Category: Daily Life

Cool, Daily Life

Lists And Things

Too many random thoughts buzzing around in my head this morning to think coherently. We shall purge them in an attempt to clear the mechanism.

  • I’m thinking of taking up a musical instrument. Guitar was my first thought (I very briefly played as a kid), and then I saw this clip. Stop what you’re doing and take a listen. Seriously. I am now contemplating the harmonica. Is there an electronic version of the harmonica that I can hear via headphones? I fear that Mrs Troutdog would divorce me if she had to listen to hours of amateur harmonica every day.
  • I was able to resist a donut (doughnut?) last night. It was an apple fritter, which is hands down my favorite deep fried treat. That level of discipline is hard to describe. Probably close to what it takes to get into Navy SEAL selection. Full disclosure, I did have an apple fritter the previous night. But in my defense, that was the first one in at least a year.
  • It doesn’t happen that often, but I’m back in a weird sleep cycle. I fall asleep in about 30 seconds, always have. But recently I’m waking up at 3-4am every day, regardless of what time I go to bed. Done, no chance of falling back asleep. Leaves me barely able to keep my eyes open in the afternoon. Started magnesium bisglycinate last night to see if it would help. Dr Huberman suggests magnesium threonate as it crosses the blood-brain barrier easier. May try that next.
  • Abdominal surgery went well, recovery is going ok (I think). Went for an easy bike ride the other day and probably overdid it. Don’t think I’m ready for ski season yet.
  • Speaking of ski season – we don’t have one. As in, no snow. And nothing on the horizon. Yay El Niño. Probably for the best. If we had great snow I’m not sure I’d be able to resist.
  • I caught myself getting sucked into the X/twitter morass this morning. Someone I followed for a while has been posting nonstop anti-Israel hate since Oct 7. Like at least 10 posts a day. I actually wanted to see what his latest post was this morning – specifically so I could be angry. It was a weird feeling realizing that I wanted to be angry at this guy. It’s probably a feeling that if he just reads my one brilliant comment, he’ll see I’m right and change his mind. I suspect that feeling describes 70% of X/twitter commenters. I took a deep breath and unfollowed. No need to encourage that level of negativity in my life.
  • Following up on my fashion post the other day, I am ordering a new pair of boots today. No it won’t fix the hot fashion mess that currently describes me, but it’s a start. At least it’s better than the $20 cheap Amazon shoes I wear most of the time (when I’m not wearing Crocs or flip flops). Fun side note, once upon a time in the ’90’s I had a trench coat. It was actually kind of a pain because it was so big, but I thought I looked good (narrator: he in fact, looked like a dork).
  • I learned from my nephews that there is such a thing as a professional Esports league. As in, professional gamers. AND you can get a collegiate gaming scholarship. We are finished as a society.
  • The Ukraine comedian/mafia boss is back in the US today looking for more money. Can anyone provide a plausible scenario in which Ukraine defeats the Russian army, pushes them back to the original border, and Russia just simply gives up? Anyone? Anyone? Please tell me why we need to borrow more money to give to a lost cause? Is it just to see another couple hundred thousand people die?
  • The holidays are my absolute least favorite time of the year. Always been that way. I do my best to not be a grinch, but sometimes I can’t help it. I am also not drinking right now to help the fashion/weight loss scenario. Please send prayers.
  • I’m reading a number of books right now. The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam and The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic. Recommend both. They’ve spawned a huge jumble of thoughts that I want to capture, but have been unable to. It’s like I have a sense of what I want to say, but it’s just out of reach and slightly foggy. I guess I’ll just have to keep contemplating. I’m always impressed by people who can articulate complex ideas. We clearly don’t teach that any longer. We’ve moved into the University of Tik Tok phase of the empire.
  • We started watching the older series, Vikings. A few thoughts… A) I wonder if I could sport the viking haircut at my age. B) I cannot sport that haircut at this age or any previous age. C) What a brutal time to have been alive. D) Fascinating that the Romans in England were a more advanced society than the feudal/tribal times that followed them. Anyway, a good series. No spoilers please.

Ok, that’s enough purging. Time to move on to something more productive. Like arguing with people on X.

Cool, Daily Life

Am I A Slob?

Somehow I went down the rabbit hole of watching James Bond clips on YouTube. Sean Connery was the man. The definition of cool and toxic masculinity. Daniel Craig was also a damn good Bond. Anyway, my point was not a film review of Bond films or how embarrassing Rodger Moore was. What got me thinking was fashion. I know, weird.

What I realized watching those clips was two things. First, very low body fat. In the Daniel Craig films it’s easy to watch and think (in an odd man-crush sort of way), wow he looks good for a short guy. Someone who’s trim and fit today stands out. And then you watch the original Bond films and realize that back then everyone was trim. It was odd to see a fat person. What the hell happened to us? Seed oils? Gluten? Microplastics in the food? Sitting in a chair for 16 hours a day? It’s a mystery.

