Author: bhayes952

September 27, 2024 – The Art of War, Military Disposition

September 27, 2024 /

I think that I read this chapter at least five times. One, it is very short at two pages and two, I was really trying to get the significance of this chapter. I have to say that I very well may need to reach as whatever was conveyed was very subtle. I feel like this chapter is grabbing at things already mentioned.

The list below are the key things that I took out of this chapter.

  • first make yourself unconquerable, then you can conquer.
  • If you can defend yourself then you can be victorious.
  • first measurement, second estimation, third calculation, fourth weighing, fifth victory.

At first read, I thought the last bullet was the significant one. It is intended to be a progression. Measure what you can, then estimate the totality from the measurement, then calculate what that means in terms of strength, weigh your odds against your estimation and then you will be victorious. I was thinking about how I would write about this and the significance and I decided to read again.

I think bullets one and two are variations on each other. With more thought, I think that this is the significant message of the chapter. I am going to explain what I mean using an analogy that is not military related.

There is a lot of things that I am not. I am not a military man and I am also not a football man. That being said, I have watched the game for most of my life. So, while I don’t have first hand knowledge, I have heard many times how coaches hate the procedural penalties. Those would be offsides, false start, improper lineup and those sorts of things.

To the layman, it would seem like five yards is no big deal most of the the time. You don’t lose the down and it is half of the more severe penalties like 10 yards for holding. I feel that way anyway. But these are what the announcers always pronounce as adding up to beating yourself. Using Sun Tsu’s philosophy, you are much more likely to win if you don’t beat yourself.

I could be wrong, but I believe that Sun Tsu speaks in generalities. He has to be because using football again some teams still consistently win despite having too many penalties. The fact remains that when you look at the perennial champions they often rank in the lowest tiers for penalties. So, while it is not a guarantee that you will lose, the data says that it is statistically more likely. I have to believe that the same is true with war.

End Your Programming Routine: Whether it is playing football or investing for retirement, we cannot expect to consistently do well if we continue to beat ourselves. It may seem like common sense, at least it does to me but that may not have been the case 3000 years ago. We are fortunate to have most of the tools and information readily available so there really is no excuse to beat yourself in what you are pursuing.

September 24, 2024 – Things to Sell…

September 24, 2024 /

I find it much easier to buy things then to get rid of them. Much of the time I decide that I am ready to move on, I am willing to give stuff away. We usually have a garage sale every couple of years and I have a propensity to price to sell. Typically, after the garage sale, everything leftover goes to donation. These days, even the donation receipt is worthless because of the new tax deduction rules.

But, every now and then I end up with something that I know has value and would very much like to get better value or trade. The easiest trade is for cash, for sure. But I have some certain items that I would like to move. I have been pretty lazy on getting started but I am starting to feel the urge to get moving.

First of all, these chairs pictured above. After we sold everything to move back from South Carolina, these were the first pieces of furniture that we purchased here. Twenty years ago, we paid $800 each. I looked recently to see if the company was still and business, they are selling for $1500 per chair.

I am under no illusion to get my money back or make a profit. But at those prices, these have to be worth some money. I like the pictured chairs much better then the $150 chairs that replaced them but they didn’t fit in with the ‘décor’. To me, this is a poor way get rich, replace durable goods with lessor ones because they are not in fashion. But, less friction in my marriage is much better than being rich.

I have a rifle case that I bought in college. I have never used it because it is for a 46″ rifle and now I know that mine are 42″. It means that it is extremely floppy and oversized. What did I know that cases come in different lengths. I literally paid $10 for it; I suppose it could be garage sale fodder. After thirty years, I am sure that I will never use it but I would happily to trade it for a similar value shotgun case. With everyone in the family possibly shooting sporting clays, it would be nice to have enough cases.

When my oldest son started shooting trap, I bought a traditional length shotgun barrel that had screw-in chokes. It was cheap because it was an after market maker. What I found with it was that it was not the same quality as OEM (hence why it was cheap). It is not just ammunition finicky, but I have observed many, many misfires on all brands of ammunition. I would like to have an OEM barrel that I feel would be much more reliable. I know that I will never use this barrel again based on my testing.

I can list multiple other items that I think have value and/or would rather have something else. It is just so much easier to not do anything and find a place to stash forever. This is something that I think I want to change. I don’t want my kids to have to figure out what to do with and I don’t really want valuable things just thrown away because nobody wants to put out the effort to clean up after me.

