Doing without

2011 has been an interesting year. A year of change. Dramatic change.

In years gone by I have experienced a tremendous amount of things. Some years go by totally uneventful, while other years have been full on busy and pass by within a blink of an eye. Some years have gone by with one or two major events, while others have gone by with a series of smaller yet continuous events.

Either way, we all go through this. It's life, as they say. However, life as we know it is built up of many small things. No one does just one thing, no one ever has or will. We have many aspects that make up ones life.

But what happens when you take a part of what makes your life away?

Whether it's by choice or by force. Whether you like it or not.

Why have I asked this?

Well, two main reasons. One thing is that Dizzy's last blog spoke about doing without something that is essentially a great part of our modern lives. The computer, and worse still, a computer connected to The Internet.

How many of us can turn off our computer, go away for 6 months and not touch a single PC in that time?

I know that once I have access to a computer I must have it so I can check my email, update my facebook. Tell dirty joke or update myself on other blogs I read. But while I don't have access to a computer, it's almost as if I don't even know what one is. I can live without it. And while I don't have it, there are other things that can be done.

Something similar happened recently. Just after returning from the States and right before leaving for Melbourne for the Easter Long Weekend + an extra day thrown in for ANZAC day. So, with 5 days off in total, I haven't been able to get my car fixed.

Big deal! Right?

Truth is, I could easily do without my car because I walk to my music school. It's a leisurely 10 minute walk. However, when the car broke down, I really really needed it that day and no matter what I did to try and get back on the road, it seemed nothing worked in my favour.

Basically, the alternator on my car died. I got a few friends who made fun of my little Italian car. Calling it unreliable and such. But the funny part is, the alternator is Japanese. And the rest of the car still works like the day I bought it.

The really bad part about the car's alternator dying wasn't that the battery was flat, overcharging, undercharging or anything. It was that my little modern car which I bought brand new a number of years ago comes with electronic power steering. This way, a pneumatic pump doesn't power the power steering but an electronic one that runs off the 12Volts DC (or more accurately, 14.4V DC). When the charging system fails, even if it's a voltage drop, the power steering will disable itself. This is fine while you're driving, but parking is a workout.

So, now that I'm back in town, while I want the car fixed ASAP. I've started to look at my alternative modes of transport. My bicycle.

I have a nice mountain bike. A bike I bought in 2006 from a friends recommendation in order to be able to tackle the terrain we were heading out into on our weekend rides. The bike is brilliant. But it is quite purposeful. It is a hardcore mountain bike, and even putting road tyres on it doesn't help the clumsy thing when I use it to commute rather than tear up my local dirt trails.

So, while I have no choice but to make do without my car for now, I've made my own mind up that if I have to go shopping, work, or see a friend who lives in the area. I will be riding my bike.

I have also decided that once I fix the car, I'll probably think about selling it to only replace it with either a really really old car that I'll use the money from selling my newish car on restoring it to mechanical A1 condition. The car I want to get is either a HR Holden.

OR

A Morris Minor.

The HR Holden is a classic 60's Australian family car. Running a straight 6, and usually a 3 on the tree transmission. They are smooth, quiet, economical for their time and parts are readily available.

The sad part is, I wanted to buy one many years ago when they were just another bomb, rust bucket old Aussie car. Now people have found the "cool" factor to them and their value is starting to rise rapidly.

The Morris Minor on the other hand is still an unwanted piece of crap. But a strongly built English car. Small, but very economical and also has many parts available, still.

Why am I going old? Especially so old?

Simplicity.

Pure and simple.

It took me 30 minutes to diagnose a dead alternator on my car, even with the engine lights warning me there was no charge. With these modern cars, it could mean something as simple as a shorted wire or a faulty switch. And replacing the expensive component like an Alternator being completely useless if the problem still remains.

On an old car, if the warning lights come on saying there's no charge, it means, there's no bloody charge.

But that doesn't take away the fact that I can mostly do without the car. I rely on my car a lot. I would rather rely on other modes of transport like busses and trains. But Sydney's public transport system is so bad that I prefer driving. That way I get there on time and in comfort. Carting all my gear to gigs is also easier in a car.

Doing without the car was terror last week. This week I've accepted that I don't have a car right now and that I have alternatives that work.

I can't promise much, once my car is fixed next week. I may well resort to my old ways. However, I'll still at least walk to work every day.

What have you given up or tried to do without that's important to you and your life?

No matter where you go, you'll always be with you

My mother said those words to me years ago before she died.