Anyway. The second thing you notice is the fashion. Mr. Bond is always put together. He looks damn good in a tux at the casino, in a suit while out and about, or even his beach attire. James Bond is never scruffy looking. He does not wear sweatpants or baggy shirts. If you are a bad guy about to get capped by Bond, at least you were offed by someone who took the time to put on a tie in the morning.

I do not have the James Bond fashion drive. I wear baggy shorts half the year, and old jeans the rest of the time. XXL is the general theme, for both comfort and hiding an ever expanding belly. A baseball cap is standard issue since I’m always in-between haircuts. I shave once or twice a week. Let’s just say I’m never going to make the cover of vogue.

I wasn’t always like this. Once upon a time I wore a tie to work every day. I had expensive leather shoes. My slide into frumpiness started with working at the evil empire (Microsoft). I showed up to my interview in a suit and tie and quickly realized the standard software engineer uniform in California was flip flops with a t-shirt and shorts. Later, as an RN, I wore scrubs which is basically like wearing pajamas every day. I’ve never recovered.

Watching those Bond film clips got me thinking. Maybe I should put effort into dressing well every day? Analogous to Admiral McRaven’s speech about making your bed every day, I know that if you look good, you’ll feel good. And if you feel good about yourself you’ll be more likely to go to the gym, eat better, and be productive with your day.

Nobody wears a suit anymore except politicians and Wall Street financiers, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be well put together. Could I wake up every day and put on nice slacks and a sweater rather than lounging in sweatpants until 10am? Morning shower, shave, and no more baseball hats unless fishing or playing golf? Fashionable shoes rather than Crocs or flip flops? I don’t know…

Part of the problem (excuse) is weight. I’d hate to buy clothes for my current stature because I’ll be losing at least twenty pounds any day now. It’d be a waste to buy stuff that won’t fit in a few months, right?

There’s also the public image I need to maintain. What would people think if I suddenly showed up looking like a GQ model? I’m afraid folks might think I’d won the lottery and ask to borrow money. Older men just don’t radically change their appearance unless they only have a few months to live, received a large inheritance, or are newly divorced. I’m not in any of those scenarios and would hate for people to start gossiping.

But then again, it might be fun to see if I could change my public persona. Maybe I should start dressing up every day? I’m never going to look like Daniel Craig (I’m much taller), but I could still look pretty spiffy if I tried. I’d probably start getting a level of respect more fitting of my age, rather than looking like a frumpy college student buying clothes from the Costco discount bins . (full disclosure, 95% of my current wardrobe comes from Costco)

Ok, I’ve convinced myself. I am going to become a fashionable older gentleman. Maybe grow a handlebar mustache. If I wear a hat it will be a fedora. Vests and sport coats. Women will swoon.

I think this might get expensive.

PS. Do you think I need to get rid of my Crocs? I really like my Crocs.

Cool, Daily Life

Do You Believe In UFOs?

I was listening to a podcast the other day and the subject of UFOs came up. The first thing I learned is that it’s no longer UFO, it’s UAP – Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. Knowing the government they probably spent $28 million dollars to focus test the new name. Anyway, turns out there was a UAP hearing in front of congress this summer and a number of credible people testified that the government has way more info about sightings than they let on. Which got me thinking. Do I believe in UFOs?

I’d say I tend to be in the “no” camp, but I’m not willing to entirely rule them out. Here’s the way I think it breaks down:

Option One They don’t exist, or at least if they do they’ve never visited earth. I find it odd that the only “sightings” tend to be over the ocean and involve primarily the United States. Why don’t we ever hear about encounters and/or investigations in other countries? Wouldn’t aliens be equally interested in, say Japan, Saudi Arabia, or Sweden as they are the US? Also, similar to Bigfoot, for years now we’ve had the entire population of the earth walking around with cameras and video recorders 24×7 (cell phone). How come the only footage we ever see is from military pilots and airplane gun cameras? If we’re being visited I’m pretty sure we’d have captured more video/pics by now.

Option Two Why wouldn’t they exist? It’s pretty unrealistic to think we know everything about everything. For gods sake, we’re still discovering creatures in the ocean we didn’t know existed. To use a size comparison, imagine our Milky Way galaxy as the size of a tiny crumb. The known universe would then be the size of the Empire State Building. It’s estimated the observable universe contains between 200 billion to 2 trillion galaxies. To think we’re the only life form in something that vast is pretty naive. It seems reasonable that there are more advanced beings out there somewhere.

