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May 14, 2021 – 1984 2:2

May 14, 2021 /

We have definitely made the transition from doom and gloom to a new world. I feel like it is echoing what is happening in my own life, but maybe that is a matter of perspective. I kind of gave up on independence and self employment to move to security and the known of employment, at least for now. Everything is new and exciting and tolerable at least for a period of time.

That doesn’t mean that the insidious is still not in the background, it is just veneered for now by the new surroundings and and experience. I keep telling myself that life is about perspective and that you have to want the situation to be good so that you can have the right attitude about the situation. The truth is that I believe that to be true, but where is that line between lying to yourself and and settling in to accepting your reality? I guess that we will have to stay tuned to see the end.

In this chapter, We see Winston rendezvous with the mystery woman that we now know is Julia. It seems like there is a lot of double entendre. Was Julia really interested in Winston? Did she represent her outward appearance and visible interests and commitments. According to her, participation in the Junior Anti-sex league was the best cover for destroying it from the inside.

Seeing is believing, or is it? I guess that you will have to stay tuned to see how it ends, unless you have already read the book. But, everything that we see from Julia is that she is pro-establishment, but everything that we hear from her is that is her cover for being anti-establishment. What basis is there to believer her other than Winston wants to? Sometimes when you want something, it doesn’t matter what the truth is.

I still think that discretion is important. From what I have seen, there is little reason to actually trust Julia, especially given the overall environment. But, I suppose loneliness is a strong motivator especially if you want to believe. The End You Programming Routine today is If you think it is too good to be true, it might be.

Have a great weekend, I am looking to kick Corona and make some more progress on the office.

May 13, 2021 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

May 13, 2021 /

There are two things on my mind today and they sort of go together. The first one is an update on the belly band holster from December 17, 2020. I have tried it a number of times (maybe 20). I have ultimately stopped using it because the Velcro was rubbing raw spots on my body. I could wear it about three days in the same position and then I would have to move it. I don’t know if that is a function of the design or what.

At the time, I was doing a lot of moving. I would sit for two minutes and then get up and walk around. Maybe it was the up and down along with the bending and such, I don’t know but I suspect that it was the sitting that rubbed the Velcro more so than being upright. I won’t say that I am giving up on it, yet. I like the concept and the comfort (mostly). It may mean that I need to investigate a better built brand. The one that I have does work. As long as I am healed from the abrasions, I can wear it for a couple of days no problem until it starts scratching again.

The second thing I wanted to talk about is a concept that I have named ‘Running Dirty’. It implies that you are doing something that you should not do. Things like driving without a license or expired tags for instance. In this case, I am talking about carrying concealed when prohibited by policy at work. In my last three employment stints, policy expressly prohibited carrying concealed.

Now, this is a slightly sticky situation. On one hand, I absolutely endorse the right of companies to set their rules and policies as it has always been private property (in my case). But really, what is the aim? In my opinion, it is a liability play. The companies figure that it would be cheaper to pay off victims of some sort of crime rather than permit employees to potentially have the ability to defend themselves.

Let us analyze my recent stint as a driver for Amazon. When you pull up to the station, every door is marked with a ‘no firearms’ sign. It is expressly forbidden to carry a firearm, a knife or pepper spray. We were told as drivers that we did not have to make any delivery where we felt unsafe. I would argue, how do you know it is an unsafe situation? If I knew for a fact, of course I wouldn’t go into it policy or not. I am driving a loaded truck, alone into unknown situations.

During Christmas time, there was a UPS driver that was kidnapped and his truck was stolen in Portland. That could have just as easily been an Amazon driver. I was also bitten by a dog, not severely but it could have been worse. I heard of other drivers getting yelled at and threatened to be shot for trespassing when the accidently went down the wrong, poorly marked rural driveway. I would argue that drivers are some of the most vulnerable jobs out there. Sounds like a good case for ‘Running Dirty’ to me.

End Your Programming Routine: Ultimately, you have to assess your risks and rewards. I am always going to side on safety over policy. I doesn’t mean that I would or do carry everyday (or do I?). That’s the point. You might want to look at the Belly Band type holster if you need deep concealment because you cant get caught printing or brandishing.

May 12, 2021 – One Track Mind

May 12, 2021 /

Yesterday I revealed my affliction. I am in quarantine until Sunday by request of the county. I definitely have stuff that I want to get done and not over do it at the same time. So, I will keep going on my office project.

