The Internet has a way of side-tracking me. It is the side-trackiest thing on Earth, I would propose.
It can start with something very little. Like the other day, there was a photo that showed two windows with blinds hanging in them. On the left it said “Smoker” — and on the right, “Non-Smoker.” Of course the smoker blind was a dark shade of brownish-tan wither. And the non-smoker was white.
That began the side-track. I started thinking of my years of smoking, and how glad I am that I quit 18 years ago. I’ll always remember the year and the date, because I kept failing miserably. I wanted to quit in the year 2000 because I thought it would be incredibly cool to do something like that on the Millennium. Of course, that Baby New Year stepped on the scene 12 months later, and I was still a huffing and a puffing. I then decided 01-01-01 would be an even better “Quit Date” and — I failed again. By February 1, 2001, I had it licked. 02.01.2001.
The sidetrack continued, making me wonder how many people still smoke. I think Preble County raises the national percentage significantly. At this point, in the United States, there are over 34 million people over the age of 18, or 14% of adults who smoke. Worldwide it is about 20%.
Next I wondered what might work on cleaning those blinds, where I found a number of suggestions, including scrubbing in buckets, hair dryers, and microfiber wipes. I also found out that Bob Viola had a website which took this OCD Brain to a thousand other places. The DeWalt MAX SR is the best compact chainsaw, by the way.
Yes, certain parts of the Internet will suck the very soul out of you, once you get hooked. The culprits are everywhere, including the “funny cat videos” which are as numerous as grains of sand in all the oceans of the world, to the “what could go wrong” videos where people blow up their backyards, or do very dumb things on motorized vehicles. I have learned to avoid both of these areas earnestly.
Another pit, covered with straw, which I don’t really notice until I have fallen deep into the darkness, is the “Best of” lists. The 25 Best Movies of the Decade or, The Top Ten Dogs for Seniors, or The Five Books You Must Read This Year. Depending on the list, I usually find myself side-tracked all the way to Amazon, and a few days later, I am integrating products into my life that I never knew I needed.
Sidetracked started out with trains. Apparently, in 1874, it was described to put one car on another side track to get it out of the way, so that a car of greater importance could move through. And then, as we know it, in the figurative sense — “to divert from the main purpose” is attested from 1881.
Either way, when I am trying to work, I have to keep this from thwarting my intentions. In fact, I have to focus on keeping my “little engine that could” rolling firmly in the right direction on its purpose-driven tracks.
Hey. I wonder who wrote The Little Engine That Could, and in what year? Was that little train red? I don’t remember any other trains in the book? I wonder how many trains are still active in America, and what percentage of cargo they run in comparison to trucks? How much does a box car weigh in correlation to the engine? Which country has the most passenger trains? When were they invented? Where is the longest….
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“Have we ever thought that being lost is our destination?”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough
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“Every journey begins with the first step of articulating the intention, and then becoming the intention.”
― Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason
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“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.”
― Zig Ziglar
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