke to your body. What have we become? Just take a pill and all will be well and happy? A pill taken into a human body should be prescribed by professionals. The other kind are called "pushers". But it's a little confusing these days. What I see, as I did in a film star photo of a male, the other day, was "gaunt" and he was not attractive. His scales probably loved it. Skinny, let's face it, is not pretty. It's sad. Very sad, especially when it is achieved by taking pills or being on a fad diet that never works. We are, as we age, naturally going to change shape and  add a layer of fat. The natural body knows what it's doing. If you are forcing your body to be skinny, just for fashion, poor you. Your body knows what it needs to be healthy and stress free. If your main focus in life is to lose weight via some popular pill meant for sick people, your body will eventually message you: "watch out". The lengths that some go to are deranged. Chopping, burning, cutting off and medicating a healthy body is abnormal.  Your  life body is all you have. Think. Research. Ask your body, not some fashion reporter, before you stick pills into it or artifically starve it. The future will teach us. It always does.