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european thoughts When I went to sleep this morning, I made the mistake of leaving the ringer turned on my phone and a telemarketer woke me up at noon, because of it. In hindsight I should have said at the very beginning of the conversation that she had woken me up and that anything she might be trying to offer me was a lost cause. However, I was so out of it that I simply sat and listened to her ramble on and on about the benefits of having cable television. Now I have not had cable television since I got out of college and I don't miss it. I didn't mind splitting the cost back when I lived with six other people, but I couldn't justify the cost of it when I first started to live by myself. Oh, I can afford it now, but I still can't justify it. The need to see the same movies over and over during the month doesn't have that much of an appeal to me. I also think that the same can be said for programs in syndication that get beaten into the ground on cable. Nor does that option of having additional news and sports channels create much of an incentive for me. Cable television just doesn't make sense to me and I told the telemarketer that I have better things to do with my time than watch television. She didn't like this answer, but I did eventually get rid of her. Personally I would rather pay for internet access than cable television, but I know so many people that see it the other way. They think that surfing the web shouldn't cost them anything, but they don't think twice about spending double the amount of internet access on what I consider bad television. For me the internet it much more interactive than television and can require some thought, but I guess that other people don't see it that way. I also see the internet as more of an utility than cable television. By the time that I finally hung up the phone the damage was done. I was awake and couldn't fall back asleep. Not only did she manage to wake me, but she also tore me from an odd dream where I was drinking Japanese beer or at least I think that was what I was doing. In reality I have never tasted Japanese beer and I'm not completely sure if such a thing exists. While I was lying in bed I thought about getting up to enjoy some of the warm weather, but it seemed like too much of an effort. Instead of moving I grumbled to myself until I fell back asleep for about two more hours. ... When I woke up for the second time, my first priority was to go out and get some food. I knew that there wasn't anything in the house that I wanted to eat and a submarine sandwich was what sounded best to me. It was at the sub place where I ran into a woman that I worked with years ago at the insurance company. We both live in the same general part of town, but this was first time that I had seen her in nearly two years. It was odd, but nice at the same time and seeing her brought back some memories. There may be times when I feel as though I am going nowhere with my life, but so much has changed in the last six years. Seeing Julie made me realize that I really have come a long way since I first got out of college. Oh, I may not be as aggressive as was then in trying to climb the corporate ladder, but I'm not exactly a bottom feeder now either. ... I did get outside briefly to soak in the warm breezes, but it wasn't an all day event. In fact I stood out my porch long just enough to take in the billowing clouds overhead and touch the new velvet leaves of the red leaf maple. Even though the landlord trimmed off some branches, I can still reach the tree from my porch. Something about the red leaves appeals to me and if I ever could afford the land I wouldn't mind having a whole grove of them to look at everyday. ... In a strange sequence of events, I managed to vindicate myself tonight from the events of last weekend. Somehow the same problem that had happened last week happened again and it had stumped my twenty-one year old counterpart. Within minutes of my arrival, I had everything back to normal and it felt good. Of course maybe he just doesn't care anymore and didn't want to put forth the effort, but that doesn't change the fact that I solved the problem and he didn't. Maybe that sounds petty, but it still worked wonders for my mood.
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