Life is a collection of moments

[Teenwolf]

I was walking to a friend's house a few weeks ago around 10 pm. I had a really big bong to myself before walking over. 1 block from my house I was stopped by an old lady who asked me if I could help get her mother into bed. She had called an ambulance but they weren't coming so she was in the street looking out for them. So I asked if she had a mask, she said yes, and I followed her into an apartment building. She didn't mask up, but she was very old, so I figured she's unlikely carrying Covid...

Come to think of it, she is very old... and I'm helping her mother?.... confusing... so as I enter the room, I'm told "you'll need to be very careful, my mother is a hundred and eleven."

In the room is a 60ish year old personal care worker, short and out of shape, plus the woman's 90ish year old daughter, and the 111 year old woman lying on the floor. If you didn't tell me, I would have guessed she was 115, she was nearing the end.

The woman was tiny, curled up on the floor and surrounded by medical support walker and braces and equipment. I had to step over this pile of plastic crap to get into the circle where the woman lay. I was so terrified of breaking something, the smallest action could seriously injure or kill her. So I lifted under her butt and her back, and laid her in bed like a child. She was so light, I would guess under 70 lbs. She seemed to be sleeping from exhaustion and pained by the move, but relieved. As her daughter was phoning to call off the ambulance I snuck away.

The entire incident really messed me up. Has me thinking about mortality a lot. Life is just a collection of moments. One moment you're helping an old person into bed, then boom, the next moment you are that old person. I would feel so weird to be infantalized in such a way, but I guess I would also cling to life. My mom thought that it showed people sometimes keep their loved ones alive out of a sense of obligation or devotion that's misplaced.

I wonder if the woman still has good days. I wonder if I would wish that fate upon myself, my daughter flagging down a stranger to lift me into bed 80 years from now. Personally, I wanna see the ice caps melt completely before I die, see capitalism fall under the weight of climate disaster, and aliens to reveal their presence. I would wish to live to 117 and a few days to see 2100, but I think all of the things I'm waiting for will happen before then. Pretty sure the world will end before I hit 100+, but I'll stick around as long as I can to verify.

I honestly just needed to get this off my chest.

[chancellor]

You're a special person to help in that manner.

Unless nully stole another password.

[nullnor]

everything is connected down to the smallest entangled particles. it's a giant wave function. you are always on a path. if you pay attention enough, you'll see references or clues on your path. you can call them random coincidences or examples of karma or fate. when you do see something related to something, it's the system directing and reassuring you're going in the correct direction.

for example last week the RV guy dropped his dog off at the shelter. it was too much for me to go with them. but the reason I found the place was because a year ago the dog had a hernia. and I spent a lot of effort finding it. after-all fate rewards activity. it was sad, but I know I found the best place. I never would've if it never had a hernia. it's a chain of events, or a path. also, 2 days ago we drove around looking for dinghies for our sailboats. as we passed a wildlife clinic he told me last year he and his son brought a pigeon to it. which is not something he would normally do but something I would and have in front of him. he wanted to know why I do things like that. at school I once ran around with a baby bird chirping in my hand.

he said his son named the bird Fred. he said his son names everything Fred. that night I was watching Bernie Mac, and the son on the show had a pet reptile on his shoulder named Fred. a random coincidence. or maybe it's a butterfly and it's the universe fucking with you to see if you are paying attention.

[nullnor]

You're a special person to help in that manner.

Unless nully stole another password.

if his pw is Maga2020.. oh wait that was a different guy.
the other day I was watching Seinfeld and remember that episode where Georges pw was Bosco. lol Kramer:...you're a portly fellow... a bit long in the waistband? So what's your pleasure; is it the salty snacks you crave? No, no, no, no... your's is a sweet-tooth. Oh, you may stray, but you'll always return to your dark master: the cocoa-bean!

then I was watching the episode where Elaine was having a baby shower in Jerry's apartment, and George wanted to confront a woman that dumped him and spilled Bosco on his sweatshirt. Seinfeld is great like that, where they use stuff from previous episodes.

TW should be ok as long as he didn't tell the lady he helped his pw was Bosco.

the universe is such a big system that redundancy is inevitable.

