Speaking of Tinderbox

10:11 Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 57.67°F Pressure: 1019hPa Humidity: 78% Wind: 13.8mph
Words: 424

There's an active community around Tinderbox, which is a rewarding social interaction outside the normal sphere of "social media" apps.

I enjoy dropping by the forum to see what other people are doing with the app, even though my applications are fairly modest and unsophisticated. The marmot is far more "sophisticated" now than it was when I started it back in 2013, and that's largely a function of becoming more involved in the community, and leveraging its knowledge and experience.

I'm happy to say that I've learned enough to be helpful. I'm usually the guy asking for help.

Here's a thread that made me feel pretty good this morning, and it's an example of the kinds of things you can do with Tinderbox, and the kinds of help you can get at the forum.

Tinderbox is on sale as part of the Winterfest promotion. It's not a "subscription" app in the sense that if you stop paying, it stops working. You pay each year for that year's updates. If you skip a year or two, you can pay the update price and get the current version and another year of updates.

But Mark Bernstein is actively developing Tinderbox, so new features and modified ones are rolled out pretty regularly, along with bug fixes. So, in my experience, it's been worth keeping up with the updates. I've been using Tinderbox for over 20 years, so I'm pretty invested in the app.

But you're not just getting the app and the updates, you're also getting this whole community that has grown around it. Since Tinderbox has been around for a long time, many of these community members have been around just as long. There's a deep resource of experience that is pretty generous and patient to accompany you as you begin to discover Tinderbox.

One of those members, Mark Anderson, even maintains an encyclopedic reference for Tinderbox at aTbRef. I have a link to the site in my Favorites bar in Safari.

This isn't a paid promotion or anything like that. I'm just writing this because I felt a nice feeling of reward this morning when Dominique wrote that his script now works. You have to take your rewards and satisfaction where you can find them these days. And I've enjoyed using Tinderbox ever since I first launched it. To be sure, I've had my frustrations as well. And it isn't always "easy," but it is rewarding.

It keeps me in the blogosphere and out of the "platforms," and all the bullshit that accompanies platform politics.

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Illustrations

08:37 Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 52.61°F Pressure: 1019hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 6.91mph
Words: 31

The preceding posts were illustrations of my impressions of doing your own thing with static HTML, and living in a "platform" ("walled garden") like Wordpress, or any other "social media platform."

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Tinderbox

08:37 Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 52.61°F Pressure: 1019hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 6.91mph
Words: 28

("Tinderbox" in this post refers to the app, not some reference to fire risk.)

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WordPress

08:36 Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 52.61°F Pressure: 1019hPa Humidity: 92% Wind: 6.91mph
Words: 14

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No Drama

08:23 Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 52.23°F Pressure: 1018hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 6.91mph
Words: 121

One of the very best reasons for maintaining a blog in Tinderbox, and paying for hosting (almost wrote "self-hosting," but that wouldn't be accurate), is that I am completely and utterly immune from the inevitable drama that accompanies "platforms."

A significant amount of the text that passes through my subscriptions in NetNewsWire deals with "federation," Threads, Bluesky, X, Wordpress, Mastodon, and probably any other platform you could name. (WordPress, since that's what prompted this.)

I mean, it's like being vaccinated. I'm exposed to all this sturm und drang around this bullshit; but I don't really care. I don't get infected. Apart from the wasted time and bandwidth.

These platforms are like HOAs.

They suck.

("But they preserve our property values!")

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Like a Hawk

08:16 Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 52.23°F Pressure: 1018hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 6.91mph
Words: 101

Headed out this morning for my walk without a camera because it was solidly overcast. But there was a pretty stiff breeze, and about a third of the way around the skies cleared.

Got to the back gate and spotted this guy. He (she?) sat there patiently while I walked beneath it twice, pausing to take shots with my iPhone each time.

Oh well, it was a good walk. Faster without the camera, and because it was a bit chilly. Still ended up breaking a sweat though.

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Late

10:21 Thursday, 19 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 68.34°F Pressure: 1021hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 8.05mph
Words: 139

The Invading Sea is kind of an aggregator site that posts Florida climate-related articles from other sources. It's non-partisan, so you'll read a lot of Republican and conservative views here as well. (They tend to be the ones whistling past the graveyard and insisting everything is fine.)

Anyway, this is a recent, brief, op-ed from Tampa Bay Times. It's almost charming in its matter-of-fact tone. Don't want to start a panic, do we? Might adversely affect property values!

"Hardening we can afford." Yes, "affordability" will be an issue. A constraint. The fact that Florida has completely ignored the challenge until only recently has allowed the problem to grow in magnitude such that any meaningful interventions are largely unaffordable. There's too much built environment in too many vulnerable places.

But hey! Property taxes! Right?

Right???

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Wrong Moon

07:25 Thursday, 19 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 63.59°F Pressure: 1020hPa Humidity: 94% Wind: 4.61mph
Words: 27

Disregard my last.

Had the wrong image selected.

This is "This morning's moon."

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Leap of Faith

06:32 Thursday, 19 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 63.01°F Pressure: 1019hPa Humidity: 95% Wind: 5.75mph
Words: 595

We met with a realtor on Tuesday, and things have gotten more, um, "real."

It's interesting, because this has kind of stimulated more emotions than anything else lately.

Frankly, I'm still kind of amazed that Mitzi came onboard so quickly. I genuinely believed that it'd be another bad hurricane season before I could convince her. I didn't think we'd be putting the place up for sale this spring.

But here we are.

So, a certain amount of anxiety. Will we get what we want/need for the house? Early indications are that it'll be close, but we'll have to wait a few months before we can make a better assessment. But we're pressing ahead regardless.

Regarding where we land, a little less anxiety. Winterfell is mostly a known quantity by now. We can be comfortable there in the short term, while we figure out if we want to remain at that location and build something, or buy something in a location that's less rural. We're leaning toward building on the property. Mitzi's never experienced rural life, and I think she's intrigued or excited by the idea.

I was looking at the Census data for St Johns County and Schuyler County. One telling data point should be sufficient: Population per square mile. St Johns County, Florida - 455. Schuyler County, NY - 54.5.

As for me, I'm excited; but I have a tendency to expect the worst and hope for the best. So my excitement is tempered by my, well, temperament.

It's balancing risks. I know that some aspects of life, particularly aging and health care, will be more challenging in New York. But I also know that we're at far less risk for a large-scale natural disaster, or the unfolding, man-made disaster that is Florida as a whole right now.

New York has its own problems, no state is perfect. But it hasn't made this ideological turn toward cruelty. Florida was bad enough when it catered to the privileged and simply ignored everyone else. Now it's focused on culture war issues, a violent metaphor for dividing and demonizing people. And it does so at the cost of addressing the genuine challenges confronting the state due to climate change.

