Changing Times

Last evening I spent some time adjusting the time pieces in my home. Tomorrow morning I’ll have to see if I still remember how to change the clock in my car without getting out the owner’s manual and I have yet to change my VCR but otherwise I believe I’ve fallen back. When it comes to a striking clock that is rapidly approaching its third century the only practical option is to stop the pendulum and try to remember to restart it an hour later. Mind you, a glance to my right reminds me that I still have to finish changing my wall calendars to November.

If you’ve ever seen the Great Red Spot of Jupiter you’ve seen a hurricane that is more than three times the diameter of Earth. By Earth standards hurricane Noel is massive but by Jovian standards it’s a pin prick. If you’ve ever been to Niagara Falls you have a concept of the power of water; just over a century ago the Canadian Falls were beside the American Falls. Along the Nova Scotia coastline Noel will kick up waves over 30 feet high and the storm surge will raise high tide well above normal maximum levels. Receiving over 10 inches of rain in less than 24 hours can have a devastating effect on any drainage system and winds that gust to from 80 to 100 miles per hour wreak havoc on trees and power lines. No matter how prepared you are depending on candles and oil lamps for light, cooking on a camp stove or BBQ if it’s safe to go outside, drinking water from pails and jugs as well as using it to flush the toilet, boiling water to wash dishes or even your face, and wandering if the power will come on before the precious produce in your deep freeze melts; all these add to the stress even if you are well prepared and safe indoors. Worse is having no ability to establish contact with the outside world. My sister and brother-in-law live in an electrically heated home outside Halifax—I’m certain the wood stove in their rec room is well stoked.

This morning I set up my humidifier for another year’s service. I’ve owned it for over a decade so I suppose it doesn’t owe me anything but never-the-less I was still grateful to discover it still works. On the other hand the fan on my electronic air cleaner appears to have permanently seized.

From today’s news; well recent news anyway. St. Mary’s Health Center in Scotland issues appointment cards which feature an ad for an undertaker on the flip side. Think ethanol is eco-friendly; think again. Those government subsidized ethanol plants are buying up corn that would once have become fodder for cattle and diverted production from varieties grown for human consumption driving up the price of corn 60% in one year. The old argument about elitist education has reared its ugly head again, this time in Germany. Universal Education is geared to mediocrity, aiming for the least common denominator. All students except the profoundly mentally challenged are lumped together; for the truly gifted this makes classes an exercise in utter boredom. I know; for one week in grade 8 the four classes were split according to academic aptitude and the class I attended progressed further in one week than the classes we were dispersed to for the second week managed in the next month. Apparently recognizing academic excellence was politically incorrect—or our teachers resented the fact that they’d have to prepare two distinctly different classes on the same subjects. Ironically I still remember that week 45 years later.