Random Bottom Line #5150

Every rule remains up for debate in perpetuity.  Without this ability to correct, there would be no chance to improve anything.  Having standards means understanding they aren't carved in stone.

Conversely, standards shouldn't be challenged without serious investigation and study.  A knee-jerk reaction might be to completely re-evaluate all standards.  Throwing out everything in response to a single error creates a potential for more damage than ignoring the error.  

Bottom line: don't be afraid to challenge long-held mores, but make sure you have a good reason to do so.

PANCAKES!!!

So many pancakes!  

Breakfast was delicious.  I finally figured out how to make pancakes like my mom.  You have to make them a little thinner.

The mix made enough for a whole family.  Eyes were bigger than the stomach.  It didn't help that I was snacking the whole time.  There are now enough pancakes in the freezer for the rest of next week.

Time Traveling for a Minute

Playing music at noon on a weekday makes me feel young.  25 years ago, this kind of thing was an almost daily occurrence.  We'd play for hours.  Youth thinks of very little more than what makes it happy at the moment.

I don't know that I'd want that, now, though.  An hour in, and the youthful feeling starts to wane.  Every once in a while is enough.

Mosquito Attractant

There must be something in paint mixed with water that mosquitos like.  Trying to clean my paintbrushes, roller and tray, those little vampires tried to imbibe every drop from my veins.  Even after bathing in Off! spray they continued their harassment.

The only thing that seemed to drive them off, even after the paint supplies were clean and dry, was when the grill got fired up.  Maybe it was the smoke.  There really seemed to be something about that paint and water spray that attracted them. 

Meaningless Numbers

Another year older, but not deeper in debt.  The number clicks over, but it's just arbitrary.  It's nice to be able to watch it roll to the next one from the comfort of my own couch, in my own house.  If it weren't for food and utilities, I wouldn't have any expenses.  It's a good place to be.

On Repeat

Society is stale.  No one is comfortable in their own skin.  They want to be something that already existed, resulting in an exaggerated, cosplay caricature of something from the past.  There's nothing current.

Criticism without suggesting a solution is just complaining, so here's an idea: try something new!  Very little has ever been explored.  Sure, there's a good chance most of it won't be good.  It will be different, though, and might give you another idea for something good. 

Caffeinated Thoughts

Having time to sit and sip coffee is a luxury.  A rare, happy, luxury.  It may even be more enjoyable to sit, sip, and think about things to do than to actually go and do them.  I know it is.

Well, maybe not better than all the things, but better than a few.  Better than yard work.  Better than home maintenance... Although, I would rather just get those things out of the way, so I don't have to think about them.

It's almost noon!  Where did the day go!  How can thinking take so much time?

No Reason

No matter how intelligent a person, or how much knowledge they've accumulated, if they refuse to recognize logic and reason, they'll never be capable of making a positive contribution.  All they'll ever do is use their intellect to convince themselves of the lie which benefits them the most.  Almost every leader to exist, from the lowest tin pot to the Maos and Stalins of the world, has been this particular type of illogical sociopath.

Casually Dismantling Time

Passing time has become far too easy.  Look at the time and see 2 hours have passed, already, since the last time you looked.  A lot of the things invented to make life easier also make it go by faster.

Blink, and you've lost 30 minutes.  

Take a nap, lose 20 years.

Taking Time

Pseudo-philosophical blabber seems to be all I can come up with, lately.  Random observations and lame attempts to make sense out of it is all I can do.  There are probably better uses for my time.

Anything worth having is worth working to obtain.  That doesn't mean everything that's free is worthless, nor that everything you have to work for is valuable.  I'm just saying if something is worthwhile, it'll be worth working to get. 

Inflation Explosion and No One Knows Enough to Care

Inflation is speeding up.  Wages aren't even close to keeping up.  Idiots still beg for more inflation.

How can such educated, intelligent people not want to spend the time to understand government spending?  The only explanation is sloth.  No one seems to want to do more than check off the bullet points of life.  Responsibility for anything else is a foreign concept.

Madness Above

I can't stay mad at myself.  While brushing my teeth, I'll see myself in the mirror, toothpaste foaming at the mouth, and think, "You hideous monster, I can't stay mad at you."  I'm just too much.

The battle for the yard has been fought and won.  For now.  Except that part under standing water.  And the part I let grow up in trees.

Grass is cut, anyway.

Thunder growls from some distance.  While paying the Domino's delivery driver, lightning pulls my eyes skyward and runs pinkish tendrils across the sky.  Rain isn't forecast.  The sky's just mad or something.

Listen Here

Random, chaotic nonsense dangles sanity from a string as temptation to keep things going.  Make it make sense.  NOPE.

Science tries.  Commendable effort.  Don't look too deep, though.  When you stare into the abyss... yadda yadda.

Make the best of it.  See the hilarity of futility.  Take things too seriously and it's over before you know it. 

Lawn Wars

Wednesday waits.  Hit and run rain spatters fuel for overgrown grass.  Clouds form and airlift liquid supplies to green-uniformed seed stalks.  Blades bulk up.  A battle is coming. 

