Today, …has been a good day. ;-)

Today is Sunday, it has been a good day.

Yesterday was horrible.

The world reeled as we got reports through the night of the 8.9 that shook Tokyo and the resulting tsunami that devastated so much of the eastern coastline of Japan on Friday afternoon.  The horror and devastation that I and so many New Zealanders have experienced seemed suddenly to pale in to insignificance as we watched on our television sets the horror and devastation that so many Japanese are currently experiencing.  It was hard not to think thoughts of armageddon as the Pacific Rim’s “Ring Of Fire” seemed to come to life.

Throughout the day there were rumours of volcanic eruptions all around the pacific, earthquakes in Indonesia and Tidal Waves causing millions of dollars worth of damage on the West Coast of the U.S. and down to Mexico.  It turns out that they weren’t so much rumours, as they were exaggerated truths.  Strangely though, the discovery of these inaccuracies did not lessen the feelings of helplessness that were so overwhelming as we were forced once again to realise our vulnerabilities.  It was all too much for me to want to deal with and I decided to shut it all out when I got home from work.

Meaningless television seemed like the ideal solution.  Easier said than done.  There was no problem finding what I call “bubble gum TV” (television programmes that are all flair and flavour but with no substance) but much of it was such garbage that I couldn’t actually watch it.  Eventually I stumbled across “Man vs Wild”.  I wasn’t in the mood to watch a guy hopping across the top of a lava field in an effort to educate viewers on how to survive in said terrain, but it was the nearest thing to watchable.  As I watched all I could think to myself was how staged it was.  There’s no doubt that Bear Grylls has skills, but I have great difficulty accepting that he and a lone cameraman are able to film the footage we watch, whilst dashing over rock and through caves and bush, at the same time as avoiding dangerous predators (from crocodiles to snakes and spiders) and knowing what plants, insects and animals are edible, regardless of which continent (or even which hemisphere) they’re in.  To my way of thinking, the programme would be just as watchable (if not somewhat more believable) if they admitted that they have, at least a small film crew with them as well as experts on local flora and fauna.

In the first episode I watched, he was in Australia (southern hemisphere) and needed to head north.  By using a stick like a sun dial and marking it’s shadow 5 minutes apart he determined that he could stand with his feet on the 2 markers and by facing directly at the stick he would be facing North. ~~BOLLOCKS!~~  This would be correct if he did it at noon, but if it was morning be heading more to the east and if it were afternoon he’d be heading more to the west.  He had a wrist watch on, it is possible to determine north by pointing the 12 at the sun.  North is halfway between the 12 and the hour hand.  In the northern hemisphere you would point the hour hand at the sun and South would be halfway between the 12 and the hour hand.  In the 2nd episode he was in Hawaii but this time he determined that it was late in the afternoon so the sun was in the west.  Much better logic.

It worked!  When I eventually went to bed, the catastrophes of the world could not have been further from my mind.

The upshot of all this was that I was able to start today with a clear(ish) head that wasn’t filled with the doom and gloom of recent world events.  Yet whilst these events have not disappeared entirely from my mind, I am at least able to focus on the here and now.  Once again I have hope and optimism for the future.  The world may end tomorrow, but that’s not where my focus is, so I’m not gonna worry about that.  I’m just gonna get on with my life! ;-)

2 Responses to “Today, …has been a good day. ;-)”

  1. That was around the time i thought hamsters and pigeons were trying to take over the world…..I am such a weirdo

  2. freesoft freesoft says:

    Thank you..really informative!!

Leave a Reply