Category: Review

June 28, 2023 – Lord of the Flies, Chapter 11

July 28, 2023 /

Today is the day I marry… again. I am going to talk about some of this stuff on Monday. At least though this is the culmination of my wild and out of control schedule. I believe that things will start to become more routine after next week, where I have to travel again. No promises, but things are looking better for AltF4.co

I guess that I think this is the chapter that everyone thinks of with Lord of the Flies. I will say, I really knew nothing about the book other than the other kids kill the character Piggy. As it turns out, I really didn’t know anything about the book. While it is true that Piggy is killed, it is more of an unfortunate accident.

Spoiler alert if you haven’t read the book or this chapter. The hunters release a rock that is intended to hit Ralph. However, Ralph moves out of the way and Piggy is pushed over a cliff. The most graphic scene in the book describing his brains spilled out.

The phrase “fuck around and find out” comes to mind. It can also be said in multiple, more PC ways “like you are who your friends are” or “don’t do stupid things with stupid people”. All three of these things really mean if you don’t want trouble, don’t go to it. Did Ralph and Piggy really think that they were going to reason with now savages?

Maybe the only options were to join the hunters or try to reason? I suppose that I can’t really think of any others. I was listening to a radio program the other day and I heard an opinion. He was talking about people being nasty about rights on social media and the host made a profound statement. He said that public opinion is also crucial to maintaining your rights.

Think about it. If the entire country was against any amendment, say the 13th amendment (that is the abolition of slavery to you uneducated), then would that still be the law of the land? I highly doubt it. Either that amendment would be repealed or ignored. There is no political appetite to do hard things.

Remember when congress was going to repeal the healthcare act? I do. Politicians were only mad enough to use it to get elected. Once the supreme court said that it was constitutional as a tax, then we haven’t heard a peep about it in years. How this relates the Ralph versus the hunters is that momentum has swung. It is ‘Join or Die’ time. It doesn’t really matter what is right or best, the super majority doesn’t want what Ralph is offering.

End Your Programming Routine: I feel like Ralph sometimes. Not in the way that most people do (law and order) but in the way that you are paddling against a rising tide. I suppose that I cannot help that I have a strong compass of right and wrong and I call it out when I see it. I also feel like Ralph when I can clearly see that my beliefs are contrary to popular opinion. There is part of me that relishes being a disrupter but then there is another part that understands that part about public opinion. Being too much of a pain in the ass doesn’t help you cause (or keep your rights).

July 21, 2023 – Lord of the Flies, Chapter 10

July 21, 2023 /

The calm before the storm in the book and in life. While I am riding out the storm, better days will be ahead not so much on what is happening in the book. The tribe has clearly split now and the recognition that they participated in the killing of Simon is in the recent past. Also, the asset of Piggy’s eyeglasses are the only means by which they can start a new fire figures to play a role coming up. The other tribe wants those glasses and they figure that it is their right to take them by force, because they can.

Bloodlust is what many critics say about what happened to Simon. I tend to think of it more like manipulation. I have a hard time believing that a bunch of 12 and under form any sort of mature society. By mature I also mean that they can tackle emotional topics. Kids can be cruel, but often it is because of ignorance or peer pressure.

Kids will be driven by primal desire as well. It is why they will not perform chores or eat candy until they are sick. But to say bloodlust to me suggests that this is our basest form as humans. I have a hard time believing that.

Some people are psychopaths or sociopaths. When my grandparents generation was alive, I heard story after story how they joined the Army or the Navy to fight the Japanese. Sure enough, when the true horror of war was revealed they wanted no part of it. There is guilt and a whole host of emotional issues like PTSD to prove that otherwise. Watch the movie ‘Flags of Our Fathers’ to get a little sense of how life is different that it is portrayed in popular history.

In my opinion, people are driven to do horrible things not because it is our native state but because we are confused about truth. When someone says your problems are caused by this party, we react out of perceived self defense. It is only the true sociopaths that derive pleasure from inflicting displeasure on others.

