Y++;

Well it's a new year, and I'm a little late in welcoming it. Also a
little less late in welcoming my birthday a few days ago. I'm coming
to you from my old 33MHz 486SX Toshiba laptop, and it was interesting
looking though some of my old files. Looking at the modification
dates, it lookes like I started playing with this machine (picked up
from the garage of a since-deceased relative) in 2010, with the
Windows 95 installation that came with it. It seems I didn't install
Basic Linux alongside Windows until 2012. I remember I learnt a lot
about Linux trying to set this thing up, especially because Basic
Linux is so small and, well basic, that it's much easier to explore
than a huge modern distro where an "ls" in any system directory
fills your screen with files and/or directories. It seems that I
even got email working on here, though presumably unencrypted - ah
silly teenage emails, though coming from me they were probably more
serious than average for my age. I got a bit further than I
remembered in typing up my verbal mathematics system, which I still
think is quite funny. Maybe I'll post it here sometime, though it
would be good to also dig up one of my example usages.

It's funny to think that if this had been a new laptop back then
in 2010, then by now most owners would consider it old, and probably
would have bought a new one. It's sort-of become old twice, once
relative to its manufacture, and again relative to my use of it. I
guess there's the difference between history and nostalgia.

As for the year, I guess it was mixed. Business-wise it has been a
pain in the neck, due mainly to delays and service cancellations
for international post, but I'm pretty sure I've whinged about that
already. At the same time I'm really pleasently surprised that in
spite of recent small outbreaks, we're back to only one new case of
Coronavirus found nationwide today. Based on the story of other
countries I thought that once the second wave here in the state of
Victoria was recording in the high hundreds per day, there'd be no
going back, but somehow it went all the way back to zero for well
over a month until recently there were a few that got in from New
South Wales. The damn manditory face masks are a pain in the neck
though - I really thought I was done with them before they brought
in the requirement for wearing them indoors again just due to the
recent handfull of cases. I'm the only person who I've seen so far
wearing a 3D printed one, printed in glow-in-the-dark plastic
nonetheless because it was what was in the printer and I was in a
hurry to get it done the day before they were made manditory in
rural areas as well as Melbourne. It certainly gets strange looks,
but so far I've only had one actual comment from a stranger. I did
put it on before going into a petrol station the other day and
noticed a car in the lane alongside the entrance immediately start
reversing. Most likely they just realised that the filler was on
the other side of their car, but I did think for a moment that they
might have thought it was some sort of stick-up in progress. It
could have been worse though, I actually have an old US Army gas
mask in the cupboard. I did consider it...

Speaking of driving, the fuel price has taken another dive, the
worst of the Chistmas break traffic is over, and my Jag is mostly
working again (replacing the other wheel bearing has been put off
because the ute I was borrowing before isn't available again for
a while), I really should get back to going for some nice day
trips. One great thing to come out of the lockdown was that period
where travel between Melbourne and rural Victoria was restricted,
so I could go down the coast and explore it without all the hoards
of tourists and traffic. It's just a shame that I didn't have time
to do more.

Lately I've had an idea for one of my other driving aversions
though - busy highways and city traffic. While travelling down
a major highway around midnight, I realised that I could really
make a habit of late night driving. My idea is that I set off
soon after midnight, and just cruise along the big highways that
I normally try to avoid, stopping in at cities and driving around
all the deserted streets. Normally I do that in daytime with
small little-used (and very hard to navigate at night) roads and
small quiet towns. At night I could do the same thing with bigger
towns. The key part is that I get to a motel and go to sleep right
at the start of the evening, so I get about seven hours before
setting off again at the beginning of the next morning. I'm not
sure how well motels are set up for people who want to check-out
after midnight mind you. Anyway, the idea would be to get into an
alternate rhythum for a week or two, trading the evening night for
the morning night, and just explore the human world as it lies in
its late-night abandonment.

Trouble is that I can't really afford the cost of staying at motels,
nor can I take more than a few days away from home where all the
stock is for my business, so I don't think I'll really be able to
manage it. I guess I could if I really wanted to though, I'm the
sort of person who always has money that they refuse to spend.

Well it's pretty late now actually, so short of setting off on a
trip to explore Horsham (hey, haven't been there in years...) or
somewhere, I guess I'd better go to bed. What I haven't mentioned
yet is that I'm glad Aussies.space has survived the year, I did
wonder given all the other short-lived Tildes, and how this one
is quite young and run by someone apparantly not much older than
I was when I first started playing with this laptop. Thanks to
Fosslinux for keeping it going, and I hope it continues for many
years to come. Though after all the work I've put into this Gopher
hole this year (probably too much work), I'll be sure to find
another place for it even if Aussies doesn't last.

 - The Free Thinker.