[Teenwolf]

everything is connected down to the smallest entangled particles. it's a giant wave function. you are always on a path. if you pay attention enough, you'll see references or clues on your path. you can call them random coincidences or examples of karma or fate. when you do see something related to something, it's the system directing and reassuring you're going in the correct direction.

for example last week the RV guy dropped his dog off at the shelter. it was too much for me to go with them. but the reason I found the place was because a year ago the dog had a hernia. and I spent a lot of effort finding it. after-all fate rewards activity. it was sad, but I know I found the best place. I never would've if it never had a hernia. it's a chain of events, or a path. also, 2 days ago we drove around looking for dinghies for our sailboats. as we passed a wildlife clinic he told me last year he and his son brought a pigeon to it. which is not something he would normally do but something I would and have in front of him. he wanted to know why I do things like that. at school I once ran around with a baby bird chirping in my hand.

he said his son named the bird Fred. he said his son names everything Fred. that night I was watching Bernie Mac, and the son on the show had a pet reptile on his shoulder named Fred. a random coincidence. or maybe it's a butterfly and it's the universe fucking with you to see if you are paying attention.

Others might refer to it as a "lattice of coincidence"

I really agree with everything you wrote above. I know this scene is played for laughs, but I think there's some truth to it.

[TranaGreg]

I read once that one of the attractions of baseball is that it's like life - nothing happens, nothing happens, nothing happens, something incredible happens, nothing happens, nothing happens ...

[Teenwolf]

I read once that one of the attractions of baseball is that it's like life - nothing happens, nothing happens, nothing happens, something incredible happens, nothing happens, nothing happens ...

Good analogy. The thing about baseball is that you know it's going to be 9 innings, whereas in life, sometimes that big thing happens in what you think is the top of the 5th, and it kills you.

Actually, something happened today that I hope I never forget. I nearly died.

There are certain risks in my job that put me in mortal peril on occasion. Falling from heights or tall ladders (I work with 14 ft orchard ladder on concrete sometimes) would be my primary way to suffer serious injury or death. Most of the time I do these jobs, I weigh the probability of injury at well below 1% probability. Today, 50% chance I could have been killed.

I was tasked with lowering a hedge, about 18 feet tall and 10 feet deep, taking it down 3 feet and leveling the top and trimming the sides. Power lines were about 2 feet above the top of the hedge. So I had to cut a line across the top with hand tools, and then to get the furthest part of the 10 feet of depth, I had to get a pole saw (chainsaw on 10 ft pole) and maneuver it up and between the power lines and the hedge. The problem was my machine (the company's, not my personal) was gas powered and ancient, so the safety mechanism to stop the chainsaw running when you release the trigger is gone, the chain just runs. Climbing down the ladder with the pole saw in one hand, it knicked the power lines and left a tooth mark chipped out.

I sent the picture of the power line to my dad, and he explained how it works. Power lines are twisted around a thicker steel support cable. My chainsaw knicked the cable. 2 inches left, or 2 inches right, and I'm fucking dead.

Life is a collection of moments... until you clip a power line, and then poof, they scatter in the wind. Really heavy feeling tonight.

[Sour Masher]

You have a dangerous job Jesse, stay safe. Hitting that line seems like an almost inevitable thing to do in the situation you were in. It also seems like a big liability that your company is making you use a pole saw without the appropriate safety feature. Weighed against the worst case that almost happened, replacing or fixing that machine seems like a no brainer. I hope they agree.

[Kevin Seitzer]

Good analogy. The thing about baseball is that you know it's going to be 9 innings, whereas in life, sometimes that big thing happens in what you think is the top of the 5th, and it kills you.

Actually, something happened today that I hope I never forget. I nearly died.

There are certain risks in my job that put me in mortal peril on occasion. Falling from heights or tall ladders (I work with 14 ft orchard ladder on concrete sometimes) would be my primary way to suffer serious injury or death. Most of the time I do these jobs, I weigh the probability of injury at well below 1% probability. Today, 50% chance I could have been killed.

