The Limits of Individuals

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

Lately, as in in the last year or so, I’ve been discovering that a lot of things I blamed myself for were baked in, part of who I am, probably physiological not psychological, and likely impossible to budge.

Not mind you that psychological problems aren’t real, or easy to overcome, but that the things I’ve spent my life trying to brute force simply couldn’t be brute forced. Things like ADD. I can manage some improvement, brute-force some concentration, but I pay for it, in the fact that I shut down afterwards sometimes for months, while I rabbit around doing crazy stuff that amounts to nothing. This is basically why my career had the iteration of a book in two weeks, then nothing for six months. And it wasn’t some gigantic personal failing, though it felt like it. Still does.

Yes, ADD can be treated, and … Look Adderal makes me borderline psychotic and has the neat side effect of shutting down the writing. Dan shouldn’t have to live with me on Adderal, (I don’t want to live with me on Adderal.) Vivanse (sp) works and I can actually sort of kind of get stuff done, except that…. so, I can sit down and force myself to write. Which I grant you is an improvement over sitting down and watching a youtube video, shopping for private planes or Persian carpets (no, I don’t buy them. I just shop for them, price them and rank them as to which I’d buy. I mean, I am not, thank heavens, so insane that I will try to buy things I can’t begin to afford. I just do a “the price is right” type of info-dive) or trying to establish once or for all whether dinosaurs were cold blooded. On the other hand, for whatever reason (and not a hundred percent sure so another test might need to be done. Might have been other factors) the gateway-in-head shuts down. So, you know, I can type whatever on command, I just can’t “feel” the story or the words. If you think about it as clay sculpting while blindfolded and wearing oven mitts, you might have some idea what it’s like.

I’m fairly sure my problem with Chapter House (link to it on the right side) and the novel serializing is exactly that. I’m trying to be regular and my brain isn’t regular. In my defense Witch’s Daughter really is almost done. My brain just got high-jacked by No Man’s Land which is also almost done. Except that I might as well have flushed May down the toilet or spent the month sleeping for all I accomplished. That was, illness and recovering from illness, which probably has to do with being old, which I also haven’t processed yet, and then this week trying to get the house’s last nests of utter disorder fixed and triggering my raging household-dust allergy. (Which is why this post almost didn’t happen.) Hopefully functioning by the end of the week, but there’s not much use sitting here beating myself because it didn’t happen. The result might seem like laziness, but the origin of the issue is very much physical and flattened me.

So, what is this in name of, other than making excuses for myself? Um… They’re not precisely excuses for myself. They are “these are the limits of what I can do.”

I don’t like them. And they’re perfectly insane compared to the “Standard issue human” our industrialized situation has convinced us we’re SUPPOSED to be, but they are what they are.

The situation we’re in as a country, or even if you prefer as a culture, for the entire west, is rather similar to me trying to navigate my body.

Just like 100 years ago, in complete ignorance of neurological weirdness, I’d have gone to my grave thinking I was incredibly lazy and couldn’t be redeemed, we live in complete ignorance of culture, and the issues wrought by culture and how culture propagates/changes/is transmitted.

Today talking to a friend, she was amazed mules are still used to grade roads/landing strips in the rural west. And you know, it reminded me of things in Portugal that are still the domain of one family, for centuries and many millennia. And at the same time there are other things that have changed so completely since I lived there that my memories of childhood seem like an acid trip.

And that’s physical processes/events. Beneath it there’s …. buried stuff. Stories that kids get told and in some form tell to their kids, some of which I’m convinced has passed from brides that were kidnapped or captured in war when the rest of the tribe was killed and their whole culture destroyed to the point we don’t even know it ever existed.

Our very languages have things embedded in them we’re only partially aware of.

So as rational human beings, when we sit here and we watch, say, to use an example, our country shut down for a case of the common cold, or start to kill its dairy herds for fear of a bird flu that’s completely treatable in cows and which has failed to kill a single human (though it allegedly infected one,) all under the impression it will have a 25% mortality rate because “the experts” say so, and feel we should do something…

For most of the insanity — oh, including throwing things in the atmosphere to make the Earth colder, and other shananigans — in this, the craziest of all timelines: there’s nothing you, an individual human can do to fix it. It’s not yours to fix, anymore than you can fix your ADD or my ridiculous auto-immune, or….

Does it mean it’s all hopeless? Well, no. Humans do some pretty bizarre and irrational things over the course of history. The fact that all over the world, periodically, we’ve buried cities and walked away from them is one of those. And yeah we have tons of theories on those “It was ecological collapse” being the favorite, except that really, it’s a just so story. We don’t know, and it couldn’t possibly apply in every circumstance. And given the material culture of various times, walking away from a perfectly good city made probably less sense than locking our entire culture down for the sniffles.

But there we are. We as a group aren’t rational. We respond to deep set prompts, some of them from our very language. And we get panics and strange ideas about how things work.

