Yes, I am super late today. Let’s just say that I enjoyed my time watching the Super Bowl but not so much the day after. Anyway, I am finally feeling alive again. This isn’t my best work I have congestion and there is a bit of an echo in my recording. I need to try and record in a different location so that I don’t get so much echo. But it is good enough for now.
Today I am talking about books again. It is really me kind of working through my what my Friday book reviews look like long term. I think that they are going to stay pretty much the same this year but I don’t see them going on forever without some tweaks. I haven’t completely made up my mind yet so everything is subject to change of course.
End Your Programming Routine: I won’t steal my podcast thunder but like everything I do, I question the status quo today. I suppose that if I knew the answers to my philosophical questions then I probably wouldn’t have much of an argument. You listen and you tell me if I am off base with what I feel about classics.
If you look at all the lists of books like or books related to or if you liked insert 1984/A Brave New World/Atlas Shrugged, Fahrenheit 451 is on the list. You knew it didn’t you? The fact is, I have been watching the library since I finished 1984 (which was 2021 now) and it just hasn’t been available. Since Covid, the library automatically renews books that have exceeded the due date. I suspect that Fahrenheit 451 is lost.
This is a book that I read as a 16 year old. I remember checking it out from my high school library. It is like reading it all over again because I don’t remember a thing except what the cover looked like and that it was a paperback. While I have technically read it, you can safely assume that I won’t have preconceived notions at this point.
Some of these books, I don’t know if it makes sense to do a chapter by chapter review. Although, it is difficult to determine if you haven’t read or don’t remember the book how to actually approach it. At least this time, it will be what it will be. I am going to examine the concepts of Chapter one.
Let’s first introduce the main character, Guy Montag. Guy is a what is called a fireman. In this day and age, a fireman is someone who burns books. With it is also the house, it’s possessions and sometimes the occupants are burned. What is supposed to happen is that the building is fire resistant and the occupants are arrested which means only the books and flammable possessions are burned.
Guy is married to Mildred. She has clearly drank too much of the Kool-aid. Our first introduction to her is in an overdosed state, zoned out on life by pills and reality with earbuds in. She is the manifestation of the society: programmed by TV and propaganda and depressed as a result.
Guy has a short. platonic relationship with a 17 girl named Clarisse. She seems to be a wild-child in that she no longer attends school and acts as she pleases. While she seems ignorant of the political environment and social norms, it is that same characteristic the leads her to draw her own conclusions in life without the influence of propaganda.
Between Guy’s career, his wife’s mental state and Clarisse’s intuition, is the concept of the chapter. Idle time leads to reading, communicating and thinking, Those activities lead to questioning the status quo. As a result, reading is banned, communicating is limited and thinking is diminished. Those activities have been replaced by the TV. Boy isn’t that the truth.
My kids are in high school. Since I live on Main street and that is also the same street as the high school, I often see a lot of kids walking to and from school either passing by my house or me travelling back and forth to school. The number of kids that I see walking and staring at their phones is incredible. My kids do it too.
Electronics have been around a long time, ninety years since radio was a mainstay in the home. Never has such a device created zombies but before cell phones. The minute that they leave the school, they have to see what they missed on the phone. That takes priority over the environmental factors such as the weather, traffic and life all around them.
Ironically, we live in a time where it is easier than it has ever been to be both informed and to research information. Yet society is becoming dumber and more ignorant than it has ever been. You would likely say that the newspaper is irrelevant. That being said we have less outlets producing journalistic level news stories. In theory, that is non-biased, properly sourced articles written to inform the reader.
That has been replaced by twitter polls, Facebook rumors and TikTok dances. Nextdoor is a pile of garbage that is more concerned with proper parking and home owners association rules than meaningful neighbor interactions. My point with any of this is that we have replaced curated information produced with ethical standards to a free form of mind control. And with that, people are driven into ideological camps never to return, along with their degree of logic, rhetoric and grammar.
We no longer have to worry about idle time. People are blue pilled in the Matrix and they do it to themselves. As soon as they get a chance, they plug themselves back in to the programming. Even to the point that they can’t even walk home without staring at the screen.