I was tasked with lowering a hedge, about 18 feet tall and 10 feet deep, taking it down 3 feet and leveling the top and trimming the sides. Power lines were about 2 feet above the top of the hedge. So I had to cut a line across the top with hand tools, and then to get the furthest part of the 10 feet of depth, I had to get a pole saw (chainsaw on 10 ft pole) and maneuver it up and between the power lines and the hedge. The problem was my machine (the company's, not my personal) was gas powered and ancient, so the safety mechanism to stop the chainsaw running when you release the trigger is gone, the chain just runs. Climbing down the ladder with the pole saw in one hand, it knicked the power lines and left a tooth mark chipped out.

I sent the picture of the power line to my dad, and he explained how it works. Power lines are twisted around a thicker steel support cable. My chainsaw knicked the cable. 2 inches left, or 2 inches right, and I'm fucking dead.

Life is a collection of moments... until you clip a power line, and then poof, they scatter in the wind. Really heavy feeling tonight.

Oh man, be safe. I'm glad you made it through that one okay.

[Mithrandir]

Good analogy. The thing about baseball is that you know it's going to be 9 innings, whereas in life, sometimes that big thing happens in what you think is the top of the 5th, and it kills you.

Actually, something happened today that I hope I never forget. I nearly died.

There are certain risks in my job that put me in mortal peril on occasion. Falling from heights or tall ladders (I work with 14 ft orchard ladder on concrete sometimes) would be my primary way to suffer serious injury or death. Most of the time I do these jobs, I weigh the probability of injury at well below 1% probability. Today, 50% chance I could have been killed.

I was tasked with lowering a hedge, about 18 feet tall and 10 feet deep, taking it down 3 feet and leveling the top and trimming the sides. Power lines were about 2 feet above the top of the hedge. So I had to cut a line across the top with hand tools, and then to get the furthest part of the 10 feet of depth, I had to get a pole saw (chainsaw on 10 ft pole) and maneuver it up and between the power lines and the hedge. The problem was my machine (the company's, not my personal) was gas powered and ancient, so the safety mechanism to stop the chainsaw running when you release the trigger is gone, the chain just runs. Climbing down the ladder with the pole saw in one hand, it knicked the power lines and left a tooth mark chipped out.

I sent the picture of the power line to my dad, and he explained how it works. Power lines are twisted around a thicker steel support cable. My chainsaw knicked the cable. 2 inches left, or 2 inches right, and I'm fucking dead.

Life is a collection of moments... until you clip a power line, and then poof, they scatter in the wind. Really heavy feeling tonight.

Like baseball, life is a game of inches. Glad to hear you survived!!

[madducks]

Good analogy. The thing about baseball is that you know it's going to be 9 innings, whereas in life, sometimes that big thing happens in what you think is the top of the 5th, and it kills you.

Actually, something happened today that I hope I never forget. I nearly died.

There are certain risks in my job that put me in mortal peril on occasion. Falling from heights or tall ladders (I work with 14 ft orchard ladder on concrete sometimes) would be my primary way to suffer serious injury or death. Most of the time I do these jobs, I weigh the probability of injury at well below 1% probability. Today, 50% chance I could have been killed.

I was tasked with lowering a hedge, about 18 feet tall and 10 feet deep, taking it down 3 feet and leveling the top and trimming the sides. Power lines were about 2 feet above the top of the hedge. So I had to cut a line across the top with hand tools, and then to get the furthest part of the 10 feet of depth, I had to get a pole saw (chainsaw on 10 ft pole) and maneuver it up and between the power lines and the hedge. The problem was my machine (the company's, not my personal) was gas powered and ancient, so the safety mechanism to stop the chainsaw running when you release the trigger is gone, the chain just runs. Climbing down the ladder with the pole saw in one hand, it knicked the power lines and left a tooth mark chipped out.

I sent the picture of the power line to my dad, and he explained how it works. Power lines are twisted around a thicker steel support cable. My chainsaw knicked the cable. 2 inches left, or 2 inches right, and I'm fucking dead.

Life is a collection of moments... until you clip a power line, and then poof, they scatter in the wind. Really heavy feeling tonight.

Glad that you are ok Teenwolf. I hope that your company is now replacing that faulty equipment. The next person who uses it may not be so lucky.