But– But, we survive.

So to cheer — eh — you up, here are some thing to keep in mind:

What can’t go on won’t go on, but there’s no set timetable. Because people haven’t yet, visibly, en masse reacted to injustice or abuse, it doesn’t mean they never will. It also doesn’t mean they aren’t reacting, in subtle and yet paradoxically perhaps more effective ways.

There is nothing you can do that’s a big hero solution, where you explain things, and suddenly “everybody” does thing a or b. That’s not how any of this works. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re utterly impotent. Talking back still has value. Speaking up can slowly turn the culture. In fact, you can say that is happening, as mass media loses its grip. And if you can’t do either, if in fact career and feeding your family requires you to stay embedded in highly leftist locations/jobs, I salute you. You know what you risk — when the worm turns it will be sudden, and there will be friendly fire. And you’re not stupid. You know that — but you’re doing something highly necessary. There’s whole fields of human endeavor that might be lost or impossible to restructure, unless we have sane people among the Marx-insanists. Neither talking back in a small (in my case mediumish, but hey) way, nor educating are nothing. And staying embedded in enemy territory is certainly not nothing. You’re all our advance troops, our culture sapper specialists. I’m proud of you. (Which granted won’t buy you a cup of coffee, but is important.)

What you should do, in and around this: Stay informed. This is important, because it keeps you abreast of situations, and able to better:

Look after yourself. (Secure your oxygen mask before applying others, metaphorically speaking.)

Look after your family and those dependent on you that can’t look after themselves.

Keep yourself out of catastrophic trouble.

You should also do things you enjoy. Yes, I know everyone is pinched, we are all enormously stressed. But that’s the more reason to do things that bring you joy. Pick up a new hobby or an old one. Have dinner with friends, even if it’s sandwiches in the park, go for a walk withy our sweety. Pet your cat or dog. Listen to a favorite piece of music. Build in something like that every day. You are not a machine. Don’t treat yourself like one.

Be kind to yourself and others. Don’t assume the worst. Don’t assume someone is the enemy due to circumstantial evidence. (This is very important if things get spicy.)

Practice joy and mercy. And patience too. We’re going to need all the patience, one way or another.

And accept, at a deep level that yes, the worst could happen to you or those you love as a result of your action (or inaction.) But that’s known as the common flaw of mankind. You could die right now because a very small meteor drops on you.

Do the best you can. It might not be enough, but by definition no one, not even you, can require more of you.

And be not afraid.

120 thoughts on “The Limits of Individuals”

  2. I needed it too. Facing a lot of ‘I can’t do that any more’ along with CHF and COPD, as well as renal cancer rearing its ugly head again. I needed a word of hope.

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  3. Lessons learned from my time in cubeland: If you’re politically under cover, be a person who is boringly knowledgeable on something benign, like the weather, or jewelry, or fishing lures, or whatever, and switch the topic to that if the conversation veers too close to fishing into politics.

    And always remember this sage advice:

    “Bottom line, never trust a man whose uncle was eaten by cannibals.” – Sen. Joni Ernst

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  4. The Berlin Wall was going to last a thousand years, and we were all sure of that, right up until the day after the kids tore the bloody thing down. Took a day or two for it to sink in, right? And if you go looking, nobody can tell you what happened there. Even the people who were there and did it with their own hands can’t tell you what happened.

    So right now, #LetsGoBrandon is destined for re-election 100%. The Left looks to be in charge, and it looks like they will be in charge forever. And they will be. Right up until they’re not. And it’ll turn on a friggin’ dime.

    The dime might be dropped on November 5th 2024, or maybe before that, or maybe after. What will trigger it? Impossible to know.

    But when they keep adding to the sand pile day after day, shovel full after shovel full, all day long, sooner or later there’s going to be a slide. Maybe a little one, but maybe a big one. The longer since the last one, the bigger the slide will be.

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    2. I remember reading, the next day, that over ninety percent (possibly higher) of the East Berliners had walked back through the wall because they had beds on that side.

      That was when I really believed that the USSR might fall. They were confident that they could leave again.

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  5. Thus the myth of the “Man On The White Horse” to save us all.

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      1. Supposedly, there are no “white” horses.
      2. The man on the horse is just warning you of the enemies’ approach. It’s up to you and your buds to do any of the saving that needs to be done.
      3. If you don’t have any buds, then you need to go find some. If you’re a frantic introvert like I am, shove a stick of dynamite up your butt and get out there anyway. Yes, making contacts and socializing is WORK. Treat yourself to a brownie and ice cream afterwards if that’s what it takes. (Treat your new bud to a brownie and ice cream and that works even better.)

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          1. My semi-adopted sister is Korean. Can I be an honorary one then? Can’t really hang out on my rooftop though, since 45 degree pitched roofs with a 20 and 30 foot drop to the ground are…painful… to accidentally get off of.

