saving it for later

Found this walking around East side (28th and 3rd) on Sunday October 12th around 12 pm.

I know it sounds terrible but I really do miss hurricane season. I love the panic, the rush to get your home secure. The shopping frenzy to stock up on nonperishable items. Listening to the news on the TV while you still have elctricity, the ringing of the phone from friends and relatives ‘Are you ready? Do you need anything?”. Waiting in line to get gas before it all shuts down. Taking the last shower with running water, bringing a flashflight with me before going to sleep on the makeshift bed I made in the living room…so I could see the storm come. I love the sound of the rain when it falls, and keeps falling, and seems to never stop until the next day.  The way the sky is dark and cloudy, it’s the end of the world, it seems like!

If it’s a nighttime hurricane you wonder whether you’ll get the next day off.  Americans living in the North call these “Snow Days”. We call them “Hurricane Days”.  You secretly want the day off, even though you do hope no one has been hurt, and no houses have been lost. Usually, we’d get the day off, and I’d spend it by playing board games with the family or playing outside with my friends to see the trees that have fallen down (we’d make up stories like,  we’re in the jungle! etc, etc). The nighttime was the absolute best though. Without any electricity, the sky was perfectly clear and the roads were empty, less a few people that absolutely had to leave home for work or an emergency. It was so peaceful - the way a hard workout feels good after a few days, or how taking a sour tasting medicine helps you heal.

Sure, when I was in it, I complained after the 3rd week without running water. The whole bucket-shower thing gets old quick, and even with a generator and water preserve you’re constantly aware of the fact that you have to limit your use of these ‘modern day’ amenities. And hello, Puerto Rico is HOT.  Life without A/C or even a fan every once in a while sucks.

I realize that hurricanes kill, hurt, and damage many families and communities. I was very fortunate to be safe everytime, sometimes just minor window damage. And, I don’t wish devastation on anyone.  It’s just that natural disasters make you realize how small you are, and how beautiful and powerful nature can be.  These storms might just be nature’s way of reminding us who’s the man, so to say, and sometimes we need that reality check.

Earlier this week, I tried to incorporate my old Facebook posts and notes into WordPress. Clearly, that did NOT happen. I downloaded several PlugIns in hopes that I could somehow transfer the posts easily. I tried creating an RSS feed. Nope and nope. I can, however, transfer my WordPress posts into Facebook. Which is fine, if you like templated crap. I want to customize my page, I want it to give my website it’s own unique look and feel. I don’t want the same Facebook page everyone else has. Isn’t customization part of the whole ‘creating my own identity’ idea? And yes, I know there are PlugIns that transfer my status updates and all that jazz, but what if I don;t want everyone knowing EVERYTHING. WAH WAH WAH.

I’ve had the “Facebook is going to take” over conversation with colleagues and friends, but it wasn’t until this moment I realized just how frustrating the takeover will be.

There are some MAJOR issues here. Facebook is building up to be a freakin huge monopoly. Going to every website online social site is annoying. I never check Twitter. I hardly go to Plannersphere. And why can’t I just compile all my pics under ONE site. If Facebook is going to take over, it needs to let me use every other site I use in a fluid manner. And until it does, I won’t be happy.

Dumping the blame on all these issues onto Facebook isn’t really fair. Clearly the concept of Open Source Platforms is much much bigger than that. But it just feels good to blame someone when you can’t get your way.

They kinda feel the same way:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/26/facebook-to-open-source-facebook-platform/

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_open_is_facebook_really.php