It was at a time when I just had my motorcycle accident. I was on the road to recovery. I was getting better. And rather than two steps forward, one step back. At that point in my life it felt as though I was taking two steps forward, three steps back.

Nothing, it seamed worked out for me. Every plan I made was shattered. Every decision I made was negated. Everything I did failed. Everything I touched turned to shit.

I'm not the type who gives up. I may look like I turn my back on things, but that's only because I decide that the direction I'm going in isn't working out, it's time to decide whether to keep going, turn left, turn right or turn around.

The crossroads of life. I've met them a few times now. I'm learning to deal with them a lot better than I use to.

However, what my mother told me came about because I was so sick of trying so hard to make things work out that I started to regret things I had said, done and planned on doing. I started to think of changes I could make.

The first big change was to move. Start fresh.

Moving to a new country. Somewhere I could start all over again. I had the idea in my head for a while. Then one day my mother said to me "What are you going to do when you get there? You'll still suffer from the problems you are experiencing here. You have still had that accident. You still have to look for work. You still have to find a way to live, and a place to live. In fact moving will make matters worse. And to top it off, it doesn't matter where you go. You'll still be with you.

What she said hit me hard. In fact so hard that I was speechless and didn't come back with anything. It took me a while to figure out that it didn't matter where I went. I'd still have to live with myself first. So then the answer hit me. I have to fix myself.

While I know I've started. I'm most definitely a better person than I use to be. I like myself, I like who I am, and I like who and what I'm surrounded by. I also know that I am by no means finished. I know that I still have a few quirks, a few prejudices, a few things still misplaced or loose.

I know I'm on the road to fixing all this, however I am reminded of what my mother said to me. And more so last night when I called up a friend who recently moved interstate.

His life is in complete turmoil. It has been since childhood. I don't blame him. However, after seeing the light, he still walks down the dark path. He makes the same mistakes. He still think that changing his surroundings will change his life, and because of that he continuously tries to make everything around him better.

He always tries to have a girlfriend, because having one is going to make his life better. As I mentioned, he recently moved. It was a bold move for him. But he did it. And I give him kudos for that. But when I spoke to him last night, he mentioned all the usual problems he was having up here living around my area were happening down there. He said "It just follows me around like some curse".

I felt like throwing my phone into traffic. But I held back my anger and said "Like my mother told me, and I told you. Wherever you go, you'll always be around you. Change yourself, and your surroundings will automatically change."

Always look on the bright side of life, as the song goes.

Gandhi said it best, "Be the change you want to see in the world". He wasn't talking about the planet. He was talking about your own universe. The one where you have your friends, and other people you know don't know those people. Others don't travel the roads you travel. Some do, and those are in your world. But a lot of people aren't in your world. A lot of things, possessions, problems, issues aren't in your world. They're someone else's world. Change your world and you may have a chance to make it a happier one. One that you're satisfied with, because no one else has control over what your world looks like.

I just thought I'd share that thought. It seems when I speak it, they fell on deaf ears.

Second lesson

Had my second session with my first student. Went really well. He's going great and picking things up nicely.

I also had a chat to a few mates today. Both of which are leaving their industries and going to pursue other avenues. Seems to be the order of the year. Lots of change.

My apologies for such a short entry. I'll have more to talk about the less busy I get and the more time I have to reflect.

Making a difference

This won't be such a long winded post, unlike my usual blog entries.

I met with someone today and while I was discussing the computers I sell being very energy efficient, they retorted with "How much more power does a complete computer really consume anyway, I mean really.... will it make that big a difference?"

When I mentioned the boxes they come in are recycled, they said "Whatever, as if that's going to make a difference."

Eventually I got fed up with his remarks. I didn't bother explaining that the PC's I sell consume on average 65 Watts of power, not 450 Watts. I explained that the recycled cardboard boxes they come in make a difference when you sell a few hundred a year, or better still, when the manufacturer sells millions around the world. Never mind the fact that the PC's are physically smaller and that means more can be shipped in the same space (40ft shipping containers).

I didn't bother explaining all that.

Normally I would.

However, my comeback had far more impact on him than anything I could have used to defend the computers I sell.

I said "Well, you're making a difference by not recycling, by using a PC that consumes 4 times or more power than these. You're making a difference by negating everything I've said about saving the environment with something, a PC, which has become a bit of a necessity in life these days. If you're going to make an impact, and by taking part in "re-cycling" or not you are making some sort of difference, perhaps it would be a nice gesture to make a good difference, not a bad one by consuming more power than necessary and throwing away packaging in the correct bin, not the garbage bin."

Then he listened to what I had to say about power savings these computers offer. I felt I have made a significant difference today.