I have three walls up and I don’t have enough lumber to finish the fourth wall. As much as I want to finish the framing, I can’t leave to get what I need. Fortunately, I can shift gears and work on other aspects. To wait it out, I am going do the following things.

  1. Box in the HVAC duct with rigid insulation
  2. Start the rough wiring, High and Low voltage
  3. Cobble leftover rigid insulation into the bays that are less than 14 1/2″ in width, but after the wiring
  4. Start working on the door. Remove door from the jamb and all hardware. Clean-up loose and flaking stain. Sand and prime door. Cut to height.

I am going to keep it short today for a number of reasons. But there are some pictures of my progress so far.

End Your Programming Routine: Always have contingency plans in your back pocket because you never know when your circumstances will change. As I have been trying to cashflow this project, I had already had thoughts about overrunning my current material stock until the next payday. My real surprise is that I have moved much quicker through the framing than I estimated. I am going about twice as fast as I projected.

May 10, 2021 – Framing Basics, Know Your Foundation Materials

May 10, 2021 /

I know that I want to keep this project on course by continuing to provide ‘how to’ information and not just a status report on my projects along with editorials. So, I thought that I would do a mini series on framing. I don’t claim to know everything but I think I know the fundamentals and I think that I know enough to help the layman or uneducated make better informed decisions. So, what is there to know about framing with respect to materials?

The first thing to know is your application. Is the project outside or inside? Will it ever get wet or touch the ground? Is it going to be load bearing? How is it going to be constructed?

Let’s start talking about ‘Outdoor’ versus ‘Ground Contact’ pressure treated lumber. Depending on what part of the country you live in, some of these products may be more or less accessible. Pressure treated lumber has only been around for about forty years or so, so good building practice is always in order and trumps appropriate materials.

You will see at the home center materials marked ‘Outdoor’ lumber. These are wood species that naturally rot and insect resistant like Redwood, Cedar, Cyprus and some exotics. Depending on the species and grade, they are often significantly more expensive than pressure treated. They are also not grade stamped for loads and spans. For those two reasons, their best uses are fences, decking, railings, outdoor furniture and other non-critical applications.

Pressure Treated is usually hemlock in the west or southern yellow pine in the east. These are treated with a solution of what is called ACQ or Alkaline Copper Quaternary. I won’t get into the science of it all, but that treatment helps defer wood deterioration. You can often times identify the materials by their appearance because they appear green or dark brown.

A better way to tell is that the material is stamped or tagged.

I am old enough to remember the big switch from CCA to ACQ in wood treatment which happened in 2004. The reason I bring it up is fasteners. You see, you cant just use any old fastener and expect it to last. What can happen is a galvanic reaction between copper (in the treatment) and iron (in the fastener) will corrode the fastener into nothing.

For that reason, all fasteners should be hot dipped, galvanized or coated (with paint, not vinyl). But not marked ‘bright’ or electrogalvanized which looks very shiny. The same goes for screws. The good news is that is all sorted out now, so if you buy new fasteners you wont have incompatibilities. I still have fasteners from before the switch, so I need to be mindful of where I put them to use.

There are a slew of plates and connectors and other things depending on what you are doing may or may not be necessary. And frankly, it is beyond the scope of the basics. They are referred to as ‘Simpson Ties’ and there are good reasons to use them for hurricanes and earthquakes and even rot protection.

Lastly, pressure treatment does not absolve good building practices. I have seen (and have) many rotten fence posts because water cannot leave the post when encased in concrete. Another thing I do is treat cut ends with canned preservative when using outside because the treatment does not penetrate completely through the board.

End Your programming Routine: There is a lot to know even to get started. Knowing your conditions and application will enable you to get help in selecting the proper materials if you have questions.

May 7, 2021 – 1984 2:1

May 7, 2021 /

Happy Friday. I am hoping that you are heading to a restful and fulfilling weekend. I have a lot of irons in the fire myself, not to mention that we are in Covid quarantine which actually may help me keep working on my projects. I got my first wall framed up last night and I am hoping to frame up the second one today or at least this weekend.

Section 2 marks a distinct change in the book. We move from the setup and into the story. Winston gets a surprise interaction of a very non-permissible nature. He is going to meet a mysterious woman on a very different premise than he anticipated.

Jumping into the concepts of the chapter, I would say that they are fairly simple and sort of intuitive. It doesn’t take a lot of digging or interpretation of the chapter to dig these out.