This chapter makes a deal about the interaction between Ralph and Piggy over their roles in the killing of Simon. It seems the Piggy cant or wont believe the results and his role in it while Ralph seems to accept it. The truth is, I don’t know what the role of this conversation is other than to acknowledge the fact that it happened. I reread the previous chapter text several times and the events were cryptic and described as highly nuanced.

Another aspect that supports my point is when the hunters are discussing the same subject. Jack insists that they just hit Simon and somehow he just died or that this was some unfortunate event. I say that this is classic sociopathic behavior. It is justifying other’s violence for his own gain.

End Your Programming Routine: I feel like I am running out of things to say and talking a bit in circles. Like I said in the beginning, this chapter is the calm before the storm. Yes, the hunters steel the glasses which setup the climax but a lot of this is just biding time. By my response over the last couple of reviews, I am foreshadowing here. I am probably not going to side with critics by the end of the book.

July 15, 2023 – Lord of the Flies, Chapter 9

July 14, 2023 /

Last night, I got home from a long week of travel. While I had my iPad with me all week, I just didn’t have the energy to write. So, this was supposed to be published on Friday but it wasn’t quite finished. I am going to have several more weeks of this, mostly through the summer before life returns back to something more normal.

This is the chapter that things finally turn in the book. The tribe has permanently split into Jack’s group and Ralph’s group. The original tribe still has assets that Jack does not have, primarily Piggy’s glasses and the ability to start fire. This of course leads to conflict or more specifically theft.

The elephant in the room is what happens at the end of the chapter. Simon in some sort of reduced mental capacity is sacrificially killed when he stumbles out of the bushes and into the group of blood thirsty hunters. This is the big moment that all of the pundits have been alluding to throughout the analysis of the book.

I guess where I am at with this is it seems awfully cultish. I get it that this is an exaggeration but it is like the kids can’t help themselves. They seem to be in a trancelike state whereby ‘of course we couldn’t control ourselves’. It is not said explicitly that Ralph and Piggy participated, but the sure did not stop it.

I sometimes wonder what it is like to be entranced in some sort of blind following. The last thing I remember was when I was in college, there was a cult somehow connected to the appearance of the comet called Hale-Bopp. The cult was named Heavean’s Gate. It was discovered that near the end of the comets visibility, most of the cult members killed themselves.

From what I know, the surviving/former members really never talked publicly about how this could happen. Granted, this is the first time I have ever really researched it since knowing of the event. The fact still remains that I wonder what drives a person to move from considered normal to terminal, blind faith.

There is a difference between dying for your faith and dying as a result of it. When you analyze things like Wako, those are events where people died as a result of their beliefs. Many things went really wrong and ultimately they paid the price. I would say that they prepared to die for what they believed, but I don’t think that they thought it was a fact that it was going to happen.

Before I get too off track, what is the reason that people get involved in these endeavors? In my opinion, it is a few factors. One would be a belief that already leans toward the vision of the cult leader. The second would would be that they are lonely or unfulfilled and the social connections validates their beliefs. The third would be a charismatic leader (at least to the followers) that keeps driving the values or beliefs of the group. Huh, it kind of sounds like Jack is a cult leader.

End Your Programming Routine: Before I finish this review series, I think that I am going to end in a different place than most of the literary critics. Is that any surprise? Make the correlation to a group of people looking at the facts (or the book). Clearly each person’s bias is going to overlay on interpretation if it is analyzed in a pure vacuum. Said a different way, how could I look at a story and agree with a group of people that don’t have the same outlook as me? Nothing changes as a result of whether we agree or not, but don’t necessarily accept the status quo without doing your own research.

July 7, 2023 – Lord of the Flies, Chapter 8

July 7, 2023 /

For so much of the book, the story has been a little ho-hum. This is about to change in this chapter. It’s a good thing because we are now 2/3 of the way through the book. It has been a little hard for me to get into the book at times.

I suppose the most significant event of the chapter is the split of the boys. Most of them go with Jack to hunt and have fun while a few stalwarts stay with Ralph. Since they split abruptly, Jack’s group leaves without key resources or a place to go. For Jack’s first command, they go out to hunt so that they can have a feast and celebrate their perceived superiority.

