Saturday Zero: Books and Rice and Random

I’m usually out on the road right now, but some chest congestion and a cough kept me home this morning. If I feel better later, or, more probably, tomorrow I’ll get out for a ride. I know the guys are having a good time — they’ve posted pictures already — but I made the right call. Better to let my lungs and body rest. I could’ve made it, but I’ll be better for it tomorrow, I’m sure.

So I get to spend a pleasant morning napping and reading, which I think is a pretty decent trade-off. I’m a third of the way through Erdrich’s The Night Watchman, and it’s shaping up to be a sneakily good book. I normally dislike books with divergent story lines — I hate being in the middle of something and then being pulled off in another direction. But Erdrich is weaving a couple of stories together in a way that doesn’t annoy me. The transitions are much more gentle than, say, some guy fighting wolves with a pen knife and suddenly cutting to someone having a drink with friends at a dinner party. Nothing so abrupt.

And Erdrich’s writing style is all so smooth and gentle that way. You barely notice that she’s a really good writer — the story carries itself. So far, so good.

On a related note, I think I’m getting to be a better reader. I’m noticing things. Now, they may not be the same things that “professionals” are noticing, but they’re things nonetheless. And I’ve never liked the professionals anyway. I’m quite satisfied with this.

I think the key to this has been my Pulitzer run. I’m obviously reading some excellent books, and I’m getting the rhythm of their styles and stories more and more easily as I go. I’m seeing where they’re going with things, and it makes sense because I’ve come to expect consistency. I’ve never been a “what do you think the writer is saying here” kind of person. I’ll figure that out soon enough, I suppose. I figure that if I finish a book and completely miss the point, well, I’m good with that too. I’m a big fan of the author’s original intent. As far as I’m concerned, the author is the boss. If they come out and say “I meant this when I wrote that passage,” I can do nothing but agree. Still, if I don’t see what they’re getting at, it’s not the end of the world. I’ll move on, and they still won’t have any idea what I thought anyway so it won’t matter in the slightest. The point (when reading fiction) is the entertainment. I shouldn’t be looking for any life-changing insight. I’d be wasting my time.

Spring is springing in Korea, and, but for the air quality, it is my second-favorite season here…and a close second at that. The air is still cool and comfortable, and when things start greening up, it’s quite refreshing. And then comes the rice-planting season, and I’m reminded that I’m starting to gauge my time here by that. I”m starting to think’ve recently gotten to thinking to myself, “Didn’t they just do this?” It seems so recent that the paddies were being flooded and the seedlings being planted. And then I remember it was last year and I start to remember the things that have gone in between and I can only say that I’m having some full, rich years. Good and bad things are happening, but we’re moving right along.

In the end, though, it’s not like it’s a bad thing at all, even if it is a sign of getting older. Much older. It’s just that I never recall as a punk wandering the streets of Songtan, South Korea nearly 40 years ago thinking, “Weren’t they just planting rice a few months ago?” Then again, a big part of that might be that a 20-year-old kid never pays attention to things like rice planting anyway. Too much else going on.

I am, however, reminded of this picture, taken from the front yard of the first house in which I lived off base in the Spring of 1984. To me, only 39 years ago, but not that long. All I can think is that a lot has happened since then.

Here’s a story about the technology I use — The Bad, the Good, and the Ugly…

Let’s start with the bad: My wifi crapped out at home. It should be no surprise actually — I know it was at least 10 years old, but probably closer to 15. I’m surprised it was any good at all, actually. Funny thing is, it almost bit me for a second week in a row. Last week I woke up late for a 5:30 ride because I knocked the plug out of my Echo Dot (my alarm). So this week I made sure it was plugged in securely before I went to bed. And then at 4 this morning it didn’t go off. Why? Because it needs to be hooked up to the internet to know the time, and my wifi crapped out during the night. Fortunately, I woke up at 3:55, so it was no big deal…and then, of course, I didn’t go out.

Another problem with my wifi is that it didn’t really cover the whole apartment very well. This is more of a problem when Sarah is visiting (as she is, by the way). She sleeps in a bedroom on the opposite side of the apartment from the wifi, so it’s kind of weak over there. So today I killed two birds with one stone — I bought a new wifi router that creates a mesh network over the whole apartment with two units. Set up the first one, then plug in the second one over on the other side of the apartment and it’s good wifi all around. And it was on sale. That’s the good.

Now, for the ugly:

It seems that my favorite navigation app has gone through a bit of an update. Not an upgrade. No, an upgrade implies they did something to make it better. In this case, they updated the voice commands. Where before it would say, “600 meters ahead, 60kph speed and signal violation,” it now says, “About 600 meters ahead, there is a camera which is for signal violation and 60kph speed limit” or something like that. Even worse, for a turn, where she said before, “In 600 meters, turn right,” she’ll now say “In about 600 meters, turn toward…” and then stop, then she’ll say “In a minute, turn right,” when you’re actually only about a hundred meters from the turn. Nowhere close to a minute. The first time she said that, I missed my turn because it took her so long. Naver really needs to realize that, while driving, the driver needs succinct and easy-to-follow instructions.

What once was my friend
has become my enemy.
Oh Naver! Farewell!