Option Three Not only have we been visited, but the government has an actual UAP crash recovery team and has biologic samples (bodies?) This was asserted during the UAP hearing. There are claims that many of the “sightings” are actually US (or other countries) objects from secret test facilities. I don’t buy this idea at all. I don’t think our government is competent enough to keep that sort of secret. Someone would talk. But then again, there are people who know the truth about the JFK assassination and that’s been kept secret for 60+ years. I will admit that it is odd how secretive the government is about sharing what it knows about UAPs. We have radar tracks and other data collected on sightings by military pilots. Why not share it?

Option Four I find it odd that almost all of the sightings are over the ocean. Many of the video footage we have show the objects rising from or diving into the ocean at speeds that would kill a human. Is there something going on in the ocean that we don’t know about? Maybe China or Russia has some sort of sub based hypersonic drone program? Maybe we do? There has to be a reason most encounters seem to be over the ocean. But… I’m still a skeptic about any government being able to keep that sort of secret.

Bottom line, I’m not sure what I think. I do think life exists out there somewhere. The universe is too vast for only one planet out of billions to have spawned biologics. Do I think life out there has evolved to the point that faster than light travel has been mastered? Doubtful.

How about you? Do you believe in UFOs? Do you think we’ve been visited?

Bonus points if you’ve been abducted and lived to tell the tale!

Daily Life

Are Dark Forces At Work?

My entire life I’ve been a good sleeper. As in I lay down, close my eyes, open them and it’s the next morning. I rarely remember dreams (if I do, they tend to be disturbing in some way). I’ve never worried about sleeping… it just works for me. Until recently. For some reason lately I’ve been waking up at 3-3:30 am every morning. It’s weird. It’s instantaneous. Suddenly my eyes are open and I’m wondering if maybe I heard something? I often have the feeling that I was in the middle of a dream, but I don’t remember what it was. At this point I’m wide awake. Going back to sleep is not an option.

I don’t understand why this is happening. I’m not stressed. It doesn’t matter what time I went to bed. It makes no difference how tired I am. It just keeps happening. While annoying, I haven’t really thought much about it. Then today, a writer I follow on Twitter/X posted this:

“There is definitely a strange energy in the air. “Dread” isn’t really my emotional struggle. Mostly it’s being flat or too intense. Been feeling those demonic emotions tho and others are noticing same, as well as 3 am waking up feeling weird. Zeitgeist change. Not a good one… Some really dark shifts occurring / stuff is at work. If you’re tuned into the fields, unmistakable sense of something being or about to be ‘off.'”

There was a flood of replies to that post all saying, “me too; started waking up at 3am a month ago; I never woke at 3am in my life, now have every day for weeks…”

I’m not a religious person, nor do I subscribe to the idea of the supernatural. But I will admit, this made me wonder. What if there is an alternate plane of energy or reality out there? Could there be forces of evil or good that exist in an alternate dimension that most of us aren’t tuned into?

All the ancient peoples, from the Norse up to the native Americans believed in good and bad forces that occasionally entered our world to attempt to influence us. All religions have some elements of this in their writings. In our recent “modern” era, it’s easy to dismiss the idea of the supernatural as rantings of hard core religious folks or primitive peoples who were uneducated and believed in witchcraft and magic to explain the world around them. But maybe those pre-modern era folks were simply more tuned in to their environment than we are?

It certainly would be easy to look around at the world today and feel that dark forces have become more powerful. The level of evil that permeates modern politics is disturbing. The lust for power, money, and war truly frightens me. The near daily videos on the internet showing unchecked looting, violence, and complete disregard for any sort of societal norms is depressing. I watch our young people, university indoctrinated in a vapid left leaning ideology, eager to demonstrate in the streets in support of murdering and kidnapping innocent civilians and wonder who’s influencing them? What sort of demon convinces someone to tear down a poster of a kidnapped child?

Again, I am not a religious person but I do wonder if our move away from more traditional Judeo-Christian family/societal values, and towards a more secular society, have invited in dark forces? The United States and Western Europe have lost their national identities. In the name of multiculturalism and globalism, the sense of community you once held is gone. It’s blasphemy to be a proud American, Swede, Englishman, etc…

By destroying the tribe, we’ve become collections of individuals. And individuals are easier to corrupt and influence as they have no allegiance to their neighbors. Lacking that common bond of familial and tribal norms that help regulate behaviors – the individual is easy prey for external and dark influences. Has traditional society collapsed enough that demons are crossing over to find easy prey and further spread dark energy?

I’m starting to think our large tech overlords may be the dark force that corrupts us all. Tech and AI is influencing everything we read, it suppresses truth, and strives to keep us enslaved to our devices. I was traveling the last few days and got a data usage warning on my phone since I wasn’t connected to wifi. I investigated and discovered I’d consumed an ungodly amount of data on Instagram. Why? I’ve gotten hooked on those stupid 30 second reels. Car crashes, funny animal videos, etc… the system is designed to keep you mindlessly scrolling for hours. I thought about it and realized I’ve been sucked into it. Every 15 or 30 minutes or so, all day long, I catch myself scrolling for a quick five minutes (or so I tell myself).

