My Time is Not My Own

As you can see Mother Nature has been doing some landscaping out by the Lighthouse. The tree did miss the kiosk, so that’s one thing which doesn’t need repairs. Today is starting out overcast but is supposed to reach 10C (50F) and maybe the sun will burn off those clouds. Wet weather returns on Thursday, and the ground is still soaked, so more trees will be coming down.

I know I haven’t posted for a while but it’s been a bit hectic. A friend went off (reluctantly) to Grand Manan for almost a week and that meant I was babysitting 3 large dogs. One of which is much like having a 60 pound, overly enthusiastic toddler and, since she’s a hound, a loud one. My car isn’t that big.

Now, I love these animals but they are just as possessive of me as the ones who live on my doorstep (when they can’t get in my living room). None of them are willing to share and I have no intention of refereeing their arguments. So, I’ve been dividing my time between this household and two packs of loving but demanding canines.

I also had one of those modern mysteries to solve. Sitting here at my computer one morning, with every intention of writing a blog post, I heard a beep. You know – that annoying sound a piece of technology makes when it wants your attention because of a dying battery. The problem, of course, is that I had no idea which item was making the sound. It took almost two whole days to find it. My sanity was at serious risk.

I tried (and rejected) all my smoke detectors, old phones, camera equipment, bits of computer hardware, and random devices scattered about. I even opened the wall next to the desk I had boarded over 5 years ago to cover the hole made by a previous owner’s weather station. A friend came over and couldn’t hear the beep so I made a video and sent it to Ahuva just to get confirmation that I wasn’t hallucinating. 🙂

I did finally find an old Carbon Monoxide Alarm at the back of a junk drawer. This search left me with two questions.

1. Why has nobody invented a beep tracker for these circumstances? They’d make a fortune.
2. Why haven’t we gotten past the whole “technology has to be black” mindset? I know originally it was lack of imagination and then later it was so that business (read middle-aged white men) would take it seriously – but surely we can do better than surrounding ourselves with dull black sameness.