End Your Programming Routine: It seems obvious that to end your programming you have stopped doing it to yourself. I think that it is important to realize what is going on around you so that you know you are being programmed. Only then can you make the decision to stop self-inflicted problems. I hope people are not so apathetic as to not care, but I am very suspicious. As with all problems, start with your circle of control, yourself.
Sometimes things occur and we don’t even realize that we play a role in either the outcome or the process. It takes a deep retrospective look into who we really are to understand that. If you think the a 2 million dollar toilet is ridiculous, you might want to take a look at some of your other beliefs.
End Your Programming Routine: The world is not always a pay to play model like we are taught. Sometimes, it is others pay so that we can play. Think about when we vote obligations who’s future might ultimately end up binding into that system as well. I don’t think a 2 million dollar toilet is so bad considering what you are paying for.
That didn’t take long. I put in the work to understand a little bit of Garage Band for iOS. Some things I found easier, while others were chores but I guess that is how things go. One thing travelling can do is leave you with a lot of time to think and that is exactly what I have been doing.
End Your Programming Routine: While I said it once, I will say it again… no promises here. That being the case, in order for me to get to the next level with this I need to do something different. After all, I could have 1000 true fans and not even know it because I have no constant interaction of even a good way to gauge interest. Hopefully this becomes more than talk, don’t expect it tomorrow, like my Garage Band editing.
I always remember this day because it is my brother’s birthday today. He is not going to read this or listen so to stay on topic, I am testing my headphones I got with my phone four years ago (and never used) as my microphone. I think that it came out pretty well.
End Your Programming Routine: As always, you are going to have to tune in to hear what I am really saying. That being said, the direct connection is always the most robust and simplest way of doing things. This is what I am doing as well as always testing new things. Hopefully, I will spend some time working with Garage Band these next couple of weeks as well.
You don’t have to be an Eagles fan or a Chiefs fan or even a football fan to enjoy the Super Bowl. To have a really great experience, I think that you have involve a game time menu. This is really where the rubber meets the road in today’s podcast.
Aside from the main attraction, the sideshow act is all about what I am going to do for the next couple of weeks. Of course, we will all know more as we get there. So let’s see if I stick to my game plan or not.
End Your Programming Routine: If Thanksgiving is the Super Bowl of cooking, then Super Bowl is the Christmas of cooking. It is loud, informal and fun. Don’t be caught ordering crappy pizza or store bought vegetable platters with gelatinous dip. A little more prep and many of these things can be made with little effort and are certainly way more healthy and almost likely taste better. Have fun and enjoy the entire experience.
It doesn’t look too worse for wear. On the right is what the book looks like now. The original wrinkles in the cover were from when I packed it with me to Spain, in my luggage. I try really hard not to mash up paperbacks. I know… this is kind of their intended purpose but I like nice looking books. I am sure that is not why you tuned in though. So, let’s get into it.
What did we learn from all of this? Ayn Rand, who fled communist Russia in 1925 was an illegal alien. Meaning she got a visa to visit the United States and never left. But, that wasn’t in the book. The part of it that was important was that she had already observed the societal destructiveness of collectivism in just seven years. I think that is why the book was keenly insightful on the ilk living for others.
The one thing that I took away was an interest in Philosophy. I am not exactly sure of what I am going to do with it yet, but to look into it some more. It is not going to supersede my current reading plans, but once I get to a place where I am thinking about what is next.
So, what did I think? That is a complicated question. I was marveled by the parallels of what happened in the book. I was strongly concerned that we are following many aspects of the story page for page. I was annoyed at how long the book was; there was a lot of extraneous details that really didn’t lead to the core of the story. I enjoyed my time reading the book, in general.
I have been asked if this is a must read. I would say that if you like reading, you are into dystopian fiction or classical literature and you either like to validate your own values or you are open to changing your opinions then yes. I don’t give this a must read because I just feel that it is way too long. Something like 1984 that is a couple hundred pages has a lot more impact much quicker. Think of it this way, you could read 1984 easily three times in the same time as Atlas Shrugged.