There seems to be an emerging public relations effort by Florida Republicans to convince people that they've been preparing for this, and the state is ready for whatever the future holds with respect to the climate. I don't know who they think they're kidding. They've governed for more than a generation now, and all they've done is place more people and property at risk. What they're pointing to now as "resilience efforts," are far too little and way too late.

But they don't want to spook the seniors, so what else should we expect?

Anyway, our task for now is to figure out how to get rid of stuff so that this place is ready to be shown while we're in New York this summer. That's mostly a challenge for me, the guy who tends to accumulate stuff, valuable artifacts that may be regarded by some as "clutter."

I've been wrestling with the idea of getting rid of this iMac. It tends to dominate this space (my "office"), and I wonder about the extent to which its presence shapes my behavior. Big desk, big chair, big computer. Resembles "work life" somewhat. Habituated to sit in big chair, before big desk with big computer.

Maybe getting rid of it will be a "big change."

Seems we may be in the season of "big changes."

The beat goes on...

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Moon and Mars

05:25 Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 62.87°F Pressure: 1022hPa Humidity: 95% Wind: 5.75mph
Words: 66

Missed the occultation, and it's not a drone, but it's still an interesting shot. The moon, with Mars visible in the lower left corner of the frame.

Handheld hi-res shot with the Olympus E-M1X and the mZuiko 100-400mm zoom with the MC14 1.4x teleconverter mounted. (1120mm effective focal length.)

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Painteresque

07:16 Monday, 16 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 58.93°F Pressure: 1025hPa Humidity: 96% Wind: 13.8mph
Words: 388

I spent some time yesterday doing large prints on my Canon Pixma Pro 100 printer. Printing is another perishable skill. If you don't do it all the time, you forget how to do it at all.

ChatGPT came in handy with some troubleshooting tips. It turns out that I couldn't allow the printer to choose the paper feed automatically, I had to specify "rear tray," because it kept insisting that I needed to load paper, even though the paper was already in it!

Sizes and margins were also problematic, and it kept defaulting to Letter Size.

Once I got it all figured out, I made several prints. Now I need to order more paper.

And figure out what to do with the prints.

Seems like a problem.

Anyway, I also wanted to screw around with Painteresque, an app that applies filters to images like the one above this post. I love the app, though I suppose it can be overdone.

I started to use my phone, but although the icon was there, it indicated it needed to be downloaded. When I tried to do that, it reported that it was no longer in the App Store and therefore couldn't be downloaded.

Well, long story short, I went to use one of my iPads and the only one the app was still on was the 12.9" iPad Pro (the original). I bought that with 128GB of storage, so it's never had to offload apps in order to update the OS. My 10" iPad Pro only has 64GB of storage, likewise my iPad mini. (There's another iPad around here with 256GB of storage that might have it, I just can't seem to put my hands on it.)

I suppose if I'd have been backing up all my iPads, I could have restored it from backup? I don't know, but it seems kind of weird that an app you've purchased can just disappear. Maybe it's a compatibility issue? The 12.9" Pro has stopped getting the latest releases a couple of years ago. This one is on 16.7.10.

At least I still have it on the 12.9", so I can make some images that might be appropriate for holiday cards. (Not the one above.)

The beat goes on...

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Shortcuts Improvements

06:46 Sunday, 15 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 62.56°F Pressure: 1027hPa Humidity: 92% Wind: 12.66mph
Words: 291

During yesterday's Tinderbox meetup, in the course of discussing something related to Apple Notes, I mentioned that I'd created an automation for note-taking with Shortcuts and Apple Notes, and that at the time, on an iPhone 13, it wasn't fast enough to be practical.

I didn't recall, at that moment, exactly what I'd intended for the automation to do, only that I had to wait for it, and it wasn't responsive enough to be practical.

After the meetup, I checked and the automation was still on my phone, now an iPhone 16, with a faster processor and more RAM. And I was able to recall what I'd created it for in the first place.

It was a dictated note, so it relied on speech recognition, and it recorded my location and the weather conditions at that location at the time of the note. It was intended to be kind of a travel diary, where I might record my impressions of a place we were visiting with some additional meta-data added automatically.

I ran it, and much to my surprise, it ran very quickly. Much of that is certainly due to the more robust hardware on the iPhone 16. The automation also has to go out to Apple's weather service and query that as well, and perhaps there've been some improvements in that since the time I created it.

It performed well enough that it's made me consider creating some additional specialized notes. At least, it's convinced me that it may be practical. I don't have an immediate use-case in mind.

It's been a while since I've experienced "surprise and delight" from an Apple product, and I can't say this approached euphoria, but I was pleased and somewhat surprised.

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Connections

06:21 Sunday, 15 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 61.99°F Pressure: 1027hPa Humidity: 96% Wind: 12.66mph
Words: 467

We've made some friends here that we'll miss after we've moved. But maybe not as many as we thought.

The couple who lived next door when we moved into this house became pretty good friends. They later sold their place and bought a larger one in another Del Webb development a couple of miles from here. We've been back and forth to each other's places several times, and out to dinner here and there many times since.

In the course of our conversations, we'd mentioned how much we enjoyed the Finger Lakes, and of course, most recently, that we'd bought a place up there. Last summer, they went to the Finger Lakes, she for the first time, he had only been there once before back in 1980. They loved the place too.

On Friday, Mitzi invited them over for dinner on Saturday, partly to see them for the holidays, but also to break the news that we'd be moving sometime in the next year.

They brought some news of their own, much to our surprise and delight.

After their two-week stay up there last September, and visiting with us, they talked about it and thought about it, and a couple of weeks ago he went up and bought a wooded lot of their own in the next county over.

They had some different priorities than Mitzi and I did. Their property is undeveloped, apart from an accidental leach field (Someone built part of the neighboring lot's septic field on the wrong lot. The original owner of the lot wouldn't let them remove it. It may or may not be useful when they go to install a septic tank.)

They'll have a view of a lake, while we have a view of a rural landscape.

Their lot will be mostly wooded, while ours is cleared.

They're planning to build a log cabin home on their lot. At present, they don't intend to relocate permanently, just use it as a summer home.

We were thrilled, and it felt as though it affirmed our decision.

Our neighbors likely won't be able to take up residence until 2026, they have a lot of work to do next year, getting the infrastructure in place. I told him to make sure he has an arborist look over the trees they intend to clear and to hold onto any valuable hardwood. How, exactly, to go about that is something that'll require some research. The county has restrictions on the amount of trees they're allowed to cut down, but it's compatible with their wishes for the property. They want woods for their grandkids to play in. They've got a bit more property than we do.

Anyway, it was an especially delightful evening last night, and we're looking forward to relocating even more than before.

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Truth to Power

08:46 Saturday, 14 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 67.82°F Pressure: 1030hPa Humidity: 80% Wind: 14.97mph
Words: 115

Nice piece at American Experience about Dorothy Thompson.