If I was a demon and wanted to drive a wedge between human interaction and create sloth, greed, and envy… what a perfect way to do it. The tech influencers are creating a dopamine dependency that makes going out and experiencing the real world seem exhausting and not worth the effort. Now that they have your zombie-like attention span, what other messaging can they begin to push?

Then again, maybe there is no demonic force that’s preying upon people. Perhaps it is just human nature in an environment of excess and no natural predators. When your day is no longer filled with physical work and you have the availability of instant information – and no need to put the effort in to study to understand the world around you, it may be that the dark forces are simply the byproduct of weak and lazy minds. Fat, bored, and fueled by easy dopamine hits, we exist in a globalist world that celebrates a lack of identity. It does seem like the perfect recipe for succumbing to the worst of human behavior. The traditional guardrails of society seem to be disappearing.

I’m not sure what to think. What I do know is that something seems “off” in the world right now. Drifting around the edges, there’s a sense that something doesn’t seem right. This worries me and I don’t know what to do about it.

All I can do is hope that when I do run into the Wendigo in the forest… I recognize it for what it is.

Cool, Daily Life

An Empty EDC Bag

A couple years ago I wrote a post about EDC and what I carried in my pockets as a nurse. I commented how much I like the idea of all the cool EDC gadgets that are out there, but I never actually buy anything because I hate carrying stuff in my pockets. My EDC is still a tiny minimalist wallet, three keys, a small pocketknife, a handkerchief, and my phone. I closed out that previous post by wondering if maybe I should start wearing a fanny pack. Fast forward to today and the past has become reality.

No, not a fanny pack. That I don’t think I’m ready for. What I did buy was a sling bag. Sort of a mini messenger-type bag. This came about after a discussion on carrying a weapon in today’s crazy times. I have been unwilling to so far for a number of reasons, one of them being weight. I suppose I could manage it during the winter with jeans and long coats and jackets, but summer would never work. I wear shorts every day and that’s not conducive to being strapped… if you don’t want your shorts to end up around your ankles. Although, I suppose I could always go the cargo shorts and suspenders route. Hmmm no, not ready for that yet. (wait, I’m now wearing Crocs and I swore that would never happen either)

Anyway, the discussion about summer carry evolved into carrying a bag of some sort, which is how we ended up with the sling bag. Me being me, I watched approximately 2,730 hours of YouTube videos on the best EDC sling bag. Decision finally made, I clicked the purchase button, and eagerly waited for my bag to arrive.

Of course once you have a bag, you’ve got to fill it with stuff! While I waited for my shipment, me being me, I watched approximately 5,280 hours of YouTube videos on EDC carry gadgets. Flashlights and knives, and carabiners. Key holders, water bottles, organizers, power bricks, and thumb drives. The amount of time people spend finding clever ways to carry stuff around is impressive. So many gadgets and doohickies! Oh my, I was in heaven.

Finally the day arrived. Yesterday my sling bag showed up. It looks to be everything I hoped it would be. I cut off the tags and explored all the pockets. I put it on, adjusted it, and practiced getting in and out of the pockets quickly. It’s a perfect holder for stuff that doesn’t look too much like a purse. But let’s be honest – it really is just a purse for men who don’t want to carry a backpack everywhere. We just say sling bag to avoid the murse label. It’s ok. I’m confident enough in my manhood to call it what it is. It’s a purse.

So there I am, admiring my new bag. I set it out on the floor and started thinking about what I wanted to put in it. And I drew a blank. I guess I could put some chapstick in there. And some breath mints. A pen maybe? I checked to see if my Kindle would fit. It does, but where am I going to go that I’d need that?

I sat there and stared at the bag for the longest time. All those hours of watching YouTube videos and I couldn’t come up with a single thing to put in there. I’ve managed to survive all of my adult life without carrying a bag of stuff around with me. How do you suddenly go from carrying a house key and wallet to becoming MacGyver with a Bat Belt full of equipment?

I promised myself that I’d at least commit to trying to carry the bag every day. We’re a week out from Thanksgiving travel. I’ll carry it every day this week, and then bring it for the holiday airline travel. That should be enough to figure out if an every day carry bag is for me.

I still don’t know what to put in it. Maybe some saltine crackers and my sunglasses? If you use one, what’s in your EDC bag?

Cool, Daily Life, Motivation

Take Action

A few days ago I was endlessly scrolling through YouTube. I’ve made several strategic mistakes lately. I made the unfortunate choice to search for some how-to videos related to stove downdraft vents, and an HVAC issue. Oh, and I watched a review of the best non-stick pans. What can I say, I’m a guy of diverse hobbies. Anyway, the end result is that my YouTube feed is now nothing but old guys extolling the virtues of half inch vs quarter inch corrugated pipe for venting and ads for the magic of diamond-copper-silicone infused cookware. Sigh. I need a separate YouTube account for research only so I don’t pollute my main feed.

