I read somewhere that after forty men generally develop a less testosterone driven affect, one in which it’s easier to take things as they come and is less likely to be led by day to day events in a manner which creates urgency and rage.
I am waiting. Because, geez, must be nice.
I swear, at 45 I am if anything more irritated about the various things in the world that are obvious failures of humanity than I was at 18. I strongly doubt I am wiser than I was back then too, just slower, fatter, and less quick on the uptake. I think it would be exceedingly fair to say I am more cynical, though.
A friend only-seriously pointed out I have been “rage-quitting” Internet things lately. He’s totally right. I suspended my MetaFilter membership in September (I think), Facebook in November, Twitter in December, and just tonight I took Google+ out back by the dumpsters and emptied it out.
That leaves Flickr and a mix of ancillary and core Google services. Between 1999 and 2005, I gradually moved all my web services stuff to Google or other providers after deciding trying to run an SMTP server on a ten year old Mac laptop was not a wise use of my time.
I don’t envision totally nuking Google as a web services provider, but the time has come to split. Google may not be doing evil yet per se, but I am sure as shit that they are about to. I assume that this actually reflects that wellspring of post-testosterone-addled wisdom men of my age are said to take as their patrimony. Or else I’m just as pissed off about stuff most folks don’t notice or care about as I was when I was 18. Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s because I am stupid and lazy.