End your programming, do things that matter.
I am keeping it short today both in the writing and the podcast. You can hear in my voice that I am severely congested and feeling the effects of having Covid. You can hear all about it in my podcast.
End Your Programming Routine: The show must go on. Probably when I get a bigger library of content that I will probably skip podcasting when I get like this. But, this is about discipline!
I had topics lined out for the rest of last week and I haven’t really even thought about it this week. I am coming into an extremely busy time at work that is consuming all of my free time that my family is not. So, those topics will stay on the back burner until this blows over, likely all of February.
I got a laugh at these two pictures. I think where the person in the second one got it wrong is that it is not SJW Canadians that are angry. It seems like it is the average, common sense citizen. If you have been following the truck driver rally happening in Ottawa, I think that you would agree with me.
From my sources, it sounds like a similar cross country convoy is being organized in the US; likely scheduled for the spring time. One person in particular expects that this is going to cause massive supply chain disruptions as if we don’t have them already.
To quote Eminem, “and get ready, this shit’s about to get heavy”. Here in my state, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) just approved permanent mask mandates and vaccine proof. That is with no legislation and of course pending adjudication but who thinks this is not going to be upheld, at least at the state level? Regardless of what side of the debate you are on, I don’t see us ever going back to tolerance of different opinions (even if the science is settled). We are witnessing an American empire collapsing from within.
If you are not paying attention, we have the crystallization right before our eyes of the blue versus red. People are leaving blue states in droves for the favor of the American Dream. Before the pandemic, the signs of division were clearly evident. However, some states (Oregon) has doubled down on keeping it that way. The tools of executive authority and administrative enforcement protect the legislature from being exposed, even though they don’t need the protection.
Let’s take a look at Wikipedia’s first sentence of the definition. The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals (democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality) in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, as well as an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers. And, how are we doing with the ideals
The people leaving want an affordable lifestyle, opportunity to succeed and neighbors that don’t think they should be under house arrest because they haven’t been convinced by the flimflam from the medical establishment and political propaganda. You can debate my posted source and opinion, but it is one example among many. It represents policy and precedent that state governments are not addressing issues, but consolidating power. As I see it, protecting and enriching the establishment and power base for total control. If you look at this state, the legislature already has more than a super-majority of one party, it is pointless to resist.
End Your Programming Routine: Even if I am wrong at this juncture, I think you would have to be blind to see that there is serious doubt about the future of this country as we want to see it. Rampant inflation, supply disruptions and serious ethical division all the while we are trying to be convinced that everything is normal. What is that… do I hear Nero’s fiddle?
The trip we took last week took us from Oregon to California, Arizona, New Mexico and then Texas. On our return trip it was everything in reverse. I had an opinion on what I thought I would see and I will say it wasn’t quite what I expected.
First of all, it was standard fair for workers in all states to be masked. As we headed south, I expected California to be similar to Oregon in customers wearing one. That was not always the case. What I observed was in rural California people were not wearing masks and suburban California they were.
As we moved into Arizona, I really didn’t see any mask wearing. We only made one stop in New Mexico both ways and it seemed as though masks were an afterthought. Finally, I would say ‘Dont Mess With Texas’.
Prior to 1836, Mexico occupied the Alamo compound as a fort. They abandoned it and some locals took it over, still technically Mexicans. The winter of 1836 the Mexican Army came back to retrieve a couple cannons that were left at the site a battle ensued. That was the spark of the Texas Revolution. The idea that Texans would submit to policy if it suits them is derived all the way back to this time period. Among the chief disputes that lead to the revolution were individual rights and taxes, sound familiar?
What I think I observed was a general consensus of will not comply rather than what I see here. If I could try to describe it I would say here there are two distinct camps, hard left and hard right. What I saw in Texas is an acceptance that we are just not going to comply. For instance, in all of my travels I did not see a single pick-up flying a ‘Fuck Joe Biden’ or ‘Trump 2024’ flag which I see on any given day here. What I did see were signs that ‘such and such city government requires masks to be worn in this location’ and no one complying.
