Category: Philosophy

May 3, 2021- New Feature: End Your Programming

May 3, 2021 /

Last week I was listening to a podcast about ‘how easy it is to build a digital brand’. A quick aside here, there is a difference between easy and simple. Digging a 4 x 4 x 4 foot hole is technically simple even with a shovel, but it requires a lot of digging which is hard work. At least for me, I equate easy with not a lot of hard work. It is a bit of a stretch for someone that has been doing it for over 10 years that it is either easy or simple.

I haven’t found this endeavor easy or simple. The technical parts are pretty easy, not simple (for me). The discipline to post routinely is simple but not always easy. The actual brand building is neither. If it takes what I think it takes, I will probably never be successful because I don’t want to engage at the appropriate level. I have tried social media and I don’t really like it. I don’t want to be glued to my phone, I don’t want to be posting cute or snarky comments day after day. I don’t even want to login and scan the posts routinely, I find them boorish and trite for the most part.

However, this is not going to be about all of that other than one particular aspect of building a brand. A tagline, preferably quick, easy to remember and relevant. I was thinking to myself, I already have a tagline but I don’t leverage it at all. I never mention the phrase ‘End Your Programming’. I never correlate what I am saying to how that relates.

‘End your programming’ was something that was personal to me. Yes, there is a backstory and it is more intricate than it might appear on the surface. I write a little bit about it in the About section of this site, but it is more than that. I was the one that wanted to end my programming. I wanted out of the rat race. I had become something that I didn’t want to be. I felt trapped in a high paying career that owned me. I went from running my business unit with full reign and contentedness to having to report daily to someone else and executing their new vision.

It wasn’t that I was not successful before, I was wildly successful. I transformed a business unit from underperforming at best to a team operating at the highest level of the company. My team saved jobs and relationships that my company had bailed out on. I did it with very unorthodox techniques and people that didn’t fit in anywhere else. I was so successful that the company brought in consultants to leverage what I had built and take us to the next level by providing managed services. In the process, they trampled on what made it work and the people in the way. I am planning on talking more about this later because I want to give it the proper focus it deserves.

So, how does this relate to the new feature and what is it? The new feature is the ‘End Your Programming Routine’. A little play on programming but essentially, it is taking the information for the day and putting it into practice. As I wrote about last Monday, I need to find a way to relate my writing or videos or podcasts or whatever I do with this into actionable things people can do to end their own programming. Each day, at the end of the post I plan on creating a segment to apply the topic or at least make suggestions as to the relevance. It is doubtful that this is the secret sauce to success but I hope that it that it changes this from seemingly random topics to something more helpful.

End Your Programming Routine: I like to think that I am self-reflective. I would suggest that continued personal growth is driven by evaluating the things that are important to you. Don’t be afraid to admit when something needs to change to be better or more productive.

April 26, 2021- Good Things to Come

April 26, 2021 /

After a brief hiatus, I am trying to piece time together where I can. I am working more than full time, and my wife was gone over half of last week. In addition, I am trying to build an office so I can keep my feet warm while I work on this project (not to mention work). I had to spend a number of hours this last weekend gathering tax information as well as working but I cleared some of the fog out to come up with some ideas that I want to get out there.

I can feel some of my determination slipping. It is hard to work all day in front of a computer and then dedicate another hour or more to do this. My mental clarity starts to wane as I get into early afternoon and I want to do something physical after work.

An interesting thing happened yesterday. I was watching the piano player play at Worship and I was thinking about how much it appears that he enjoys playing the piano. My mind wandered a bit and I was thinking about how someone turns passion into a career. I was thinking about the local high school drama teacher and how he plays piano and sings and so forth. Since a career in music is a tough go, people that have a particular interest that career field find outlets that may be paying (or not) an related pursuit. At the very least, performing weekly is that sort of outlet.

For me, some of my passions could be money making while others seem to be money burning. But, it shook me back to looking for a way to convert my interests into a career. I have been so focused on making a good impression in my new job and focusing on everything that goes along with that that I forgot where I want to go. Don’t get me wrong, this job is fine but in my heart of hearts I wouldn’t be doing it if I had another option.

