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This blog has served me well but it’s time to go back home! 🏠
Category: Life
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Let them die 💀
I know COVID has become a political hot potato but I still don’t understand the folks that won’t mask or get vaccinated.
The delta variant has an R0 of between 4 and 9. According to reports that’s as contagious as chicken pox and close to measles, which we have a vaccination for. Hell, Ebola, which everyone is terrified of, has an R0 of between 1.5 to 2.5.
But folks like to point out that only 4.23 million people have died since the pandemic started. Of those we’ve “only” had 600,000 deaths in the United States. Peanuts!
Ok, sure, in the big scheme of things we’ve lost an extremely small number of people compared to our population, which people like to point to and say “See, it’s no big deal. It’s like the flu or a common cold.” It’s not like the flu or the common cold and I don’t think 600,000 dead Americans is acceptable, do you? Especially for something we could’ve slowed down if we’d had competent leadership early on in the pandemic. I’ve heard from someone I trust that 70% of deaths were in obese people. Ok, sure. Do obese folks not matter all of a sudden?
I honestly believe the anti-vax/anti-mask crowd have some twisted sense of machismo. It’s a kill or be killed mentality. It’s macho men comparing… well, you know.
Why the deep down desire to see people suffer and die? I just cannot wrap my brain around that.
And another thing. For all the drum beating around “reopening the country” these folks don’t seem to understand getting a vaccine will help us open the country sooner!
The logic, or lack thereof, boggles my mind.
Get a vaccine, save lives. And for goodness sake, wear a mask until we can stomp this thing down.
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Working from home
Reddit: “The space ship is all inhuman open workspace. The only people who like this kind of environment are managers — because it is cheap — and extroverts — because it allows them to leech energy off of others so much more easily. But it is a soul-killing nightmare.”
A lot of the comments in that Reddit thread really hit home, no pun intended. I really enjoy working from home. No commute time, quite, I have great control over my environment, and it’s super easy to dial someone up on Zoom if I need to do a “hallway chat” so many company execs quote as important to work. I honestly believe my focused problem solving time has improved being at home. Sometimes those all important hallway conversations happen right next to you if you’re in an open office space. I’m not easily distracted but if I do get distracted it can cause me to lose my train of thought and have trouble getting it back.
It’s not for everyone. Some folks love being at the office and that’s perfectly fine. I don’t mind going in but I prefer being at home. It’s a simple matter really.
“Even the best office culture can’t beat affordable housing and a comfy commute.”
Oh, working from home doesn’t mean I’m being lazy. It can have the opposite affect. I’ve been working from home for years. When I started I’d often spend too much time working. It’s easy to go down that rabbit hole when you slide into focused mode. I’ve learned to balance things as I’ve gotten older – either at home or at work.
These days I value my time. It’s the only thing we really have, isn’t it?
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Hope and Worry
Steve Beschloss: “Yet we would be remiss to ignore the many ways life has improved. So share your thoughts: How has your life improved since Trump was evicted?“
I worry less about having a sociopathic, narcissistic, idiot, misogynist, antisemite in the White House. All Presidents have their flaws, we’re only human, but at least we have someone in charge who cares about America and our place in the world.
I do continue to worry the Neo Republican Party continues to devolve into a party of conspiracy theories with their eye toward an oligarchy in charge of the country. A ruling class that makes all the rules and pushes us peasants down even further. In some ways we already have that. The GOP wants to codify that with a Dictator at the top.
I don’t understand the want – need for – power like that. How much money can you spend and how much influence is enough? To feel the need to dictate life to an entire nation to satisfy your psychological faults is beyond me. Yes, I said psychological faults. It clearly takes someone with delusions of grandeur to need that kind of power.
Until we can remove the ruling GOP class and their puppet masters I will worry about the survival of our democracy.
When you move away from your hometown you’re going to miss family and friends. It’s inevitable. I also miss my favorite places to eat, drink, and socialize. One of my absolute favorites is Exeter Coffee Company.
Staci and Jason Welch started this Exeter gem in 2017 and I instantly fell in love with it. The coffee is wonderful but the morning crew of misfits is the real reason to visit.
It’s a place built to socialize. No WiFi and working on your laptop is discouraged. It’s all about people and making new friends.
With COVID restrictions easing up it’s been a real pleasure to visit with the old crew. We’re able to sit outside, properly distanced, and enjoy each other’s company. The last couple days I’ve spent a few hours in the morning down there and I’ve loved every minute of it. I told Kim this is what I want to do. Spend my mornings with her, good friends, and good coffee.
If you ever find yourself in Exeter, California, make sure you stop by and see our good friends at ExCoCo and tell ’em Rob sent you. That will cause some confusion as there are three Rob’s that hang out in front of the place. Just say it was the handsome Rob. 😃
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Burn it all down
The Atlantic: “We know this is a lie, because the people who fought in the Civil War told us so. “Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery—the greatest material interest of the world,” Mississippi lawmakers declared during their 1861 secession convention. Slavery was “the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution,” the Confederate vice president, Alexander Stephens, said, adding that the Confederacy was founded on “the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man.”