“No people ever recognize their dictator in advance,” Thompson wrote in a 1937 “On the Record” column, making the clearest case possible for constant vigilance. “He never stands for election on the platform of dictatorship. He always represents himself as the instrument for expressing the Incorporated National Will. When Americans think of dictators they always think of some foreign model. If anyone turned up here in a fur hat, boots and a grim look he would be recognized and shunned…But when our dictator turns up you can depend on it that he will be one of the boys, and he will stand for everything traditionally American.”

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Irony

08:33 Saturday, 14 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 64.76°F Pressure: 1030hPa Humidity: 87% Wind: 8.05mph
Words: 157

Florida's legislative response to the Surfside condo collapse takes effect at the end of this month, and there's a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth. If you're interested, it's the first segment of this podcast.

I listened to it yesterday, and it occurred to me that here was another example of irony as the fifth fundamental force of the universe.

Sen. Jennifer Bradley, Republican, essentially blames condo owners for their predicament, by failing to perform regular maintenance and providing the funding for major maintenance items, even though that was "already in the law." (That's a paraphrase, not a quote.)

That's true, there was just no real enforcement mechanism.

It occurred to me that the condo crisis is just a microcosmic version of the overall crisis in Florida, with the entrenched Republican legislature being the negligent condo owners.

There is a "special assessment" in every Floridian's future. You just don't want to be here when it's issued.

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Unhappy Holiday Party

08:24 Saturday, 14 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 64.2°F Pressure: 1030hPa Humidity: 88% Wind: 8.05mph
Words: 98

We attended our local Democratic Party holiday party yesterday evening. It was a pretty dismal affair. A couple at our table is also planning to leave Florida, but not as quickly as we are.

Since it's virtually impossible to elect Democrats to any office in St Johns County, the club is changing its focus to service and volunteer work. The idea is that it'll be more rewarding than beating our heads against a brick wall, and it may get the brand before some underserved populations in a context other than asking for their vote.

Maybe it'll matter someday.

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McKinsey In the News Again

08:19 Saturday, 14 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 64.2°F Pressure: 1030hPa Humidity: 88% Wind: 8.05mph
Words: 63

Human lives have value. Corporations are in the business of extracting value from a commodity and transferring it to their shareholders. (And CEOs, through obscene salaries and "compensation" schemes.)

Consulting firm McKinsey has agreed to pay $650m (£515m) to settle criminal charges related to its role in the US opioid crisis.

We are not "consumers," we are the consumed.

The beat goes on...

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Reply to Dominique

16:31 Friday, 13 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 61.99°F Pressure: 1030hPa Humidity: 85% Wind: 13.8mph
Words: 71

I haven’t played with it for a while, but I just verified I could invoke a script with a keyboard shortcut while I was writing this reply. The note is created in Tinderbox (the marmot, my blog file, in this case) in the background.

========

From a reply I wrote at the Tinderbox Forum.

The part below the separator I wrote afterwards. I should think some more about using this more often.

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Acceleration

14:03 Friday, 13 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 64.45°F Pressure: 1030hPa Humidity: 77% Wind: 24.16mph
Words: 272

Things are picking up on the escape plan.

Originally thinking we'd FSBO this place ("for sale by owner"), Mitzi has reached out to a realtor she knows. She's coming by this Tuesday.

Conceptually, we will have the house ready for showing when we leave for New York for the summer. That's kind of ideal, since we'd be out of the house and wouldn't have to go through repeated efforts at "tidying up," in preparation for a showing. Having someone here representing us should make it far more pleasant than coordinating zoom calls and emails with potential buyers.

The visit by the realtor is to do a sanity check on what we think the house is worth, and begin planning for the listing.

I like the idea of having a realtor handle the sale, though we've done FSBO before. We only had to show my condo twice and the second couple bought it for the listing price. (Maybe I under-priced it?) I'm not sure this place will be as painless, though I could be surprised.

I was genuinely worried that the snow in New York would prompt Mitzi to seriously reconsider any thoughts of relocating. That doesn't appear to have been the case, and things are moving faster than I'd originally envisioned. For a number of reasons, she's kind of the senior partner in this affair.

Anyway, this is a very major decision, so I find it both gratifying and humbling that she's "all-in," on it. I figured it was going to take another year or so of bad news before I could convince her.

The sooner the better, I think.

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"Doom" scrolling

10:10 Friday, 13 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 61.43°F Pressure: 1032hPa Humidity: 78% Wind: 16.11mph
Words: 54

Here's a fascinating 13-minute look at an historic earthquake and tsunami event, as well as something I'd never heard of before, a "tsunami evacuation tower."

Another "low-probability/high-impact" event risk that people are beginning to take seriously.

Because we love nothing more than to build homes and cities near the sea.

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"News"

08:15 Friday, 13 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 57.99°F Pressure: 1031hPa Humidity: 82% Wind: 9.22mph
Words: 686

It's a habituated behavior that I really ought to break. I scan Apple's News+ app while I'm eating breakfast. I enjoy my breakfast, because I made it. Two eggs, spinach, mushrooms and black beans, occasionally onions, if Mitzi chopped some, turmeric and black pepper, topped with Siracha. I can enjoy my breakfast and read the "news" at the same time.

Mostly, I skip the political news, and focus on science and technology. But some topics grab my attention, and the UHC thing still seems to have it.

This morning, NPR offered this: UHC murder suspect railed about U.S. health care. Here’s what he missed.

Another piece that pissed me off. Maybe it's the title, they're always click-bait and seldom have much to do with the story.

I realized that I learned more about the "news" industry than the supposed subject of this report. This isn't "reporting," this is "content." They need clicks, so they need content and content needs a hook, so the UHC-thing is the hook.

Shame on me. I should know better.

What irritated me most was how misleading this all was. The killer wasn't angry about US lifespan when compared to other wealthy nations!

What he was angry about was being abused by the system. Kind of like the way NPR is abusing my attention and intelligence with this bullshit and meaningless title.

I have great health insurance. I'm on Medicare and I have Tricare For Life (that's the name of the program). Medicare is the primary payer, Tricare picks up the difference. I seldom pay much of anything out of pocket, and when I do, I couldn't begin to tell you why. I don't understand the first thing about the EOBs. I did call to question one item my provider billed Medicare for, which was a service I didn't receive, and supposedly they amended it. ("Smoking cessation counseling." I'm a lifelong non-smoker and it was never a topic of "counseling" during an office visit.)

Everybody's health insurance should be like that. It's fucked up that it's not. That's not news either.

But I am familiar with the experience of interacting with a faceless corporation, trying to receive the service you're paying for.

In politics, and I suppose in other dimensions of social interactions, we're told that people seldom remember what you said, but they always remember how you made them feel.

(Disclaimer: Nobody can "make" you feel anything. Your feelings are your responsibility. But, yeah, it's basically true.)

And when you're interacting with faceless bureaucratic entities, you're almost always made to feel insignificant, powerless, like a chump for buying their "service," especially when you didn't have a choice. (Looking at you, Comcast/Xfinity. Which is why I'm now on IQ Fiber.)