It sort of goes hand in hand with this week’s message; focusing on pleasing people instead of pleasing the Lord. I hope that I am right that I think our individual purpose will go hand in hand with God’s will. I believe that it is a test in keeping the mind and ears open. From what I have seen, when people find their purpose, they are happy and at peace with all that entails. Maybe I need to find my outlets outside of work and change my outlook or maybe I need to keep trying? I don’t know. But that stemmed a bunch of new ideas here, so stay tuned.

April 2, 2021- Gone But Not Forgotten

April 2, 2021 /

Today I received an interesting e-mail from the Boy Scouts of America. They still keep track of their alumni. They seem to do a better job than my schools.

I seem to remember getting one of these last year. I suspect that it has to do with my kids being part of the program and me putting my contact information in.

I have talked about some of my experiences before. I may be closer than others who do not have kids in the program or still remain in touch with local resources. So, I do get frequent reminders of the values and benefits from that standpoint.

Even though things have changed a lot, some for the better and some for the worse I still think that it an organization that provides value. One of the things that I find interesting is the growth and development the boys have throughout the tenure. The come in as fifth graders and leave when eighteen, if they stay the whole tenure. Most of them come in as children and leave as a true adult. There is a transition from a timid grade schooler interacting with high schoolers to leading a small organization over time.

When I listen to them talk amongst themselves I can still hear youthful optimism and naivete but to see them in action, the training pays dividends. It’s nice to learn skills and have fun but to be able to practice the fundamentals of leadership is the experience that I see valuable.

This is Easter and celebrating that Jesus died for our new covenant with God. We have eternal salvation if we want it. I hope that you have a great weekend.

March 18, 2021- Ice Storm’s Lasting Effect

March 18, 2021 /

Every day that I sit down in the basement, I get more and more motivated to get started with my office. It is usually 57 degrees when I turn on the lights in the morning. The heater that I wired in barely makes sitting for long durations bearable. Usually, by lunch time I am ready to take a hot shower just so I can warm up my feet.

A little over a week ago, we won a Little Buddy propane heater in a raffle. It came with two, one pound cylinders. I thought that it was a good temporary solution to add supplemental heat. The problem is that one pound cylinders only last for five hours according to the literature.

One of the area’s that I am not too prepared is heat and generally comfort. I always imagined that I would put on more clothes and do manual work. I have a kerosene heater that I use in the shop and I figured that was my fall back heater. Running for two hours, the shop is heated to the point that I can turn off the heater.

But, kerosene is not common in this area of the country. When we lived in South Carolina, you could buy kerosene at the gas station running about the cost of diesel. Not here, I am paying $8/gallon. And to top it off, to buy in volumes of 2.5 or 5 gallons, it is only seasonally available at the stores. From a runtime perspective, a 2.5 gallon jug will last about a week of working hours in the shop.

Propane is a much more prevalent option. The thing that I am noticing is that propane is scarce. It has to be the after effects of the ice storm. There are no one pound bottles anywhere. There are also no larger, refillable containers in stores. Stock is out online as well. I was able to buy a hose that attaches to a 20# cylinder for my heater and I do have one cylinder.

It has been on my list for years to get some more cylinders and attachments. I bought propane conversions for my camp stove so I could also use one pound cylinders. So I have always thought this was a direction to focus but it never seemed like a priority. Probably because I only had one item that used propane and maybe once a year do I use that burner. Now, I am looking to augment my heat and it cannot be found.

I guess what I am trying to say is that preparing is about evaluation, discipline and recognizing opportunity. For instance, the best time to buy gasoline to have on standby is in the winter time when the price is usually lowest. But the worst time to buy it is when the power is off and everyone is either trying to fuel their generators or running the car to stay warm. I evaluated my needs but I didn’t execute the discipline part.

The opportunity part is knowing that some fuels (and parts like wicks and adapters) are seasonally available, the time to buy is when you can. I was able to take advantage of a seasonal close-out and save $4 a jug on kerosene this week. It is unlikely that I will need too much heat until next fall but just like propane you don’t know when you will not be able to buy it, if you wanted it.

I am grateful that I have one cylinder, but I would like to have at least two. One to use and one to fill-up. Some people in my area were without power for a week, so it is possible to have a long term outage. An generally speaking, the outages are because of some weather event be it too hot or too cold or flooding or whatever, so not the best time to have no heat. An event like what happened in Texas was so catastrophic that even natural gas was frozen in the pipes. A lot of things don’t like to run real well when that get that cold either like engines, so consider that.