As a result, I am thinking of doing something on eBay. There are better platforms for each specific item, even locally. But, if I had some sort of online account, it could be considered play money. When I sell this, I will do that. I haven’t fully decided yet on a platform but the most important thing is to have stuff that is used and not be owned by stuff.

I hesitate to write about something I am going to do. There is some history about saying something without a lot of follow through from me. But, I am feeling the urge to purge. Part of my ruse was for me to take pictures for this post while at the same time getting the pictures to list. I am crossing my fingers that this is win/win.

End Your Programming Routine: I heard a podcast recently that hoarders start by buying things and then just never doing something with it. Then they buy more and more and it becomes overwhelming. I am not a hoarder by any means but I certainly have things that are in my way or at least are sitting around with little chance of being used. When I have a list a mile long of things that I would like to do, like upgrading my hiking/camping equipment for my trip next year, it makes sense to me to try and wring the value out of things that I no longer want.

September 20, 2024 – The Art of War, Planning Offensives

September 20, 2024 /

I am just guessing that part of the continuity of the book is lost in translation. This chapter is kind of disjointed as a collection tidbits about strategy. I am not saying that it is not valuable, it is just hard to get in the flow of things when it is just a collection of facts. I have taken the luxury of summarizing all of what I consider the important things below.

The following are the things that I gleaned from this chapter.

  • It is better to save the capitol. Saving the army is better than destroying the army. Subjugation is the superior strategy.
  • The order of strategy should be as the following. Attack the plans, then the allies, then the army, then finally the fortifications.
  • Recommendations for troop strength.
    • 10x surround them
    • 5x attack them
    • 2X split your army
    • 1x hold the line.
  • Leadership principles
    • Those who know when to fight will win.
    • Those who know how to employ appropriate sized forces will win.
    • Leaders who have aligned their ranks will win
    • The prepared will be victorious
    • Leaders that are not interfered with by politicians will win.

I have never been a general nor even in the army. So, what I read seems reasonable. It also seems to be colloquial wisdom: if your troops are aligned, if you know when to attack, if you are prepared, it goes on and on as you can read then your chances of winning are better.

How is this helpful to something other than military operations? Or said another way, how can we use this as wisdom for business or life? If I use the thinnest of attempts to make this relevant to something other than the context I could probably come up with some similar allegories. Something like storm/norm/perform.

I think that successful sports teams align up and down the divisions. I observe that the most consistent high school teams have funnels up to their programs. They run the similar play books so that they are already into the system by the time that they get there. This is an example of aligning up and down the ranks.

That isn’t exactly the best storming example. In those cases you are either agreeing to the terms or you are not participating. But, the fact remains that the coaches are getting players to buy into the system or executing a principle of Sun Tsu. They are vertically integrating the entire age range of a sport to be the most successful at the highest level.

Its hard to rationalize a military concept in a non-military setting. For instance, playing a potentially deadly maneuvers, attacking strategy rather than risking life and limb seems like a better way to run an army. Only risk physical injury when it is necessary. That being said, we do have examples sometimes you do have to fight to win.

Going back to the US Civil War, the Army of the Potomac went through general after general. McClellan, Burnside, Hooker and Meade were all not prepared to engage in battle preferring to march and posture. The Confederate generals were not only successful but also employing Sun Tsu’s tactics of cutting off supply lines and knowing when to fight.

End Your Programming Routine: Getting back in the swing of things, much of this was written weeks ago. I may have lost a little bit of luster as a result, but I don’t want to write ten pages on something that is only three pages long, especially when my work is not really militarily oriented. I think that we can leave it where it is. Do the right tactical things and it will increase your likelihood of winning.

September 19, 2024 – Leather Care

September 19, 2024 /

Boy, do I like to trot out old stuff. I bought these boots in 1995 and I wore them a lot until 1999 when I started to develop in-grown toenails on both feet. From that time on, I wore them extremely sparingly, once every couple of years. I am happy to say that was the last time I had surgery on my toes to solve that problem. Unfortunately, the toe of the boot is too constrictive for daily wear.

But, the leather still looks good even if the plastic ribbing is cracked. They could stand for another coat of oil and I think I will have the heels replaced. I bought new square toed boots for our vow renewal last year and I wear them every couple of weeks but I am thinking that I should put these boots back into service. I will not wear them daily, but keeping with philosophy, I should use them or get rid of them.

