walking alone in profound thought

Thank goodness I have a "local" bank - using this as an excuse to leave the car (happily) behind and take a walk - a real walk - to the edge of the Financial District from North Beach which is just about a mile in distance. I haven't done any real walking since I was in Spain during January and I had a lot of meals to get rid of. I walk fairly fast... I can walk about two miles in about 17,6 minutes, and that's been with a camera stopping to snap at buildings and things.

When I got to the bank, I saw the manager in his office and asked my usual question about refinancing my spanish apartment with an american bank so I can quit losing $400+ monthly on conversion between the stronger euro and the weaker dollar. Of course I knew the answer would be negative but I always hope for a pleasant surprise and a positive reply instead.

I returned home using a different route taking me up to the steep hills of Nob Hill - I needed this exertion as I haven't walked in so many months. The frigid wind whipped around the corners as I reached the top but it was refreshing. An unseen ambulance blaring with sirens zipped by on another street... I didn't care. I passed by an apartment building with ornate windows and pulled out my cell to snap a picture... a woman walking a small brown dog watched me as she stepped closely behind me. Her expression told of unknown and unseen horrors; hopefully it wasn't her windows!
I saw cars zipping through stop signs, people walking by without noticing their close proximity to the driven danger, their eyes downward, talking on cell phones or listening to an unseen and unheard iPod. Birds not caring of the humans below and the unknown close brush with death glided above our heads.... twisting, turning, circling....

I walked down a steep hill where city workers dressed in bright orange vests were busily sweeping and pushing brooms. I greeted the two of seven nearest me, wishing them a good morning and to take care, and they politely smiled and returned the greeting.

At the top of the next hill at Taylor and Union, across the street a couple stood next to a parked car, looking to the bay where their cameras pointed. I looked past their cameras and smiled, and they smiled back. Stepping onto to Union Street a MUNI bus stopped, and the air hissed as the bus "kneeled" and dropped four inches to the ground as an elderly woman stepped gingerly off the bus and walked away, cane in hand. I waved to the bus driver as he waited for me to walk past in front of his bus before driving off.

those amazing toys

... it took me quite a few years while I lived in Spain before I finally purchased a cell phone. I withstood the urge thinking that tiny bit of progress would infringe on my sanity and privacy. After hearing the same statement from many friends "How can I contact you for fotos if you're never home?" which of course, after I got a cell phone the calls never came....

Of course!

Sometimes it's really amazing the toys and things people can create when time and creativity is not a problem.

Take a look at these two pictures... incidentally not created by me but by my brother. Guess how these were created? It was taken using the first version of a very small and simple "camera"; the circular effect a result of a fish-eye lens "adapted" to fit over this camera's lens.

Isn't this amazing?

When one has the moment to stop, sit and take a deep breath and look around them... they will see a lot of things that are so amazing... just think that in a normal household, more than half the things found today inside a living room and kitchen did not even exist during the previous 40 to 50 years!

Most of the things we take for granted now were described in science fiction novels or movies as things of the 23rd century.... who would ever think these gadgets would actually exist and be even "affordable" in our lifetime?

Even the car that I drive now, with its electric door locks, electric windows and air conditioning.... I've never had a car like this in my life! I'm used to driving a manual shift transmission, manual roll-down windows power by hand and elbow motion, and a door that locks when you remember to push the little thingy down, or by using your key in the lock!

I agree that modern progress and technology has a lot in making our lives more comfortable, but at what cost? I miss the days when I could control completely and exactly the amount of window I wanted open or closed by turning the lever by hand, and it didn't need any electricity.

I remember that in my short and few teen years, the greatest joys then and which still apply now, were those toys or things that required no batteries, and made me think by using my brain... our personal and amazing incredible built-in computer that comes with each of us with no warrantry but is the simpliest and most advanced computer ever created in this world.

Will this technology be the downfall of this generation and of generations to come, by creating a race of people too lazy to go out to play when one can play on a handheld game console? Will we grow wide and bigger because the only exercise is between the car, the elevator or the desk and our homes? With so much porn online, will the act of "love" become a virtual sensation through online sites? Already people are starting to date through online sites, and it won't be too long before people begin marrying and conducting relationships virtually.

At what price technology? I can't wait to return to my empty apartment in southern Spain where my car - when I have another car there again - stays parked 90% of the month and I walk sometimes up to 10 to 15 kilometers a day, eating less... much less than I do here!

This was created by attaching a fish-eye lens accessory to the "lens" of the camera of a first-generation IPhone!! What one can create through ingenuity and materials at hand!


this is a 1st generation IPhone (left) outfitted with a fish-eye lens!!!
on the right is the lens alone with a juryrigged adapter