But one video did make its way through and caught my eye. It was about taking action. Now the specific video was geared toward general preparedness, but the message was universal. Want to make a change? Then you need to take action.

The videos point was that “taking action” didn’t need to be a huge endeavor. Been thinking about putting a first aid kit in your car? Stop what you’re doing right now and go gather some bandaids, medical tape, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and a few bottles of water and go put it in your trunk. Takes five minutes and is probably stuff you already have in the house. Done. You took action and made progress.

It doesn’t mean you can’t add more or get fancier with your kit later on. What’s important is that you didn’t let analysis paralysis get the better of you. You took action right now and made a change. You now have a rudimentary first aid kit in your car that you didn’t have twenty minutes ago.

Taking action on one small thing is better than doing nothing. So many of us (myself especially) have grand plans for a project or eating better or exercise… yet we never get to it because we’re waiting for it to be perfect. Researching the right gym to join or what the right exercise program is. What diet should I do? I need to do something with that corner of the yard that’s full of weeds, but don’t know what yet.

Just take action. Go pull weeds for ten minutes. Then do it again tomorrow. Stop worrying about what the right exercise program is – go do a 30 minute walk right now. Go pick one cupboard in the pantry right now and throw out all the crap food. Stop what you’re doing and go organize one drawer in your office or kitchen.

All of this takes a minuscule amount of time and accomplishes something. And if you do it again tomorrow, and then next day, and the next… suddenly you’re productive and getting stuff done. Bonus, I bet you’ll feel better about yourself for having done it. And that’s the secret sauce. The reinforcement of positive actions. That tiny little hit of dopamine that makes us want to do that again.

I’m way more likely to do something that takes ten minutes than something I know is going to be most of the afternoon. It’s human nature.

So that’s my new mantra. I’m going to take action on one thing today. Anything else is a bonus. What small thing are you going to take action on today?

Daily Life

Mid Week Thoughts

I’m trying to avoid another long, rambling post inspired by my Norse ancestors that discusses in excruciating detail the world history of invasion and conquest. Therefore I’ll keep today’s post to some short random thoughts.

  • Mrs Troutdog and I have been in-transit, traveling, and otherwise had zero predictability in our schedules for at least a month now (if not longer). We came home to a refrigerator whose sole contents were half a bag of shredded cheese, mayonnaise, and two eggs. We didn’t want to shop because we’re heading out again and won’t be back until next week. I made a comment of something along the lines of “whew, it’ll be nice when we finally get back to a regular schedule”. This morning I remembered an older post I’d written addressing this false feeling. It’s a crutch to think that “as soon as things calm down” I’ll get back to my routine. I’ve been using that crutch all summer. The harsh truth is that I don’t have a routine to get back to. It’s past due time to fix that.
  • I have no idea who this politician is since I’m not Canadian. Doesn’t matter – take a moment and watch this exchange. It’s a masterclass on how to handle the press. Journalism is garbage today. This “journalist” exemplifies the media establishment. He throws out vague statements like “a lot of people would say” and “taking a page out of Trumps playbook”, yet can’t define or articulate what any of those things or people are. We need people who can call this garbage journalism out and push back on the standard narrative.
  • It’s an El Niño year and hard to tell what the snow is going to do in my part of the world. I’m torn. I want snow. We’re also in the desperate last stages of a hardscape project in the backyard that’s going to be down to the wire to complete before snowfall. I think I’ll selfishly wish for a delayed start to the season so my project can get done.
  • Speaking of ski season, I don’t know what to expect this year. I’m having surgery to repair torn abdominal muscles in a few weeks. The surgeon says I should be able to be back on the slopes in six weeks. That puts me at mid-December. In theory I should be good to go. This will be my first ever surgery. How I managed to not seriously hurt myself before this is a mystery. I have no idea what to expect. (note to self, go re-read my first point)
  • It’s fall in my part of the world and we have leaves. Lots and lots of leaves falling. I filled up six bags plus the garbage can a few days ago. There’s easily another six to eight bags worth of leaves that have fallen since then. Picking up leaves is not among my favorite yard work tasks.
  • I find it interesting that the Russia-Ukraine conflict has produced 600,000-800,000 wounded and dead. Nobody is calling for a cease-fire or pleading to protect innocent civilian life. Israel strikes back at Hamas after being brutally attacked and there’s near instantaneous wailing and gnashing of teeth to cease-fire and protect precious innocent civilians. Why is that?
  • Speaking of Hamas, the hospital being bombed story last night was the perfect representation of how the media covers the conflict. Something explodes at a hospital and Hamas instantly accuses Israel of intentionally targeting and bombing a hospital. 500 people killed! Oh, the humanity! What sort of butcher would do such a thing? The media ran with it. Members of congress condemned Israel for it. And this morning… oops, it was Hamas’ own rocket that landed in a parking lot with an unknown number of casualties, but certainly not 500. The retractions and apologies for the false story? Crickets…
  • This is our president making a statement in a pivotal moment for a potentially dangerous and escalating conflict. It’s embarrassing and frightening. I can only imagine what other world leaders are thinking. If you voted for Biden, can you now honestly say that you feel good about that choice? Was a protest vote against Trump worth having a dementia patient in charge? The curious thing is… who’s really calling the shots? We know it’s not Biden.
  • I’m going fly fishing this weekend on one of the hardest and trickiest rivers to fish. It’s world-renown. We’re going with a guide, so at least I have a tiny chance of landing something. My single goal is to not embarrass myself too badly. There’s a reason I haven’t attempted to fish this stretch before. Wish me luck.