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      2. *dons nerd hat*

        White horses do exist; they’re born white, unlike gray horses, which are born another color and turn gray as they get older. White horses are also fairly rare, because most of them carry a gene that, if the animal is homozygous for that gene, causes the unfortunately aptly named ‘lethal white syndrome’ which causes a malformation of the digestive tract that invariably kills the foal shortly after birth.

        *removes nerd hat*

        Just my contribution to refuting that weird bit of ‘knowledge’ that got embedded in the culture before we understood genetics.

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      3. We will note for the slow of thinking that the dynamite is not intended literally.

        Although, you would likely meet some new friends with medical skills?

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      4. The reason most white horses are called “gray” is that they have underlying black skin. (In most mammals, the color of the fur is reflected in the pigmentation of the skin beneath, with a few prominent exceptions including humans.)

        Actual “white” horses are to be avoided, since true white with unpigmented skin is almost impossible except in cases of what is called “lethal white syndrome”, a double recessive deadly birth defect related to frame overo coloring (a certain type of big white splotches.) While a true white horse might not carry the gene, the chances of that happening is about as rare as a male calico or tortoiseshell cat.

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    2. Interestingly, that might be part of the problem in Latin America. Not only did the central governments of the colonial powers dictate absolutely everything, or try to, leaving people used to looking up the chain of command whenever there was a problem, but two guys on horses actually did liberate chunks of South America. So the myth got further ingrained, which didn’t help once it was time to run independent countries. “Someone will fix it! Follow the guy who says he will!”

      Yes, there are a lot of other complicating factors (culture, geography, culture, world events, culture), but the idea that “the leader/patron will fix it” doesn’t help.

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  6. I thought I was the laziest person on the planet until I had a stroke and found out I had been suffering from a type of blood cancer, for years based on my yearly blood tests. Then when things kept getting worse and I discovered I also have MS, and have had for years based on my first symptoms.

    Looking back, I’m rather proud of myself I’m still alive and even working.

    But I aim to keep on keeping on because I have things I can still do and people I can still help.

    Himself has been very good to me. I’d like to pass that on if I can.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Good post, and very timely, especially for me; as a Marine-no-longer-on-active-duty, my first trained impulse is to kill people and break things, which, even if I were still physically capable of doing so actively, at the moment is the exact wrong thing to do and will only give ammunition to our enemies. (I’m now in the admittedly lazy mode of (whispered) “Come just a little bit closer with those torches, snowflake.” 😉)

    The other thing to remember, regarding the fact that assuming someone is the enemy based on circumstantial evidence is (excuse the term) Wrongthink, the corollary belief that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is also wrong; the enemy of my enemy is my enemy’s enemy, no more, no less. As a graphic example of this, think of the Soviet Union in WWII; our enemy’s enemy, but about as far from a friend as is possible.

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    1. If I were angry and desperate enough to start planting lead freedom seeds in Minecraft Soros DAs are low hanging fruit.

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    1. Your poetry book is so beautiful I got a second for my sister for Christmas. I know, it’s summer, and I haven’t written a review yet. But I saw your avatar/name and had to leave a note. The book is priceless. I’ve been sending bits of it down to Peter Navarro while he’s in prison. Thanks so much for writing it.

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      1. Thank you. I’m glad I can help. I have been writing them, but I haven’t been posting them as much. I should probably change that.

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  9. Find time to be blessed and to bless others.

    With the storms in the DFW area last week, we had no power outages or household damage. Many others weren’t as fortunate.

    Since I’m a bit too old to haul a chainsaw around like I did 20 years ago, we fed people, had some folks over to cool down, do laundry and helped replace the food they lost due to multiple days of no electricity.

    Will take this weekend to relax and escape into some projects and some games.

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  10. I have a few questions:

    Who said humans are rational? I want empirical proofs, studies performed by neutral observers.

    I might be killed by a meteorite (!) I suppose if I was flying through the air you might otherwise classify it, but since I lack wings and my super-suit is at the cleaners, well…

    Also, how small a meteorite? are we talking some mm thick? or thimble?

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    1. There’s actually a size limit below which they all burn up, and the carbonaceous chondrite ones mostly all burn up due to their lower density. If a nickel-iron one disintegrates after slowing down there’s terminal velocity to deal with, so smaller bits might just flutter down. All of that means the deadly-sized but smaller than kinetic-blast-producing nickel-iron meteorites that could reach the surface are within a fairly narrow range of sizes.

      There just has to be a paper on this somewhere.

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          1. If SMOD exists (and there are multiple candidates for the job), it’s because God included it in His Creation.

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      1. Heh. My aim is so bad the safest place to be is what I’m aiming at. I’m literally more useful just staying out of the way in a fight.

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        1. In a retelling of Robin Hood, one character warns the other, “His shooting is so bad, he’s missed the barn he was standing in.” And the book proceeds to demonstrate that indeed, this is so.