We finally find out the namesake of the book. The Lord of the Flies was a pig head that was left on a stake as a warning/gift for the beast. The Lord of the Flies speaks to Simon and he passes out with fright. Speak maybe, more like threaten. The Lord of the Flies commanded Simon to have fun or he would kill him.

It’s really hard to say what is going on. Simon seemed like the level headed one, yet he is hearing the Lord of the Flies. Is it Malaria or dehydration or simply isolation? I really don’t know nor do I fully understand the demand. Is fun equal to joining Jack? I would describe the hunters as making the best of the situation. I don’t really believe that anyone is really having fun.

I have to say, this is the part of the book and other’s analysis that goes off the rails for me. Some people claim that Simon and the Lord of the Flies is a representation of Christ confronting the devil. Others say that this has a Freudian subconscious overlay between Jack, Ralph and Piggy. Whether it is or isn’t, I still have to wonder the significance of the interaction at all.

It is kind of hard to analyze a group of kids in the context of the topic of human survival and civilization. I feel like they are too immature to make complex and altruistic decisions. This translates to the main characters act in some ways years beyond their actual ages. That being said, I know someone that was twelve and scared that some beast was going to break into the house.

I realize that this is just a story. As such, anything can happen because it is made up. I give high odds that a group of twelve to seven year olds on a deserted island die of starvation, exposure or disease in real life let alone form coherent, functioning tribes. I will stop at the criticism here.

It’s not just children that succumb to half cocked leaders. All kinds of cults, politicians and celebrities command the same following. I can pick on Trump tards or Squad members. Both put aside logic and blindly follow. It is a little easier for us to understand a child’s delusion.

End Your Programming Routine: OK, so maybe I am reaching here. I suppose that you can feel where I am going to end up by the wrap-up of the book. But, you will have to wait and see. It is pretty self-evident that if two leader types have strong disagreements that there will ultimately be conflict. We see that all the time. The real question is what do you do about that and how is it handled. In this case it is to go their own ways.

June 30, 2023 – Lord of the Flies, Chapter 7

June 30, 2023 /

By now, I have actually finished the book. I had a lot of seat time on the plane and with such a short book that I was able to go back and re-read things so that I could understand the colloquial vocabulary. Of course, each week we will continue to peel this onion one layer at a time, but I think completing it helps give me perspective on where things are going a little better.

Ralph and Jack get close by working together to find the beast. As the get closer in proximity of tasks and they find that they share many traits. They also find that they are looking for weaknesses. They start to get competitive on their braveness and that leads to the next event.

There is one scene (I guess that it is a scene or a part) of the chapter that the boys are dancing and getting carried away. Jack suggests instead of killing a pig that they kill one of the little people. Ralph smiles and laughs but later feels the pity and regret of the participation.

This reminds me of things that I have done that I regret as well. For instance, I have admitted that I tried marijuana a couple of times in college. I wouldn’t say that it was peer pressure that made me do it. No one goaded me or chastised me, it was me saying that I am one of you. However, after it was all said and done I regretted it (at the time).

I don’t know how many people have ever gone through the police application. One of the questions was ‘have you ever tried illegal drugs?’. As well as an application, there is also an extensive background check with interviews. So while I only did it a couple of times, who knows what others would say. Does doing something illegal disqualify you? Is it better to be honest on the application, even if it is illegal? It is better to not be in this position in the first place. And that was my real regret.

If I were sitting in a chair now and listening to this story, I would say “Of course, this all makes sense. Someone who wants to pursue and education for a career in law enforcement and spends all of their time with stoners is going to get corrupted and ultimately regret it.” I would also say “after almost thirty years since this occurred, how do you feel about it now?” I am pretty sure I would answer “I guess this was god’s plan”.

Thanks for joining in my inner dialog. I have stated that I value experience over intelligence now that I have some. The nearly 50 year old me says hey it wasn’t a big deal. Every choice has consequences and it is not clear what those are at the time that you are making them. The reason I didn’t pick it up was the value position of a good time was outweighed by the risks of continued marijuana use.

