Saturday, 9 November 2019

A Baby Boomer Has An Earnest Chat With Melbourne’s Weather

Image result for old man shakes fist at weather



Boomer:
Hello. Thanks for coming. Please, take a seat.


Boomer:
You can’t? Why?


Boomer:
A meteorological phenomenon? What’s that?


Boomer:
Yes, but’s wrong with being called ‘weather’? That’s what you are.


Boomer:
I don’t see how that is stopping you from taking a seat.


Boomer:
*scoff* Have it your way then. I personally think my chair is more than capable of handling your so-called immensity.


Boomer:
Anyway, we need to have a little chat about your performance in Melbourne the last few weeks. Frankly, it’s just unacceptable.


Boomer:
Why? Because it’s irregular. It’s spring and it’s cold. I’m supposed to be out watching my gardener trim the petunias at the moment, not tucked up inside with my central heating switched on. Gas bill will cost me the proverbial, especially with the missus constantly fiddling with the thermostat. I’m always telling her that 24.5 degrees is optimum. She’d rather we live in a broiling swamp.


Boomer:
Yeah, listen, I know this is Melbourne – four seasons in one day, haha – and Melbourne has its, um, penchant for being a bit – whadda call it? – hipster. Bit original, individual, bunch of laneways and graffiti and that stuff. I mean, I get culture. I go the museum and the musicals. But I don’t see how that excuses this complete refusal to align with traditional weather –


Boomer:
… if you say so – meteorological
*under breath* silly term –
patterns.


Boomer:
My fault?


Boomer:
Ridiculous. Clearly, you’re not working hard enough. Just gotta get your foot in the door. Start from the bottom: bit of 20 degrees here or there. Maybe, a cheeky 25, you know? It’s the problem with your generation, you just don’t have the value of patience that defines people like me. Too eager to switch from 35 degree balmy days, to 12 degree freezers. Shows a complete lack of persistence.


Boomer:
Not that easy? Of course it is. As they say, you can’t spend all your chips on avocado and expect to own a house.


Boomer:
Apply to you? Well, it’s the gist of the thing isn’t it? Instead of just taking the easy way – punishing us with rain and hail temper tantrums, bit of artic wind – you could just get your head down and save up some of that rotten weather, turn it into something nice for the rest of us.


Boomer:
What do you get in return? Isn’t the satisfaction of a job well done enough? I don’t get how you all think that your every action is worthy of payment. We all need to make sacrifices to get what we want.


Boomer:
My sacrifice is taking time out of my day to talk to you.


Boomer:
It’s hard to concentrate on what you’re saying when you won’t just sit down.


Boomer:
I still don’t get why your abstraction is a problem. No flexibility. Gotta be willing to put in the yards. When I was learning to sit, I started small, with a stool. Eventually, with a great deal of hard work, I graduated to a nice lounging beach chair in Sorrento. You people have no appreciation of the process.


Boomer:
No imagination, either. An absence of limbs is not an excuse, weather.


Boomer:
I think I’ll call you what I’m most comfortable with, thank you very much.


Boomer:
Are you going to do something about this unseasonable chill, then? I’ve got the races and my beach house waiting for me. Can’t really do much at either if it continues raining and being fucking cold.


Boomer:
That’s just plain disappointing. Back when I was young, there was never this kind of drama. You could tell the date by the change in weather. 

...

Boomer:
Really, it’s like buying a house. Just got to work hard – like I did as a young man – and you can get a nice townhouse in Malvern. You, weather, just need to work at it a bit, get over complaints about ozones and emissions – a pair of excuses, at the end of the day – and get it done. Plenty of opportunity out there for a nice day if you're willing to look. Might need to scrape by a bit at first – few less boutique beers and trips to Europe, so to speak – but that’s the way it goes. Can't be spending all that hard earned sun in Mykonos.


Boomer:
Where are you going? Fuck, you’re all so indecisive and flaky: whatever happened to commitment? To regular, good old-fashioned weather?


Boomer:
Global warming? A myth created by Greenies who wanna lure us into socialism. So, no, it’s not my fault. You’re just lazy. Keener to post yourself on Instagram with some kinda motivational message, then actually live that message and achieve something.


Boomer:
Yeah, is that so? Whatta snowflake. There’s two sexes, and the weather is the weather. And, currently, you’re doing a shit job. Work harder.

