Choosing new companions

So. I haven't written here for so long  you may have thought I've forgotten about that account o'mine.   Rest assured, I didn't -  there was just too much work, overhaul needed, both inside and outside the house -  I love spring, I really do, but it's consistent with the title of the busiest  time of the year, aside autumn.

Aside the February-incited trial job,  and the power-working through both house, field and garden (the joys of shoveling dirt where outside are almost summer temperatures, with no clouds in sight), I've also managed to drive along learning three languages at the same time -  yes, yes, ballsy, but in my defense, I can go only so long  without being inexplicably bored.  Thus, idle mind = devil playground -  maybe not,  my head is always running with ideas and whatnot, but knowing more than one foreign language can only be useful in life.

Of course, I've got fed up with my Apple 3G iPhone -  loved the bit to death, almost literally,   but it got worn out to the degree it didn't  pop any notifications for incoming SMS,  calls were also something hit-and-miss, so I've reluctantly saddled over to the brand new Huawei Y5 II.

Overall impression -  phone is cute as a button, even if it managed to somehow be greedy enough to much a whole lot of card data, and the transfer of important bits (i.e. phone numbers, SMS evidence) was a pain in the ass to deal with, especially because I hadn't known that iPhone and Android based phones actually like sharing data with each other like rabid dogs and cats. To put in simply, none, and I had to go to the official operator to get the Huawei going as it should.  The phone voice is tinny,  I really can't hear it well, even if it's on the biggest volume, but it does have a handy back-light so yes,  safer ways when the autumn and winter  will be coming around the corners. For the budget phone it's good, now gotta find out how to load on some music. oh, and upgrade it with something to better hear the voice.

As it goes, my backpack also slowly announced its retirement, so I went on a manhunt for a new one.  A manhunt that lasted at least two weeks. Two. Weeks. The last thing that took so long was when my brother prompted me to choose which washing machine we ought to buy.  And I think it  says much about my character that I was prepared to sacrifice so much time  for one backpack, much more willingly than one washing machine. But in my defense,  nobody wears  quarter of a ton worth of washing machine on their back, so there.

My latest backpack, so to say, was  made  by  company called American Tourister, and in the time I had bought it, it was darned pricey thing. But I fell in love with it at first glance, sight and nuzzle, so to speak (yes, very tactile person here),  and it has served me well  for...almost a decade. Which is kind of a record  even in my books,  when I remember that my first backpack lasted me for solid 8 years (entire primary school).  My high school backpack   -  a veritable monster from Hi-Tech Academia - suffered through the whole four years of abuse -  and I mean abuse, because  it wasn't anything unusual if I've dragged around some 6 or 7 kilos worth of stuff on my back daily,  most of it books for me to read.  And it still served strong, even if we had to fortify the bottom, but it  suffered through the additional abuse my mum had heaped upon it silently and honestly until it very nearly went to pieces.

Moral of this little story? Durability, for me, is  one of the best and biggest factors in buying a bag. I want my bag to be like a cockroach -  so to say, be able to  survive damn near bar atomic explosion, and if it does survive even that, then I am sold. Then, good back support and  bag straps to follow through the support of damn near insane loads. And also, to be able to weather the weather -  yes,  pun, I know, but it's appropriate here, and then to be orderly enough for my little collection of pens, books and whatchamacallits I usually tote around.  Last, but not least, safety.  I avoid the shoulder bags  because of the simple reason -  not only they are bad for posture when they are loaded, but they are also stupidly easy to snatch by a thief, and then, goodbye  your wallet, your money, your personal data, your identity.  Oh, and your phone, too.

(Remember: It's not paranoia if they are out to get you. I believe in goodwill of my fellow people, but it's a fact there are still some around who don't play by rules of so-called polite society.  And being a damsel in distress is not a rewarding position for the one who finds themselves in it.)

My little tour around in the real world and through the virtual one  made me aware of a distressing reality -  companies more often than not cater to the 'cute' and 'cool'  instead of 'practical'. I almost wept with despair in one of the shops when I've found out  that there were almost no secret compartments which would be readily available to  safely stash in the valuables.  Sure,  Dakine stood up with their thermo-insulated pockets for  the electronics, but  no thoughts about wallet storage.  And I very nearly screamed with outrage when the kind vendors told the that the oh-so-cool zips does zilch, nada, zero when a veritable hailstorm of rain  decides to vent it's  watery anger onto your innocent backpack.  I've lived in the era when it was normal and even required for the zips to have been covered with little flaps as to prevent the rain or snow to get to the zips and consequently into the  backpack's interior.   In the era of electronic, it became fashionable -  don't ask me why -  that the zips are all-freaking-out, with no protection, especially when it comes to electronic equipment stored in the bag! The horror!

The only one who had some redeeming points here was Eastpak, becasue some of their models got the required flaps over the zips (thank God, there are still some sane people  designing the bags on the world), and both Everki and Port Design also include little rain cover for their backpacks. Sadly, Port Design elected to have theirs in neon yellow (ouch, my EYES!!!), and for Everki, I am not even sure if our vendors even include it  along the bag aside some specific -  and very pricey models.