Truth be told, that experience solidified my position for other drug use. I remember one time a couple of my friends took some LSD, they offered and I declined. I have never tried it nor do I ever plan on it. But they said, if you are going to hang out with us you need to be here when we start otherwise stay away. There is something about altered reality that I really don’t want to find out about. Again, if I would not have experienced regret from marijuana who knows what would happen.

By no means am I making a value judgement. These are just kids having fun. As I advanced out of college, those experiences changed my outlook. I would characterize that as it is best to not be around things like that and that may mean people that do that. At least in part, it makes my limited social circle a pretty tight ring to expand. Of course, you have to look how your relationships are based. If it is based on questionable activities, there is a significant chance that a some point, something is going to get escalated at some point.

End Your Programming Routine: There is a lot of ‘analysis’ about the book. The general direction of opinion is that this scene is an increased savagery of the boys, including the more pure Ralph. I get the sense that the pundits are looking for the story to justify their premise. But again, more on that in the future. For a normal person, getting carried away and regretting it is part of being a normal human. Only sociopaths wouldn’t feel that way.

June 23, 2023 – Lord of the Flies, Chapter 6

June 23, 2023 /

While on the plane, I got some quality time to actually read. Unfortunately, my reading light was broken so I had to give up once it got dark. But I needed rest too. I only slept about four hours on Sunday for all the things I needed to do before my trip. As short as the book is, the wording is a little odd and foreign at the same time. I find myself rereading many sentences over so that I can attempt to understand what is going on.

The main thing that happened is that some sort of aerial battle occurred over the island and subsequently a dead parachutist landed near the signal fire and Sam and Eric’s watch. They happened to see it as the wind blew the parachute causing the body to flop up and down. With all of the hysteria over the beast, it was deemed that this was it.

Of course, all the kids expected the beast to be alive and moving. So, they decided to go hunt for it. This took them to parts of the island that had not been explored and knowing what we know about the soldier, of course they didn’t find the beast. Finally, they decided to go back to the mountain where they did spot the beast. This caused them abandon the mountain as it has become inhabited.

There is something about hysteria or paranoia that tricks the brain into thinking that something is not what it really is. With that, I’d like to to consider both sides of the political dichotomy. For instance in recent news, President Biden’s son has pled guilty to tax evasion. Of course he is actually guilty of a drug addict possessing a firearm which is a felony. We know this because he took pictures of himself while treatment was goin on. But, despite getting a sweetheart deal of becoming a millionaire for ‘consulting’ and a crackhead at the same time, he apparently didn’t pay taxes based on this income.

All this being said, former President Tump is being charged with possessing Classified documents. You probably don’t remember that after Clinton left office, his aid literally left with documents stuffed in clothing. Of course, that didn’t go without punishment, but it did go without a lot of scrutiny.

My point with both of these examples is that both sides think that this is proof positive that the other side is the absolute downside of the country. What I am trying to say is that both sides are so paranoid of the other that they are willing to believe almost anything that supports their bias. To be clear, neither of these references are absolving either side, nor are they supporting a side. But rather my point is it doesn’t matter if you believe either they are both wrong. I am saying that if you spend your time in delusion you are bound to be wrong,

I have been guilty of this myself. I have been guilty of saying that facts are the ultimate purveyor of truth. Well that is wrong. The facts are the the facts but the truth is not a product of the facts. The truth is that both Hunter Biden and Donald Trump are sleaze balls and that both will do or say anything that make themselves look better. People that follow either side are subject to the paranoia of the beast.

If you believe in the beast, they you are willing to accept that any fact supports your bias of existence and nothing can change that. For that reason, I am a proponent of staying outside of the belief of bias unless of course you are a believer of the beast. By no means do I want to discourage conviction. On the other hand, believe in the circle of concern/control. In the Circle of Control neither of these examples ar exchanged by involvement nor belief.

End Your Programming Routine: When allegations are proven wrong, they are not facts. It is also true that when facts are true the narrative is not necessarily the truth. The problem is that that bias drives media to allege that information are truth. Consider the source. Consider that what you see is not the full picture. In that vein, the parachutist id not through beast.