It begins with the bullshit automated call centers. "Please listen carefully to the following items because our menu has changed." Then the inevitable, "Your call is very important to us," while you're sitting on hold, which is complete and utter bullshit. And I'm convinced that many of these call centers are designed to make callers give up and hang up.

Frankly, it's amazing to me, given the number of guns in this country, that there isn't more violence against corporate CEOs. Or call centers for that matter.

Now, there have been some improvements in call center performance. I like the "call back" feature, so you don't have to sit on hold. Of course, I have to remember to turn off Focus Mode, so my phone will actually ring.

I absolutely hate the "AI" features that seem to be rolling out now. I just repeat "Representative," over and over again.

That's all just to get to a person who may be able to understand what you're calling about, and who may or may not have any authority to resolve your issue, but who will most definitely try to upsell you, change your mind, offer you a reduced rate or anything other than what you're asking for.

I mean, it's been this way for nearly half a century. "I'm a human being God damn it! My life has value!"

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Belted Kingfisher

15:22 Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 56.71°F Pressure: 1029hPa Humidity: 54% Wind: 11.5mph
Words: 347

Not an image I'd normally share, but it was interesting to me because it's the first time that I recall seeing a kingfisher back there in the swamp. They're smaller birds than the egrets and herons, so I'm less likely to notice them. This one's motion caught my attention. I had to pull out the binoculars to be sure. I figured by the time I got back with the camera it'd be gone, but it was still there!

Got a few frames before it decided to go after whatever it was hunting.

I've been shooting the birds out back with the E-M1X because it handles better with the 100-400mm zoom with the 1.4x teleconverter mounted than the OM-1, though if I was going out with the specific intent to shoot birds, I'd probably use the OM-1.

They both have bird identification as part of the autofocus algorithm, which is what makes these images possible at all. Even with in-body image stabilization, at 1120mm effective focal length, it's very hard to get one small auto-focus target on the bird, which is pretty much what you have to do at this distance. There are so many limbs and trees that can grab focus otherwise.

This is cropped to 3:2, so that's pretty much all the bird I get in the viewfinder, and it's dancing around pretty good as I'm trying to shoot. The bird ID will put a box around the bird and the af algorithm will confine its efforts to the bounding box. If there's enough subject, it'll try and focus on the head, or even the eye. In this case, I think I was lucky to get the bird at all.

Shutter speed was 1/500s (f9, ISO 320), so I'm relying on IBIS to reduce or eliminate motion blur. I'm happy with the result. It was a target of opportunity of a rare subject. Would I print it? Probably not, except to send to Mom.

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Duh

18:23 Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 56.82°F Pressure: 1021hPa Humidity: 58% Wind: 16.11mph
Words: 395

Well damn. Here I was trying not to think about this UHC murder-thing, and it's like trying not to think of a purple elephant!

For some reason, I decided to read this piece in The Atlantic. Now I wish I hadn't.

I don't know who Graeme Wood is, but it doesn't seem like I'd enjoy hanging out with him.

It just reads like a lot of condescending, tut-tut'ing.

It sometimes seems that activists have learned nothing and forgotten everything. Consider Womack’s sophisticated theory of social and economic change, born from careful study of electricians’ unions in Mexico—and compare it with the theory that to achieve health-care reform, one should put on a hoodie, shoot a guy in the back, and then get caught a few days later while eating an Egg McMuffin. From this action, and the glee that it has elicited, one learns not that the health-care system is broken but that many of us are.

Yeah, those damn "activists!" (Whoever they are. Evidently, not Graeme.)

"One learns," indeed.

"One learns."

As Mack Bolan pointed out, long ago, "The only problem with killing sons-a-bitches who deserve it is it's so hard to know when to stop."

Perhaps I should re-written that, "One learns that the only problem with..." Give it that Ivy League touch.

This pearl-clutching, blinding glimpse of the obvious by Wood is a waste of electrons.

Breaking news... Many of us are broken.

Wait, what?

Did you see who we just elected president?

A guy who bragged he could shoot somebody in, wait for it... New York City, and his poll numbers wouldn't change! And he wasn't wrong!

No shit, Sherlock. A society that fetishizes firearms, that will do nothing to stem the bloodshed of innocents, all for some fantasy about "freedom," was broken long ago.

A society that cares for "capital" more than people was broken long ago.

Jesus wept.

Spare us your "virtue signaling," Graeme.

We have worse problems than people thinking Mangione is some kind of hero. You should direct your attention toward those, and give us all the benefit of your keen analysis and penetrating insight. Cite some obscure cinematic references too while you're at it.

Class up the joint.

Give me a fucking break.

It's not just, "Don't read the comments," these days.

It's, "Don't read the commentary."

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Echoes 'Round the 'Sphere

13:49 Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 68.79°F Pressure: 1015hPa Humidity: 83% Wind: 12.66mph
Words: 114

Spotted this from Kottke in my feed. Bought the book. Is there anything McKinsey & Co. haven't made insufferably, inexcusably, worse? Timely, not only for the grotesque profits of heath "insurance" companies, but also because of the accelerating climate catastrophe.

And Florida implemented insurance "reforms" that amount to a "heads I win, tails you lose" gift to the insurance companies. Essentially, they've made it impossible for ordinary folks to sue their insurance company.

It's all just greed, greed, greed.

And Jack, for you, I'll keep posting the moonshots. In that vein, you may want to visit this post at Kottke's.

Denny Henke is also in accord with the Liberal Redneck's take on the Mangione matter.

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More Florida

10:03 Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 68.41°F Pressure: 1014hPa Humidity: 94% Wind: 13.8mph
Words: 189

Here's a good summary of the unfolding condo catastrophe.

In Pinellas County, a teacher died of Legionnaires' Disease because of mold in the AC system. You know Florida, the state that is defunding public education. What could go wrong?

People are dying to live here.

Here's a nice summary of the insurance crisis, with one enormous missing piece. Nowhere in this report do they mention that the reason why insurance companies are skating out of enormous losses was the majority of the damage was due to flooding! And how many of those folks had flood insurance? Haven't seen any reports about that, but I'm going to guess that most of them didn't.

So where's the reporting on what happens when you don't have flood insurance and can't afford to rebuild? I guess "investors" buy your home at distressed prices. What does that do to the net worth of those individuals? What does that do to the housing market?

I guess we're all going to find out.

Oh yeah, before I forget. Florida is also malignantly indifferent to the healthcare needs of children, too.

Horrible state, governed by horrible people.

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Florida

09:54 Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 68.23°F Pressure: 1014hPa Humidity: 94% Wind: 13.8mph
Words: 141

If you think you've heard it all when it comes to the stupid things Floridians will do, you haven't. Stupidity is unbounded, so there is no end to the monumentally stupid things stupid Floridians will do.

A woman in an HOA community decided that she didn't like a drain pipe in her yard, I guess, so she hired some guys to fill it with concrete.

Then the neighborhood flooded. Repeatedly.