Finally, related to heat and cold. If you are without power in the winter, don’t let your items go bad in the refrigerator. Put them outside! I am amazed at how many people just let the fridge go bad when they could have shoveled ice from outside into a cooler or even just put stuff outside. When all you’ve got is cold you should at least be able to keep stuff cold. The freezer might be a different situation but the same thing applies.

March 1, 2021 – Goalsetting Versus Priorities

March 1, 2021 /

I just realized that for the entire month of February, I had titled the date as ‘2020’ and not ‘2021’. I guess that I have been in la la land. Now that error is corrected, we can go on in peace.

I feel like goalsetting is a skill that I have a pretty good handle on and a source of pride. Like most people, I have been guilty of saying goals and not actually doing anything about them. In that scenario, the goal is actually not on a path to completion. For instance, I have said right here in this forum the following things

  1. Q1 I am going to develop a business and marketing plan for this sight
  2. I announced last fall that I was going to build front yard garden beds
  3. My current first priority is to build an office to work from

All three of these things I have made almost no progress. My first regret is that planting season is about six to eight weeks away. If I do not get garden beds made, even one, then I will not be able to keep practicing my food producing skills. Furthermore, this is the time to start seeds so that they can get into the ground. I am weighing whether I should even start seeds because I have a competing priority of building an office.

At least I have some excuses for the office project. I am waiting for a proper paycheck to start buying materials. However, there are tasks that require no money at this point such as clearing the space to build, producing the design and plan are essentially free. What it boils down to is priorities.

Most of yesterday, nearly half of my weekend I was pre-occupied with another task. I won’t get down into the nitty-gritty details but it had to do with my kids returning from an overnight camping trip. The stated issue was that there were some gear failures during the trip. We went through the gamut of not participating again to why this current gear wasn’t good enough. In one example we have gone through four different sleeping bags, none of which are adequate.

Again, this was a long conversation (and day). The problem with the gear failure is not the gear but the mindset of the use. Or said another way, it is my son’s toolbox fallacy. If I only had a better sleeping bag, then I would be comfortable instead of improving shelter skills or making a better bedding foundation or picking shelter location.

Bringing back to priorities, my priorities override my optional goals. Being a father is much higher on the list than building an office of a garden bed or setting up a business. Being a husband overrides being a father sometimes because that relationship will span longer than raising children. And without stability in those cases, it is difficult to be successful with goals.

I also consider my career as part of priorities of both husband and father. I wish that I was in a financial position to keep working on building a business rather than working a job, but that is not a reality at this time. In order to consider additional want’s and desires into the priority matrix, they must fit into my existing priority scales. Of course time is a limiting factor that we all have.

Here are some tips that I have for this scenario

  • Set your priorities first, that way you have the ability to triage how you handle your life.
  • Periodically review your priorities and compare them to recent events to determine if you are living according to your values
  • Set reasonable goals realizing that there is only so many things that you are going to be able to accomplish after priorities are handled.
  • Periodically review your goals to determine your desire to achieve them and the validity as actual goals.
  • You have the ability to refocus milestones within goals and deadlines (for the most part). To me, the most psychologically import aspect of achievement is making progress.
  • If you are not making progress be honest with yourself about how much effort has been made or maybe your milestones are too broad and need to be redefined to show progress better.

I also believe in accountability as a technique for success. If you state your intentions and someone is watching or waiting for results then you are less likely to to skip or do things half-hearted. It is true that some cases are successful with personal accountability, but that means that it has to be something that you really want. I know that has been part of my issue. I was hoping that when I say that I want to do something, it would push me to get it done even if I am dragging my feet.

Ultimately, desires wax and wane. I am periodically evaluating my goals against my priorities. But, goals also have to have priority. So, I haven’t fully decided what exactly will change but I can’t possibly do everything as fast as I would like to have it done. But, I am not going to feel bad about it because they are my goals, not anyone else’s.

I am going to go prune the apple tree that I was going to cut down during the winter now.