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          1. In a zombie apocalypse, I load for my daughter. I’m not horrible, but she’s a whole lot better with a rifle than I am. My job is close in threats with handgun and shotgun.

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        5. My aim is so bad the safest place to be is what I’m aiming at.

          …………

          I was like that. Took 3 or 4 clips to leave a hole on the target. Range Officers took the time to show me how to properly hold the gun in my hands and straighten my arms. Which is why I started hitting the target the rest of that practice. Next time out, and it was not an immediate trip. Not kidding we aren’t getting out to the range often. Weeks out. From the start I hit the target I was aiming at, even alternating which target (top or bottom), and actually within the circles on appropriate target. Can I group them? No. Also, while not sure how it happened because sure couldn’t repeat, because I tried, but got one bullseye. Definitely need to practice, practice, practice, and practice some more. But pretty sure I could hit what I aimed at. Now can I overcome 67 years of training and aim at someone? That IDK.

          There is a company local that does firearm training, including CCL that I need to contact. Goals: Improve aim, Options on how to CCL what I am carrying.

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          1. Now can I overcome 67 years of training and aim at someone? That IDK.

            Some of us do know. I don’t want this, it brings out the worst best in me.

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            1. Some of us do know. I don’t want this, it brings out the worst best in me.

              ………………

              If I can aim at a person, and actually pull the trigger. I will be one of those who gets accused of “overkill”. I don’t understand how anyone can believe they won’t continue to fire until the firearm slide locks back. Reloading OTOH takes some thought, so as long as the perp is down and not moving (not a guaranty), then 8 more rounds won’t happen, if for no other reason, I will be shaking like crazy.

              I have zero, zip, military or police background.

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              1. “I don’t understand how anyone can believe they won’t continue to fire until the firearm slide locks back.”

                I’ve heard from a number of vets, and a couple of cops for that matter, the first live shooting is like that for a lot of people. It apparently takes a cool head, or familiarity with the process, to shoot once, and recognize whether it requires a second shot or not. Happens in hunting too. I remember my first duck hunt. Mallard was coming in nice from the right, I shot it, it started tumbling because it was a good hit, and I emptied the remaining two shot into it on the way down. My Dad said that I was eating that one myself as nobody else would want to have to pull all the pellets out while eating.

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                1. My first time hunting (the only time I saw a buck), got told “your finger isn’t loaded”. I pointed out the buck to dad (I was 12) as it ran across and over the far ridge. Hey he was shooting, and missing, with a scope. Didn’t figure I had a chance. Obviously not, since never raised aimed and fired. Even with a camera, would rather watch, than take pictures.

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              2. -Most- LEO shootings go to slide lock. (AKA “mag dump).

                Unless you hit the central nervous system, brain or spine hit, the bad guy may take a second or three to drop. In that time, you can shoot quite a bit.

                Also, most are trained to “shoot until neutralized”. One cannot necessarily determine at the moment if the opponent is dropping due to collapse, or crouching going prone to continue shooting at you.

                I was role player in some “Simmunition” scenarios (a more realistic paintball) for some very select LEOs, on several occasions. The hosts deliberately limited magazines to 5 or 6 rounds, because they did not want to waste the extra 5-10 rounds invariably fired. Granted, sim rounds wont drop the role players, and it is dang hard to stop moving when also saying “owowowow!” as someone mag dumps my butt as I drop prone as “dead”.

                So yeah. Mag dumps are mostly the norm in the real world.

                The “one and done” shooter is a whole ‘nother level of gun person.

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                1. “…may take a second or three to drop.”

                  Or 10. Or 30. Or maybe never. Read about the FBI Miami shootout, a “tragedy or errors”; the perps killed or injured several agents after absorbing quite a few rounds:

                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_FBI_Miami_shootout

                  Almost no personal firearm, especially those normally carried by LEO and CCW holders, is a guaranteed stop unless, as you note, it involves the central nervous system. And sometimes not even then, unless either the upper spine or brain stem is actually destroyed.

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          2. My wife and I are both licensed, but I can’t get her to carry. I’m almost at the point of carrying hers and mine both, so I can hand hers to her, at need.

            Which need I strenuously try to avoid!

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              1. I don’t know how I can carry concealed, other than in a backpack. Which isn’t ideal for stores, etc. I cannot stand big purses.

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                1. Make sure you know your local laws before carrying a firearm.

                  Trouser belt + in-waistband holster. Small/pocket autos can all but disappear in such. I am kinda large, so I can easily conceal a full-up 1911 and two extra magazines. Smaller statured folks can get away with fairly decent sized sidearms, especailly flat/thin autos, with the right clothing.

                  A size-bigger untucked shirt covers nicely. One might need “tall” size to get a lower shirt line. Patterns help reduce “printing” of the firearm through the shirt.