And that’s that. Another week and a half of travel and non-routine. Then surgery and recovery. Interesting times. Go out and do something fun in the fall colors. Winter is just around the corner!

Daily Life, Motivation, woke

Mr Rogers Neighborhood

As we sit back and watch the various wars kicking off across the globe, it’s tempting to wonder how we got here? The best summary I’ve seen so far was from a meme on Twitter (X). It said in reference to the Hamas attack – all of this could have been prevented if Israel had just put “Gun Free Zone” signs up near the border. I’ll pause a minute while you ponder that.

Normal people want to live in a Mr Rogers idealistic neighborhood. Prosperity helps foster that dream. What people don’t want to talk about is the other side of the coin – A polite society can only exist with the threat of consequences for bad behavior. We’d like to think we can achieve a kumbaya, crunchy granola world if everyone would just practice being nice. That unfortunately ignores the entirety of human existence.

Until very recently, a polite society existed only because of the threat of having your skull split was the consequence of bad behavior. Nowadays we worry more about harming peoples self-esteem than deterring them from crime. I think of this every time I see the ridiculous climate protestors who block streets and glue themselves to paintings in museums. The only thing that will happen to them is they’ll be peacefully arrested and immediately released, thus achieving their protester merit badge. They make the news and get their idiotic message out.

Now, if angry mobs of blocked motorists started dragging them by their hair to the curb and giving them a bit of a pummeling… they might start thinking twice about how to get their message across. Now I’m not advocating for violence, but without consequences for your actions you can do whatever you want.

Take Israel for example. They are surrounded by nations that openly declare the desire to wipe them off the map. They have been attacked on the regular, from all sides, for 70+ years. And every time they punch back the collective world screeches for a “proportional response”. Uhm, if you haven’t been much of a student of history, here’s a dirty little secret – a disproportionate response is how you end wars. Otherwise your enemy simply regroups and attacks again. see Gaza for the last 20 years

Hamas, PLO, Hezbollah, et al., have chosen time and time and time again to be feral animals. They have decided that the destruction of Israel is more important than trying to normalize relations and build some sort of society for their people. I suspect Hamas finally pushed the envelope a bit too far this time. As the old saying goes, if ye fuckith around, ye shall findith out. If Israel doesn’t end them, it’s only going to happen again as soon as they regroup. Let’s just hope their neighbors to the north sit this one out. I’m not sure we can put the genie back in the bottle if that conflict pops off.

My point? Much of “civilized” society today has decided that worrying about hurting someone’s feelings is more important than maintaining a functional community. As you watch brazen, unchecked looting and stealing from your local Walmart, ask yourself “how’s that working out?” When glitzy Hollywood has to be told don’t risk wearing jewelry when walking around because the police can’t/won’t do anything about crime… that’s a sign things have gone sideways. Much of Europe probably secretly regrets allowing unchecked migration. Sweden now has 20+ areas that are classified by the police as “no go” areas due to crime and rape. The US is just barely starting to wake up to the consequences of allowing the cartels to control our border. It’s hard not to laugh at the Mayor of New York realizing that his sanctuary city policies aren’t working out so well.

We’re living in some strange times. Everything seems a bit upside down and opposite. I sometimes wonder how far off we are from retreating back to tribal villages that band together to protect themselves and maintain their own customs and beliefs. ’cause that whole one world globalist thing isn’t panning out so well. But that’s a little Mad Max apocalyptic I suppose. I blame it on my blocked eardrums from a dive trip last week. I can’t hear anything and it’s making me grumpy.

But then again any society, when pushed hard enough, will eventually lash out. As H.L. Mencken once wrote:

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”

Cool, Daily Life

The Men In Gray Suits

The dive boat was called the Leatherneck and she was bobbing gently at the dock. We waited to board and watched the crew getting gear together. Regulators attached to tanks and tested. BCs buckled and ready to go. Crates of weight belts waiting. Jokes were flying around in random accents as the crew was from the UK, France, and Australia.