To me this means that in the hard left states like Oregon pushes the opposition into extreme positions. It is like trying to block the daily tides, you might get lucky but that is really unlikely so all you can do is hope for a miracle. In contrast, in Texas there is a general ease that this is the way things are and doesn’t require people to go to extremes to promote one side or the other.
My overall impression was pretty favorable with Texas. I have lived in the south before and I would say that Texas attitude is more refined that of say South Carolina. Of course not everything is roses, there is high heat and humidity. Fire ants and cockroaches and other bugs and no real public land. But, you cant have everything.
End Your Programming Routine: Where I will come down here is that the real difference is the urban-rural divide. It is not necessarily state lines that define attitude and behavior but common values. If you are ever driving on I5, there is a barn between Yreka, CA and the Oregon border that has a roof painted the statement ‘The State of Jefferson‘. That has been there before I was in college (mid-1990s). Despite being in California that farmer shares more in values with Ozona, TX then the next closest neighbor in Ashland, OR twenty miles away.
Maybe I am just in a snarky mood lately. In August, we received a letter from the Oregon Department of Human Services. My son’s were getting $700 a piece in the form of food stamps from the state for lack of access to food during the pandemic. The truth is, I threw away the initial letters not believing that we were getting food stamps. Sure enough one card showed up in the mail about a week later. What I can only attribute to sloppy execution, only one card showed up with the full $1400 on it.
Mind you, this is the same collection of helpful individuals that gave out free breakfasts and lunches five days a week to anyone 0-18 starting when school shut down. Lunches were bused to distribution points for those not within walking distance of the schools. Now, school lunches are now free and breakfast has always been free to my knowledge.
A little OpSec here, but last year we were audited by the state of Oregon for 2019 and they determined that we owed an additional $6000. Mind you, we paid $12,000 to the US government in addition to what was previously withheld. I am painting the picture that bills are high because my income is high.
I fail to see the connection between five days of free breakfast/lunch and a good income to qualifying for food stamps. I am not saying that no one had a hard time but the truth is I don’t know anyone that did. Someone I knew as a bartender lost her job but was making more on unemployment than working. She drew that benefit down to the last day before working again.
I do see kids using the card. I see them at Dollar Tree and Seven Eleven buying candy and junk food. I guess they didn’t have access to crap when everything was shut down and now we need to make up for it? Even the school lunches were half junk. Yes there were some fruits and vegetables along with chips and chocolate milk and rice crispy treats. The portions were such that it was almost lunch and dinner sized combined. I know because I saw the bag of carrots everyday unopened in the fridge with two too many chicken strips.
Never having food stamps before, I really don’t know the rules. It seems like they are pretty loose at ‘no prepared foods’. For instance, I learned that you can buy a fountain drink but you cannot add a straw. Once that happens, it is considered ‘prepared’. That really means almost anything edible at any store, no restaurants or alcohol. Everything else seems to be fair game.
End Your Programming Routine: I am extremely conflicted. This was my money taken from me to be used without discretion and thought. On the other hand, I do not need or want food stamps. I don’t mean to insinuate that people aren’t struggling. They likely exist in the shadows and the margins where I am not at. What I do know is that this country is awash with fraud and pork that are not necessary in the least. The decision is we will spend our money, but I wish it didn’t happen in the first place.
After spending a week in the Midwest, I can say that there is a stark contrast between the nanny states and free America. My tour was fairly limited to Minnesota and Iowa, but it was at least a sampling of somewhere else.
The biggest difference I would attribute to attitude.
I spent a night in Minneapolis waiting for my flight back home. Everyone that I spoke with said that I should walk the ‘Mall of America’ because I was only one mile away from my hotel. So, I did. And the first thing I observed was that 75% of the people were in the mall without a mask on.
