In Which: Raffles, Anagrams, Cruising and Going Backless Are Discussed

Bear with me here, I have a lot to say on nothing in particular, just some bits of thoughts that probably go on too long.  Just like normal really but with less direction:

I am sad to admit that recently I have been doing nothing, wasting away my days without aim or inspiration.  Work has taken up a lot of time but the job I have is not exactly conducive to letting the mind wander and be creative, which is a shame as I could do with a lightening bolt to get my blogging year on track.  A couple of things that have been occupying me of late though are technology and history and the football of course but I have always been a sucker for a huge database of ever-changing statistics, it makes me happy.

Looking for something to get my thoughts going, I came across the above photo that I took a while back whilst, unsurprisingly waiting for a bus on a really cold morning.  it’s one of those scenes that would normally give me the impetus to write a blog post but as nothing was forthcoming decided to save it for just such a time as this.  I noticed today and very belatedly that jiggling the letters of ‘Stop’ around, you get post and there it was all the time staring me in the face, all the prodding I needed to write around a subject.

I like taking the bus, even when the route is familiar, there is always something to have a nosy at, I always wonder where all the streets lead and most of the time I will the bus to take an unexpected turn and just wander around for a bit in an uncontrolled flight of fancy.  I willed a train to do the same thing once but quickly stopped when I realised the limitations that would bring that experiment to an uncomfortable end.

I never read whilst travelling in case I miss something but will read whilst waiting for the bus to leave the station which probably makes me seem odder to fellow passengers but then again you never know what public transport will throw up in terms of people.  It’s like a nightmare version of a raffle sometimes.

On those long distance bus trips, I wouldn’t mind a chat then but as it always seems to be 2AM when travelling,  talking is not usually what most people have in mind.  In amongst the sleepers, the few of us left are usually alone with our thoughts looking at the empty streets and imagining everybody warm in bed, I confess it is a nice feeling, early morning melancholy, an adventure about to be embarked on.

The other day I finally gave in and went to pick up a new mobile, the old one has started to turn itself off every time I put it down and there is only so many times you can slowly lower a phone in stages over the course of a minute before you start to feel stupid in front of onlookers.  If that wasn’t enough the back keeps falling off as well and in mid lower that may throw in a bit of drama but has completely shot my nerves.

last time phone shopping, I was almost laughed out of the shop for having such an archaic steam-powered device so this time I cunningly left The Backless at home and in complete anonymity purchased the new one.  It’s by no means high-end as I see no point in that but it does have texting, phoning and internet capabilities which is all I really need.

So now I have all manner of ‘apps’ for Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, my email and all the rest of it but after the initial excitement I was faced with reality, in that I don’t get that many calls, texts or social media type notifications at the best of times so if anybody wishes to add me to such things or just ‘hit me up’ for a chat or whatnot, feel free as the phone these days is the hub of interaction (for better or worse).

I’ve also been reading about history recently (a possible clue to my next book review perhaps?) and it never fails to amaze me about the ingenuity of the human species, to travel, explore and collect inanimate objects that do nothing more than collect dust but seem to be status symbols.  Before TV there was nothing to do but watch the stars for long years and write down the observations or move big stones or go on a cruise with the wife, kids and livestock before living it up in Polynesia carving big stone heads.

I love our rich heritage which is sadly becoming homogenised these days, probably because we don’t all write down our astronomical equations and wonder at the vast scale of the Out There with anything like the awe we once did.  It is rubbish to know nothing, yet even worse to know it all, I love the mysteries left to us, they are frustrating and yet I am happy that there are still things we don’t know.