June 16, 2023 – Lord Of the Flies, Chapter 5

June 16, 2023 /

I have to say that I don’t totally get the book. I find that it is a slow moving story that may or may not have deeper context. I guess that I will save my analysis for the final book review, but right now I am having my doubts. It feels like we are stretching a bit to make it something that it is not.

This might say more about me than the book but I am struggling with the significance of the book. For that reason, I am finding myself looking at other people’s analysis of the story. I don’t really like to do that because it influences my opinions and analysis of each chapter.

Most of this chapter is the contents at the required general assembly. Ralph is trying to assert that people are not meeting their commitments. Without order, they run the risk of not being able to be seen and ultimately get rescued. I don’t believe that type of organization and cooperation is really within their level of comprehension. There is also an undercurrent of some unseen beast that is causing panic and fear.

Having read several analysis of this chapter, it seems like there is more and more importance of the beast. Of course, I would know for sure, plus have my own opinion if I had read this before. But let’s say that is true for now and let’s focus this week on the beast. From Merriam-Webster:

  • a four-footed mammal as distinguished from a human being, a lower vertebrate, and an invertebrate
    • a lower animal as distinguished from a human being
    •  an animal as distinguished from a plant
    • an animal under human control
  • a contemptible person
  • something formidably difficult to control or deal with

Do you know how polarizing works? Well it gets into chemistry and physics but for the simplicity of this discussion, lets say polarizing is a form of filtering based on how the device you are looking through is constructed. Have you ever flipped your polarized glasses 90 degrees and couldn’t see a screen? That is the filtering that occurs.

What does polarizing and beasts have in common? Well, it is the filtering of the definitions within the book. So far, we don’t know if there is a beast. But, I think that it is certainly implied that the beast is some kind of scary creature. One of the children even says that it comes from the ocean at night.

It is still early in the story development but from the second definition, I think that the readers are still trying to identify which characters might be the contemptible person. Most people probably feel like Ralph is trying to do the right thing and execute the consensus decisions. Whereas Jack seems to move to his own desires. At least on the surface and from the way the story is going, Jack might be the beast. He is also doing a lot of sneaking around in the bushes ‘hunting’.

As a quick aside here. It is my observation that people often agree to things that they don’t actually have conviction to execute. This is particularly true in a public setting like a meeting or a gathering. Countless times as a group leader I would propose solutions or changes that ostensibly were approved only to have nobody execute.

The third definition is the most interesting and I believe the foreshadowing that all of the online analysis are referring to. Fear is primarily born of ignorance. The kids are in a very unenviable position of being stranded on an island without resources and very few skills. There is also the silent battle between Jack and Ralph that is visible to everyone else. Other themes seem probably too mature but nuclear war going on would be one as well.

Since it is graduation time going on, we attended a graduation party this weekend. It was a partial excuse to get together as a family and spend the night at the beach. We hung out, had a fire, drank too much etc. This was the same family that two years ago, we were explicitly not invited to spend time with if we did not have vaccination cards. Whether I did or didn’t, I told my wife that I was not going to go at that time. My stance is pretty clear on the issue but I didn’t like the implications. My how things have changed.

My point was fear is what drove that behavior. The beast, i.e. Covid was raging and all the children were having nightmares. At the center of it all, they are good people. But, good intent and appropriate response, especially when there is ignorance involved are two different things. Ultimately, I cant blame people for not being able to detect truth and lies. A story for another day but they have been believing lies for the whole thirty years I have known them. In that sense, it is forgivable because they are just not capable of analyzing critical data.

The Beast brought great fear in 2020-2. It brought nightmares and irrational behavior. Even as ridiculous as choosing between doing nothing or something that doesn’t work, brought near hysteria. Except for the fact that some people seem to have PTSD from the situation and still are wearing masks, now that we have been ‘rescued’ that has all been forgotten. If I think about it too long, it drives me crazy.