I spent the majority of the week in Iowa and I would say that the status quo dissatisfaction quotient is higher there than in Minnesota. The official state policy is that masks are not required for the vaccinated. I would estimate that it was more of a 90% unmasked interaction.
My personal view is that I support right to choose. I also support the businesses right to go above and beyond and require masks. Masked were required by my employer, so I wore one even in the car for five hours with my co-worker. While in Iowa the policy changed and so did I (as well as all of the other employees).
You may live in free America… I don’t. I know that the official policy mandated by the state is mask required. I was at Costco last night and we were the other direction; 95% of the people were wearing masks. As to the others? I am not sure if they were disregarding the rules or they were taking them off after entry.
This should be the great benefit of a republic. We should have the freedom to live in idiotic states and be happy. If we are not happy, then we have the freedom to go somewhere else. Oregon has been my home most of my life but I have lived elsewhere and I am getting to the point that I would rather be somewhere else.
If we really believed in the Constitution, then the ninth and tenth amendments would be strong rather than non-existent. Specifically stating (9th) that powers not specifically mentioned in the constitution belong to the people and that (10th) the federal government only has powers mentioned in the Constitution. The ninth amendment gives the power to the state of Oregon to create mask mandates. The tenth amendment forbids 1) the existence of the FAA and 2) the FAA to require all airlines enforce mask use.
We the people have the right to create a near totalitarian hell if we so choose. We have the right to permit homeless camps to block access to municipal pumps so our houses and neighborhoods flood. We have the right to mandate business with the state require unproven vaccines that also don’t hep vulnerable people and who knows what future consequences will be. We have the right to create recycling programs that we pay for and cannot use. Because our first amendment and the freedom to assemble, we have the right to have months of daily riots and destruction without consequences. I will talk about the difference between enumerated rights some other day, but that is the premise.
End Your Programming Routine: Friday we are leaving for more of free America. We will be spending the holiday week in Texas. I am sure that there will be more on this topic later in the month. There is no surprise to me that population demographics are rapidly shifting. Oregon has grown dynamically in the last ten years because it is a cheaper California. Idaho, Montana and Utah have grown tremendously over the last couple years because they are are better and cheaper than Oregon.
Change can be difficult, especially if it has been going a particular way for a long time. I have a lot of changes going on in my life at the moment. One of the biggest one is my office space. This is the first day working in the space.
I received my desk yesterday and got it assembled. But there are new components going into my setup and not everything has made it into the space yet. So, I am half in and half out with everything spread everywhere.
I knew that if I started moving then I would need to keep at it. I still have to work while I am fiddling around with all this stuff. So, last night I got to the point where I could at least be productive during the work day. I will have to tear everything apart and reconfigure a couple of times I assume.
Plus, as of yesterday, I only imagined how it would work. I think that there is going to be some trial and error on how my desk is setup and positioning of everything. I can already see some of the consequences of my decisions but I will save that for another day.
Another transition that has already occurred is that I finished my shed roofing. I can check that off of my list of things to do. That means that I need to start moving into my next project which is cleaning up and organizing the basement and garage.
This is something that I want done, but don’t really want to do it. It is going to involve dump runs, Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity and a lot of decisions. When doing this kind of thing, it is helpful when doing this kind of activity to sequence it properly. For example, going to the dump is last because there are items that Habitat will not accept. I am dragging my feet because it is a big job to tackle.
We have transitioned out of Quarantine. We all got Negative test results last weekend so we are no longer home bound. Unfortunately, we are transitioning into another mask mandate. Honestly, I never believed that this freedom would last. I think that this state has really transitioned into a pseudo Marxist government. What does that actually mean? It means that the government is making decisions for what they think is best and the people are not allowed to proceed as they see fit.
I think by now everyone knows that we are transitioning as a family. I don’t want to say too much more at the moment other than the circumstances are difficult. Not only are we coping with grief but also trying to do it in a manner where part of those most affected are unable to join us.