Tuesday, 18 June 2019

automatic search erasure with a cleaning mechanism and a crane


Greetings, investors! My name is Hector Faigle, CEO and Chief Technician at KustomCompLTD!
            (wait for applause)
And do I have an opportunity for you!
With the lives we lead online, there’s always someone watching. The government. The social media. Invisible creatures going by unconscionable aliases dwelling in the corner of the internet. And worse still, friends and loved ones. They observe, analyse and judge. Who wants to be judged for what they do in private with their digital selves?  
            Some would say that the answer lies perhaps in shutting down. Switching off. At best, controlling our online habits. Reclaiming and rewriting, maybe even eliminating our online personalities. I say that such solutions are nothing more than thinking small! Refusing the gifts technology has given us! In these days of our enlightenment and access and fantasy made real, why turn our backs to the internet? Why refuse ourselves?
            See, my current girlfriend and I, we are deeply in love. The proper kind of soul to soul understanding. She gets me. I get her. We like the same televisual entertainment. Have similar senses of humour and both thoroughly enjoy West African cuisine. Life moves pleasantly along. Supportive and affectionate, filled with Ghanan curries and long bouts of Netflix.
            But does she need to know all about my online life?
            I have this close friend. We’ll call him Harry – for anonymity’s sake, of course – and he had a girlfriend who happened onto his personal, internet habits. And, well, Kate was somewhat perturbed. Which isn’t to say that Harry’s tastes and viewing rituals online were any more peculiar than the next persons. Not at all. Who are you – am I, to judge? I mean, one man’s fetish for feet is another’s longing for dark vans, chains, foreboding music, and little blondes with blushed cheeks. Right? It all amounts to the same thing: personal, private enjoyment.
Did you know that ‘fetish’ means to be in awe of something? Apt, isn’t it? Are we not entitled to enjoy a little show every now and again? Have our awe bodily inspire us? Give our quieter, but no less urgent desires, a little attention? Can we not light a few candles, dim the lights, turn up the speakers, and indulge?
            Kate seemed to think not. Seemed to think Harry’s own penchants were her concern also. A betrayal of taste and common decency, she said! Like he would ever ask her to partake in his fantasies. Unless she wanted to. It’s not like they’re that dangerous in properly controlled conditions, with the right safe bells nearby for her to ring after the ritualised gagging. It’s all performance people! Not real, but fantasy’s reality.
But, in the end, these are private concerns of the flesh. And Harry’s privacy was compromised when Kate stumbled, firstly, into his office unexpectantly, then secondly, into his personal computer’s search history. (I’m still yet to figure out how one accidentally opens another person’s search history, but Kate was an honest woman – her own internet life (of course, according to Harry) was littered with Practicing Truthfullness memes and Honesty Forums.)
            Kate and Harry were close. A lovely fit. I mean, no one questioned the strength of their bond. They were what all their couple friends aspired to. It seemed like fate. Even after it was all over, after Kate had let the chained blonde out of the bag – so to speak – their friends were still certain they would make amends. It didn’t seem right they said. I certainly thought so.
But her judgment of his innocent little predilections, and understandable predilections for the innocent, left a permanently bad taste in the mouth of their relationship. Harry never felt safe indulging around her again, lest she mistakenly opened a window she would never understand. Not that they could be ‘understood’ in the conventional sense. No. They were beyond understanding, I assure you. More sensuous than anything.
            Oh, he was a broken man when she left him. I, personally, up-close, had to bear witness to the tides of erotica and amateurs and black van rouge videos he bathed in to exfoliate his hurt. These videos and fantasies, so often a source of comfort, became a blasé glut. He drowned in them and forgot his simple pleasures.
He said, that it all became too easy. There was less rush, less satisfaction. There was guilt, but the wrong kind.
            I watched his malaise sadly and I grew concerned with my own totally normal, regular infatuations and habits. Not that his were not, you know, normal – mostly. Honestly, I can see the particular appeal: the control, the shadows, the shine off the chain.
But instead of dwelling in desolation, worried forever that my significant others were always bound to uncover my satisfactions, I rose up to create a better world. Not just for Harry, but for others. For those who just like the occasional release without being accidentally discovered for their individual delights. For those whose tastes tend to side with what the rest of the world may unfortunately call ‘unusual!’ For those who value well-made technology that enhances and protects their online selves. For those who love the game of evasion, but not the risk of ever losing.
            I designed the first Very Private Cumputer (VPC)™ personal laptop.
            (wait for rapturous applause)
Now, you may be asking yourselves: well, haven’t we mastered computer design? What more could possibly be added to my well-made, sleek little laptop? It does all the tasks I need it to. Some I don’t. And, hell, some I don’t even know about.