                  Belly band is an elastic band that goes around ones middle, high or low, with a pistol pocket built in. Cover with loose shirt.

                  Pocket pistol in pocket holster. You can put a mini-wallet in front of it to better break up the outline of the gun. Depending on the trousers, oen might need to reinforce the pocket for long-term carry.

                  The ever popular fanny pack: There are ones made for concealment, or you just figure out how to add a gun to a “normal” one. Most “normal” ones are not very sturdy.

                  Ankle holsters – these wrap the ancle and hold a small gun. Make sure you have a loose enough and long enough trouser leg. Avoid heavy guns on an ankle, they will throw off your stride.

                  Shoulder holster under a big shirt or jacket.

                  Thunderwear! (Yes, that is the brand name.) Also generically called crotch holsters. Its a pouch and strap with velcro and elastic that one puts on below the waist, then covers with trousers, etc. The pistol rides behind the trouser fly. They are meant for little guns, but if you wear baggy enough you can cover a medium gun. The nice thing about Thudnerwear is one can cover a gun with a pair of loose jogging/beach/surfing shorts. With a pocket auto and “baggies” it is dang near invisible.

                  Avoid cheap. Cheap holsters are like cheap tires. They can work, but they are usually a bad bet.

                  Ladies have additional options based on their anatomy and clothing items.

                  I have been carrying various guns for over 40 years from tiny to full size. -Anyone- can carry a concealed sidearm successfully. But you do have to plan for it, and dress around that purpose.

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                  1. Anyone- can carry a concealed sidearm successfully. But you do have to plan for it, and dress around that purpose.

                    ………………

                    I know. Just haven’t figured it out. Do have a purse/fanny pack, that mine (seed dispenser) fits in (middle pocket, Baggilli). Haven’t actually carried it there. Don’t know if best option. Locally we haven’t yet carried CC except to go to the seed dispenser practice location (legal to CC without rigamarole traveling to/from this location, or hunting). We have our CCL’s. For reasons, I also carry a backpack (doubles as a kennel, in case medical equipment needs carrying. Also needed for water, and dang it we are old, emergency.) We also have the joy of having to store while on the road when we go into places we legally can not CC even with CCL’s (any government building, although the national park buildings typically do not have visible metal detectors (not risking). Son solved that, we have a safety pond in the vehicle; got it for Christmas.

                    Appreciating all the suggestions!

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                2. Quite a common barrier. My wife doesn’t wear belts, so hard to hang a holster, and not only would the weight drag the slacks down, but women’s slacks seldom have pockets big enough.

                  See Kathy Jackson’s site, the Cornered Cat (link omitted) for lots of info pointed at women and useful to men.

                  Also look for the Phlster Enigma; it seems to make some people happy. Their vids include a nurse who seems to carry in scrubs. I bought one, but it’s still New In Box (envelope). For me, ‘appendix carry’ does not work.

                  Liked by 1 person

                  2. Kathy Jackson’s site, the Cornered Cat

                    Good reading.

                    When I took hunter safety as a 12 year old. Nine hour class, over 3 nights, by Sheriff department, at a local HS (been a few decades, 5+). Between the what do you already know test, first four rules, how to apply them, and final test (110% for the win, but dang it so did *dad). The Sheriff’s took turns telling true stories. Every story was then diagnosed by the youth where the failure points were. All were memorable to the, then, 12 year old. Some even to today.

                    In addition we have our own family tale. The Elk season where uncle had to sit out hunting season after the first AM hike in to the traditional stands, before first light. Because his wife, right behind him, tripped, and shot him in the leg, breaking it. Then next season, oh, no person got shot, just a big bull elk at first legal light. Overheard by a few “Better not had been (aunt).” Yep. First bull of the season. The camp spent that day and next day, hauling it out, and back to town. Of coarse there is also (different season) of why, yes, you do carry a very big handgun when carrying a rifle. A bear permit was obtained post shot bear. Big black boar decided he wanted his share of that years elk, even if he had to go through the human who was there to haul out the last quarter. Bear learned differently. Cousin said the meat was horrible.

                    I hadn’t planned on actually CC-ing. But did not want to be in the vehicle during stops on trips with a concealed firearm, but no CCL. Not a high likelihood of being “caught”, but still. But hubby, for reasons, wants me to have the ability to do so.

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                3. Dep, have you looked at Gun Totin’ Mama bags? I use a medium-sized one (or would if I carried, ahem). The quality is good, and most don’t scream “Hi! I have a firearm in me!”

                  That said, a lot depends on what you might carry. Revolvers don’t seem to have many off-body carry options, while “flat guns” do.

                  Liked by 1 person

                4. Sig Sauer P365

                  9mm Luger, Micro-compact

                  Length: 5.8 in Width: 1.0 in Height: 4.3 in

                  Weight: 17.8 oz.