My wife has some boots too. I haven’t done anything to them because I never thought about them. I learned long ago not to touch a women’s clothes. Last time I washed a denim jacket to be helpful, I had to replace it. She was saying that they looked a little scuffed up. So, I offered to oil them for her. I did warn that the color would be effected but she was OK with it.

What I like to do is start with mink oil. It is a natural product that soaks into the leather. This keeps the leather supple, even after 30 years. I may or may not apply multiple coats of oil, if it looks like the leather is sufficiently whetted, I stop there. I dress the top with a beeswax product made for leather. It too has some oil in it but it is mostly for topical protection and looks.

Both of these products not only protect the leather but also offer some protection for water absorption. Most wet feet happen with water seeping through the seam. This process wont stop that, nothing will. Might as well protect the shoe though.

This is what I do, what about other products? Well, a little goes a long way so I am working with stuff I bought long ago. I will say that I am not a big fan of synthetic products. These would be things that come in spray bottles or come with silicone compounds. They stink and perform no better in my opinion.

When it comes to shoes, the other traditional treatment is shoe polish. This adds some color as well as a little bit of protection. In my experience, the protection is surface deep. It tends to be gone after a week or so. Treating other wearables like holsters and belts also has a propensity for these coatings to rub off. Unless you fancy brown or black smudges, keep these on shoes only.

I do treat some of my dress shoes with polish. I do that because the leather finish is worn and I don’t think the leather conditioner is the right look. This is reason there were so many shoe shiners years ago. The polish evens everything out even if it doesn’t last long.

Generally, leather treatment is leather treatment. So, what I do to boots could theoretically be done with any leather. I reserve my tender love and care to shoes and products that are durable and can be repaired. I have a pair of waterproof, low hikers and they weren’t cheap shoes. That being said, the sole (tread rubber) has peeled off twice. I glued them back to the spongy substrate and the still work. The point being is that I am not going to invest lifetime care into things that will not last a lifetime.

One last point before I leave this. Most modern shoes are not actually leather but synthetic. I would be less militant about synthetic products but I also feel like, ‘what is the point?’ If they are not built to last forever, then I don’t see the value in the time and product to slow the inevitable.

End Your Programming Routine: Treat you leather well and it will literally last your lifetime. One thing I found is spend a little time up front and then the ongoing maintenance will be much easier. On my boots, I will clean them off and rub the wax in. That should be good to go for a couple of years at the rate that I wear them.

September 18, 2024 – My Love/Hate With Linux

September 18, 2024 /

The sun is on the horizon for Windows 10. The stated date support ends is October 14, 2025. I have stated that my strategy is to gain some familiarity with Linux. When that day comes, I will be making the switch, whether I like it or not. See my post yesterday on running machines without vendor support.

A lot of people would find Ubuntu relatively acceptable if they were willing to learn new programs like Thunderbird for email. Heck, it installs with Office Libre, a full office suite for free. I pay several hundred dollars a year to maintain Microsoft Office. Office Libre will read those files, again for free.

Unfortunately for me, I am not the standard user. I have to be interested in Software Defined Radio and TV tuner cards. This requires a lot more than the standard Facebook user. There are things that have to occur like blacklisting the Linux driver from the kernel using the ‘vi’ editor. Fortunately for me, this is the third time I have done this. It is starting to become familiar to me.

My third time started with me trying to figure out ‘Myth TV’. This is the Linux program used to watch and record programs with my latest TV tuner card I purchased this summer. Due to me struggling to get this card to work, I decided that I needed to test this card in an environment more familiar to me, Windows.

I rescued this computer from my wife’s mother’s estate. It had not been powered on for several years when I obtained it. I decided that I would install Ubuntu on a new SSD to allow me to access the old data if needed for estate purposes. But, it has been almost two years now and I have already searched for anything that I thought might be useful. I found nothing.

As a result, I thought that I would refresh Windows 10 for purposes of testing this tuner card. This is when I found out that yes, I have a knowledge gap with Linux, but the real problem with my dual operating system boot was the fault of UEFI. Unified Extensible Firmware Interface is what the acronym stands for. Because of how I partitioned the hard drive the last time I installed Ubuntu, I had to start of again.