            (wait for laughter)
            And, even then, Mr Faigle, surely you know that there are ways to delete search history, to control your online persona, to be more selective about when to indulge so as to avoid prying eyes?
            Well, of course there are! But that requires so much boorish planning. So much clicking and cleaning up. Who has time for that? And who is to say it is even comfortable? Perfectly safe? We all make mistakes, friends. These days, these mistakes can be gargantuan, leading down the path of public humiliation, judgement, or a Kate breaking your heart over some very small personal pleasure, shot in perfect HD to get the lighting on the chains, cheek’s blush, and side nipple just right.
            With the VPC™, I can guarantee you all the enjoyment of your personal moments, along with privacy, comfort, and, above all, SIMPLICITY!
            The VPC™ is ergonomically designed by the best German and Dutch engineers, with a dual mouse feature. Finally, you’ll be able to handle your ‘mice’ simultaneously
(wait for laughter)
without ever having to awkwardly cross arms! Or, alternatively, switch it up and try out your other hand for a bit of a stranger experience! Either way, you’ll find this to be the most comfortably designed laptop you’ve ever seen. Heck, sometimes I have to hide it from my current girlfriend who adores its streamlined features and adjustable screens and keyboards. It’s my turn, Hector, she’ll say.
            (wait for thoughtful pause)
            And, you know what, she can have it. (When I’m not using it, anyway!) I’ll never have to worry about her finding any mess on my VPC™, because it features a discrete Japanese-made self-cleaning system, with a six ply tissue dispenser, desticking mister, and a one of its kind Catching Glove which can be fitted to almost any household drainage system. In our world of convenience, why continue with thin  tissues when a perfectly adequate Catching Glove is right there? 
            That’s not all, either! The VPC™ also features a unique in-built security system that automatically keeps your computer free of pop-ups, viruses, government watchdogs, and unfortunate accidental Social Media shares. It automatically erases your search history, while maintaining a finger print locked personal history of your beloved videos, performers, scenes, and sites! If I want to go straight to my favourite completely normal live stream, all I’ve got to do is wipe my thumb across the print reader and my VPC™ sends me straight to the peep show. What a service! And no accidental, Kate-like stumbling across your own special video stash, like the old days!
            The security measures don’t stop there either, because you’ll never have to worry about people sticky beaking (accidentally or deliberately) into your private business ever again!
            (wait for applause)
            The VPC™ features 360-degree motion sensors that alert you to any immediate dangers to your personal enjoyment, which can be toggled to monitor distances from six to 50 meters. Never get caught out surprised again! Be aware of your surroundings! Personalise your alarms sound from over 100 options!
            Of course, I know sometimes we all get lost in the thrall of our pleasures and with a system like the VPC™, with its beautiful 4K HyperReal screen and a carefully curated surround-sound system, it is all too easy to ignore its inbuilt warning signs. Which is why I am so excited about the revolutionary design of the Crane. Attached to the rear of your laptop, the Crane is suspended over your head and attached to the rear of your pants. If all warning signs are ignored and someone is detected by your VPC™ to enter your special pleasure palace, the Crane goes into action, quickly yanking your pants back to their acceptable on position, before withdrawing behind your laptop and opening Excel.
            Brilliant, no!?
            (wait for rapturous applause)
            This, folks, is the game changer! It has already saved me from potential embarrassment in front of my current girlfriend – a close call it was too! – and could have saved the otherworldly bond Harry had with Kate: the one everyone thought would last a lifetime because they had it all and it worked so well and they just seemed to walk in one another’s steps in perfect synchronicity. Never would she have seen, nor heard, those videos, and busted him in the act, chain wrapped delicately around his neck, oil greasing his chest, pants around his ankles – the Crane would have saved him.
It isn’t worth trying to get over the loss of people like Kate in your life. Harry says he’s ok now. Been very busy, I assure you. But we all know he still hurts and his little online worlds and pleasures have never been the same.
According to such distinguished websites like pcworld.com, computerreviews.eu and safeerotica.org, VPC™ is the way forward for laptop design! Acclaimed online reviewer and prominent Pornhub commentator, Barry Snife, recently wrote: ‘For the amateur purveyor, or homegrown connoisseur, the Very Private Cumputer™ is the way forward for properly hiding your pornographic habits.’
In the old days, we’d stash our magazines under the bed, and Kate would have turned a blind eye. But, these days, with limitless exciting options to explore, we need something more than a bed, something more than merely changing our habits. Now, all you need is a personalised VPC™ laptop!