Yours portly hasn’t had much time to watch movies lately. Work has been busy since getting back from Spring Break, but I’ve also been trying to clean and declutter my hovel.
My family has something of the hoarder’s gene, it seems. We love our bric-a-brac and treacle and knickknacks and what-nots. My sister-in-law describers my mother’s decor as “antique maximalist.” Mine would probably be “Millennial Rat’s Nest”—my home is full of books, old bits of electronics, and LEGOs.
I have always had the mindset that “this might be useful someday”—not to the pathological extent where I have forty-year old newspapers piled up over every square inch of my house, but certainly to the extent that I hang onto things a tad longer than is probably necessary and prudent.
Well, yours portly has turned over a new leaf, and is aggressively purging his home of clutter. Have no fear—my love of miscellaneous bric-a-brac remains strong. But I’m definitely getting rid of the stuff that is either a.) clearly useless and/or broken or b.) clearly never going to be used again.
So it is that I have been digging through my Drawer of Forgotten Technology, a drawer in my old writing desk that is stuffed with, well, forgotten and ancient technology. It’s been a fun experience.
Today, I’m going to share two bits of older technology that are still ubiquitous in homes, just in flashier forms: an old cable modem and a Netgear router.
Linksys/Cisco CM100 Cable Modem
This modem was my faithful workhorse for many years, but it seems it is no longer working. At least, the power cable doesn’t cause anything to light up. I have no idea if this old modem could be made to work again, but I certainly like the aesthetic of its simple, compact form factor.
I’m attempting to sell the modem for parts on eBay, but that seems increasingly unlikely. As such, I’ll probably de-list this bad boy soon and consign him to the dustbin of history—my trash can.
Netgear WNR2000 Wireless N Router
This wireless router was the close companion to the CM100 modem. It’s a bit worse for the wear, with a nasty bit of mysterious residue on one of its face plates, and another face plate peeling loose from the housing. Those ports, though—beautiful! And one side positively glistens in the light of my stove.
I’m trying to sell this guy for parts, too, but like his cable modem cousin, it’s not looking good. I imagine both will be ruthlessly trashed by the end of this week, barring some aficionado of early-twenty-first-century Internet technology deciding they desperately need to recreate how they connected to the Internet in 2012.
Stranger things have happened, but I think these two have served their purpose and are ready for the Great Landfill in the Sky.
The Portly Politico 
If you want to hear something alien, here’s one for you – I think I’m getting taller. 😮
I know what you’re thinking; it’s a scientific impossibility. After all, how can a guy who’s nearing his 47th be growing at his age?! My thoughts precisely but stick with me here.
Over the last year, certain things near eye level suddenly feel lower. The driver’s seat of my car was put back to a perfect leg level last year; now, my knees are hitting the steering wheel when I get in. When my quads flared up running last year, I could submerge them in the bath water. Now, they sit a few inches above the water line. Spooky!
I’d have to pull out a measuring tape to find out but for a bloke who didn’t start growing facial hair until his 40s, there might be something to it. Talk about Twilight Zone territory!
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Whoa! That is wild—and spooky, indeed! I wonder if there are documented cases of men growing taller later in life. I have heard that ears and noses sometimes continue to grow late into life, but I’ve never heard of someone growing taller.
Might be a future blog post for you, my friend! You know how much I love the weird and esoteric.
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Next time I’ve measured my height, if it’s gone up then I’ll definitely have a question or two. For years, I thought I was 6″ 1 and then a few years ago, I was measured at my GPs who told me I was actually 6″ 2.
When I was university, I shaved around twice a year, mostly to get rid of odd, stray hairs but nothing more than a wisp. In the last couple of years, I’ve got to the point where I’m shaving every few weeks and it’s growing like it should – well, as it does for someone in their late teens.
I’m just glad that some things in my teens came and passed! 😉
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Fascinating! Maybe the testosterone is finally kicking in—ha!
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