Since this series has gone on so long, I feel like I have little to say about the overall work remaining. I felt like the ending was a little anticlimactic. The readers are left with little justice as most of the bad guys drive away or are abandoned at the end of the story. Two minor characters blew themselves up in a Mexican standoff and the Galt gang just flies off to Colorado ostensibly to live their best life while the rest of the country is left.
Maybe it is because I am a man, not a woman that I have a hard time identifying with Dabny, the primary character. She is in a three way love square (not triangle). She loves the one she cant have, she has the one she doesn’t fully love but respects and admires and she can’t move beyond the first love. She is portrayed as this very logical person yet cannot make binary commitments required for a proper relationship. If I am being honest, that indecisive love theme of the story irritated me.
One aspect that didn’t play as well was the labor situation. It seems like in the story, every time someone quit a job there was a replacement available. I think that if we have learned anything post-pandemic that is just not true. If people were really dropping out of society at such rates as written, those jobs would not immediately be filled in the real world. And even as low skilled as building or running a railroad might be, people are not going to immediately pick-up where someone left off.
Outside of the agonizingly long story arc, I do believe that Atlas Shrugged was well written. The book itself could almost be timeless because there is very little reference to technology. There is a record player mentioned a couple of times, cars trains and airplanes. What there is not is science fiction gizmos that never came to fruition nor is there science fiction/fantasy tendencies to come up with out of this world names or races or any other thing that is difficult to understand. I suppose what I am really trying to say is that it was written in plain language.
I have read that Atlas Shrugged was supposedly set in the 1990s. Outside of the technology changes that weren’t that different than the 1950s, the timeline is actually pretty spot on. The book supposedly took place over something like a ten year period.
I think that if we look at our history compared to Atlas Shrugged, our collectivism journey really got into gear in the early 2000s. I know we had the war on poverty of the 1960s which largely started the welfare state but it was the combination of the police state with the Patriot Act that has the two interests accelerating the transition.
Really, the pace of Atlas Shrugged was much quicker that what we are seeing in real life. We are now twenty plus years from the Patriot Acts and fifty years of entitlements and we still have not seen the implosion as a result of bad policy. Although we are getting there. I wouldn’t be surprised if another Covid type event split the country.
There are now three books in my liberty series. I am going to rank them 1984 > Atlas Shrugged > A Brave New World. I have already started the next one and I bet that you can guess what it will be. So stay tuned to next week for a new review starting on Friday.
End Your Programming Routine: Despite my criticisms, I am glad that I read this book. It entertained and stimulated me for seven months. That being said, its not one that I will likely ever read again. If I play my cards right, I will have all of these posts to refer back to if the subject comes up again. The next two books are going to be re-reads for me. But, there is something kind of exciting about going on the journey into the unknown like Atlas Shrugged was. This will not be the last we hear from Ayn Rand either, just not in the near future. It’s time for something different.
I had a co-worker that loved this day for some unknown reason. He would play this movie on loop and bring in donuts. Maybe it is because some years, we were reliving the same day as the last day. One year specifically, I was in the middle of a huge snowstorm. I had been on-site the entire month of January and I was going to be there the whole month of February. Things were not going well and we did the only thing we could do, just keep going.
Believe it or not, I have never watched this movie. I have seen clips on YouTube and I have seen the loop but I have never sat down and watched it beginning to end. Supposedly, the protagonist lives his day over and over again until he gets everything right; I guess according to the universe. Maybe today is the day?
Of course, I am not a big believer of the whole Puxatawny Phil concept. It would be impossible to have the same weather in Pennsylvania as I have a whole country away. That being said, tradition is a good thing, nonsensical or not. The good news is that Spring is on the way weather we like it or not.
I look at February as a transitionary month. We sometimes get 60 degrees and sunny. We sometimes get snow storms. But what I really look at is the light level. By the end of the month, we will see it getting dark around 6pm or after the traditional end of the workday. To me, this ends the dark to work and dark when leaving days. I suppose that if I lived in Alaska, I would say the end of ‘Dark Winter’. There is a dramatic difference in the light levels from the beginning of the month to the end of the month.