UEFI is a BIOS replacement (don’t worry, I will explain). BIOS is the software that is embedded on a chip and loads up the basic required drivers like keyboard and hard disk. It was determined in the mid 2000s that BIOS had limitations for the new hardware coming online. Computers of my vintage have both a BIOS and UEFI making things even more confusing.

It is also true that UEFI is the reason I had to reload Ubuntu last time as well. I was trying to update the driver for UEFI when I bricked my first installation. I got into a spot where only Windows would load and I wanted to keep that data. If this were the old days of just BIOS, I would set my boot sequence once and that is the way the computer would load until I changed it.

It has taken me several weeks of fiddling around to really figure out how this works. When my computer reboots, I need to hit F12 until the UEFI menu comes up. From there, I pick how the computer is going to load. This means, that if I walk away on the reboot, it will load Windows, because this is how the BIOS is set to boot. So, if I actually want Ubuntu I need to hang around.

My silver lining is that my card works. You might recall that I had to fashion a mounting bracket. I also had to plunk down a license fee to Hauppauge for the Windows program but now I know that the tuner works. So, it is back to Ubuntu and MythTV. I have finally mastered the boot sequence so I can go back and forth if desired. I have my SDR installed again.

Things are looking up for me. I want to get this project finished so I can get back to radios. I still have only really turned on my scanner, I have some ideas about setting up a workstation for different radios in that space. There is always a million other things that I want to get to. The TV tuner is just the gateway to having the football game on while I reload or do something at my bench.

End Your Programming Routine: Let me state that I don’t hate Linux. I hate the fact that I am getting old and learning new technology is getting harder. Time is a more valuable commodity than aptitude. I don’t have days and days to fart around, I just want things to work. I find myself stumbling around until I get it, but it is hard to ‘learn’ in this fashion.

September 17, 2024 – Wiping Your Data

September 17, 2024 /

I am a connoisseur of techno junk. All of that comes off of the secondary market. As a result, you never know what procedures are put in place to protect the former owner. I suspect that companies do some things, but really why would I as a former owner want to put chance out to the universe.

I had our old phone system sitting around for a few months. The reason is because I wanted to clean them before I got rid of them. I will acknowledge that getting any real, usable data and having that fall into unscrupulous hands is a very small possibility. That being said, who would want to buy something with other’s junk on it either? We as consumers need to do our due diligence to protect ourselves as best possible.

I will admit that when I get something second hand that has data on it, I take a look at it. I never intend to do anything with it, but more as a curiosity. Who were these people, what did they do with this, what did they replace it with and those kinds of questions. I never invest much before I start over, I suppose it is that due diligence look.

I don’t have anything to hide, but people don’t need to know that I received calls from a household in Germany in 2023. I feel like it is more protecting them, not so much me. The main unit is a cell phone that has a wired connection. So, this is as good as handing over a cell phone to a stranger. I took the SIM card out. Probably, information could be obtained through the provider but at that point, it is out of my hands.

I have sitting in my shop a robotic vacuum. The reason it has not gone to the recycler is that it is still configured to run. This is a device that has a map of my house, down to how the furniture is arranged. It also has a connection to my internet, albeit it is a guest connection. But still, there is no reason just to hand that stuff over to parts unknown.

This is a related scenario but I am becoming aware of old devices and vulnerabilities. The rough outline is old applications that are no longer supported by manufacturers offer a potential home for malware. This could be inadvertently installed and get access to a network. I am a little on the fence on what to do here. Probably the best thing is disconnect old devices from the network or segregate to a guest network an protect active data.

That seems like a subject for another day. But in this day and age of everything can connect, everything wants an account and everything is collecting data, it is a good idea be thinking longer term in security strategy. It is not so much the money but the time to deal with all of these things that could be the real killer. My advice is to clean everything you can before disposing of it, no matter the mechanism.

End Your Programming Routine: I used to believe that I have nothing to hide. I still think that is true, but I also think that no doing due diligence with electronics disposal is like leaving a stack of 100 euros laying at a park bench. It may not be immediately useable, but somebody could figure out how to convert it into something that they want. Don’t just surrender potentially valuable information, think about what you are doing and the consequences.

