I’ve been meditating for more than half my life now. The practice brings many benefits to your life but the most significant one is that it forces you to be more introspective. You begin to live more deeply, notice more of life’s subtleties. Lately, I’ve noticed a pattern of the beloved technological gadgets I use on a daily basis completely crapping out within the span of just a few weeks. It’s slowly transforming me from a tech geek to a reluctant Luddite.
Homepod Mini
First it was my, nearly new, Homepod Mini. It would become unpaired with my phone sporadically. For those of you unfamiliar with Apple’s newest “smart” speaker it’s not a traditional bluetooth speaker. Apple worked some kind of dark magic with it. The speaker is the size of a baseball but it sounds like one of those huge 1970’s tower speakers. Pairing it with your phone requires a complete reset and setting up your user profile all over again. I’m now having to do this every other day. Siri is my arch nemesis at the moment.
Broken Money Maker
Next it was my (usually) trusty 2015 MacBook Pro. Being a writer, this is my lifeline, my money maker. In fact, a few years ago my wife told me to “shake my money maker” and without missing a beat I picked up the MacBook and suggestively gyrated it from side to side. We both laughed until we cried and, of course, it’s become a running joke.
Everything began to go south in MacBookland a couple of weeks ago when the “V” key started acting up. The blasted V key alternated between not working and sticking. I tried compressed air, hoping it would blow out whatever was lodged underneath the key but it only got worse. Now the entire keyboard, including touchpad, is shorting out.
I’ve written three books on this laptop, co-crafted a few seasons’ worth of episodic sci-fi screenplays, drafted countless short stories. Let’s just say there’s history and an emotional connection there. Considering the laptop is six years old I decided to trade it in for the new 2021 MacBook Air M1. Due to supply chain problems Apple can’t get the new one here until September 8th, which is precisely why I haven’t been blogging much as of late. Steve Jobs is mocking me from the great beyond.
Keplr Dilemma
Years ago I bought an obscure ERC-20 token called Sentinel (SENT). Earlier this year the team announced their plans to swap the coin for a mainnet token (DVPN) on the COSMOS blockchain. The new coin is POS so you can stake the coin with a validator and make up to 60% APY.
I struggled a bit with the MetaMask wallet but overcame that hurdle with the help of a friend, performed the swap, saved the DVPN in the Keplr wallet, delegated my coins to two different validators, and happily began cashing in my rewards. Then suddenly, a few days ago, my password just stopped working. I had it written down so I cut/pasted it thinking this would be full proof, still nothing. I tried restoring the wallet with the seed phrase and discovered it is associated with an entirely different address and the balance in my Keplr wallet is zero.
This Keplr dilemma has completely befuddled me and no one else seems to have a logical explanation for it. The seed phrase, in theory, should recreate the exact wallet associated with it. Only it isn’t.
Maybe this Keplr dilemma is associated with my broken money maker?
Was I somehow hacked?
I’m not sure but I hope it’s #1. I’ll find out once Apple gets around to delivering the MacBook Air. For now I’ll keep drawing deep breaths with fingers crossed. One thing is for sure, it’s always an adventure in the cryptosphere.
VanPOOF
Last but not least, I lost use of my VanMoof S3 ebike as I explained in my previous post.
A Silver Lining
As I always do when a string of bad luck comes to visit I keep asking myself, What is the universe trying to teach me?
I’ve come up with two possible answers:
- You need a break; and/or
- You need to stop relying so heavily on technology.
I’m going to roll with #1 for now. In two days I’ll be unplugging almost completely, heading up to the north shore on my annual buddy trip with good friend @luckyfellow. We’re going to be staying in a tiny house in the woods just a mile from Lake Superior.
The extended weekend will be filled with hikes, good food, and I’m sure lots of laughs. I’m even bringing my old jazz clarinet up there to play. I figure I’ll be far enough from civilization that it would bother anyone too much. Now is the time to focus on the good, on what I’m grateful for (which happens to be a whole lot).
As the great Ella Fitzgerald sang, "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall". It makes us appreciate everything else that much more.
After a little spiritual reset and nature-infused therapy I’m confident all will be right again. Shortly after I get back home the new MacBook Air will be delivered and I can look forward to shaking that new money maker. Come hell or high water I have a novel to finish and variety is the spice of life after all, right?
All for now.
With Gratitude,
Eric Vance Walton
(Gifs sourced from Giphy.com)
Poetry should move us, it should change us, it should glitch our brains, shift our moods to another frequency. Poetry should evoke feelings of melancholy, whimsy, it should remind us what it feels like to be in love, or cause us to think about something in a completely different way. I view poetry, and all art really, as a temporary and fragile bridge between our world and a more pure and refined one. This is a world we could bring into creation if enough of us believed in it. This book is ephemera, destined to end up forgotten, lingering on some dusty shelf or tucked away in a dark attic. Yet the words, they will live on in memory. I hope these words become a part of you, bubble up into your memory when you least expect them to and make you feel a little more alive.
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