In a few short days, dual spinning blades will break the silence, bringing down death from above.  Stripes of enemy territory will be reclaimed... one at a time.  A few hours later, victory will be secured.

The victory will be short-lived, though.  So much so, and so hot and long the battle, that the victory seems Pyrrhic. Days later, it will be fought again, over the same territory.

Illusory

There's still something.  Wind in the trees sounds like voices when you're listening for a voice.  It's just leaves in the breeze.  Until it's not.

Soaring through the night sky, under the charcoal clouds, the Earth looks vulnerable.  It's not.  That's an optical illusion.

Food for Thought

Waiting for something to pop up in reply to something never written drones on like waiting for the Sun to shine, these days.  Like that sentence.  Like an empty analogy.

Gnawing on a rare steak offends a good number of people, but that may be the only thing keeping inner beasts sated.  Let the monster eat.  Keep him pacified, but well fed, just in case you need him.

Disliking things is okay.  Liking them is better.  Like things.  You'll like it.

Winter Inside

So much rain keeps falling.  It's been a long time since a summer has been so wet.  Water stands everywhere.

Moisture finds a way into everything.  Heat turns it into steam.  The world becomes a sauna.

On the wall, though, a thermostat hangs, displaying a temperature in the 60s.  Windows fog, gray with condensation.  Inside is chilly, comfortable and dry. 

No Free Lunch

A lot of concern continues to be expressed regarding rapid and extreme price increases.  I'm just surprised people are surprised.  The money supply has increased by trillions, yet there's a failure to understand why the money already in cirulation fails to hold its value.  How does that disconnect work?

Are people so wrapped up in their own nonsense that they really don't understand?  This country is one of the easiest in the world to survive.  Life is almost all leisure time, compared to generations past.  Do people devote none of that time to thinking about how to make sure they can keep things this good?

No, I don't think they do.  They spend their time trying to figure out how to get more with less effort, falling into the trap tyrants have set for all of time.  TANSTAAFL.

Fiddler on the Roof

It only takes a few hours on a roof to remember why you never went into roofing.  There's also some pretty good reminders, up there, that you're not in quite the same shape you were 20 years ago.  If you don't believe me, go up there and try to do just a small repair job. 

Enjoying Nothing Too Much

Hustle and bustle rushes everyone everywhere at the same time.  So much is always happening.  Time for nothing gets lost.

Sitting at home, alone, enjoying the quiet, feels like a luxury.  I've been enjoying a lot of this luxury.  Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.  

It hasn't gotten bad, yet.  If that should happen, there's more than enough hustle and bustle out there to keep me busy.  Busy work never suited me, though.  Nothing feels too good.

See What You Want

Complaining occupies such an overwhelming portion of public discourse that positive dialogue starts to seem exotic.  It can be really refreshing.  Sometimes, it seem patronizing, but that could just be a reactionary symptom to so much negativity.

Raw nerves can explode into rage at any moment.  Focus calm.  See something beautiful, instead.

Vicarious Encouragement

Seeing people who've gone through bad times being happy puts me in a good mood.  Even if I've just received negative news, or some other assorted frustrations, seeing them having a good time somehow lightens the severity of everything.  Maybe there's some vicarious encouragement.  Whatever it is, I like it.

"New" Eavesdropping isn't New

No one has any problem with a store owner putting up surveillance systems to protect their assets against theft or damages.  Identifying and prosecuting those who'd violate their private property effectively deters crime.  Criminals waive their right to privacy when they choose to violate someone else's property.

If that equipment is used to identify and log the movement of those who've committed no crime, however, it violates the spirit of freedom.  History is rife with the abuse of very similar behaviors.  Just because you can do something that might have a positive effect doesn't mean you should, especially if due diligence hasn't confirmed that it won't have negative effects.

It's not like this type of equipment and software is new; it's been around for decades.  Americans, after much study and chagrin, have routinely rejected it as draconian.  Sadly, there will always be those who have either forgotten their history lessons, or simply don't care.  I'm afraid the latter now outnumbers the former.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to know who's violating your property.  There's nothing wrong with filming people on your private property, as long as you let them know what you're doing, and give them the option of leaving before doing so.  Just don't randomly record people without their consent, especially not with the specific purpose of using it to track them.  That's just creepy. 

EDIT:  I'm reminded of a post a few years ago: Andy Taylor on Due Process. The same issues exist with collecting this type of data on someone without their consent and eavesdropping.  If someone records everything you say or do, it can be edited to your detriment or presented without enough context to imply something completely different.  

Andy does a pretty good job of explaining it to Opie.

Mules and Progress

One of my fondest memories in recent years was listening to my Dad and late Aunt Evelyn talk about riding the family mule, Kate, when they were kids.  They absolutely hated having to ride it, but, if the old Model A wasn't available, the mule was all there was for transportation.  Apparently, it was a fairly rough ride, especially if there was more than one rider.

One generation made a huge difference.  I'm more than grateful.  Sure, my travel memories come from brakes going out, coolant hoses rupturing, ignition coils, vapor-locked engines, and other automotive-related issues, but at least there was air conditioning and a mode of transportation that would go where you wanted instead of where it wanted.