There is a sociological theory called the ‘Four Turnings‘. The concept goes that there are four types of generations that repeat on a cycle. I’ll try to explain briefly but it might be helpful to read the article (see link above) yourself.
| High | High societal cohesion, calm from previous strife | Baby Boomers |
| Awakening | Low institutional faith, personal exploration | Generation X |
| Unravelling | Institutions are weak, individuals are strong | Millennials |
| Crisis/Hero | Era of destruction | WWII generation |
If you follow the theory, we are somewhere between the Unravelling and the Crisis stage as a society. It should also be said that it is not quite enough to just be born into a particular era but you need to be able to do something about it. So nearly all of the World War II people are now gone and we haven’t quite had enough of the Generation Y/Z or whatever we are naming it ascend to a place of relevancy yet.
End Your Programming Routine: Be on the lookout for the next crisis event. It very well may be on the horizon or even already has happened. As I am moving through projects and life events, the world is still moving too. You have to get your head up from time to time so that these transitions don’t occur without your knowledge.
Despite my opinion of how people and media are reacting to Covid, it doesn’t mean that I am a jerk. I found out today that my son and I were exposed to Covid over the weekend. I have been very open about my experience and I am not worried about it in the least. That being said, I don’t want to potentially expose other people until I can confirm I am safe.
That means that we are again in quarantine, at least until we get a negative confirmation. In some ways, this is going to be a good thing. We have some family health issues that called my wife out of state today for an undetermined length of time, likely at least until the end of August. My very own Father in Law is currently in the hospital as a result of pneumonia from Covid.
I am playing both roles (mom and dad) and there are a lot of activities still on the calendar before school starts. I was already planning on spending an hour and a half a day running my son back and forth for his summer job. So, this quarantine will at least help us get our footing as just us boys are home for a few weeks.
It will also help me focus on getting my roofing done. I think that I am a couple hours (4-6) hours from getting all of the shingling done. The downside is that the forecast is predicted to be in the hundreds again. If you know anything about roofing, you know that there is a sweet spot for temperature. You want warm enough for the shingles to be pliable and adhere together but when it gets too warm they start to tear easily and it gets really hot on the roof.
End Your Programming Routine: I may become erratic in the next couple of weeks. I am working around my normal work schedule and all the running around that I usually split with my wife. In addition, I am managing a high workload already plus I have a family vacation scheduled in a couple of weeks.
I couldn’t substantiate whether this story was true or not. But it is easy enough to find through internet stories that we could call it a parable. It goes something like this.
Five monkeys were in a cage with a bunch of bananas at the top of a pole. As soon as one of the monkeys started climbing to pole, he would get blasted with water until they all refused to climb the pole. Next one of the monkeys was replaced. Once the new monkey started climbing the pole, the other four monkeys would pull the new monkey down preventing him from attempting to get the bananas. Then another monkey is replaced and the same behavior is emulated. Finally, all the monkeys are new and have never been sprayed yet they have been trained to stop any monkey from climbing the pole without a real consequence.
This story seems to be mostly used in the business space to talk about office culture and to inspire to challenge the status quo. But, I can’t help to think about how we are culturally behaving as a result of Covid-19. Call it cancel culture or public shaming but people are no longer allowed to hold individual opinions that deviate from the cultural norm. And when I say cultural norm, I do mean an ignorant, non-fact based, science is settled kind of way.
The idea that science is settled is actually anti-science. There are a finite number of laws in science. Laws are provable by math and measurement. A theory is when data supports a hypothesis but it is not entirely provable or there is not enough data to support universal adoption as a law. Neither of these terms are codified because this by it’s definition is science; even laws should be continuously challenged to ensure that they are still laws.
Let’s get back to Covid and our culture. We are bombarded with radio, TV and quasi news stories about how the vaccines are safe, do our part, etc. I would call it a propaganda campaign. Admittedly, it must be pretty safe (for now) because a lot of people have gotten the vaccine. But as a scientist, I have a responsibility to challenge the accepted norm because the only way to prove a hypothesis is to test it.
