Life On A B-I7

Cry, Why?

I cry because I love you.

Cry, Please.

I asked my doctor, “why do I find myself crying sometimes when I hear a beautiful song or see a beautiful landscape?” She told me, “it’s because you’re alive.” If she’s right then I’m more alive than I was a year ago…

I suppose that’s a good thing, but it does leave me wondering, why the change? I haven’t come up with an answer for that yet. Aging? Hormones? I suppose that’s the simple answer. Perhaps as we look out from where we are and see fewer days ahead of us than we see behind us, we get emotional. Maybe. I’m not buying that completely. I think something fundamental is occurring. That’s what I like to think. A new awareness. The realization of how lucky I am. A realization that every minute is precious.

Whatever the reason. I believe I am better for this. My eyes have been “opened.” This could be a calling, a nudge, that I need to get going. I need to start looking at the world differently, with more appreciation and more caring.

Anger And Meanness

I wanted to start this entry with the title “Anger And Hate,” but I thought that language might be a bit too strong to use when treating the following. The more I think about it, the more I think it probably applies, at least in the minds of many antagonists (not myself).

I never in my lifetime thought I would see so much anger, so much meanness shown by so many people on a daily basis in our society.

Please take a moment to stop and think about that.

Now that you have pondered that conjecture, think about this, all of this is the result of one man, and some angry sycophants.

None of this is what the universe, “god”, our evolutionary birthright, wants for us. Quite the opposite. We are our best selves as individuals and as a society when we show each other respect in both our words and our actions. What is happening in America saddens me. It wouldn’t be en exaggeration to say that sometimes I even get angry — although I am fighting that. I’m feeling this way largely because I don’t know what I can do personally to end this madness. I am resolved to at least not fall into the trap that is being set for us… The trap of taking sides.

Central Oregon

I’ve never really felt at home anywhere, until I arrived in Central Oregon. The high plains are amazing, and the people make me feel welcome. I’m happy here.

Greatness

Trump is taking the world’s perception of us as trustworthy and dependable and lighting it on fire… and he calls that greatness.

How Emotionally Mature Am I?

I just finished reading the book by the same title. I’m pleased to report, although not perfect, it turns out I am more-or-less emotionally mature.

The book presents 42 questions designed to measure your level of emotional maturity. Each question has two possible answers. You receive five points for a “correct” answer (the answer that reflects maturity) and one point for an “incorrect” answer. I found myself sometimes answering wrong, but leaning toward the correct answer, in that case I gave myself 2-1/2 points. If I answered correctly but judged myself to be not quite in that ballpark, again I scored that as 2-1/2 as opposed to a 5. Out of the 42 questions, I only scored myself in the middle on 8 questions.

A score of 161 to 210: suggests emotional maturity.
A score of 82 to 160: suggests partial emotional maturity.
A score of 0 to 81: your gonna need work.

Note: There is no relationship between an I.Q. of 81 and an E.M. score of 81, but research is ongoing.

My Score: 174

Do I take all of this with a grain of salt? Absolutely. To truly judge if this is a solid predictor or not, you have to look at the questions you answered incorrectly and ask, “does that somehow apply to me?” The answer I gave in several cases was “yes.” So where does that leave me? Nowhere really, but I’m going to accept my score, if for no other reason than bragging rights.

Proper Passenger Psychology

I am finding it increasingly hard to relax in a car when I am not driving. I admit, that’s a psychological problem I need to resolve, but I can’t work on that if I don’t arrive in one piece…

May 5th

Happy Sink-Hole de My-Ohhh!

You may be wondering what that means. I did too when it came to me. After a bit of absent minded reflection, I came up with the following.

When you’re out wondering around in your truck, or possibly hiking or mountain biking, and you hit a sink-hole, also known as a pot hole, the best you can do is shrug it off. Perhaps, if you need to exclaim something out loud in frustration, it’s probably best to simply let out a loud “My-Ohhh” and keep going.

Overland Cat

He’s an excellent companion on the road. He sleeps on the seat next to me and occasionally crawls onto my lap for a bit of attention. When we are offroad he’s very engaged in where we are going. He will stand on my lap with his front paws on the window, carefully observing the terrain. He doesn’t seem to mind the bouncing.

Happy Birthday

A Happy Birthday to all of you born on May 3rd. You know who you are, and by the way, thank you for being a part of my life (those of you I have met).

I look forward to many more wonderful years sharing this journey with you (both of you).

School Busses

If School Busses are passing you on the right, you are in the wrong lane. Yes, naturally there is a story behind that, but there is no need to share that here…

May Day

Today I’m going to celebrate the labor movement, a.k.a. International Workers’ Day. If that’s not your deal, then perhaps celebrating the ancient spring agricultural festival is more to your liking, both are traditional May Day activities. I’m also choosing to avoid writing anything political today because the digital panopticon is coming, when it arrives, sooner than we would like it to, I want the AI subversive identification filters to find one page on this site that it can’t use as the basis for a criminal indictment against me… assuming indictments are still needed…

Yes. That is political…

A Piece Of Wisdom

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

(Shakespeare actually stole that from Seneca.)

I know I’m a fool. Name me a bunch of people that think themselves wise and I’ll give you an “Administration.”

Knowledge

It is important to acquire knowledge, but it is more important to acquire knowledge around knowledge (sometimes referred to as wisdom).

We are living in an age where some knowledge is enough for a few to make them think they know everything.

Tired

I’m tired of tyrant talk. Every preachy word seems calculated to win a vote from some group of voters. I have yet to hear a cogent explanation reinforcing a policy decision. It’s clear, at least to me that there is no policy behind the policy decisions. Correction: The policy behind the policy decision is the aggrandizement of power and wealth and political control.

I Live In Fear

I live in fear that Trump will find a way to serve beyond the constitutional limit of two terms.

