justing.net

Week Notes No. 41: Daily Bits

By Justin G. on 25FEB03MON

Continuing to lay off the generic internet time. Look inside to see what happened.

I’m willing to note down more of the things that happen while I am out walking the dog. That’s one thing that happened, anyway.

Almanac / outlook

More seasonably average this week, which means a bit colder: lows in the upper 30s and highs not breaking out of the 50s. Maybe rain during the weekend. Maybe. Clear before then.

New moon on Wednesday, so dark skies all week. Sunrise is around a quarter after 7 and sunset is about half past 5. That’s a little over ten hours of daylight.

Day Bits

I noticed that some of my noticings are taking more words to articulate than they used. Not sure if that’s good or bad. Hopefully they sound like me. Or at least are clearly articulating what I saw, heard, felt, or otherwise noticed.

1. JAN27MON
   • It is day 3 of my escape from the internet, and I am still running as far as I can. There is relief in this time away; I do not look gladly at the prospect of searching for something there. It’s generally not a friendly place, though there are some boroughs more welcoming than others. They can be short or long lasting, steady or unsteady, and often hard to find. I don’t mean to say it’s all like that, but it does all seem to have the stink of some bad air. Maybe we’ll clean it up someday. For now, I plan to drive through as fast as I can when I must.
   • Those questionable collard greens turned out to be collards exclamation point. I think we’ve mastered sautéing random greens; those were good!
2. SEP28TUE
   • This morning, while out walking the dog, I heard a couple of voices. I thought they were voices but I heard them again a few moments later; they were the same but now unmistakably coyotes. A few of them weere having choral practice up in the hills, not far from where I was. Sounded like children at first, or a child. Must’ve been the choirmaster.
   • On my way to my blood draw appointment they were paving the expressway. It’s not a road that particularly needed a repaving. At the blood draw I waited a moment and looked out the window at a recently burned building. When the nurse arrived they swiveled the chair to first check my right arm, and swiveled, then checked my left. Left was preferred by both of us for different reasons; them for easier access and me for the distraction of the view.
3. JAN29WED
   • Some new graffiti on the way to work. “FLOOR IT G.’O.D.” Anybody know what it might mean? It was on several of the big directional overhead sign bridges.
   • I was driving home tonight and someone was cruising down 85 with their lights off. How does one just not notice? It’s even kinda hard to turn the lights all the way off. Most autos these days have an “auto” setting for the lights. You just don’t have to even change it. Ever. But, I guess if one time you do change it, you might forget by the time you get in the car again. You’d not even realize that the extra dimness out there is not because your glasses are dirty or it’s a dark and stormy nights.¹ Anyway, those automobile regulators apparently thought of that because cars also have reflectors built into the bumpers now. So even if you happen to be driving around with the lights off, the other drivers would have to be too for it to become a real problem. Modern life.
4. JAN30THU
   • The dump trucks on our street are so loud this morning. There normally aren’t dump trucks of any kind on our street, not even quiet ones. They must be grading at a couple of build sites up the way. We decided enough was enough and chose a different way to walk home.
   • This tetherball pole has been smoothed. It’s the same as the handles in a train station by all the touches of passing passengers. I’m at the school yard where we take our dog in the evenings, waiting for her to come to me. The coating on the metal pole is a slightly rough surface, like fine sand or dull orange peel. But it’s smoothed down and worn away. It becomes almost like glass. Maybe it was once painted, I couldn’t say. Whatever the finish was, it’s now polished away to a mirror. Even the rusty areas are glossy and reflective. I had no idea that rust could be made delicate by any method, be it tetherball, years of children’s hands at play, or even careful craft. It is beautiful. It’s been made a work of art in the commons.
5. JAN31FRI
   • A bit of rain got me while I was out walking the dog this morning. First precipitation in a couple of months now, has it really been that long?, and more is on the way. There was sparse evidence on the ground and the weatherman said it was coming, just didn’t believe him about this morning. After a couple of blocks a weak rain started; it hardly met the definition. The drops were real ones, but they only fell in a meager portion. Maybe ten minutes after that I noticed the tiniest increase in their frequency had urged me to step faster. M began to shake her head, flapping her big ears noisily because of the extra moisture. Clearly she was annoyed. She even stopped to scratch the top of her dampened head once. It was not enough to wet my coat all the way though; it couldn’t fill in the spaces between the newest drops. My coat was covered with a splotchy fractal pattern of fresh wet spots and fading dampness. Just cold air and a little water for now. More’s coming, M, more is coming.
6. FEB01SAT
   • In the late afternoon there was such a flash of sun in the backyard that I jumped up to go see. All day it had been one endless thick dark cloud. And then, a dazzling brief brightness; my eyes were accustomed only to this day’s dimness. It was the only sunlight today. I hurried my search for shoes, but the light was already waning by the time I got out. The golden glow was gone too quickly. I guessed that the sun had glanced under the cloud edge quickly before falling behind the hillside. It would surely continue on and brighten another’s afternoon too, if for just a moment. No rain came from those clouds either, despite the weatherman’s promises.
7. FEB02SUN
   • Life can be like a trip to the grocery store sometimes, or sometimes a trip to the grocery store can really be life. You know what sucks? Spilling blueberries in the grocery store sucks, that’s what. They roll everywhere, and if you step on one, or many, they squish and make a mess. Most of the berries end up right under the cart, but a dozen or more scatter around the produce section. A couple of other shoppers helped pick them up. The four of us all bent low, looking for round little blue fruits. It’s a basically unheard of kindness, stooping to clean another’s mess in a space busy with foot traffic and during one’s own errands too. We need much more of that kind of sensitivity in the world today. Not Karens or Garys who spout obscenities and bile at any inconvenience, shouting “what about my needs?! my need!”. These fellow travelers in the grocery store of life, they simply helped and briefly commiserated before continuing on with their own business; even the shopkeeper said thanks. Maybe some things will turn out ok.

Outside Events

1. NVDA experienced a massive selloff on Monday after the Chinese company DeepSeek’s app debuted.
2. Gulf of America, via hn and DF.
3. The new administration continues to attempt massive changes spanning the functions of the US government, and clear media coverage is particularly lacking.
4. Nonsensical water release to “aid” LA fires.
5. Two plane crashes, DC and Philly.
6. So, we’re in a trade war with Mexico and Canada now.

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