My analysis of the situation is that we have the majority of society that are not qualified as scientist and failed to do their own research. They have abdicated any level of investigation to celebrities or media types rather than challenge the status quo. Given that what I believe, people have the right to be ignorant and even stupid as long as their right does not infringe on mine. In this case, we have people that are now verbally shaming and using non-qualified belief to pull the monkey down from the poll.
These were all memes that I saw yesterday that pertain to the Monkeys and the Poll parable. You can watch my Governor as a science authority within the first five minutes. This wasn’t the clip I was looking for but I think it is a perfect illustration of the propaganda campaign.
Unfortunately, I don’t think that there is much we can do about it. My best suggestion is to be aware of the world that we are living in. Pick your battles because we are not going to be able to fight them all and only the ones worth fighting. Let’s keep our calm so that we don’t make enemies out of potential allies.
End Your Programming Routine: One time I remember in seventh grade science that we had two people holding a string on each end tight. The amount of energy it took for one person to pull the string away from the other was significant. But when a third person pushes in the middle of the string, it takes that much less energy. My point is that we are not going to solve this problem using the strategies of the status quo. We are going to have to address the issue from the side where it is much easier to move the string.
This last weekend we were our and about. We started out Saturday morning at the local Saturday Market. Then we went to Costco, the local grocery store and then to the local brewery for dinner. I didn’t put my mask on for any of it. This state is still trying to waffle through it’s desire to control the population and the reality that it is eventually going to loose.
As policy is evolving, the current trend is vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks. Additionally, the CDC recommendation is that you no longer need to wear a mask …outside… alone …or not, but still remain socially distanced. I want to take a side detour on opinion first.
As we were leaving our home, my wife and I had a discussion about this. My position was that for private property reasons, I would comply with mask mandates like Costco has had in place for the entire year. But, if it wasn’t required for entry I wasn’t going to do it. Part of the reason was I wanted to see if anyone was going to say something. But, the other bigger reason was that I wanted to set an example that we do not need to be scared or shamed into the false premise. Based on the numbers I have seen, it sounds like more people are vaccinated than not. My experience last Saturday, it was more like 10-20% of the people were going mask-less.
Our first stop was Saturday Market. They had controlled entry and exit points and a directional traffic flow. The sign at the entrance said “Masks are strongly suggested”. Here we go. We walked in and I flipped down my sunglasses so I could read peoples faces before anything went sideways. Some vendors and some patrons were enjoying freedom but I got no hassle at all. My guess is more people were wishing that they had the gumption to take the mask off. Although, this is the Saturday Market and therefore this is probably an higher compliance demographic.
Next, we went to Costco. I walked into the return counter while my wife went to the bathroom. I saw probably one out of twenty people leaving the store without a mask. When I went into the store, the people that check your card asked me “Are you vaccinated? Do you have your card on you?” I said yep as I pushed the cart past them. A quick aside: No I am not vaccinated so of course I do not have a card. I have had the best vaccination which is the actual virus. The gray part of this is that they don’t really care about safety, it is about limiting liability. I knew that they were not going to force a showdown over proving that I had a vaccine card. It seemed like the longer I was in the store, the more people were not wearing a mask. My theory was that once people saw that enforcement was letting up, they started taking their own masks off.
After we put all of the groceries away, I went to the local grocery store. The sign on the door said that masks were required. I walked right in and right past the store manager. He didn’t say a word. I picked up the few items and checked out. I saw one other person not wearing a mask in the store.
Finally, we went to the local brewery for dinner and a couple of beers. It has been common behavior to have your mask on until seated for the last year. This time, I walked in to the counter to order without a mask. The Brewmaster wasn’t wearing one either, so I knew that we were going to be fine here. Only a handful of people were wearing masks following the wear it until seated protocol.