February 5, 2021 – Testimony Time

February 5, 2021 /

I don’t get religious a lot. I am sensitive to people believing how they want to believe and not getting into their faces about it. That being said, sometimes you have to out yourself when things go the way your beliefs work. I am going to talk in circles for a minute and then I will get to the issue at hand.

I was going to write again about 1984 today. However, I have been working on another deal that came through today. I signed a commitment to begin working in the professional arena again today. That will likely impact my dedication to this project and others that I have had up in the air.

I have mixed feelings a bit. This new endeavor may involve moving eventually. The working hours are Central Standard Time as it is all remote minus some level of travel. I took a significant pay cut from where I left my career in 2019. Despite all of that, there is a phrase that is thrown around in Christian vocabulary, “God provides”.

When I first left my job, mid-April 2019 my plan was to take the rest of the month off, decompress and then decide what my next steps were. I decompressed for a couple of weeks and then I was contacted by a recruiter to interview for a position as the head of Manufacturing Execution Systems for a regional supermarket chain. After I didn’t land that position, I interviewed for several opportunities that had significant downsides like more than 50% travel that I declined. I wasn’t ready to be employed again, at least under those circumstances.

Because of that, I basically took the rest of 2019 off. I was entertaining offers when they came, but not actively looking. My head and heart were not in employment. I knew that I wanted to try and start my own thing but I didn’t get much farther than that.

In the beginning of 2020, my wife and I discussed reality. We were not in a financial situation where I could never work again. Despite that, Covid-19 hit and the job market changed radically. For someone in my position, I was in a difficult spot. I needed to secure employment but hiring freezes were largely in place. Even postings had gone largely virtual. I was in a huge vortex of people needing jobs and no jobs available or known.

In the mean time, we invested a lot of money into remodeling our Accessory Dwelling Unit (little house). It was in sad shape. We could see that our savings was going to be gone by October of 2020. I put some energy into marketing my handyman skills but the business didn’t materialize in a way that I had hoped. Luckily, Amazon was hiring everyone that was qualified to deliver packages. This wasn’t enough income but it was enough to survive. We cut expenses, sold unnecessary items like my Mustang and lowered our needs.

Still, driving for Amazon was not the solution. I have enjoyed it for what it was but another recruiter contacted me right about the time I started driving. I had several interviews in December and then things went cold. I even assumed that I need to stop holding out hope and look elsewhere, which I did. But, low and behold they came back last week and wanted to talk again. That is where I am today.

The story is nice, but now to the main point of what I am writing, “God provides”. This is not something that I take lightly. Maybe my eyes haven’t been open, maybe this was a real test of faith. I have always heard this, but haven’t really lived it. I have always believed that you have to help yourself in the process.

God provided me with a spouse that pushed me into quitting my job in 2019. I have been on a nearly two year vacation. I was able to sell assets quickly that helped keep us afloat. I was given an opportunity to pick up some side work as well as a small steady income until my next opportunity was right.

2020 was an amazing year for me in terms of personal growth. I turned a more faithful and opportunistic leaf that I probably wouldn’t have done if I didn’t make a leap. Believe me, it was a true leap of faith, without as much faith. I can’t really recommend doing what I did, but I think that it worked out for me.

If I was to do it all over again, I would have tried to secure employment like driving for Amazon much earlier in the process so as to not exhaust all of our savings as quickly. That would have given time to build my business in a more organic and sustainable way rather than hope to hit the jackpot in the first spot I dug.

I hold hope that things will click and this will be a good decision, despite my reservations. The worst case scenario is that I can buy some more time to find the next thing. I am going to go with “God provides” at the moment.

January 20, 2021- An In-depth Study of George Orwell’s 1984

January 20, 2021 /

Wow, I have to knock the cobwebs out. And let me say, since my last entry the truth about what our future will eventually look like has been exposed. The move to silence descent against the establishment outed itself in a big way post the ‘capitol riots’. In no way do I condone or side with with the actions to break into the capitol. But, what a perfect opportunity create a tinderbox, build the fuel and when a spark eventually happens, watch it burn.

I know I have been AWOL in the last couple of weeks. Maybe I will go back to this period sometime in the future. I started writing this post on January 6, stubbing out what I thought I was going to write about January 8 before life got in the way. But for now, I want to look at the future. One of the things that has been on my mind since November of last year was the book 1984. I read it in 2019 for the first time as part of the local library reading program. I didn’t realize how much of an impact that book make in my mind.