[Teenwolf]

Glad that you are ok Teenwolf. I hope that your company is now replacing that faulty equipment. The next person who uses it may not be so lucky.

Instead of replacing the faulty equipment, they replaced me. I was fired, amd I was told that it was an issue of personality conflict. The thing is, I got along great with everyone, so either people have been incredibly disingenuous in their interactions with me, or they're lying.

They will not replace the faulty chainsaw, or any other half broken or faulty gear. They're a huge company that pinches pennies, yet they spend $60K/yr+ to have an on-site mechanic fixing shitty outdated equipment into a state of semi-functionality... I would much prefer $1000/week of new equipment every week than fixing old garbage. I may have said something like this when I hit the power line, perhaps that's why I was fired. Implying the company is a joke, which it is. I've worked for myself too long to adapt.

So I wasn't going to file any incident report with Worksafe BC. But now I will be. This company putting people's lives on the line for extra profit deserves to be fined into oblivion.

This is also the 2nd time I've been fired in a month, and I'm no longer feeling confident as a landscaper. My wife is suggesting I should work in a cannabis dispensary for an easier summer, but all the housing is going too high to get on the ladder. I'm afraid I'm gonna be stuck in shitty apartments forever. My building has such paper thin walls, last week I was in my own kitchen and farted, to which the person walking by outside in the hallway called out "fart".... what a miserable way to live.

[Sour Masher]

Instead of replacing the faulty equipment, they replaced me. I was fired, amd I was told that it was an issue of personality conflict. The thing is, I got along great with everyone, so either people have been incredibly disingenuous in their interactions with me, or they're lying.

They will not replace the faulty chainsaw, or any other half broken or faulty gear. They're a huge company that pinches pennies, yet they spend $60K/yr+ to have an on-site mechanic fixing shitty outdated equipment into a state of semi-functionality... I would much prefer $1000/week of new equipment every week than fixing old garbage. I may have said something like this when I hit the power line, perhaps that's why I was fired. Implying the company is a joke, which it is. I've worked for myself too long to adapt.

So I wasn't going to file any incident report with Worksafe BC. But now I will be. This company putting people's lives on the line for extra profit deserves to be fined into oblivion.

This is also the 2nd time I've been fired in a month, and I'm no longer feeling confident as a landscaper. My wife is suggesting I should work in a cannabis dispensary for an easier summer, but all the housing is going too high to get on the ladder. I'm afraid I'm gonna be stuck in shitty apartments forever. My building has such paper thin walls, last week I was in my own kitchen and farted, to which the person walking by outside in the hallway called out "fart".... what a miserable way to live.

It sounds like you are better off. If you can get a job at a dispensary, that seems like a much easier gig.

[Teenwolf]

It sounds like you are better off. If you can get a job at a dispensary, that seems like a much easier gig.

I just don't know if I can afford to earn less and still be able to buy a condo, as prices continue to float higher than I'm comfortable with. I don't know if I could afford the type of condo I want if I made $10-$20K less per year.

There are also landscaping companies for sale for $80-$100K offering well established clientele, full run of trucks, equipment, and positive cash flow of $50-$80K per year. But then that's my entire down payment for a condo, or half of it if I go in with a friend. It would put a ton of pressure on me from my wife to earn more to justify blowing our savings. Maybe smarter to just buy the condo to keep my wife happy and hope to start small with landscaping side jobs in between a full time relaxed job like dispensary or record shop.

[Sour Masher]

I just don't know if I can afford to earn less and still be able to buy a condo, as prices continue to float higher than I'm comfortable with. I don't know if I could afford the type of condo I want if I made $10-$20K less per year.

There are also landscaping companies for sale for $80-$100K offering well established clientele, full run of trucks, equipment, and positive cash flow of $50-$80K per year. But then that's my entire down payment for a condo, or half of it if I go in with a friend. It would put a ton of pressure on me from my wife to earn more to justify blowing our savings. Maybe smarter to just buy the condo to keep my wife happy and hope to start small with landscaping side jobs in between a full time relaxed job like dispensary or record shop.

Can you work at the dispensary during the week and side hustle landscaping part time on the weekends for another 10k a year? Still seems like a net win for you to landscape less.