Of course, I am going to spend half the month away from home. I will miss my son’s birthday and Valentines Day once again. Not only will there be hell to pay for that, this new debt that I owe but also this is the prime time to get some stuff done around the house. For instance, President’s Day is the target for getting roses pruned. And speaking of pruning, there are fruit trees, grapes, etc that need to get done before bud. This is another sign of transition.
In my climate I will likely see three more months at least of rainfall and mostly sub-sixty degree temperatures whether Phil saw his shadow or not. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be some good days too. The same as with the concept of the movie. It seems like I am living the same day over and over again, but then there are some days that are downright pleasant.
End Your Programming Routine: Like Yin and Yang, winter and summer are separate but interconnected. It is not a duality like described in Atlas Shrugged but a duality like light and dark or fire and water. Our downtime is quickly slipping away as the light is coming and then it is time to hit the ground running again.
I am slowly getting there. I suppose that I lost a little momentum over the holidays and it is taking a minute to get back there, but it is happening and I mean my sofa table project. Last weekend, I got to the point that I was ready to cut my legs. So that is what I am going to write about today.
First, I am going to start at the beginning. What am I doing? I am making what is called a Shaker styled leg. That means that it is tapered from the bottom to the top and those tapers will be on the inside edges. The outside two faces remain square.
The Shakers were a religious movement around the early 1800s as part of the great awakenings of that period. Shaker’s were know for their simplistic styles in efforts to maintain focus on worship. This has translated as furniture that lacks the adornment and decadence of the Victorian designs (they go by other names in the furniture/art/history circles).
So, I needed to taper some legs. I looked at buying some fixtures to do a generic version of this, but I soon settled on the fact that I would build my own purpose built ones. I had all of the materials, so let’s see how it went.
The first two things you need are a base and a fence. I chose a piece of plywood that will act as a sled against the saw fence as the base. The fixture fence was a piece 2×6 that I salvaged from my facia project this summer. That I send through the joiner to get a flat bottom and edge that I want to cut against.
Both the top and back of the fixture fence do not have to be perfect. The back for obvious reasons. On the top, I will mount some adjustable clamps. Because I can adjust for tightness, the top does not necessarily have to be square.
Measure and mark your taper on the base. When you figure that out, you can attach the fixture fence and base together. Counter sink the screws so that everything rides properly with the fixture.
I used some short mending plates to act as a stop for the front edge of the fixture. That way, as I push against the piece, the pressure will keep my workpiece tight against the fixture. My only other piece of advice here is keep metal away from the blade and make sure that the stop is placed low enough to contact your final dimensions. The clamps I placed roughly in equal thirds for distributed downward clamping pressure.
Amateur Tip #1 – The fixture fence should be as tall or taller than the workpiece thickness. Mine was shorter which meant that the clamps didn’t fully lock in place when adjusted to the minimum height. This is part safety and part quality. Had I have known, I could cut a fatter piece from my 2×6 and mounted it on edge
Amateur Tip #2 – After cutting the first face, save the off cut. Reattach the off cut to the main part with tape to maintain a flat (ish) surface for the second cut. If you can get away with rotating the cut edge to the top, then this wont be necessary. I picked the two faces that I wanted to remove and sometimes the first cut face needed to be facing down against the sled to get my taper on the proper side.
All in all, I am very happy with my first attempt. Part of this process is actually getting the proportions correct. I drew them to scale and the looked alright there. I think that they looked pretty good in the real world too. My next step is cutting mortises and tenons for the base. And that is another day.
End Your Programming Routine: There were a few things that I would change. Like for instance, I didn’t verify that my base was square, which is wasn’t. Consequently, my taper was a little more aggressive than I planned. But, that is OK. Experts would say that someone without experience should run test pieces or mockups. That’s great advice for commissions or expensive woods. In this case, my whole project is training. Live an learn, but I am happy with my first shaker legs.
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