When my parents asked what I wanted for Christmas, I said the book. And, I got it. So I have been slowly reading it to really digest what is going on. I plan on writing about some of the real parallels in today’s culture and it’s futuristic relevance for something written seventy years ago.

If you want to read along with me, I would love it. I just want to warn you that this will be a series of articles that talk about the plot and the details within the book. So, consider the spoiler warning now and don’t be mad if we turn everything inside out when you haven’t had a chance to read the book.

This is a book that can be found in the library, audio book and purchased from $0.99 and up. It wouldn’t surprise me if every used book store has a copy. To me it appears that the average price is around $13.50 for paperback. So, if you are cheap like me you can look for a bargain or if you are just ready to get started it wont impact the budget too much. There is also a movie, of which I haven’t seen so I can’t vouch for it or the accuracy but I suppose that if you were just interested in the story and less so the implications you could check that out.

As a child, I spent a lot of time reading. My memory of summer was going to the library once a week and checking out several books. I would sometimes read two or three books a week. That has sort of diminished since college. It is not that I don’t enjoy it, I have lots of other pulls on my time as well. I am also part of the culinary book club so much of my reading time has been devoted to reading in that genre over the last couple of years. It wasn’t until I left my job that I started thinking about reading more.

Because of that, I have been tossing around the idea of an AltF4 reading list. I have been thinking about some of the books that have been really impactful in my life and building something that sort of encapsulates my brand of wackiness.

High school and college almost ruined literature for me. I can think of lists of ‘classic’ titles that I have read that I really would never care to open again. My anti-establishment streak made me suspicious of the designation ‘classic’ and the analysis to the nth degree made me question the author’s intent matched the analysis done in higher level English methodology.

I am open to being wrong here. For instance, my son’s favorite book is Oliver Twist which he has read many times. I have only read it once in AP English and that was enough for me. We both have different reactions to the title. He likes the story, enough said and I can respect that. In school there was a whole level of subtext applied that I never really bought into and wiped out of my mind.

If you really boil it down, not one title that I read in school was ever supported with evidence that a title was written with a deeper meaning in mind. I have a hard time justifying the existence of the analysis. I suppose that it is not to say that it can’t exist, but I haven’t seen evidence of such. This is not that. This isn’t a study into the subtext of 1984 but a comparison of the novel to current activity.

So, enough rambling. Now you know that I like reading and why; what presses my buttons on the subject and that I am starting a series on the analysis of 1984 by George Orwell. I hope that you will join me.

January 4, 2021- AltF4.co Looking Forward

January 4, 2021 /

I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I know that I look forward to getting back to the business as usual and that starts today. For us anyway, school starts again tomorrow and my wife is back at work.

There is a lot said about New Years and resolutions. It seems like a thing that people kind of do half-heartedly. I remember reading a newspaper story one time that said something like 50 percent of smokers set quitting as a New Year’s resolution. Of those, ten percent succeed.

This is not a commentary on the validity of peoples desires but I go back to my short series in November with the comment “You have to Want It”. Setting meaningful goals requires effort. It also requires a methodology to succeed. We can call them resolutions if you like, but for the last five years I have set yearly goals in January.

Here is a tip, set goals that you think you can achieve. Also, look for activities that will make you feel good at the same time. For instance, I like to set (rifle) range goals and then I plan out each month. Last year was an abysmal on my success rate because I only got to the range three times instead of the twelve that I would have liked.

My strategy is to pick one personal item, one business item and one hobby item. If the particular item can be done in less than a year, I set more until the year is filled up. Here are some examples of goal that I set in in the past.

  • Learn to reload cartridges
    • Month 1, pick a recipe, watch YouTube videos, read the manual
    • Month 2a, shop and buy components
    • Month 2b, clean and prep brass
    • Month 3, make first cartridges
    • Month 4, test fire at the range

All of that could have probably been done in one week. But by spreading the work out it sort of extends the fun and makes it less likely that it will get dropped by interruption in the one week sprint to do something. For instance, when I started building the reloading bench, I spent a heavy week in the shop only to have the cat have kittens in the shop and it took two years for me to get restarted on that project. When I got back into the work, it probably took me another heavy week to complete. Meanwhile I was moving wood out of the way for years.

