What were you doing a year ago today

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R.A.B.
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What were you doing a year ago today

Post by R.A.B. »

And the days were not full enough
And the nights were not full enough
And life slips by like a field mouse
Not shaking the grass

Ezra Pound (from the other 20's)

so -

What were you doing a year ago today, as Ezra continues to disperse and become part of the ground-

(Here are my brain waves & scribbles form May 20th, 2020)

Starting to feel some of the old routines lurking around my door.
They are looking for a way to reinvent themselves while sporting an air of uncertainty,
I will resist the old and try to help, - helping to bring the necessary changes into the light.
So let's take that chance will we ? Let's make a move under that sweet summer sun.

Do I admit to missing the old routines, - yes.
Do I want them back in the same way - no.
I know too much now.

How is it then that all we have accumulated in our calculated past largely built on the assumption that almost nothing could derail us from our path and how could it all fall apart so fast ? Incredible and extra-ordinary, isn't it ? And how did we permit ourselves (being so smart and all) to be so unprepared and shamefully lacking the basic resources to deal with a crisis we knew was looming via a god damned virus or some other adjustment tool ? We must have taken the future for granted, and sacrificed part of that stable present we were in and cashed some of it in for profit on the boisterous assumption that we are the ones in control and that nothing will change because we are the smartest animals on earth. It's like we were simply playing the future and destiny for a chump. That was just plain arrogance on our part I would say.

Life is persistent, but it is also fragile in the face of rapid change and you can't really know when these qualities will prevail. So the question remains, - how do we want to build our next past going forward ? How will it emerge under this new veil ? It will be like a new union to explore, a marriage between a virus and its host, us. It will be exciting and scary and filled with stupid ideas along with a couple of brilliant revelations as we assess each facet, nook and cranny and look for our place to be in this new normal. Maybe I should say that we will make a place for ourselves as we move ahead and then we will stupidly and confidently start believing that we own that place again, we do not own anything, never did never will, we are transient with some influence at best. Shit !

If the status quo is maintained until Sunday night in Montreal, I will be back at Alouette on Monday-Wednesday-Friday starting next week for anything you may need as far as parts & service are concerned. I will hopefully be dealing with those who have done their share in making a difference. The smarter ones will have learned a thing or two and will have changed. And I as well will sound a bit different as I live the first reintegration of my routines. How can one not be different after all this, and yet I still want to help make those parts of our lives pleasant & hopefully more meaningful whenever I can. The past 10 weeks have been a powerful reminder of things I had left behind in my haste on March 24th. Basically forgetting how I behaved and coped while in the whirlwind of those work days and forgetting how easily your life can be taken away from you, and not just by a virus which largely "takes out" the weakest of our kind. Anything can happen anytime, yet we can not let that fact paralyze us. So the easiest way is to ignore it like many so called "go-getters" do so as to plow forward, often accompanied by the haste of their short term thinking. I prefer getting the occasional reminder (like we just did) about uncertainty instead of acting within that total ignorance bubble which we can use to justify our reckless actions.

As far as the regular maintenance & repairs Montreal Pinball does for the North Star, (one of my other routines) they will have to wait. The bar business will have to resurface first, carefully, thoughtfully, intelligently and likely accompanied with some major changes in how they look and operate. The easiest way to reopen is to follow suit this time and see what the Québec government puts forth as to how to reopen bars & restaurants, where luckily for us, they happen to have their own routed machines and similar challenges as the little guy. Those profitable video lottery terminals aren't going anywhere soon. That is a government regulated business, - routing slots in bars, and as amusement machine operators we need to see what the government does in order to keep operating these. They are basically machines with push buttons, coin mechs, bill acceptors and touchscreens and they are not going to give up that business, and neither are we. So we need to see how they plan to continue operating equipment like this within this new reality. This will be our cue as amusement machine operators, and the government will not be able to argue any of their own measures as not being applicable to pinball machines or pool tables or dart machines or jukeboxes. Indeed, I am sure that this will be the path to follow so as to reopen Montreal's first and foremost pinball bar.

On another related note, the government's biggest challenge in this sector will be how to reopen their casinos, or as I mockingly like to call them, the adult FECs. of our twisted times.

Still virtual hugs and all my hopes for a life affirming summer.

Rab
http://www.montrealpinball.com
https://amusement.evolvo.com/

Bally 1936 "Bumper" - North Star 1949 "Sea Breeze" - North Star 1950 "Richelieu" - Universal 1950 "Feature Bell" - Gottlieb 1952 "Queen of Hearts" - Williams 1960 "Ten Spot" - Gottlieb 1971 "Challenger" - Williams 1973 "OXO" - Bally 1976 "Bonanza"

Maxed out at 10 machines, no more. Un max de 10 machines, pas plus.
Une règle suivi guéri de tout. A rule respected can cure anything.

A philosophy of doing shall rule until the days when I can no longer "do" arrive. Because when I am too old to adjust an AX relay or relieve a woman friend from sighing, there will only be memories to fill my time. So, the task at hand is to build that RRSP of memories in order to joyfully cushion the later stages of life.

Personally prefer the exceptional qualities lurking beneath any normal state of affairs. Alas, our day to day is being promoted as extraordinary via a world wide web largely fueled by the new dumb & followed closely by the latest breed of unscrupulous scoundrels & judas goats. So, god bless the fool hearted, the crazed, and the railroaded all in good measure for they will likely inherit what is left of the earth after the screwheads are done with it. God damn darwinian primates, why do they refuse to evolve, even after all we should have learned from being dumb savages for so long.

"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you, to be just like them. " - Zimmy

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