                  10 round mag., with one in the chamber.

                  I prefer an outside the waistband side carry or small of back carry, covered with a loose shirt, or a vest. YMMV.

                  New Hampshire is a constitutional carry state, no permit required for concealed carry by residents of the state. It is recommended that you get a carry permit for other states that allow carry and have reciprocity with NH. Not all states do so. For instance, Massachusetts and New York State are both notorious for Soviet-style ban on firearm (mostly hand guns, but MA is bug-f’ing nuts when it comes to any “scary” rifles like the AR-15) carry (or even ownership.) And you can’t get to the rest of the U.S. without going through NYS from NH.

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  12. My daughter and I just got back home from a long road trip to my sisters’ house in California to see my mother – who is swiftly fading, after having been an invalid for the last eight or so years. We noted a few things on this trip; importantly, we managed not to open any family conflicts, as the rest of my family are proudly progressive and liberal. (Although we suspect with reason that my brother-in-law is a conservative. He works for JPL, and probably feels it best to remain discreet.) We spotted at least three cars with loud and proud f**k Joe Biden and pro-Trump stylings and stickers, a few pro-Trump signs and billboards … and nothing for Biden. At all. When walking Wee Jamie in his stroller in my sister’s neighborhood (very scenic and up-scale neighborhood in Pasadena) I had a casual conversation with a young mother and her infant son – she confessed that only family is keeping her and her husband in California. She doesn’t like the politics or the current popular culture, and would move to an adjacent red state to raise her son in, like New Mexico or Texas in a heartbeat, if it weren’t for family.

    My daughter did note that there weren’t as many homeless hanging around Pasadena’s streets as there were when she was there last year. I only spotted one, on my walks with Wee Jamie, and that one wasn’t hostile or threatening. That part of Pasadena and Arcadia is still on the surface of things – prosperous and serene.

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    1. More likely to see F* JB outside the influence of Eugene. There it is 100% loud and in your face. But doesn’t mean there is none within Eugene, or even Salem. Enough to beat the in-your-face mailin fraud? Who knows. I won’t hold my breath. Based off everything I heard and read on initiative 114, never thought it would pass. I was wrong.

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      1. The homeless encampments in Flyover Falls either moved or departed. They never got established downtown, but a bunch were living near the sewage treatment plant and the part of the Klamath River that is/was Lake Euwana (disappearing due to the damn removal project). Up through last year, a fair amount. This year, hardly any.

        I don’t know what’s going on, but something is…

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        1. We see homeless but the big camps seem to have disappeared after they cleared out the one in Jefferson/Washington street park. Also seeing more activity in the “Safe Space” encampments setup with the built huts.

          OTOH there have been coyote, cougar, and bear sightings, with video proof, on the Willamette bike paths through both Eugene and Springfield. The above park is only a block off the path.

          We’ve never had any problems in our immediate neighborhood. One both major E/W access roads have seen them walking. Have seen homeless walking down our road, once. But two problems for the homeless, we can see the grade school from our windows, which means we have parking on the street in front of the school, and parking down our street, which is the northern end of the school property, across the street. We primarily have senors living on the majority of the street (i.e. appearance of being home all day). In addition, though we haven’t had to pull this, yet, the “Get off my lawn” senior types.

          Hmm. I wonder if the homeless disappearing has anything to do with Nov. 5, 2024?

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            1. Nah they’re all in my relatively small flyover town all of a sudden. Seriously. Our favorite ice cream joint (it’s our cheap date night) had a semi-passed out guy right by the tables outside….

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                  1. Oh, they are. They’ve admitted it.

                    Has multiple advantages.

                    1. You now have a pool of strangers whose backgrounds no one knows, but their “residence” is in your precinct for ballot harvesting.
                    2. Want to infiltrate undercovers for whatever reason? You have a pool of anonymous faces, again.
                    3. When resources run short, someone has to provide for these people, or they have to be removed by heartless, raaaaacist, etc. locals (who are probably NOT from various Official Government Victim Groups). Makes lots of lovely propaganda, and consumes resources that will be harder to replace. Weaponized empathy.
                    4. They are also a ready source of badly organized violence, especially after 3 generations of “privilege” lectures.

                    Again, it may not work 100%, but death by 1000 cuts is a thing.

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                    1. Kinda like shipping illegals from Texas to Blueville…

                      Yup. The opposition can learn from your clever moves. And verse vice-a.

                      Still works out net in our favor. We may lose patience. They lose their minds. (grin)

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                    2. “They lose their minds. (grin)”

                      “Objection, Your Honor! How does one lose what one never had?”

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          2. “Hmm. I wonder if the homeless disappearing has anything to do with Nov. 5, 2024?”

            Weeel, once you’ve got them registered, and their ballots pre-harvested, it might be inconvenient if the opposition was able to actually locate them either to counter harvest or canvass for a recount…..