Since I was off all of last week, I really didn’t spend the time to formalize my goals yet this year. That is part of what I am doing now. I would have to say that this is a go-no go year for AltF4.co. As much as I enjoy doing this, it takes up to three hours a day to write. That is time that I may or may not have when I have inevitable re-employment. It is sad to say, that I wanted this to be my job but as of now, it makes no money. As much as I like writing, I also like working in the yard and the shop, my son has a car that he would like help with, I like to hunt and fish and all that takes time.

Here are my goals for 2021

  • Q1 – Solidify branding and develop a marketing plan for AltF4.co
  • Q2 – Develop and implement a membership program
  • Q3 – Replace at least one blog post with a podcast a week
  • Q4 – Generate positive revenue

My goals for 2020 were a little less structured.

  • Practice posting routinely, determine if I wanted or liked that sort of commitment.
  • Move from free WordPress to my own domain
  • Don’t get stuck in the Toolbox fallacy

Accountability is part of being successful at goal-setting as well. You guys will be able to see my progress as well as I can throughout this year and then you will be able to judge whether I am going to make it or not. In the end, I may just decide to throw it all out and keep doing things the way I do them because I like it. But then of course, I won’t make this my profession.

A real forward looking and self-aware person knows that failure is part of success. Failure allows us to reassess our skills and desires into the most productive and happy person that we can be. I have to admit, that I thought that I would get traction quicker than I have, that was more about naivete than anything. One of these days I am going to figure it out.

December 22, 2020 – Is Christmas Really What You Think?

December 22, 2020 /

This is for sure a holiday that I struggle with. Call me selfish, call me a Grinch or a scrooge maybe. I wanted so much to assign a newer or different reality to the holiday but chock it up to a long line of non-conforming beliefs.

Growing up a Christian, it was ingrained that this was a celebration for the birth of Jesus. My world was rocked when I was a Junior in High School and we talked about the origin of Christmas in Latin class. I had never heard of such things, it was so foreign that it took me years to accept the truth.

Alright, rewind. It is well established that the winter solstice has been recognized by indigenous cultures throughout the world. Winter solstice has a place in agrarian life because it celebrated the transition between daylight getting shorter and daylight getting longer. One of those celebrations was the Roman version, called Saturnalia.

Saturnalia was a celebration named after the Roman god Saturn, who happened to be the god of agriculture. One description I read was that it was that it was akin to Mardi Gras; an over the top party. I suppose that you could see the appeal, I mean who doesn’t like to have fun. Gift giving was one of the traditions that went along with week long party.

As the church was growing in influence and Rome was diminishing, the popularity of Saturnalia was not. It is believed that Pope Julius I co-opted Saturnalia into December 25 as the ‘official’ birthday of Jesus. Even though it is believed that his actual birthday would have been in the early springtime.

Maybe I just haven’t accepted the reality that everything is what it is. I guess that I shouldn’t be surprised people believe in traditions that are not always what they seem or are even based on reality as we are told. There is a lot different brands around the type of holiday be it ‘Hallmark’ or religious or ‘the magic of the season’. For me, maybe I will lean toward Festivus, for the rest of us.

December 21, 2020 – The Shortest Day of the Year and the Possibly the Shortest Post of the Year

December 21, 2020 /

At least that is my intention. Everyone in my household is on their winter shutdown, except me. I am finishing my week after working six days in a row. I have been delivering packages in the rain and darkness out in the rural areas of my area and I am ready for a couple days off to finish my Christmas preparations. As a side note, this will be the first day I will be working Christmas Eve for probably my whole career.

This post has some significance, it is my 200th post. That counts the two or three I began with in 2016 and didn’t really get rolling until December 2019. As I have mentioned before, writing has turned out to be much more therapeutic than I had imagined. I prioritize my commitment to doing this because I think that it is good for me. It allows me to analyze my thoughts and assemble a picture from what appears to be a jigsaw of life.

Tomorrow, I am going to talk about the real Christmas story. It ties into the solstice and the origins of western culture. I will probably take a couple days off from writing as well because it feels right to take some downtime and prioritize family. But for now, take comfort in the days only getting longer from here until June.