I saw a bumper sticker that said, “don’t blame me, I voted for Trump.” I live in fear that person will never understand their culpability.

I live in fear I will have to live with my children. I love them, but they don’t deserve that.

I live in fear America as I know it, as I was taught it, as I have experienced it, is gone. I live in fear my children won’t the same experience I have had.

All I see around me is greed and self interest, by the highest, most privileged people in our country. It feels like there is nothing I can do to change that.

My hope is that, in my lifetime, I can live again without fearing what the future holds for us.

The Path

You haven’t experienced Nirvana (or as close as we can get to it musically) until you’ve heard Joe Robinson’s rendition of “Europa,” (Earth’s cry, Heaven’s Smile).

When I listen, I feel the wonder of the universe, the potential for beauty that we all possess. My wish is that everyone could experience the joy, the amazement, the hope, that this song brings to me.

I’m a bit up in years, still this song gives me hope that the world has more to offer all of us than what we are being told to expect. The messages we receive daily from the people that presume themselves to be our leaders are off the mark. Listen to this song and you will know the true path forward.

Note: Carlos Santana wrote “Europa” and performed it beautifully, as did Gato Barbieri, but Joe Robinson’s virtuoso guitar is really the best. Take a listen on Spotify: Europa.

On Shoring

I think I understand why Trump is bent on tariffs. As difficult as it is to admit this, I think he is motivated by the desire to onshore, a desire to bring manufacturing back to the United States. I’m also certain that is not his only desire, but I won’t delve into his other motivations here.

The problem is that on shoring is extremely complicated. It can’t be achieved by making the cost of foreign goods more expensive. That is an idiotic notion. Making the United States the word leader in manufacturing requires more than the stroke of a pen. It will take decades of work. Building infrastructure, hard and soft. Hard: facilities. Soft: Education and training. Tariffs can’t accomplish those things. Needless to say, government would have to play a very active role in both of those arenas. Not something that can be accomplished in a “cost cutting” environment.

There is another complication. I believe the goal of on shoring antithetical to interests of the monied class in America. On shoring would likely bring about a restructuring of wealth in America. Outsourcing has created wealth in America for an influential few. That would naturally impact those few if manufacturing were brought back on shore. I find it hard to believe the newly created money class in America that relies on the “investment driven” money that outsourcing creates would be willing to get behind a transformation that would mean less wealth for themselves.

Why This?

This is a hand-rolled, ad-free, AI-free, algorithm-free website. This bit of written consciousness allows me to share my enthusiasm about the things rolling around in my head. Once I release those things to these pages, I can let them go, confident that they can grow on their own (or not) with no further guidance from me.

Reading this is totally optional and not even necessary. If you do, please recognize that you do so at your own risk. Shalom.

What Can You Do In 90 Days Or Less?

Inflict severe damage to:

• The Economy,
• Scientific research,
• Civil Liberties,
• Health Care,
• The Civil Service.

Quite the stunning list of achievements if it can be pulled off. wait a minute, I think that might be old news.

Truth

Truth is a restraint on power. Therefore, the first thing a would-be tyrant must do is perfect the art of lying.

A Suggestion For The Tech Bros In America

Take a moment out of your busy day, busy destroying America, to ask your beloved ChatGTP this question: “Is President Trump breaking the law?”

Read carefully the answer. Apart from Ed Martin’s vocal defense of Jan 6 rioters, (a hand picked Trump appointee) the answer given does an excellent job of revealing what little regard Trump has for the law.

It’s unclear to me why this hasn’t opened your eyes to the sort of man you are cozying up to. Is making money so important to you?

Take A Second Look

According to research, we resist change for some very deep rooted reasons:

1. We prefer boredom over surprise.
2. Change causes stress and we are wired to avoid stress.
3. We can’t look ahead. We focus on the here and now. (Not a problem for me.)
4. We don’t like throwing ideas out and replacing them with new ones.

To make matters worse, it’s now recognized that behavioral patterns can be genetically encoded and passed from generation to generation. This is referred to as epigenetic coding.

Where am I going with this? If you are watching the news and what you see seems unbelievable to you, it’s likely because of these innate predispositions working against you. Now that you know how your brain is reacting when it takes in the daily news cycle, take a moment to remind yourself that you are predisposed to looking the other way, and take a second look with fresh eyes.

The Best Is Behind Us

It’s been 80 years since World War II ended. Those 80 years will go down in American history as the best years America has put together. We’re now launching into a new era, an era of degradation and decline. Led by Donald Trump, the world will be changing dramatically and not for the better. Trump has placed tariffs on almost every country, except Russia. Why is that? It’s not just because he loves Putin, I think he has bigger plans in mind. It sounds crazy, but I think he’s planning a new alliance with Putin, a merger if you will between the United States and Russia. I’m not sure what the objective is other than simply to jointly rule the world. If extremists on the right can cook up conspiracy theories then so can I. It wouldn’t surprise me if Trump and Putin have been planning this for the last four years. If it happens, it’s going to make Trump voters look very, very stupid. Sadly, that will be small consolation. If it doesn’t happen, I’m happy to take my lumps for getting overly excited. It seems to me there are not enough people getting excited today about the path that is being set for us.

A Simple Game Of Catch

I’d like to play catch with someone. A baseball glove and a ball. What a joy that would be. Some of my best childhood memories are playing catch, mostly with friends. In the driveway, in a vacant lot, anywhere we could. I would ask my dad to play catch with me but that wasn’t his deal. If I didn’t hit him in the chest he would get annoyed with me. I’m not sure what part of “practice” he didn’t understand. That’s okay, I had friends to play with. The problem is, today I don’t know anyone with a desire to pull out the leather and toss a few.

That’s too bad. You’re never too old for a game of catch.