            Like

    2. Re golden state “unhoused” apparent cleanup: Like the restraint in gas price increases, one has to recall it is an election year.

      Like

    3. Pasadena seems to aggressively go after homeless. Someone might set up a sleeping location somewhere, but it will be gone within a few days. So the homeless individual doesn’t have a chance to get settled in and start redecorating the location.

      Pasadena gets a good chunk of its money from tourism, so an active stance against allowing homeless to settle in makes sense. An obvious (and aggressive) homeless population might scare the tourists away.

      As you noted, there’s a noticeable amount of campaign signage for Trump and against Biden, and none in the opposite direction. But campaign season hasn’t started yet, so the bulk of the signage isn’t out yet. Also, California’s ballot harvesting laws – as written – are the perfect antidote for low enthusiasm voters. If the voter doesn’t visit the election location, someone comes to the home and encourages the person to vote.

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    1. All those in favor of burying DC and salting the Earth?(Raises hand)

      Seems like waste perfectly good salt.😆

      I say we nuke it from orbit, just to be sure.

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        1. Marxism needs to be killed as an idea with ideas. A good starting place would be to strike down the fraud of “Socialism and Communism are totally absolutely 100% the complete opposite of Fascism and Nazism.”

          (Unless the Left decides to openly rehabilitate Nazism, which is looking less unlikely now than it did several years ago.)

          Liked by 1 person

  15. “Pick up a new hobby or an old one.”

    Doing volunteer work for your favorite local cause is a great hobby. It gets you “out among ’em” and can make some long-lasting improvements in your community. And if you have some mad money, contribute to a sensible charity or scholarship; I hear there’s always a fresh pot of coffee on in Heaven.

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  16. I think staying connected is really important as well. Or, getting connected like I’m doing. It’s just so important for all the reasons. In my neck of the woods, families are actively gathering as many generations to the homestead as they can. I’ll bet that’s happening a lot around the country.

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Thanks so much, Sarah. I try to be more diligent writing comments and showing up here, so you all know things are fine.

        Liked by 1 person

  17. I am still dealing with the fact that my ADD was actually a mixture of clinical depression and general hatred of the human race because of my autism. Wishing I had known twenty years ago, but it is better that I know now.

    I am dealing with a father who is…not quite getting ready to die but is seeing so many of his friends passing in rapid succession. We’re coming up on Mom’s passing in about a week. He wants me to get a job that “has a future,” which means something with the State of California or a similar government position.

    I am dealing with my own physical issues, the need to get creative thoughts out of my head but circumstances making this incredibly difficult, the desire to have human contact but not welcome anywhere…

    And the politics of the next few months aren’t helping, either. I am hoping that we’ll stay as far away from big cities until the disaster happens.

    I wish I had big-hero energy of some kind. At the very least, it would be amusing to see when I let the energy go off.

    Liked by 2 people

    2. You might benefit from a good workout, or even just practice punching a heavy bag. You burn off that unused “fightstuff”.

      And the visualization can be fun…..

      Liked by 1 person

  18. FWIW department:

    Washington Post chief editor “resigned,” suddenly. The Post lost $77 million last year, and has lost half its readership since 2020. The departed editor was big into DEI, and the question the newsroom crew asked the exec giving them the bad news was, “Have you spoken to any people of color about this?” So all is not well in wokeland.

    Russia has been lying about its manpower – what a surprise! There are reports they’re just sweeping guys up and shipping them to the front. Since some of these guys are out of St. Petersburg or Moscow, not country boys, it’s getting more attention. Hmm.

    Hunter’s laptop is being introduced as evidence in his trial. You know, the laptop the “experts,” said was probably Russian disinformation. My, my.

    As I said, FWIW. But some of it does make me feel a little better. A little.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. And some of the internal critics are complaining about the new Men at the Top of the Washington Post are White Males, not Blacks or Women.

      IE Not the new Men at the Top don’t know what they’re doing, but that they are White Males.

      Sounds racist to me.

      Like

    2. Since some of these guys are out of St. Petersburg or Moscow, not country boys, it’s getting more attention.

      …………….

      Oh my. They’ve emptied the prisons already? Guess they should have swept Siberia labor camps. Oh, oops. Never mind. They’d be helping the Ukrainians!

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Meanwhile, I’m having to take my company’s annual “Avoiding Bribery and Corrupt Practices” training. My cynicism meter is through the top of the scale. 🐂💩🐂💩🐂💩🤢🤮🐍🐍🐍

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I get a double dose of that from the employer and the clients. Considering who the clients and the client’s clients are, it’s a big farce. If your management goes to Davos…

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      2. We have anti-corruption posters at work. They show a stack of cash being passed between hands. I want to take that training.