In no way am I saying that I don’t have bias. I absolutely have strong bias. I like to think that presented all of the facts, I could analyze that data and change my opinion. The problem is that all data also has bias as well. Any proper analysis has to consider the source, the intent and the content as well. Vaccinations weren’t a left/right issue, as both were requiring them. It was a freedom and who stands to gain issue.

End Your Programming Routine: This is the life of a true scientist; the science is never settled. That is why there are very few laws in science. They are endlessly fighting about bias and minutia. Fighting only stops when the other side gives up or there is no way to execute an experiment that proves otherwise. Only when we prove the beast does not exist will we collectively accept it. To do that, we will burn the island down. And even when everything is wasted, some people still don’t believe it.

June 9, 2023 – Lord of the Flies, Chapter 4

June 9, 2023 /

This might be one of those chapters that if I had pre-read the book or kept reading before writing that I might lump together with another chapter. From the descriptions of clothes, dress and hair the kids have already been on the island for some time. There is no real mark of time, just that things are frazzled and raggedy.

Clearly, the significant event of the chapter is that Jack and hunters finally managed to kill a pig. This action emboldens Jack and company to display a superiority complex over the others. This activity of course comes at a price. The hunters apparently let the signal fire go out and apparently missed a chance to be rescued by a ship on the horizon.

Last chapter I was talking about everybody doing their own thing and how much I actually support that. It would seem that not all the boys share the same goals on the island. For some it is to ultimately get rescued while others it is to survive. For the hunters, it appears that it is the pursuit of the hunt. Even last chapter, Jack said that he would prefer to kill a pig before getting rescued.

Now, I guess that I would call myself a hunter. I try to make a half-hearted attempt every year. I really don’t like the killing part. I remember my first deer, it was really emotional and not the jubilation type. Of course I was happy, but then I was sad too. A more mature person might say that it was reality. Very rarely is an event all one thing.

To me, it is about continuing tradition, getting out in the woods and pretending that I might fit into the hunter category. A good day would be to say that I saw five deer and believing that it was just not my day rather than I didn’t put in the work in the off-season to be continuously successful.

But the truth is, I am not hungry. My freezer has stuff in it and my bank account is not empty. I might feel differently if I was on the edge of hunger or only eating fruits for months on end. My neighbor exclusively eats wild game. They are in the woods a lot and typically get bear, deer and elk in a season.

There are parts of me that admire that but I just don’t have the time in my life to live that way. Plus, I am not a gambler. I don’t want to be in a position that I ‘must’ punch my tag or go without. The safe bet for me is to buy a quarter steer in the spring and appreciate an extra bounty during hunting season if it happens. Plus, I paid less for the beef than they did in fuel by a long way. That’s OK if it is also your primary pastime, I am not judging. I am just saying the economics of the situation are really smarter the way I am going about it.

That was all a long way of saying that I am not anti-hunting (of course). But, getting back to the story it’s not the hunting that is the problem, it is the mindset. It seems that the act of killing gives the hunter’s power. The more perceived power that they gain, the more careless they become with their other activities. This I think is the message in the chapter.

Maybe Golding is an evil genius and I am just a dope? But again, I think that he touches on a subject that is much deeper than the words on the page. If we take the 3rd party analysis at face value then this is a story of the ills of humanity and civilization. I don’t think that he intended to go this deep so hopefully I am not reading too much into it.

To me, the hunters are a metaphor for societies’ elites. They do as they please without consequences. To be honest, I am not sure what kind of punishment could happen within the book with a group of young kids. Nevertheless, they don’t seem to have any concern about being rescued, building shelters or participating in any other way except on their own terms.

This is where the problem lies within the concept of anarchy and this story. In a proper stateless society, individuals would choose to associate based on their beliefs and values. The shelter builders would congregate and the hunters would congregate and the two would stay their separate ways. I really doesn’t work when marooned on an island with nowhere to go.

Even more so, I think that this speaks to the mentality of the elites. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the way things are if I get to do what I want to do. I am going to wade in the water just a little bit deeper now.