It’s disturbing to read those words. It was also the premise of the Civil War. I often think Lincoln was too kind after the war. Then again what would’ve happened if all of the Confederate leadership had been put to death? Smarter men than I made those decisions. It is history.
I wish laws had been established to outlaw the use of Confederate symbols. It’s not a heritage to be proud of. It was a movement to overthrow the government of the United States of America. Treason. Punishable by death.
Today all Confederate statues and symbols should be burned to the ground and treated as symbols of hate. The Confederacy is the closest thing Americans have to that of Nazi Germany.
We cannot allow this to happen again no matter how much some of our modern day leaders want for it.
Sure, it’s a heritage. A heritage of hate. Burn it all down. Teach the truth of it. Stamp out the lies.
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Feeling Good Today
I felt really great today. Physically great. Not that I didn’t feel mentally great as well but today was a really great day physically.
As we age those things we did to our bodies when we were young start to catch up with us. I had no regard for my body when I was younger. Heck, given what my brothers and I got into day to day I’m surprised we’re all still alive. Couple that with a love of sports and poor genetics and you’re on your way to aches and pains later in life.
I’m not a small guy. Let’s just say it out loud. I’m fat. Have been for a while now and I didn’t realize how bad it made me feel. It takes time to become a fatty mcfatser and you just don’t notice the change. I got up to 295 pounds, I’d put money on me being as heavy as 300 pounds but I never saw that number on a scale. My wife has been trying to convince me to lose weight for years and I knew I’d do it eventually but I had to make that choice on my own.
In December of 2020 I saw an orthopedic surgeon who looked at my knees, because the darned things hurt, and he told me I had the knees of a 70 year old man. 70? I’m nowhere near 70. What are these darned things gonna feel like when I am 70? That thought really struck home. My knees hurt all day, every day. It’s become part of life.
A short time after the holidays I’d had enough. I finally decided it was time to get the darned weight off. As of today I weigh 263 pounds. I cannot believe how much better I feel. I have an incredible amount of energy and I don’t tire nearly as fast as I used to when doing yard work or just going up the stairs in our home. I was resigned to feeling horrible the rest of my life. I just figured it was an age thing. No, it was a weight thing.
If folks ask how I’m doing it, it’s simple, you work really hard at it! I’ve changed the food I consume and how much I consume. IT IS NOT EASY. It’s darned hard to do. I love eating crummy food and lots of it. Cake? Sure sign me up for a couple pieces with ice cream. Pie? Oh heck yeah! I love me some pie. Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby? Yessir! I’ll eat the entire pint in one sitting. Anyone else love Reece’s peanut butter cups? ME TOO! Not just the pack with two in them. Pffft. That’s for losers! I’ll get the four pack and one of those chunky ones with the pieces embedded in it (they’re delicious by the way.) The point is, I’m a junk food junkie. It’s an addiction like anything else.
Will I keep this weight off for the remainder of my life? I certainly hope so. I feel so great right now I don’t want to go back to where I was. I have a long way to go. My initial goal is 220 pounds. When I get there I’m going to reevaluate things and may go down to 200 pounds. I don’t think I’ve weighed 220 since our first daughter was born 32+ years ago. That’s crazy.
That leads me to where I am right this minute. Last Monday I got another round of cortisone shots in my knees. Today my knees feel great. Sure, it’s temporary, I know that. But when you put my weight loss together with the shots? Wow, I feel amazing.
I had to spit this out. It’s for me, I needed to write it down. I needed a place to remember.
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Software Craftsman
Better Programming (Nick Hodges): “There’s no shame in being a craftsman — quite the opposite. We all admire the capabilities of, say, a carpenter that uses their practiced skills to build beautiful furniture or cabinets. I certainly admired my friend who hung that church door with such mastery, creating great beauty with amazing expertise.“
I love the idea of being a craftsman. When I was a young lad I was into woodworking. At one point I wanted to make it my career until some adult talked me out of it.
I wish I hadn’t listened. I was never a good student. I didn’t finish college. I got into computering instead. I shall adopt a new title.
Rob Fahrni – Software Craftsman
I like working in the yard. It’s good exercise, fun when you see the finished work, and gives me time to listen to podcasts.
Here’s the old man process for working in the yard.
Step one: Apply liberal amounts of old man gel to knees.
Step two: Slide on knee sleeves. These provide warmth, stability, and the pressure helps with swelling.
Step three: Pre medicate. You know you’re gonna have pain and swelling. Get ahead of it.
Step four: Remember to grab your headphones!
Step five: GO DO THE WORK AND ENJOY THE SUNSHINE!
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Perseverance
NASA: “This is the first image NASA’s Perseverance rover sent back after touching down on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021. The view, from one of Perseverance’s Hazard Cameras, is partially obscured by a dust cover.”
I watched the stream until touchdown, about the last 10 minutes.
Thought I’d record it here.