One HOA member seems to be complaining that the county wouldn't do anything. Well, news flash Florida HOA members, the county doesn't own your stormwater management system! You do. Almost nobody knows this, until the place floods.

So the HOA had to take the lady to court, and she's been ordered to remove the concrete.

This state is just a slowly unfolding catastrophe. Stupidity seems contagious. Perhaps it's spread by mosquitos?

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Thoughts On Mangione

06:43 Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 68.81°F Pressure: 1014hPa Humidity: 90% Wind: 5.75mph
Words: 283

Unless I go totally offline, which I think about from time to time, it's impossible to completely avoid the news. So much of comedy is based on it, and who doesn't need a laugh these days?

So, I've been aware of the UHC CEO getting shot in NYC, and the seemingly "shocking" reaction by from folks on social media. (Scare quotes because, honestly, who can be shocked by anything people do on social media these days?)

I hadn't given a great deal of thought to how I feel about the murder of that CEO. (I'm not mentioning his name mostly because I can't recall it at the moment; but also because I don't think he's worthy of "Say his name!" respect.)

Trae Crowder is a stand-up comedian who has a YouTube channel called Liberal Redneck. I watch his videos because I need a laugh, and his are funny but also intelligent. I found this one particularly thought provoking, which is significant because I'd been kind of going out of my way not to think about it. (There's a promo-spot in the middle of it. You know what to do.)

My reaction is that I don't find much to disagree with in his comments. I don't know how much Mangione was motivated by some personal grievance, or how much was a psychological defect that motivated him to do it simply for the attention. I suppose that may alter the analysis.

It does give me pause to wonder whether, if significant numbers of corporate CEOs were gunned down on the streets, there might be some effort toward, I don't know, gun control or something.

Anyway, here we are.

And the beat goes on...

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Sunset 12-10-24

06:10 Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 69.24°F Pressure: 1014hPa Humidity: 87% Wind: 5.75mph
Words: 63

Got eaten alive by gnats getting this shot (and some others). Florida is flat. You either have to go to the beach, or launch a drone to have a horizon that isn't as close as the house across the street.

This is just a single frame, cropped and edited.

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Moon 12-10-24

05:56 Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 69.03°F Pressure: 1014hPa Humidity: 88% Wind: 6.91mph
Words: 93

Went out to put the drone up yesterday evening and spotted the moon.

Honestly, I don't know why I do this. I guess because it does give me some satisfaction, or pleasure at some level. I'm not so jaded and cynical that I don't get some thrill from being able to step outside and achieve this.

Though nearly anyone can these days. It's not that much of a skill at all.

And why do I post them?

Beats me.

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The Key to Comedy Is Timing

09:05 Tuesday, 10 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 63.91°F Pressure: 1020hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 1.01mph
Words: 37

The joke's on me, though. After buying the 12-200mm from MPB because it was significantly less expensive than the same lens at KEH, today KEH is running a site-wide 20% off sale.

El-oh-well...

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Just Moments Ago

07:36 Tuesday, 10 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 60.57°F Pressure: 1020hPa Humidity: 94% Wind: 4.61mph
Words: 39

I decided to put the DJI mini 3 up this morning. Not terribly disappointed.

Put a 3-image pano up at Flickr. Probably over-cooked.

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Sunset 12-9-24

06:53 Tuesday, 10 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 60.08°F Pressure: 1020hPa Humidity: 95% Wind: 3.44mph
Words: 34

Pretty sky last night, but it's hard to enjoy it in this claustrophobic suburban landscape.

Should've put the drone up.

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Chilling

06:40 Tuesday, 10 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 60.08°F Pressure: 1020hPa Humidity: 95% Wind: 3.44mph
Words: 48

We are going to have to find new ways of doing things, but this sounds chilling to me.

I mean, does nobody remember Cambodia, Pol Pot and "the killing fields"?

If you're going to propose new ideas, they shouldn't resemble horrifying old ones.

This almost seems like trolling.

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Drones Over New Jersey

12:57 Monday, 9 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 70.92°F Pressure: 1020hPa Humidity: 72% Wind: 9.22mph
Words: 7

Where's Buckaroo Banzai when you need him?

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Series

11:03 Monday, 9 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 68.68°F Pressure: 1022hPa Humidity: 77% Wind: 10.36mph
Words: 113

I binged Black Doves on Netflix. Entertaining. Very violent. Decent plot.

I think Kiera Knightly grows more beautiful with age.

We're also watching Churchill at War. Good documentary that touches on some history that isn't already well-trodden. I question the use of George W. Bush and Boris Johnson as commentators, and I find their presence jarring, off-putting and of no value.

We watched Cross while we were up in New York. Amazon Prime's version of Luther as a family man. Uneven, but worth a watch.

What are we, three episodes into season 2 of Silo? Slow, slow, slow. And too damn dark, as in lighting. I do enjoy the judge though.

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Movies

10:52 Monday, 9 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 68.18°F Pressure: 1022hPa Humidity: 78% Wind: 10.36mph
Words: 321

I mentioned I was going to visit my son and his family and watch Alien: Romulus (I don't know if that's the correct title, it's something like that.) on his home theater setup. He's got a 75" TV with some super-whamodyne Panasonic 4K Blu-Ray player and a (separate?) sound system.

It was very much like a theater experience. It's perhaps a sign of age that I'm far less interested in the technical aspects of home entertainment. It was all I could do to refrain from asking him to turn on the subtitles.

I enjoyed the movie, though I thought the story-telling was sloppy and it did too much fan-service with gratuitous callouts to the original and the first sequel. In a couple of scenes, it seemed to me that Cailee Spaeny even looked like Sigourney Weaver. The set designs and effects were first-rate though, and I enjoyed seeing them on that giant screen.

It's interesting how the creators seem bound to the original in terms of display technology. Everything seems to run on glitchy, low-res CRTs. Fan service, I guess.

The CGI version of Ian Holm was disappointing. The voice was good, but too much "uncanny valley" in the face.

Anyway, it was entertaining and I enjoyed seeing my son and his family.

Last night, we watched the 4K UHD version of Galaxy Quest. While it's not as revelatory an experience as Mystery Men was in 4K UHD, the movie has never looked better. Money well spent if you enjoy the movie and have a decent TV.

We also watched Fly Me to the Moon, on Apple TV+. Entertaining. Not a huge Channing Tatum fan, but this was a nice role for him. Scarlett Johansson was as good as she always is. It's a silly movie, but a nice diversion.

Did I mention Blitz earlier? Probably not. Also Apple TV+, and also worth your time.

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Change of Perception

10:42 Monday, 9 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 68.18°F Pressure: 1022hPa Humidity: 78% Wind: 10.36mph
Words: 71

It's remarkable to me how much my subjective experience of temperature is related to my environment, specifically, latitude.

When we were in New York, the house was set at 70°F and I was perfectly comfortable. Perhaps because the outdoor temperature was so much lower, 30 degrees or more. Here in Florida, I'm cold when it's 70°F in the house, and the outside temperature is only two degree lower.