Using an example, when someone like a former software founder gets involved in something like estate taxes, he could be all for the 1970s 90% rules. This is because his personal assets are sheltered in some manner. The reality is that when he dies, the likelihood that everything is going to evaporate into taxes are low. Of course, it wont be zero but it will be much less than my second example.

If someone was a successful, sole-proprietor with assets in the $5 million range were to die under the same tax rules it would essentially leave $500,000 to distribute as a result. Why is that? Because the sole-proprietor is not operating under the same rules as my software tycoon above. It is not that the two couldn’t, not at all but that elites have more resources to create hoops for others to jump through. Why do we need estate taxes at all? I haven’t read in the Constitution that the United States is entitled to any portion of my estate.

Hopefully, I made my point using one silly example that the hunters are becoming societies’ elite. When the elite prosper, there is no reason to petition for new changes unless they are to solidify their position. As long as it is no bother to work around, ignore or rules have no consequences then what does it matter?

End Your Programming Routine: I think that I almost got lost on this one. I was trying to get across the rise of the hunter’s social status and how there behavior is a natural consequence of their self perception. Once established, it also becomes self-fulfilling because what is to stop them?

June 7, 2023 – 32 Yolks

June 7, 2023 /

This book took me a while to get through. It was most definitely too long at about six weeks. It wasn’t that boring, long or hard to read, it was me trying to squeeze it in with everything else going on. It went to a lot of tennis matches, a number of appointments and mostly nights before bed.

32 Yolks is the May selection of the Left Coast Culinary Book Club. It is a memoir about the early life of Chef Eric Ripert. His name may not be at the front of your brain, but he was a dear friend of Anthony Bourdain and appeared in many episodes of No Reservations. In fact, he was the one who found his body.

I say early life because Ripert has become a world renowned chef at his restaurant called Le Bernadin. This book really only covers his life into the mid 1980s, before he came to the USA. As you can probably guess, there is a lot of life between then and now (almost forty years). While it was published in 2017, I think that it was an attempt to explain the why’s and how’s of his success.

At our meeting, we talked about the book. I was only half way through at that point. One of the members said that compared to other memoirs, this was highly focused on a couple experiences. It was her opinion that by comparison, it was a little single tracked.

I liken this book to one we read about five years ago called Cork Dork (that was pre AltF4.co so I haven’t talked extensively about it). But, becoming a sommelier is a tough experience. It takes a sickening amount of effort (literally) to become an expert in wine. Your personal habits can even effect you senses like your typical diet and scents that you wear.

I personally found it fascinating that the preparation staff would hide ingredients from the chef because the job was so demanding that they could not keep up serving 40 diners a night and working 18 hours a day. The chef demanded that everything be prepared that day and you only got one chance to do it. Some of the employees were suicidal even but they couldn’t resist the opportunity to work for the the absolute best.

I think that you can read this book and understand the real difference between fine dining and everywhere else. There certainly is an element of pretentiousness in fine dining but it is more about precision. It has to look and taste a certain way. I have known this a long time, but it is the main reason that I have a difficult time being satisfied going out to eat. For the most part, the preparation staff does not care or they don’t know what they are doing or they don’t taste the food.

This has happened to me a number of times. Go to a new restaurant, then go back in six months and then go back in two years. The first time is really good and it gets progressively worse each time. Why is that? The owner/creator/chef backs off after things get established and the care about the inspiration or the quality does as well. There is some human nature there, 99% of humans don’t want to kill themselves every day to perform

To be fair, not everything I make is a success either. That is largely because I take risks and I do things once in a while. I also care much less about how things look and I may substitute ingredients which has different effects. But, in my mind there is no excuse to make a bland, breakfast burrito. It’s not that hard especially when the ingredients are so limited.

I enjoyed the book. I say the same things I always say. Read it if you are into cooking, chefs, food and character building experiences. I am not sure that you will learn a lot other than it is hard to be in a Michelin 3-star kitchen but I think that is the part that I found most interesting. Don’t read the book if you are not into those things or you want a light, fairy tale story.

End Your Programming Routine: I think I could read or listen to almost anybody’s story and be entertained if they have something personal to say and tell it in an engaging way. I suppose that this says more about my reviews than anything but I am a interested in humanity. It is the reason why I was a National Geographic subscriber even when I was a college student. People doing what they do fascinates me.