I looked out at the ocean and was grateful the seas were calm. I had a few nerves which is not usual for me. I wasn’t nervous about diving, after all we’d dove with this same crew yesterday. What was different was the depth. I don’t have much experience with deep dives and this one was going to be to a hundred feet, down a wall.

This Caribbean island sits in the middle of nowhere, a product of tectonic plate upswelling. The end result is an island with lots of beautiful shallow water reefs that are prime for scuba diving. But if you go just a little bit further out past the reef… you reach an edge. Go over that edge and it plummets straight down thousands of feet. That’s where we were headed.

The ride out was uneventful. It was already hot and I was looking forward to getting in the water. We reached the buoy and the crew quickly tied up and started throwing out the safety lines and an emergency decompression regulator. One of the crew members gave the safety briefing and then discussed what the dive plan would be. We’d seen beautiful leopard rays yesterday and someone asked if there was a chance we’d see them again. The answer was no, they like the shallower water.

Gear on and adjusted. I shuffled to the stern and waited my turn. Received the all clear, regulator in my mouth, hand on mask, a giant stride and I plunged into the clear blue water. It’s always an odd sensation when you first jump in. Bubbles, sound, a little disorientation while you get yourself sorted out. Oxygen working. Mask clear. Octopus regulator in place. Make sure the BC is fully deflated. Check the dive computer to see that it’s working. Look around to see if I can find the rendezvous point on the bottom. I spotted the divers in front of me and headed down.

Descending down I took care to continually equalize the pressure in my ears. Checked the dive computer a few times to ensure it was tracking correctly. Once at the bottom I did another gear check. I recored a quick video with my camera to ensure it was working. We all sat for a few minutes waiting for all the divers to get down. The dive guide finally gave the signal and we all headed down towards the wall.

The reef is beautiful. Covered in colorful fans, sponges, and all kinds of bizarre looking stuff I can’t identify. Fish of all sorts were feeding and swimming by in small schools. The reef is like going through a series of hallways that kept getting deeper and deeper. Eventually at about eighty feet you could see it. The reef ended and there was nothing but dark blue water. I could see the edge.

Swimming up to it was such a strange feeling. You look down over the ledge and it’s just never ending darkness going down. Just like you’d feel on land, going over the edge goes against common sense. I’m floating and know I’m not going to “fall”… but my brain tells me something different. Took a deep breath and over I went and headed further down.

We continued down to about ninety-five feet and then began traversing across the wall. I was filming everything, while also checking my dive computer about every minute out of paranoia. The dive guide motioned us over to a crevice he was floating near. Once we were all around he took his speargun and speared a lion fish (an invasive species). I was thinking to myself, that was kinda cool since the video camera was running. The guide then pointed behind us.

I turned around and there it was. A shark slowly cruising about 15 feet away.

My oxygen intake suddenly went up about 200%. The guide then flipped the dead lion fish off the speargun and he kicked away. It took about two seconds and the shark came in at mach 2 and devoured the fish. And then suddenly, three more sharks appeared.

I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but when something out of the ordinary happens to you I suddenly have a narrator appear in my head to add running commentary about what’s happening. The conscious part of my brain was in survival mode. Check my gear. Check the depth and how much oxygen I have left. What direction is the boat? Where are the sharks? Scan behind me. Check my oxygen again.

Meanwhile, there’s a voice in my head going “am I really seeing this? am I actually diving at a hundred feet surrounded by sharks? is this real?” I couldn’t believe that this was actually happening and not something I was watching on TV.

Now if you’re a big time diver, this all sounds pretty silly. Obviously the guides deal with sharks all the time and were not worried at all. But for us part-time, every once in a while vacation divers this was a big deal. Kind of like running across a snake – the reptilian part of our brain tells us this is a situation you probably shouldn’t be in.

As we returned to the boat the sharks followed us the entire way, clearly waiting for another tasty fish. I have no idea what fabulous coral or fish we saw on the way back because I was too busy scanning for Jaws who I was convinced was right behind me.

As I neared my decompression stop, I noticed something on the inside of my mask. It looked kind of like an oil slick. Then it dawned on me. My nose was bleeding! I sat at my decompression stop watching the dive computer count down the minutes I had to stay at that depth. Meanwhile my mask was filling up with blood. Normally you’d simply clear your mask, but I knew there were a bunch of sharks swimming around somewhere below me. The last thing I wanted to do was dump a bunch of blood in the water.

I’ve never been to war, been shot at, or have been chased by an angry mob. I have to imagine this feeling was somewhat similar. Your brain is screaming at you to panic. To do something, anything. To get the hell out of Dodge as fast as possible. I could see the boat above me. I still had a few minutes of decompression to complete. The blood in my mask was now covering my nose so I was having to concentrate on not inhaling the blood – I’m sure that would not have been good.