And here we go. Price and availability.  In the era when  you can get a backpack for as low as some 20 quids, it may be almost mind-boggling for anyone aside really serious travelers, bag aficionados and motorists to shell out  some really big bucks for what they want. Availability -  I am really grateful I have Uncle Google to ask about particulars, otherwise I would be one miserable little being, having to settle for something of an inferior quality and make just  becasue I hadn't known that there were other options. Though, I also nearly got some heart attacks  when I saw just what some bags were priced, and I really began to wonder just how much they were worth of their price tag in reality. I even contemplated ordering my new backpack in some other country by a reliable company, but the import taxes... Wow. Let's just say: I was looking at the backpacks of the upper price range. The import taxes were of an almost equal sum to it. And there's also the fact when there were some good bags, but I would have to shell out as many bucks as for a middle-to-high-ranged mobile phone or a very high-ranged hearing aid.  And this, from me as a deaf of hearing person, says much,  because I've been intimately acquitted with the prices of the latter, all in the name of good hearing, however much I've still got.

I have to say, my country don't  have developed culture or even conscience just how much can a good backpack mean a difference in a person's life.  We got used to buying things, if we don't like them,  we  give them away, thrash them,  or sell them, and very rarely  a simple backpack  means so much as to be a staple in our lives - here, dependable through thick and thin, well-used and well-loved.  Maybe I am too picky, some may also accuse me of being a backpack aficionado.  But I think I have a right to be, considering that I've put my back through unreasonably heavy loads and the ensuing discomfort resulting from it, be that in rain or shine,  taught me to appreciate just how much my spine could bear. However, I also had to acknowledge that this won't last forever.  Additionally,  I began to appreciate that my things were stored safely, be that rain, snow or shine, I could always be sure that everything inside the bag was dry as it ought to be.

With that in mind, I've found a perfect backpack for me. Here's to hoping it would follow the steps of its well-worn and well-loved compatriots and be my faithful  companion for a  long time to come. I won't be saying which one is it or even which brand, because people have different tastes, and what may be a perfect backpack for me, may not suit you.

But I implore you -  next time when you  see a bag or backpack (or any other thing, really,) and you think to yourself - "Hey! This is a seriously good deal!"  -  think a little of the item in question not as a temporary fix for your needs, however pretty or cool it may seem to be, with a price to match, but as a lifelong companion, at least for the duration of life of that particular bag or backpack.  Take it in your hands.  Search it's insides  - imagine yourself having it, wearing it for a long time, for many years to come.  Be that  in a town, on a journey,  or a picnic -  anywhere and everywhere you would think or love to take this particular bag or  backpack with you.  And then ask yourself, if you love that image -  love it enough to say that this is your one, the bag you would happily tote around -  not because it's fashionable, but because it really fits you and your needs to a T, so much that you take it along wherever and whenever the road takes you. Don't be satisfied with making compromises.  Search for it, learn about it and be prepared to shell out maybe some  more bucks for a really good quality bag that would see you through many years, much to your  satisfaction,  instead of thinking you would be 'cool' with it just because of its price.

Your spine, and consequently you, along with your laptop and sense of safety, deserve better.

About idiots really wanting to be idiots

This morning, I've received a review that was really disparaging to my writing skills.

Let's see:

Read a few chapters and this is my final impression: Promising but ultimately bland. Sena is in the early stages of becoming a gary stu and the narrative themes (or lack thereof) demonstrate a lack of substance. Writing is a difficult process, so props for investing the time and effort either way.
-Van

I am amazed that this person dared to practically spit on my work -  nay, dared to sound so intelligent, while when I went to look at their profile, not even racking up the reviews and viewers, and then still saying  the above mentioned opinion like they were the alpha and omega of how should the stories be written.  The last sentence especially drove me up the wall -  Writing is a difficult process, so props for investing the time and effort either way. 

Really? I mean, really? I am on the writing scene 10 years, give or take some.  Path of Grace is one of my earliest works, so it's a given it's  a little bit awkward,  narrative-speaking. But I object to the person's description of Sena as Gary Stu.

It's understandable, what with me giving Sena amnesia,  and getting him a little bit more self-confident along with a strong interest in running first and foremost.  But he is not a top dog.  He still has trouble with Hiruma and he's still oh so very awkward with people around him.  If there was really something that pissed me off in the manga version, was the protagonist's  incessant shrieking and scaredy-cat manners. Some time ago, yes, they were cute.  But through all the series, no. Thus the birth of this story.

About the intrepid reviewer who got the dubious honor of pissing me off. I could go to their writing site and really lambast them. Their review gave me a bad taste in my mouth because it was disrespectful, and what was more, discourteous way of treating me as a person and a writer.  I fear for people who may also have the misfortune of gathering the said person's disinterest thus prompting such reviews. That kind of reviewer is not needed nor wanted, because they unintentionally crush other people with their holier-than-thou's attitude. I am just grateful that  my readers and reviewers had bolstered my sense of writing worth way before I had the dubious honor of reading this little piece drivel that arrived into my mail box today.

 But dogs bark while caravan moves on. Miss or Mister Vandenberg, thank you for your illustrious opinion, however in the sum of everything, it means nothing to me. I enjoy writing and I will damn well make a career out of it. What will you do with your life,  it's your own business, but thanks for teaching me what kind of reviewer I definitely DON'T want to be.

Case closed,

Eirenei