Before you scour Google Maps looking for it, I'm referring to the realm of the Dark Lord Sauron from The Lord Of The Rings as I need to describe a place of darkness and fear and Mordor comes to mind.
Since 2pm yesterday I have been without wifi and if that isn't like a day trip to Mordor, I donno what is !
22 hours without t'interclacker was a lifetime for me as, despite having tv available, I still felt cut off from the world, or at least the important aspects of it......like Twitter, Facebook and my weather sites ! I mean how the hell was I supposed to sleep last night when I didn't know the temp in Leeds ? I tossed and turned as I hadn't even had the closing FTSE and NASDAQ figures !
It was hell, I tell ya.
I won't bore you with the technical details and the heroic efforts I went through to sort it all out but suffice it to say, and pretty obviously too, it's all good now and already Mordor is becoming a distant memory. Then again, so are most of my memories these days.
Anyway, while sans internet, I used the time yesterday when not weeping to look at life around the park in more detail. Actually I sat in my chair and looked out the window a lot but it's the same thing really and it got me to thinking !
I love all those BBC/Discovery Channel nature shows and it's often struck me how the experts can look at two animals running around with each other and can tell us when they are fighting, courting or just playing. Sometimes it's not easy to know the difference with two humans but putting aside rough sex which can bring all three together, I'm clueless when watching animals.
And birds.
For some reason, our driveway here is a favourite place for birds of a feather to cavort around pretty much all day long. Different pairs I mean. They'll fly in, sometimes locked together in a frenzy of wings, tails and landing gear like two planes on the tarmac at JFK.
Ohhhhh how current am I ???
Delta bird and Air France bird (oh go on, Google it) then dance around each other and like I said, I've no idea if it's in fun, anger or for reproductive purposes. The fact that it happens so often suggests to me I'm watching a bit of courting going on but as no posturing or colourful displays are forthcoming, I think I've missed that bit of the process and the birds are just getting down and dirty on the driveway.
Disgusting ! I mean there are grandkids on summer break here right now. Innocents.
I do have one bird related story to update. The early morning roof pecking woodpeckers have gone at last and if you ask me, the dawn chorus is well rid of them. They were the temporary heavy metal members of the winged glee club and now the much less abrasive ballad members are free to serenade us over our morning coffees. Bliss.
But now I've got my beloved wifi back again, I've no time for such aerial shenanigans. I mean if I want to see THAT sort of thing from my armchair, I'll stick to my own species and make use of my subscription site !
I'd be joining you in the weeping. I feel rising blind panic if t'interclacker goes down, I can tell you. Of course, being calm and a grown-up I try a few things first. I try Pressing Buttons at Random and then I try Ancient Mediaeval Curses. If these don't work I try Hysterical Screaming.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're back online.
I do believe you are becoming more Americanised (or Americanized, take your pick) with each passing day because even though you still spell funny ("favourite") you used the word "while" in this post instead of that "whilst"....
ReplyDeleteThe most important telephone number in the world to have is that of your Internet provider's technical assistance group. I had to contact mine just last night.
You give me more credit than I deserve, Bob. I've never been a whilst user....way too posh for the likes of me. Whilst I would like to think I'm a whilst sort of person, I fear I'm stuck in the land of while, for a whilst yet !
ReplyDeleteInteresting post, which I enjoyed immensely. It makes me ponder if/how our lives would have been different growing up, if we had access to today's technology (i.e. digital photos, blogs, etc.) back then.
ReplyDeleteYour memory, and photos provide a fascinating perspective, growing up in the UK. When our parents talk about "the war", it's in reference to WWII, which unquestionably shaped their lives. However, we as American baby boomers, perspectives were much more shaped by the Vietnam war, as are the current conflicts raging, shaping the perspective of our children.