SIMPLER TIMES AND WAYS -glenn kaiser 12/3/23
For some what I'm about to say won't resonate, especially regarding computers and getting work done on them. But please stay with me, I think you may find this of value. I have an admittedly partial bit of sentimentality to old school computing. See, I had taken typing in high school and learned on early (as in pre MS/Dos) computers where there were no graphics. Well, unless you knew how to manipulate letters and numbers in shapes to create a sort of picture... I'm typing this very post on a mid-90's MacBook Pro laptop gifted me by my dear friend Jon and I deployed a free but amazing, fast and beautiful Linux distribution called Orchid on it as my go-to operating system. Oh it has lots of "bells and whistles" but it also has (as does Windows and Mac) an option that in Linux is super-quick to get to, that being what is called "the console". I can boot this machine up in about 30 seconds and choose to stay in text-only mode thereby not using graphics at all. Several major news sites allow me to access their headlines, then if I wish to hit the "enter" key and read the articles I access them with no adds, no pop-ups and zero graphics because I'm doing this via a text-only browser. All this means everything is lightning fast and simple. Simple. The distractions to writing, thinking and getting work done in this fashion are nil, though of course not comfortable for some while it's thoroughly cozy and time-effective for me. Growing up in rural areas of Wisconsin where being poor and often alone as my first real friend was the only one living close enough to play with likely helped learn creatively. Until I was in 3rd grade and we moved to the city that's the way it was except when at school, so one had to find one's own way in play. Again, maybe that's why my imagination has been so good through the years. It's also why (between our family being poor, my Dad's industriousness and creativity) thinking about how to do things with little became very much part of my life. Spending as much time as I did and could in the woods, learning to only pack what I really needed on tours as a musician, using old free computers but learning -how- to use them efficiently and building little guitars out of found objects and cigarboxes have all been a regular part of my life for many decades. For some, simplicity is a turn-off and a frustration. "I GOT to have..." is often a real self-burn, matter of pain and struggle for so many! On rare occasion each year I camp without my wife or others and when so I only bring what I absolutely need. A friend moved on from a business I used to volunteer at. He left a metal cup in the trash which I thoroughly washed. It sits near me in my office now. It comes along when I camp solo. Coffee grounds gp in, water on top and I set it just a bit inside an open campfire. When it boils (I like black coffee) I use a pliers with padded handles to carefully put the cup in a spot where it can cool. When the temp is right I drink it. When I get to the grounds I simply wash it out with water and keep going. As I said, such simplicity isn't for everyone and I understand that. For me, what works without a lot of fuss and bother helps me be more productive -and frankly, it's often also fun, not to mention offering a less frazzled lifestyle. Doing more with less and being productive and creative with what God has given us seems to me far more than a possibility or mere theory. Peace is much the same. Day to day my prayer life grows. My sense of the importance and amazing, truly incredible grace of my Savior is key, foundational to my sense of well being. The idea that I'm missing something in a world fully racing to fill voids, to accumulate more stuff, spend more money, run on that hamster wheel of Western world tension via capitalism is not my idea of a satisfying life -much less securing peace. As always, your mileage may vary, but for now I'll simply say greater simplicity and de-cluttering is a gift. Now if I could separate and toss the stuff in my office/workshop/storage space more quickly! HA! Yup. As always, thanks for stopping by. -Glenn
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