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How people play the game of life.

1/18/2015

14 Comments

 
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The most important factor in people's lives is the weather. Extremes of heat or cold can kill a fragile body. Caveman made sure they could raise their babies tucked out of harm's way, which helped in mankind's survival.

A study in America reported that the year 2014 was the warmest record, with ocean temperatures contributing the most to the overall result. Some parts of America were colder than usual, but Australia had record heat. My sister, who lives in Adelaide, South Australia, told me via an email that the bush fires took a terrible toll. I remember a bad bushfire when flames roared up to the Adelaide Hills in 1963. My youngest daughter was not yet walking. Close to where we lived under a television transmitter, firefighters back-lit a blaze which filled the air with a red haze of smoke while we packed the car with essentials for our three children. We were lucky that day. Their strategy worked. When the raging inferno met the controlled line of blaze there was no combustible material left and the fire fizzled out.on the western tip of the south

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Here in England, Cornwall on the western tip in the south, is having a mild winter. Daffodils are already flowering there, whereas Scotland is bracing for a big freeze which is expected to kill many elderly residents. In Hertfordshire, where I live, bluebell leaves are protruding several inches above the ground. It's a country of contrasting weather, and always a concern. This is why one of the first subjects to come up when greeting someone is the weather.

On my walk up the hill each day, I often meet other people out for a stroll. We greet each other by saying, "It's not too bad today. The wind's dropped," or "The sunshine makes such a difference, doesn't it?"

At the other end of the scale for human behavior is a story from Taiwan. A 32-year-old man has died after a three-day gaming binge at an internet cafe in Taiwan. Other patrons initially thought he was sleeping, but when an employee realized he was not breathing he was rushed to hospital and pronounced dead. He was a regular gamer who would sleep face-down on the table or doze off slumped in his chair. Apparently, it is the second death to occur this way in the country this year.

Can you see the appeal of living solely to pit your brain against a computer? Totally withdrawn from nature or any reality?

Reminds me of Queen's song, "Bohemian Rhapsody" See full song. 

Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide,
No escape from reality.

Open your eyes,
Look up to the skies and see,
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,
Because I'm easy come, easy go,
Little high, little low,
Anyway the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me.

Perhaps the gamer died doing what he loved most.

This brings up another question. If you could pick your time of departure from this world, what would you like to be doing?


14 Comments
Ajay Pai link
1/17/2015 06:30:46 pm

I would hug my family and bid adieu.

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Mary Burris link
1/17/2015 06:42:47 pm

Such a timely question. My good friend just laid to rest her younger sister yesterday. She was less than 50 yrs old, and had colon cancer. She spent her last days making sure everyone around her felt good - even those she didnt know in the other hospice rooms. She had an abundance of flowers, so she made sure that her flowers were given and shared with the other hospice patients. Some didnt even have any visitors. She has insisted that all of her belongings be given away. Not sold. Her final moments she spent telling her family and loved ones how much she loved them and then passed peacefully. I think if I were to have to go, I would want to do this the same way.

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Swathi Shenoy link
1/17/2015 08:48:34 pm

Aah! Now that's a difficult question. Maybe I would want to be asleep at that time. It's easier than facing the death having loved ones beside me, who will be no doubt crying! I wouldn't want that to be the last thing I see.

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Inderpreet Kaur link
1/17/2015 11:30:25 pm

That is so difficult to decide, how I would like to go.... Not sure I am ever going to be able to answer it.
The weather has been too cold here too.

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Michelle Liew link
1/18/2015 12:13:49 am

I think that our lives have become so integrated with technology that we lose our humanity....and it's truly sad. We've missed the balance.

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prasanna raghavan link
1/18/2015 12:57:59 am

True it can possibly happen in the very next moment. But I'm still attached to this world which turns me blank when I think of that. So I do not want to push me more :)

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Janelle link
1/18/2015 02:45:37 am

Well certainly technology has cause a huge impact on our lives. With some are good positive changes and some are bad/negative.

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Alana link
1/18/2015 07:43:46 am

I would want to go surrounded by family and friends, and not hooked up to the machines of technology, being kept alive in pain.

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Erin link
1/18/2015 01:07:23 pm

Hmmmm. I think my ideal death would be asleep in my bed after spending a joyful and memory-filled day with my family. That way, they would have a good memory from the last time they saw me and they also wouldn't have to suffer through any long illness.

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Amaia - You Made My Day link
1/18/2015 02:39:16 pm

I moved to Singapore a year and a half ago, and here the weather is practically the same all year long. In between 30 to 35 degrees Celsius and very humid, which makes every move really tiring. Even a 7 minutes walk becomes difficult... Weather really changes the way we live. I love hot weather but I miss having different seasons and temperatures...

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Kristen from The Road to Domestication link
1/18/2015 09:05:37 pm

No, I certainly cannot see the appeal of living solely to pit my brain against a computer. I'm probably working too much in front of the computer as it is, but the first thing I do when I get home is let the dog and cat into the backyard and I go out there with them. I clip fresh herbs, I pull weeds, I water plants. I can't imagine not going outside for three whole days!

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Carrie Ann Tripp link
1/19/2015 12:18:13 am

Oh my goodness. That is so sad! I do spend a LOT of time in front of my computer or phone. Way too much, I'm certain. I don't know that there's a way/place I would want to die. Probably while sleeping, if given a choice.

I just can't believe anyone would sit there for that long at a time. How sad.

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Joan Harrington link
1/19/2015 12:20:26 am

Hi Francene,

Interesting post :) Not sure what I would be doing need to think about that one! Thanks for the great share!

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Amy Bovaird link
1/19/2015 12:55:50 pm

Reminds me of my days in Scotland and the greetings we had about the sun staying in the sky so late, and the many, many types of rain! I think that man in Taiwan died playing Pachinko. That is the number 1 game there. Or at least it was. It is very, very popular. Not sure why. It's been really cold in the northeastern part of the United States.

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    Francene Stanley
    From England, I use news items in my novels which you can see below, all linked to an Amazon near you.

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