Bizarre.

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Check Sat

10:25 Monday, 9 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 67.01°F Pressure: 1023hPa Humidity: 81% Wind: 10.36mph
Words: 295

I put the 12-200mm super-zoom on the diminutive OM-5 for my walk this morning. It's at the ragged edge of being comfortable on the sling. The weight distribution seems to make it more prone to bouncing around on the sling, the center of mass is farther from the tripod socket where the strap attaches. It's worse if I leave the lens extended, which I'm prone to do, since I'm usually looking for subjects far from me, like this rose.

The weight is fine, though.

The choice for this post was between a rose and a squirrel. I liked the splash of color. The squirrel is up at Flickr. The rose is SOOC, the squirrel was lightly edited.

I'm satisfied that the 12-200 is sharp enough for me. It's not a cheap lens, but MPB has it at a reasonable price, and less than KEH. Mine was described as "like new" and I concur with that assessment.

I'm uncertain at this moment whether this lens will live on the OM-5. It'll take a few more walks to know for sure. The 14-150 is perhaps ideal, but I'm a sucker for reach. I would carry the OM-1 with the 75-300 because of the additional stability of the larger grip at 300mm. It wasn't super uncomfortable, but it was noticeable. I may just keep the 14-150 on the OM-5 and the 12-200 on the OM-1 and just alternate cameras if I'm walking with a camera.

I need to start walking for pace soon, which makes taking pictures pretty much impossible and choice of camera and lens combination moot.

The beat goes on...

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"I must be going..."

09:02 Sunday, 8 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 48.11°F Pressure: 1026hPa Humidity: 97% Wind: 3.44mph
Words: 411

One of the nice things about this place is that we're looking back into a "preserve." (It's a swamp.) From the kitchen window, we can make out large white birds perched in the trees back there, though it usually takes binoculars or the camera with a long telephoto to identify them. (Cormorants and anhingas are easier.)

There were three yesterday afternoon. This white ibis was one of them. The large one was a wood stork. I didn't get a shot of the third, which I think was another ibis.

This wasn't the best shot, but it was the one I liked the most.

The E-M1X with the 100-400mm lens and the 1.4x teleconverter, so 1120mm effective focal length.

In other camera news, I bought a new, used, lens.

I took the 75-300mm zoom up to New York and left it there on purpose. I love that lens as a walk-about telephoto zoom. It's very light and pretty decent for the kind of casual birding I do. The 100-400mm is better, but it's heavy so I won't bring it unless I'm mainly interested in shooting, not walking.

I've been keeping the 14-150mm zoom on the OM-5 as a walk-about combo, and it's very versatile and sharp, but it doesn't have as much reach as I'd like if I encounter a bird.

So I finally succumbed to curiosity and GAS and bought an mZuiko 12-200mm/f3.5-6.3 super-zoom. It came in yesterday and I took a few shots with it. I haven't made any exhaustive tests, but the biggest criticism is that it's soft at 200mm, which is the main reason I bought it.

I shot the street sign down on the corner and my initial impression is that it's sharp enough for me. It's an "intermediate" quality lens, not "pro," but better than "kit." Weather sealed, which is nice, as my 14-150mm is not. It's heavier, with a 72mm filter diameter around a fairly large front element. So I don't know how it'll handle on the OM-5, I used the OM-1 for my first shots.

More testing will have to wait, as I'm getting ready to head over to my son's to visit with his family and watch Romulus on his new home-theater setup.

Anyway, still dicking around with cameras. Some things never change.

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Make All Preparations for Getting Underway

07:20 Sunday, 8 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 37.51°F Pressure: 1025hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 0mph
Words: 742

Before we left for New York in November, I checked the forecast and told Mitzi that, if we were lucky, we might get to see some snow.

That turned out to be an understatement of enormous proportions. We saw over a foot of snow, and a thirty-hour power outage. (Which we spent part of at my sister's, who had power.) Then we spent five hours driving through a separate snowstorm.

Anyway, although it seems to have dampened her enthusiasm somewhat, it hasn't seemed to have deterred her. She reiterated to her daughter in a FaceTime call that we were likely to be out of Florida by sometime next year. And she's begun thinking about how to stage the house.

Our "library" has overstuffed bookshelves. (As does my office.) She began going through them and boxing up books to give away. I did the same, and pulled every book I have about Florida, its history and its environment, and those are all going away too. I no longer have any interest in Florida.

The library looks neat and tidy today. Not so, my office.

This house is pretty nearly ideal for what we want to live in as we age. The main bathroom is the biggest problem because of a step-in shower enclosed in glass, but that's the only significant deficiency. We need to think about how to replicate at least the utility of this place in New York. We won't have an unlimited budget, and we expect construction costs are going to skyrocket once the orange one takes office.

She also doesn't want to buy all new furniture again. That mainly affects the design of the living room, but I think that poses the least difficulty. We haven't talked about the appliances yet, but my wish is to have them convey with the house. Likewise the LG OLED TV. Moving and storage isn't ideal for these things, and you want them to be up and running when you move in, not needing a repair.

I have to figure out what I want to do about this office. I need to get this monstrosity of a desk out of here, get rid of some things, find storage for others and still have a way to kind of relax and enjoy myself in here.

It's not going to be all sunshine and roses in New York either. Apparently, the organization that revises the state's building code is considering requiring all new-construction single family and duplex homes to have sprinkler systems built-in. This seems absurd to me.

In my opinion, it's a cash-grab by the fire safety industry. Because not only will it add significantly to the cost of a new home, there are periodic tests and re-inspections that have to occur.

It's getting attention and push-back, so who knows if it'll be enacted? But it's a reminder that New York has its own brand of stupid sometimes. From this website:

In a review of fire fatalities in New York between 2019 and 2023, the mean dwelling was built around 1932. No residential fire fatalities occurred between 2019 and 2023 in 1- and 2-unit homes built after 2000. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reported that only 33% of dwellings in residential fire fatalities in New York state had smoke alarms and that not all of them were functional.

The council is also considering revisions that require all-electric housing, so no more fossil fuel cooking or heating. That's not a problem to us, we would be building an all-electric home anyway.

I'm not looking forward to the frustrations and disappointments of new construction, having experienced it in the recent past, starting with the reconstruction of a 20-unit condo building, to the renovation of my own condo, to watching the construction of this place.

But we'll be doing all that on our own terms; not after a catastrophic loss following a hurricane. That would add an entirely different dimension of pain and frustration.

The front page of this morning's paper talks about "the mean season," and Florida's insurance market. Republicans are crowing about how well it's holding up following Helene and Milton. That's because most of the losses were due to flooding, not wind damage. So it's not so great for Floridians who lacked flood coverage because "it's never flooded here." But the Republican politicians get to keep talking through their hats that everything's great.

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Once Upon a Time...