Risk versus reward: For whatever reason, we as humans all have desires. Sometimes the desire is so tempting that it consumes your thoughts. The prudent person would weigh the cost benefit of the decision and assess the risk. In this black and white world of 1984, there is a lot more gray than might meet the eye.

Another way of putting it is that rules are known and clear, but the enforcement or ability to enforce them are not as straight forward. That leaves a crack for the thought to skirt the rules and that is the risk reward calculation in this scenario. Some people of course just do things anyway. I guess that they don’t have the ability to comprehend the penalties for the risks.

Always use discretion: One of the reasons the characters are able to operate in the gray is that there is not as much technology and infrastructure in place as there is today. The ability of a few to monitor the many is limited by the capability of the age. Of course, just like ‘Newspeak’ it is very difficult to know the truth.

In this type of environment, it is best to always act as if you are always monitored. It is a little more difficult to treat people and relationships that way. A constant state of unknown/fear/suspicion can have an effect on the psyche. It is not really a world that I want to be a part of, but that is the state of affairs here.

End Your Programming Routine: My approach to analyzing 1984 lends to making this application fairly easy. You should do the best you can to always make a risk versus reward analysis in new, big or difficult decisions. I think often people don’t really realize the situation until it is too late and a little thing becomes something large. Likewise, I think it is always prudent to use discretion. I guess that is the kind of guy that I am.

May 6, 2021 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

May 6, 2021 /

Today is the 250th post. Just a warning, I am going to be all over the place today and not very Tacticool. First of all, when I was planning what I wanted to write about earlier this week, I was having trouble coming up with a relevant topic, or at least one that I wanted to write about. Part of the reason is that I have been actively out of the scene for several months now. With the ammunition and component shortages everywhere, I have moved my focus into other things for time being.

Second and more recently, Covid has struck the house. We are in quarantine but even more so, I am needed to perform all of the caretaking duties. I am finding it difficult to have any free time with all of the activities that the kids are involved in and where I am needed the most. I have plans and I have ammo, but I don’t have time. For all of you wondering, my wife was already vaccinated.

When I look at my families’ schedule (outside of work), every other Monday is a local youth group, Tuesday is Boy Scouts, Wednesday is another youth group, Friday I am playing city league softball with my wife, Saturday morning is trap and Sunday is church. One of my sons has been given the lead in a play to happen this summer, so we will see what commitment that entails. The other week he said, I need to find something to do on Thursday and I said as long as it doesn’t involve me having to drive you to get there or participate in some manner.

To be honest, not all of those things require active participation. It does however require planning and coordination of transportation and meals to be done on time as well as active management of the household on other fronts like chores, homework and pets. My silver lining is that Softball ends in two more weeks and Trap is officially over we are practicing until the state tournament at the end of June.

I should also like to mention that I am extremely bad about planning activities, like Mother’s Day. I have been thinking about it for a month but still haven’t gotten anything done. So, I guess tacticool is far from the mind. And I think that is how I want to end today.

End Your Programming Routine: I thought what I was going to say when I was going into this was that no one should be a one trick pony with interests because if it ever became non-accessible, you become crazy. I still think that is true, but now I am thinking that also evaluate your commitments to make sure they fall in line with your values and interest.

May 5, 2021- Feliz Cinco De Mayo

May 5, 2021 /

This is one of those days that has changed in my lifetime. I suppose that with the rise of Latino culture in my area, there has become more awareness of the culture in general. I would equate it more to Saint Patrick’s Day where people are enjoying something that they have no idea what it is about.

Ask a typical American what is Cinco de Mayo and there is a good chance they are going to say Mexican Independence Day which is wrong. Mexican independence is September 16 Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of a victory against the French at Puebla in 1962. Huh, so what so important about that? Good question, not a lot. My wife who has lived in Mexico says that it really isn’t acknowledged as a holiday.

You can read all about it if you like, but now that you know the truth what are you going to do? I say enjoy it. I love Mexican food and the weather is (often) nice. Crack a cold one or two and start to get educated the real history.

Now that I have given permission to enjoy, let’s get serious. Mexican food is way (and I mean way) more diverse than tacos and Coronas. Just like the United States, Mexico is an infusion of culture primarily German, French, Spanish and native. For instance, my favorite Mexican beer is Dos Equis Amber which is an example of a Vienna style lager. In fact, all of the ‘brown’ beers like Negro Modelo are take-offs of the Vienna style lager. We all know about the Margarita (lime and tequila) but what about the Paloma which is grapefruit juice and tequila?