Deep, slow breath. Check the computer. Check for sharks. Check the computer. I could feel blood going down the back of my throat. That coppery taste was making me a bit nauseous. I’m proud of myself. Those few minutes waiting were an eternity. It took every bit of willpower I had to not bolt to the surface and rip off the mask. I kept telling myself that if the navy seals can do this, so can I.

The computer finally gave the all clear and I slowly ascended to the surface. I held on to the boats rear ladder and took off my fins and handed them up to the crew member waiting for me. As I took off my mask he had a surprised look and said (in a heavy Australian accent), “ah hey mate, you’ve got a bit of a bleeder there. You may want to rinse that off.”

And that was that. I survived. No great whites attacked me. I got some great video footage of the sharks. I kept my panic under control. All in all, a successful dive. And… I did another dive an hour later. I’m a regular Jacques Cousteau. Ok, that may be a bit of a stretch. But I had an adventure and a good story to tell.

And at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. You’re only here once. Might as well have an adventure or two.

Daily Life, Government

Be Prepared, A Motto

Does anyone remember the Boy Scouts? I know I’m dating myself, but I did the whole scouting thing. Eventually we moved to a different city so I never finished my Eagle Scout, but I was pretty involved as a kid. If you didn’t know, the scout motto is “Be Prepared”. When the scouting founder, Robert Baden-Powell, was asked “be prepared for what?” He replied, “Why, for any old thing”. This way of thinking was drilled into me even further when I was a member of a Search and Rescue team. I saw first hand what happened when people wandered into the woods without adequate preparation. (hint, it was never good)

A looooong time ago I lived in California, in the Bay Area. The possibility of the big earthquake was very real. Having a minor part in my cities emergency management system, I realized what a shit show things would be if the big quake really did hit. Trust me, your government is not ready. If a couple of overpasses came down, say goodbye to your food supply (grocery stores only have 2-3 days on hand at any given time). As a result, I had a fair amount of food and water stockpiled. I felt pretty good about my ability to ride out multiple weeks of no power, water, or food.

I no longer live in California (thank god). My little part of the world is reasonably immune from natural disaster. We have plenty of water sources, don’t suffer from droughts, don’t have earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, or hurricanes. We don’t have the civil unrest plaguing so many cities right now. While we’re starting to see some homeless and a bit of increased drug traffic… snowy winters tend to keep that somewhat in check. Basically our main threat is the Yellowstone super volcano blowing. If that happens, we’re all screwed so it’s not really worth worrying about.

So as you can probably guess, my “prepping” has gotten somewhat lax. I still stock quite a bit of food and things that go bang to defend the aforementioned food. Water is not an issue. So the question is, should I be preparing more?

It’s been a long time since I gave this question any thought. But lately… the political, social, and geopolitical situation has me more nervous. We’re closer to WWIII kicking off than we’ve ever been. An EMP strike is a very real possibility. Side note, read “One Second After” if you want a realistic picture of what that would look like. Complete South Africa-like social collapse is certainly in the realm of possibility. I’d like to think my part of the world is isolated enough to avoid much of it, but you never know. China is nearing a collapse. Inflation, fuel prices and fertilizer shortages are skyrocketing the price of food. The price of cattle futures has doubled. Supply chain interruptions and food scarcity generally lead to bad things. A terrorist attack on our power grid? Yeah, that would be bad. So far this year, 160 people on the terrorist watchlist have been stopped on the border. How many snuck through?

The point is, I think it’s time to starting thinking about worst case scenarios. I filter “prepping” down to the following:

  • Does my family have enough food, water, and the ability to cook it for several months? Can we function without electricity for that length of time? Do I have the ability to defend it from people trying to take it?

That’s it. No more, no less. Nobody’s bugging out or going on the long march. We’re not setting up radio communications or coordinating neighborhood assault/patrol teams. I’m not digging a fallout shelter. None of that’s realistic. If something really bad happened, could we hunker down for sixty days and survive? If it’s still really bad beyond that… well, it’s probably end of days and Mad Max time. Nobody but the gangs and most brutal will survive that. I’m not sure I’d want to be around at that point.

My personal weak points are cooking, heating, and light. The hard part is that the solutions to those problems are somewhat expensive. It’s hard to spend money on something you hope to never use. Depending on what happens in the world this next year – it may be time to pony up and prepare.

How about you? Could your family survive a couple months without power or government infrastructure? One month? A week? It’s worth thinking about.

Whether contemplating the societal breakdown scenarios, or going backpacking, fishing, or riding a motorcycle into the backcountry, there’s a saying I like:

“Expect to self-rescue. No one is coming.”

Keep that in mind when planning stuff and you’ll be better off than most of the population.