June 2, 2023 – Lord of the Flies, Chapter 3

June 2, 2023 /

I am starting to get my legs under me now. I am reading a couple books concurrently and trying to keep up with everything. It’s hard to do when the sun doesn’t set until 9:30 as I can find all kinds of things to stay occupied every day. Luckily, this is a pretty short book with lots of short chapters.

Most of this chapter is about Ralph and Jack at odds between hunting and shelter building. Ralph laments that people commit to something and put in 30 minutes of labor before running off to do something that they prefer i.e hunting. And, this is the gold in the book that Golding never intended.

So many of the synopsis of the book talk about this being a mirror to mankind. The mention the savagery that is within ourselves and then something comes up about civilization. The reason that I say Golding never intended to write this is because I think it is a true observation of humanity but with a different intent to contrast civility and savageness.

The reason all the kids only work 30 minutes is because they don’t want to. And, they don’t really need to. We invent all kinds of things that we think that we need to do and all the reasons everyone else should do them too. Who built the Egyptian Pyramids or the Roman roads that are still in service? Why slaves of course. No one would do it for the good of mankind. And these are perfect examples of ‘I think that you need to build a road/pyramid’.

Let’s get real here, this is the reason we have 12 grades of compulsory education. There is no doubt that an educated population yields a happier and more successful society. By the same token, there is very little reason why we need to force kids to stay in school until they are 18. To be honest, I think that it is more of a babysitting service since you are not a legal adult until 18. I think that your kids need to be in school so that they are not out messing up my yard.

There are all kinds of stories on YouTube where people quit there jobs and go live in a van. So, do we really need to work until we die or do we live to work? What I am saying is how much of our income goes to things we want, like a house payment versus the things we need like shelter?

People are starting to figure this out. How many help wanted signs are you seeing? I was calling a locksmith the other day and I got the machine. In the message it said that they don’t have enough help to do their work and that if you were a locksmith looking for a job to leave your information. We didn’t just start losing population with the pandemic, we gave people the opportunity to figure out how survive without a job.

When I listen to the Fine Homebuilding podcast, it is mentioned nearly every episode that the trades are finding it impossible to hire help. The impassioned plea is that a good living can be made at $75,000/year. I am not scoffing at that, but I would also say that my industry is hiring as well. That is a starting salary. I have the ability to do both, which one am I going to choose? The one that is physically easier, working in conditioned space and can perform a lifetime. The salary upside is much greater too.

We are becoming a society of those that work and those that do not. As you know, I am all about freedom and so I am not judging people that can figure out how they want to live without punching a time clock. It should be all of our goals to accumulate enough wealth to unplug from the system as early as possible. That being said, there are an awful lot of people that are getting an income without providing any kind of value or service.

This help wanted situation is the new status quo. These jobs are not going to get filled nominally. There is just not enough people to work all the jobs that are looking to be filled. People are no longer going to accept a marginal wage when the alternative is do nothing and live just as well. The system ranks continue to grow and as it does, it continues to support and grow its existence.

The incentive is too high for people not to continue to seek their fortune. That being said, there is not enough incentive for low wage workers to keep working. It will continue this way until the absolute balance is met. In the meantime, we will see all these low wage positions eventually consolidate or become supplanted by automation of some sort.

I don’t ever see a day where there is no locksmith because the wage situation will self resolve with supply/demand economics. That being said, we are at the day where he has his business as a sole proprietor and storefronts are done. You will be connected by relationship or some sort or an internet aggregator like Home Depot or Angi’s List. The days of a career lackey working in the store while the experienced tradesman is out in the field are done.

End Your Programming Routine: This type of problem is endemic in all sorts of blue collar fields, not just retail. I am hearing this from my current employer as well that they cannot find enough staff to fill a 24/7 schedule. And hence they are running a prioritized schedule of products based on the staff that is available. Inflation and shortages are the result of this trend. This is the new future and it is human nature that has created it because why work if you have something you would rather do?