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        1. The temptation to slap post-Its with “Brandon” on one and “Hunter” on the other would be overwhelming….. 😁😁

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        2. For about the last 20 years employees of the state of Illinois are required to take an online “ethics test” once a year — not actually a test but a training tool in Q & A format; if you get an answer wrong it just tells you what the right answer was. A lot of the questions concern scenarios in which, for example, a wealthy lobbyist for gaming or communications or some other industry is offering to pay for your junket to Las Vegas, or some friend of a friend of yours offers you a $500 camera as a gift in exchange for you helping them get a bill passed. I know these things happen among really powerful state officials, but in my case, I keep thinking “in what universe are people getting those kind of gifts? Because the ONLY gifts I ever got from lobbyists were a package of stale microwave popcorn and a Christmas poinsettia that didn’t even make it to Christmas.”

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      3. I did the “Sexual Harassment” and “Title IX” back to back, followed by “FERPA and You.” Yawn. Don’t make passes at or oogle coworkers; if you know about abuse, report it to the police or HR (depends on age); and don’t talk to people about students and don’t just give anyone who asks information about students, mmkay? That pretty much sums up the training. I did the “cyber security and fraud” training back in the spring. YAWN.

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        1. Don’t Do Dumb Deeds.

          Don’t Be An Asshole.

          Those two cover most scenarios, if one is not actually dumb or an actual asshole.

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          1. credited to John Farnham.

            Don’t

            1. Go to stupid places
            2. With stupid people (or where stupid people congregate)
            3. At stupid times
            4. To do stupid things.

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  19. As others have said, if in the end nothing you do matters… then all that matters is what you do. And some of us kind of want to slay the dragon….

    Waiting and luring it closer is a perfectly legit tactic.

    …I personally need to work on getting my schedule so I can get enough sleep, all other prep flows better from there….

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  20. Dreaming of great, grand things you could do is — a form of the sin of sloth. It is a distraction from the actual duties that lie before you

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    1. That’s a good point. For several weeks, actually months, now — ever since I turned 60 — I’ve been really beating myself up over all the real or percieved screw ups, bad decisions and failures of my past life. I feel particularly ashamed now of having spent my entire adult life working in two disreputable and parasitical professions — journalism and government. I am constantly assured by persons of conservative persuasion (on the internet, not in real life) that government jobs “produce nothing” worthwhile and that those who have them are mere parasites on the productive citizens, and they deserve to die starving and homeless without their pensions.

      Then there are all the other decisions I made that seem to have been wrong in retrospect and kept me from living up to the potential I had as a straight A student. I SHOULD HAVE DONE GREAT THINGS with my life, dammit! I finally figured out that the reason I feel so angry all the time and continually curse at inanimate objects, the computer, the car radio, and the self-checkout machine at the grocery store is that I’m really angry at myself.

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      1. Unless you were actually shooting conservatives in the face, there are honorable paths in all professions.
        Don’t be angry at yourself. None of us live up to our “potential.” We do the best we can at the time.

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      2. I’m turning 36 in a month and I look back and lament on all my screw ups. I wanted to be a gunsmith and had to drop out of trade school due to crippling suicidal depression.I feel like a worthless screw up alot.

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  22. As for dinosaurs being warm-blooded or cold blooded, John Rubin of Oregon State Umiversity showed they were cold-blooded. He made CAT scans of well preserved dinosaur skulls and compared the volumes to those of various living creatures. Warm-blooded animals have nasal turbinates that recover water form exhaled breath. Cold-blooded animals do not have those, so the volumes of their skulls is smaller in relation to the size of the animals. Dinos have skull volumes like crocodiles, not like birds or mammals, which have trbinates and thus larger volumes. Thus they were like crocs, cold-blooded.

    Liked by 1 person

    3. Its a fair assumption that “warm blooded” developed before “neat things that make warm blooded more efficient”.

      So that missing bit isn’t a definite “nope”.

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    4. If they were cold blooded, or even poikilotherms, it makes the question of the lifestyle of the southernmost dinos harder to sort out. It got below freezing in what is now Australia for several months at a time in the Early Cretaceous, when it was closer to the Antarctic Circle. There is some suggestion that some species hibernated, but not all of them. Maybe.

      Critters be strange. They don’t read their manuals.

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  23. Just purchased my first hand held seed dispenser. It was a ‘used’ item, so I got to try it out first. There are SOME advantages of not having had a chance to get acclimated to a more popular mechanism. The guys in the next lane were making VERY appreciative comments about my accuracy, which of course had me grinning VERY much. Getting to go out and practice WILL be much fun, and I consider this an investment in the safety of my family, so quite justified. The range officer gave me his impression, and said that his only real complaint was the way the trigger action worked. I had seen that in some reviews. I didn’t have ingrained expectations, so it wasn’t an issue for me. Oh, it is sweet! And it was only very slightly used; it might as well be brand new!

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    1. (LOL) Too funny. I thought at first you meant “gardening”.

      “You have taken your first step into a larger world.”

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