My father's generation was probably the last one in this country to witness working animals to any significant degree.  There are places in the world still capable of relating to riding a mule.  America, for better or worse, isn't one of them. 

What's Going Down

This is hard to type.  I mean, literally hard to type... I'm sitting out here tapping on this tiny phone screen.  This is one time I don't absolutely hate auto correct. 

Naturally, the sky turns gray and sprinkles of water begin to fall when I try to walk outside.  It's okay, though.  The patter of rain is gray noise to compliment the gray sky.  

Ignorance of Arrogance

Those who've escaped oppressive, totalitarian regimes are terrified of where America is going:

When logic no longer matters, terror will reign.  All of recorded history explicitly proves this.  It happens and has happened everywhere at the hands of every type of person.

Looking Around

Understanding motivation provides a particularly unique and difficult challenge when perspective is unfamiliar.  Life's roller coaster occasionally puts cars at the same height, but, even then, they might not be on the same track and can be going opposite directions.  It's too easy to discount as unintelligible when the origin of the other view seems incomprehensible.

I've had a morning nap and find myself a bit introspective.  Another cup of coffee might help.  *Rubs eyes* 

***

Coffee's on.  I've leave this and finish it after a few sips.  Clarity often comes with caffeine.

***

A few sips in, and the only thing coming to mind is that too much analysis finds shapes in the dots that only exist in the imagination of the analyst.  Take the input as it comes and sort the data only if necessary.  Otherwise, just live and enjoy the comedy of randomness.

Ahead of the Game

Psst.... my grass is cut.  Lawn looks nice...  ish.  Well, at least the bahia got knocked back down for a few days.  Annnd, I don't have to cut it tomorrow!

So, I have the rest of tonight and tomorrow.  Just got a shower and am ready to eat.  There's a bunch of meat in the freezer I grilled last weekend.  I'm about to get stuffed.  L8rs.

Ha

Laughing means you're happy, if just for a moment.  Even standing at the gallows, if a joke makes you laugh as the executioner pulls the lever, you'll die happy.  Levity lifts the soul... maybe literally.

There are occasions when you don't want to laugh.  Sometimes you miss the joke.  Sometimes, it's at your expense.  Laugh anyway.

Xmitting

Status: resting.

Report: nominal.

Update: 24 hours.

Back when it Rained

Nostalgia lives everywhere. No matter where you might look, there's a relic or memory.  You see it even when you close your eyes.

Age finds ever increasing reminders of the past.  Most are pleasant.  Some ain't.  Want 'em or not, though, they're there.

Prometheus' Hunger

Fire and smoke, mixed with the smells of meat cooking, trigger some primitive, instinctive pleasure zone in the brain.  Gluttony ensues.  It's not a bad thing.

Independence

Two hundred and forty-five years ago, Thomas Jefferson, charged with drafting a document capable of explaining to the rest of the world why the states making up the British colonies in the Americas would break from the United Kingdom, presented the final parchment to his fellow members of the Continental Congress.  Signing this document meant high treason.  Some even suggested it was signing their own death warrant.  To some, it was.

Today, there is very little resemblance between the ideals put forward in that document and our current bureaucratic government.  There are always two steps forward and three steps back.  Will the Republic last another 245 years?  

We've replaced the British monarch with a handful of super-wealthy families.  These folks are so powerful that even billionaires grovel to them.  We've allowed them to requisition the military forces of our nation, creating standing armies for the protection of their power.  It may not even be possible to slough off their influence.

I believe it's possible.  Were it not, there wouldn't be such an outright attempt to divide the country.  The USA still stands.  This is a threat to power.  Were the people of the country to realize this, we could unite to remove this corrupting force, once again.

AmaZon Stuff

Amazon will sell you anything.  Remember, though, you'll typically get less than you pay for.  That's true of almost every retailer, but particularly true of online, foreign-made, retailers.

You can't just run it back down to your local Amazon and swap it out, either.  Sure, they'll almost always make it right, but you have to wait.  When you have time set aside to do something with that item, it's annoying to not be able to do it.

It's all our fault, too.  We've raised the standard of living in our country to the point where we're not willing to work very hard for what we get.  There's a rude awakening coming, at some point.

Don't get me wrong; I love Amazon.  I don't like that I love Amazon, though.  That's my point.

New News

Folks like to talk about the stuff they like.  They also like to hear others talk about the stuff they like.  Popularity of certain subjects becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. 

Usually, the only people who hear new things are people who like to hear new things.  Everybody else just listens to news about stuff they like.  From time to time, they even get upset if they have to hear new things.

In the Year 5555

If humanity hangs out for another few thousand years, it won't resemble itself.  Physically, there may be similarities, but mentally and emotionally, there will be very little linking future human to its past.  

Then again, humans may not look the same, either. That's a long shot, though.  It would take a very long time for any significant physical change.

Energy's riddle will be solved.  A new source is a prerequisite for survival.  Numbers or technology demand it.

Assessing space will be complete.  If possible, humanity will have at least partially moved on to other heavenly bodies.  If not, they'll spread out into space itself.