I am going to transition from drinks to food now but I was trying to give some recognizable difference to show what is under the surface but probably not known. So, food… who doesn’t love nachos? But what we think of as Mexican food is colored by a number of factors. First let’s start at a high level history of the food.

The basis of the food is the indigenous base. That means that it is different depending on the location. For instance, food is different in the southern region than it is in the northern and the inner regions differ from the coast. Because of the long history of different indigenous cultures, every state (in Mexco) often has variation of the same dish. It had to do with the spices and raw ingredients available. To the tortilla, wheat is from the north and corn is the most ubiquitous. It is also why I consider pairing wheat with beef but more often corn with everything else.

You take the base (or real) Mexican food and you start mixing food from other countries like France and you end up with very intricate and refined food. Sauces such as mole are extremely complicated and rich in flavor. Don’t be fooled with the restaurant mole, this can be highly refined and delicious. I would submit that Mexican food can be fine dining and held up against anything else in the world or dressed down to street food.

As food and culture migrate, so does the interpretation. Frequently what we see as ‘Mexican’ food has been coopted into Tex-Mex and American tastes. It is kind of like when I had a hamburger or pizza in China, close but not right. Our typical rice, beans, entrée plate has become what is synonymous with Mexican food but it runs much deeper than that.

End Your Programming Routine: Enjoy Cinco de Mayo. I haven’t decided what is for dinner yet, but it is either going to be ceviche (not originally Mexican but already made) or some fresh made chorizo (Spanish origin) I bought yesterday. Take the time to be educated in history and culture so that you make your celebration about the right things like just having fun rather than thinking you are some culturally sensitive, woke dumbass.

May 4, 2021- Libraries as a Resource

May 4, 2021 /

I grew up in and around the library. My earliest memory was the ‘Bookmobile’ arriving in the neighborhood and going inside the and seeing all of the books. It looked something like this.

Later we moved into the country and away from the typical services of the day like cable TV. But free entertainment was always in order so weekly, we would go to the library to check out books and participate in the periodic reading programs. Our closest library was integrated into the middle school and so I could check out books while at school. I would say that I probably averaged a book a week for years.

As I got more busy in life, reading changed a little for me. I don’t spend hours on the weekend reading. I switched my tactics from checking out books to buying books so that I wasn’t constrained by a due date and the urgency to finish. In the last five years of so, the library has crept back in to my life.

My kids were taking karate for a few years and the library was right across the street. I would go in and kill an hour by scanning through the periodicals of interest. After they lost interest in karate, I started sneaking in to get free seeds and I found the annual reading challenge. I started reading for pleasure again.

I suppose the question is why the Library? First of all, Benjamin Franklin established one of the first libraries in this country. Of course, I want to be like him. But more seriously, there are a couple of benefits that I will mention that I use.

  1. We are already paying for it with our taxes, be it county or city or region.
  2. It is eco friendly. I try to ask myself ‘Will I ever use this again once I read it’? The answer is almost always no. I also try to buy used whenever possible as well because the last person probably only read it once as well.
  3. I like to scan through magazines that if I bought, I would feel more obligated to read. At the library, I have no commitment.
  4. On magazines, there are a lot of titles that I enjoy, but it doesn’t make sense to have 20 subscriptions.
  5. They have movies and music on disk. Titles that are ten years old are in the sweet spot of hard to find streaming.
  6. I can get a whole garden’s worth of seeds (free). I can also get seeds when they are gone from the stores. Starting my fall garden, I can get things that I didnt plan for in the spring.
  7. Friends of the Library sell used books for a dollar. I have picked up cookbooks that I am interested in, like Rick Bayless for cheap.
  8. They have great summer programs for kids, especially the real young ones like 2-4 year range.
  9. If you are willing to wait, the internetwork of libraries have a lot more titles available then what is in the local libraries and will ship to your local library for pickup.
  10. Internet access, printing and copying are available.

I think I could come up with at least five more, but I will leave it at that. I suppose the best reason to do it is that I enjoy it and that is the best reason of them all.

Change Your Programming Routine: In a world with so many choices of entertainment and knowledge, the Library may seem passé. Sometimes you can get to the information faster than waiting for shipping or more in depth than an internet article. Don’t overlook the library as a resource.

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.