There are numerous ‘conspiracy theories’ about all of this behavior. But, we are bombarded with propaganda constantly. As I am writing this sentence, the radio is playing a song glorifying the virtues of vaccination. The best one that I have heard as of late is that the real power elites do not benefit from centralized power i.e. one nation leading the world. Therefore, by disrupting the economy and group dynamic this country has become unstable and consolidating power at the top, regardless of geopolitical boundaries.
You can choose to believe that or not but look at the mask mandates are a perfect example. 1) No, not going to work 2) You must wear them 3) If you are vaccinated, you no longer need to wear masks. I saw a couple days ago that e-mails from Fauci are being ‘leaked’ that he never believed in masks (of course he did say it himself last March so I don’t know why anyone would be surprised sources altf4.co, 11/17/2020). Get ready for his fall, he has performed his useful idiocy role in the consolidation of power.
It wouldn’t surprise me is mask wearing becomes the next racism analog. It is easy visible and will be a sign of your affiliation to the issue. I have heard and I believe it that some people will never go back to mask less. They are just too scared to do so. I think that is perfectly fine, I guess we will have to see how the political winds blow for the two groups.
End Your Programming Routine: I could probably write about this for another couple of hours. However, I am not going to change the world. What I can do is help end the fear and give people the courage to start acting human. If more people start asserting themselves, this thing will finally be over.
I am calling it. It has been fourteen days since my symptoms first appeared and I am about 98% over it. My personal experience with Covid is that it has been way overblown and people have been scared, hyped and programmed by the experience.
This post is going to be an opinion based on my personal experience. I fully admit that not everyone had the same experience as I did. I know people that were hospitalized last year and were on a ventilator for a week. That being said, never let a good crisis go to waste. Here s a day to day description
By my account, it seems like that is pretty mild. Contrast this to the last time I got sick in February 2020. I had several days of fever (starting on Valentines Day). In about a week, I developed a cough, which I never really had with Covid. The cough was so severe, that I could not sleep. I spent at least three nights on the couch to get away from everyone and to sit upright which helped. I probably got ten hours of sleep on those three days.
This has been one of my most mild sicknesses that I can remember. It could be that because of all the things we have heard about Covid that I was prepared for the worse. But, I think that it could be that this was really overblown. The hype cycle began much the same as H1N1 Bird Flu or H1N6 Swine Flu. The difference with this one is that people started getting tested and positive results. It used to be said that it wasn’t worth the cost or the time to test for influenza.
Once positive results were reported, there was a wave of paranoia and hypocondrianism set in. I have observed it on multiple occasions with my recent experience. I wanted to get tested and get a positive result so I could definitively say that this whole year has been a giant brainwashing activity. And I think that my experience is proof as such.
It has never been about Covid, but developing pneumonia as a result. Pneumonia can come from a variety of sources including influenza as well and it has always been an underreported killer, especially of old and frail people. The sad thing is that the world will never be the same. Cancel culture driven by ‘Karens’ has shamed people into wearing masks for something that has always been around and always will be.
The celebration of the ‘Vaccinated’ and the fallacy of getting back to normal is another delusion. The fact that you can now feel good about not wearing a mask outside if you have been vaccinated is BS. My wife, who was vaccinated was the one who got this first. You just cannot make this up. Remember that we only needed two weeks so that we can flatten the curve? By my math, that was over fourteen months ago and we are still locked down.
Maybe you can tell that I am worked up. I guess that I am upset that people are so gullible and lack the capability to assess the facts. More so, I don’t think that they are even looking for facts but feeling and reacting to information that someone else is saying. Gone are the days that people are skeptical of new information; it seems as though if the source came from our camp of belief then that is vetted information.
End Your Programming Routine: I am going to be ending this here. I know that if you are reading this, you probably agree with me or maybe you stumbled on this and are triggered. In the end, I don’t care how you believe, just able to justify it with facts. Maybe if someone creates a compelling argument, I will change my opinion. Right now, I am seeing a serious lack of critical thinking and analysis.
Recent Comments