September 16, 2024 – Right For Me

September 16, 2024 /

***This was last week’s podcast. It published on Castbox and all the usual platforms but I am having a technical problem with Castbox. I have an open ticket, but for now, I cannot copy the code from my host to my site and sync everything as I normally do. I may temporarily move podcasts to later in the week so I can use one of the other players while I sort out the technical issues. Bear with me as things are getting back to a more normal schedule,***

I hit on a lot of different subjects today. This is probably a topic that could have gone on for several more hours. I kept thinking of additional things and different applicable examples that fit in with what I was trying to say. I found that I got results that I didn’t expect both negatively and positively. But, I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t try different things.

September 9, 2024 – I’m Out

September 9, 2024 /

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I am out for an indeterminant time. I currently have technical problems and I am too busy to do anything about them at the moment. Today’s podcast has already been posted at Castbox but I haven’t been able to get the html code necessary to get it posted over here.

So instead of solving the world’s problems, my suggestion is that you take in the last weeks of summer and spend some time enjoying the opening moments of football.

September 6, 2024 – The Art of War, Waging War

September 6, 2024 /

If you are reading along with me, by now you probably see why this book is held in high regard. There is so much wisdom packed in each chapter that we probably have heard but didn’t know the source. I am finding that myself.

While this chapter is titled Waging War, I found it to be more about logistics and overall objective rather than super secret tactics. Our politicians may be clever, but they are definitely not students of Sun Tsu. As a result, most recent conflicts have ground into failure (by my judgement).

Sun Tsu says that what motivates people to fight is anger, but what keeps them going is the spoils of war. We probably have heard ‘Gung Ho’ stories. In the days post 9/11 there were lots of them. Does Rusty Tillman ring a bell? Tillman was a young NFL safety that felt the call to his country immediately after 9/11. He gave up the money, the glamor as well as likely his childhood dream to be killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.

My own grandfather told me that he volunteered for the Army in 1941 because he wanted to kill Germans. Granted most Americans were more mad at the Japanese, I suspect that his first generation French motivation had to be with the takeover of his family homeland. Anger is what drove enlistment.

Spoils are more complicated today than standard practice during Sun Tsu’s era. Even as late as Korea, GIs were sent home with their service weapons. Not just that, but they also brought home anything that was collected during the tour of duty. This was not just firearms but swords, jewelry, flags, uniform pieces and pretty much anything that could be carried. While I don’t think those things were a motivation to keep fighting, it was certainly a nod to military, victory tradition.

There are all kinds of variables here but a soldier wasn’t a soldier wasn’t a soldier. The lowest group were conscripts or militia members. They were called into service on an as needed basis. The leaders tended to be the rich folk of society. They certainly took advantage of war to enrich themselves. If there was a regular army, they tended to be a hodgepodge of things like criminals and misfits. In that case, being a soldier sure beat the alternatives.

The key of this chapter is not what motivates but if you will win. “No army will win a prolonged conflict.” This is the principle that proves our politicians have not read The Art of War. Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq sum up the last sixty years of US military action. These are all conflicts greater than ten years in duration and all losses in my opinion.

If you remember the mid-2000s, the question was asked, and asked and asked ‘What is the exit strategy’? Silence. We got into this war because of anger and we killed a lot of ’em. But good news for the Taliban, we left a lot of good weapons and equipment for them. So much so, they have donated some to Hamas to use in Gaza.

I go back to the self-realization in my podcast earlier this week. We act like we are surprised that militant Islam hates us. After we have spent the last sixty years meddling somewhere that we don’t belong or understand, we created generational hatred. We duped them into the petro dollar and keep getting involved in something that is not our concern every chance it warrants. We are the problem here, period. I digress from the Art of War.

If we evaluate the other side in what we call conflicts, it is pretty easy to see the perspective difference. It wasn’t a war to the Vietnamese (or take your pick), it was life. The fighting will end when I am dead or they are gone. Until such a time, this is how I live. There is no option to withdraw or leave. Long wars require long supply chains and tricks for morale since there is no opportunity to enrich the soldiers. Anger toward the enemy fades fast when you cant leave your post. It soon becomes anger at the controller rather than the ‘enemy’.

End Your Programming Routine: I love the idea of my country but I hate what it has become. Freedom takes maturity and that is in short supply when you can take at every opportunity. This is the reason we don’t have short wars. It doesn’t benefit the oligarchical pocketbook. That would be the ones that own the politicians and by proxy the politics.