daily life as life goes on . . .

I’ve found experientially what I have known for some time.  Paperwork in our current world is dependant on the “digital”.  Note the anachronistic use of the word “paperwork”.

Yesterday I wished to withdraw some investments.  I went directly to the storefront shop and was told that I should have set up an appointment on-line and that no one was available to undertake the investment withdrawal for a few days.  My hope had been to deal directly with the customer service representative that day.  Live and learn!

Then my phone was acting weird (no reference to current memes in the political world – this is only a phone after all).  Perhaps a scammer or a spoofer was using my phone number.  I immediately went in person to the local phone provider’s shop – which I now understand is more of a sales centre than a support centre.  I was told to dial a contact number and expect to be online for an hour or two before I could finally talk to a support person (or get a direct contact for that support person).  I went back home and tried this approach with a limited amount of patience – hanging up after a few minutes of number punching and message referrals.  I then independently went online and checked my ongoing account stats.  Nothing appeared out of sorts (OK, the three calls from earlier and that was all).  No further indications of trouble today so I’ll just let this one play out. Live and learn!

Finally, I needed some documents to sign a form.  I checked directly with a person who could help obtain them free of charge.  They did some checking which led to a referral to an online source for downloads.  I checked that out – what should have been immediate in downloading was going to take at least a few days – I could pay more for a rush delivery but even that would take three days.  And the online site didn’t have all the documents I needed.  Live and learn!

By now, I want back into the local small town bureaucracy where you see someone at the grocery store, enquire about an issue that they might have knowledge about and are given an immediate answer that leads to a quick path to circumvent slow-to-answer bureaucracy. 

Of course that is ideal – and nothing is that simple.  So . . . Live and learn!

Not that I don’t like to write.  I do.  And my head is full of text, ideas and narratives.

But, . . . what happens when life happens?  Years ago I decided that would be the title of a blog I would write daily.  My mentor, Randall Friesen, was using the internet as a communication tool.  He stressed that a regular, daily routine would garner readers, but would also provide an opportunity to increase writing skills and communication adventures.

That edict lasted for almost twenty years.  Somehow I broke off the daily routine these past few years. 

I like to think I became involved in the various tasks of life.  Daily life as life goes on.  Somehow I like to think my own thinking evolved.  Not everyone cares what you write.  Somehow I like to think I was too old school.  New generations see things in new ways. 

But . . . maybe to do is to be.  To be able to think through life, to be able to allow others into my life, to be able to connect with others in such a way that I hear them and they hear me. 

No promises. 

But . . . I do want to write more.

These words arrive in your presence.  A present present to you.  Enjoy, interact, shelve, interpret, like, disconnect, set aside.

Yes, we are now in Calgary. I went out and got a paper map of the city – trying to visualize all the places we will end up travelling to in the next while. Somehow my mind still works with a picture rather than just listening to someone (something?) tell which way to turn and when to reverse course.

I’ve been digitizing my life – or at least files I have kept of events over the years.  At some points I wish I had those days back.  At other points I realize with gratitude what God has given.  At all points I need to live in the present with God’s future in mind. 

A quote from David Timms on living, not in nostalgia, but in the present and future:

Nostalgia can become an effort to preserve the past, rather than give thanks for the past.