05:44 Friday, 6 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 54.12°F Pressure: 1022hPa Humidity: 79% Wind: 10.36mph
Words: 1133

If you didn't watch yesterday's video, here's the link again. It's kind of important to the rest of this.

What excited me about this particular TED talk was the framing. It completed something for me, filled in a missing piece. It was there all along, but I just couldn't see it.

The topic of the talk was, How to live a meaningful life.

I'm not certain it completely made the case for why it is important to live a "meaningful life," but it did clearly illustrate how. And that's very important.

"Meaning," is "why it matters."

Why do you get up every morning? Because you matter. Your life matters.

We lose sight of that as we get caught up in the roles and the narratives created for us, not by us, by the larger entities surrounding us. And there are so many larger entities surrounding us today.

It used to be just your family, your tribe, your church, maybe your nation or your culture. But today it's any number of multi-national corporations with ad budgets in the billions of dollars, who know nearly every aspect of your life with an accuracy and precision that beggars belief, all for the purposes of controlling, or at least influencing, your behavior.

Your life.

But it's also people around us, seeking to fill the emptiness within themselves, not as a part of your story, but as a cast of characters for their own. To be directed and manipulated and stage managed to achieve a result that doesn't achieve an end.

Life is meaningless. We bring meaning to life.

Meaning is made. It's made through action. Choices.

The only power that exists is the power to choose.

But once meaning is made, it should also be conveyed. Shared.

Meaning is a light. How far it shines is often a function of how high it is elevated.

Stories are how we convey meaning. We all have a story.

And we all share a story.

What I loved about this talk was that framing. About choosing to be a part of someone else's story.

We all play parts in others' stories, but often unconsciously. Reciting lines as habituated responses, unconsciously. Unintentionally.

If you're new here, my apologies, I'm going to refer to stories I've already told. Some of them are here.

When I was XO in JOHN HANCOCK, doing all those burials at sea, the paperwork I looked at in my cabin at night was a part of their stories. Just a glimpse. And I realized that I was going to be a part of their stories too. The final scene. Though I didn't exactly think of it that way at the time.

But it mattered.

When I was acting CO at Fleet Training Center, Mayport and my HMC came and asked me to speak at her retirement ceremony, she was asking me to be a part of her story, though again, I didn't think of it as her story.

But it mattered.

How I chose to play my role, mattered. And I don't think I appreciated, at least at first, how much of an honor it was to be asked to be such a visible part of my HMC's story. It was a gift, really.

I did learn later, however, because so many people asked me to do the same for them at their retirement. And these are memories I treasure, even as they fade now, nearly a quarter of a century later.

Part of what made me seek therapy back then was my own crisis. My marriage was failing. My career, at least in my mind, was a failure.

It was therapy that taught me that the "inner voice," is an unreliable narrator. The stories that we tell ourselves are often works of fiction, perhaps "based on a true story."

It's the holiday season, so naturally I watched Die Hard while we were up in Winterfell. Because it's not Christmas until Hans Gruber falls off the Nakatomi Tower. Which brings to mind, Alan Rickman.

Which is important, because the 4K UHD edition of Galaxy Quest was just released!

Which is important because it's a story about a story, that created a story that had meaning.

Rickman's character, Alexander Dane, is bitter. An actor who takes his craft and his career seriously. Who finds that his seemingly highest achievement is playing a bumpy-headed alien second-fiddle in a cancelled TV series. An achievement without meaning, that only matters insofar as it attracts fans to 'cons and the occasional ad appearance.

But the inner voice is an unreliable narrator. We can't always know how we matter to the people in our lives. Especially someone who lives his life as a performer, before an audience. Thousands of people with stories he can't begin to know.

His performance did matter. It meant a great deal to one person, or being. And Rickman gives a powerful performance of the value of meaning. And for once, go ahead and read the comments. Rickman/Dane/Lazarus plays his role in Quelleck's story, making Quelleck's life, and his death, meaningful.

I always get tearful in that scene, and we miss Alan Rickman so much.

Likewise with It's a Wonderful Life, to keep with the holiday season theme.

When we were in Winterfell , we watched (I do so love alliteration.) Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Brian Lowery's talk made me think about that movie again. Steve Martin's Neil Page and John Candy's Del Griffith.

Neil Page is forced to become part of yet another of Del Griffith's seemingly endless (and pointless) stories. He's compelled to listen to them, but never really hears them. But Neil Page does something far too few of us do today. When he is finally alone, he reflects. And he finally, truly hears.

And then he makes a choice.

I get all gooey in that one too.

And since we stopped in Bonnie's diner in Greene and I got that Groundhog Day vibe, I had to watch that again too. (I've seen it more times than I can count.) As this scene opens, Phil is extinguishing the self. Then we segue to another diner scene where we learn that Phil knows everyone's story.

At the end of the movie, Phil has embraced being a part of many of those stories.

We all have our stories, and we are all a part of each other's stories. This represents opportunity. Opportunity to make meaning.

I used to say that service was the best way to make meaning. But it never resonated with me. It felt incomplete, somehow. Artificial.

Brian Lowery's framing feels much more natural, more authentic. Because stories are how we convey meaning. And meaning is a light. Maybe the light, that illuminates our purpose here.

To make meaning, and share our stories.

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Ideas Worth Spreading

08:06 Thursday, 5 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 47.35°F Pressure: 1023hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 1.99mph
Words: 596

On Sunday night, out of boredom perhaps, I scanned the offerings of the TED app on the AppleTV. One I watched resonated so strongly with me, it genuinely excited me. It offers a new dimension on something that I've been writing about, off and on, for many years now, and that is meaning.

I think meaning is important, because I think the absence of meaning in the lives of far too many people is what's behind so many of our societal and political ills. Especially the political ones.

As children, I don't think we were exposed to the idea of meaning. We had Aesop's Fables, and "the moral of the story," but I don't think we ever examined the value of meaning. Even the fables were more about living a "moral life," but did we ever talk about the value of that? Only in the context, I suppose, of "going to Heaven" and not, presumably, to hell. Our reward, or punishment, was in the "after-life," not this one.

But as children, we were exposed, constantly and relentlessly to messages about achievement, about desire and acquisition, about competition and rank. We were saturated in these messages, and children today still are. We relentlessly observe each other, in part I suppose, in the traditional sense of getting to know other people. To make friends, or to learn who our enemies are. But mostly, I think, to compare ourselves with others.

And we're indoctrinated into the dominant narrative of what the "good life" is, the "American dream." A good job, a house in the 'burbs, 2.3 kids (less I suppose now), a nice car. A new phone every year. Promotions. Bonuses. Consumption. Travel. FOMO and YOLO. Producing, filming, photographing, editing and starring in our own stories streaming in the feeds. Getting the likes, the shares, the followers.

But eventually comes the crisis. And what happens then?

If you're lucky, you come out the other side as a different person. You have some clearer idea of what is meaningful, what matters.

If you're unlucky, you double down. "It'll get better when..." is a familiar phrase to me. It'll get better when I make CEO. It'll get better when we get acquired. It'll get better when I get elected to office. It'll get better on this new platform. It'll get better when I get elected to higher office.

You keep pursuing "better" achievements, more money, a younger wife, a fancier car, more followers. You run harder, work harder, because if you stop, the void is there and it's terrifying. And that'll work for some people. Fear, even unconscious fear, is motivating.

And exhausting.

Or if you're unlucky, you'll self-medicate. Food, flesh and pharmaceuticals. Numb or intoxicated. Hide the void. Dull the void. Silence the silence by filling it with the sound of hedonistic bravado.

The void is the absence of meaning. Your life doesn't matter.

If you're very unlucky, you'll end your life.

People debase themselves pursuing illusions and delusions that will never offer the relief they've been promised.

"You matter," is the meaning of your life. You matter. Not because of your achievements, or your possessions, or your wealth, or your power.

Just you.

How much you matter depends on how much meaning you make. As a child, just being a child makes meaning for parents. Love makes meaning. Faith makes meaning. To simply be is to matter, to make meaning, for yourself and for others.

Anyway, I have much more to say about this, but I suppose you should probably watch the video.

It's worth your time.

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Back In Florida

07:11 Thursday, 5 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 46.45°F Pressure: 1023hPa Humidity: 94% Wind: 0mph
Words: 131

The drive back to Florida was pretty easy. Weather was good, traffic wasn't horrible. We drove about ten hours down to Fayetteville, NC on the first day. That was a bit exhausting, but not as much as driving north to DC was.

The drive south through the northern part of Pennsylvania was beautiful. Snow and frost-covered trees filled the landscape. That's the best part of the drive. Once you get near DC, there is no scenery to speak of.

We talked a lot on the drive. Mitzi's enthusiasm seemed a bit diminished by the snow and cold, but it hasn't turned to opposition. Last night she was looking at comps nearby and she thinks she can get what she wants for this place.

So it looks like we're into planning.

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Not Caring

09:06 Monday, 2 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 48.15°F Pressure: 1027hPa Humidity: 66% Wind: 1.99mph
Words: 201

It's impossible to avoid the news entirely. People talk about it like they talk about the weather, and it has about the same relevance. Can't do a damn thing about it.

I'm going to try not to give the unfolding catastrophe or comedy any of my attention, or as little as possible. There's nothing I can do about it, and thinking about it is just a waste of time and attention that could be put to more productive uses. When the mid-terms come around, I'll get more engaged. Hopefully up here in New York.

I do care about the weather, since we're going to be on the road tomorrow. Looks like the worst of everything will be to the north and west of us as we start out. We're getting a few flakes here and there this morning, but nothing heavy or steady.

Mitzi stopped by the Toyota dealer in Ithaca after she returned the cargo van and they were able to find the part that holds that plastic piece of the wheel well liner in place. Charged her $3.00 for the part, and nothing for looking at the problem and popping it in. Pretty decent of them, I think.

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Neither Here Nor There

08:47 Monday, 2 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 46.38°F Pressure: 1027hPa Humidity: 68% Wind: 10.36mph
Words: 304

It's 25°F out, and the garage door opener guy is here at 0845. Pretty amazing.

Glitches on my 14" M3 MBP this morning. Maps refused to do any route planning, just spin the fiddle thing. Rebooted and it's working again. I'm running a beta version of Sequoia, so shit happens I guess.

I was trying to figure out how far south we want to go tomorrow. Looks like Fayetteville, NC.

Anyway, we're getting ready to head back to Florida, thinking about all the things we ought to do to button this place up for the winter.

We'll leave the heat on, naturally, but set the thermostat for something like 60°F, Maybe 55°. Should keep things from freezing and save some money. We're going to replace the batteries in the smoke detectors, because we don't know when the last time was they were replaced. Turn the hot water heater off.

I'm looking forward to getting back to Florida, if only because I'll be more comfortable at the computer there! I'm going to build a little "Murphy desk" for the bedroom here. At least I'll be able to set the desk height appropriately, and get a good chair. All the trim in this place is yellow pine, so I'll practice building it in my garage in Florida so I get it right when we get up here next summer. If I'm lucky, I may get it right the first time and just haul it up here when we come up. I'm not that lucky, usually.

Apart from having a climate controlled garage and an actual desk, I'm also looking forward to trying to get somewhat more fit. This is the best time of year for that sort of activity in Florida. You're less likely to suffer heat stroke.

But that's about the only attraction.

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Sunday Morning

09:51 Sunday, 1 December 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 51.8°F Pressure: 1025hPa Humidity: 61% Wind: 6.91mph
Words: 506

It's 26°F outside, that's -3.33°C "for those who observe." But it's clear and it's not snowing. Yet. Might be later.

We rented a cargo van from Home Depot yesterday and drove to the little town of Waverly to pick up a used table and chairs Mitzi found online. It was interesting to see some new scenery.

This aspect of New York is familiar to me. It's "diverse" in the sense of economic status. There are no gated communities. You're not shielded from poverty and its effects.

When I was a kid, we rode the bus to school. We were the first stop in the morning, and the last stop in the afternoon. We saw every house along our rural route. The well-to-do (no one was "wealthy" there, at least then), to the barely surviving. Nobody wanted to sit next to the kids from houses that were falling apart, because of their body odor. There was no overt cruelty or bullying, but there was little in the way of welcome or friendship either.

I think this is why this place feels like home. I've often described living in St Johns County, Florida as living in a bubble. Because it is. It is so far removed from the wider reality of life in the United States. It makes it easy for people to be malignantly indifferent to the plight of the poor. They never see them.

Apart from the climate risk, there has always been this vague, gnawing sense of discomfort living there. It feels like cheating somehow. I'm more convinced, more certain, now that I want to get out of there.

Of course, there's a risk of gentrification here. Money is finding its way here, and it will alter the landscape. If I'm lucky, perhaps not within my lifetime. There are efforts to preserve farming in the region. Will they be enough to counter "Big Money"? I don't know, but at least there's an awareness of the risk.

A lot of the houses, the residential lots, here are from families, gifting or selling to children or grandchildren from farm acreage. That's how the place we're living on started, and how each of our neighbors to the north and south of us started.

I've read some calls, post-election, that we recognize that "we're all in this together." But so much of our political and economic activity is directed toward obscuring that fundamental truth. From gated communities, to gerrymandering, to disenfranchising people, we try to divide ourselves, isolate ourselves in our particular bubbles.

If I am to live out the rest of my life witnessing the beginning of the end of this civilization, I'd rather do it here, among these people, than cloistered in an entitled reality distortion field that relies on blindness. I'd rather pay New York State taxes, than fleece tourists and rob the poor with regressive sales taxes.

Florida was founded on fraud and fantasy, selling swampland and a theme park existence.

We're headed back on Tuesday, but not to stay.

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