Amerpie by Lou Plummer

Writing

Nov 6, 2024 ∞

Stream of Lou-ishness



I tried to keep my mind occupied all day with something other than hope versus awful possibilities. Spent a great deal of time trying to turn a 30 second task into a 15 second task by automating what happens when I download pictures on my computer. I looked for a new program to test so that I could write a review. I did not have the energy or desire to get far from my desk. I did absolutely zero doomscrolling of the news. I didn't read a single article about the cloud hanging over America.

After lunch, I decided what I really wanted to do was just quit my job. I've already retired once, didn't like it so I returned to the workforce. I was looking for something to blame for my malaise today and instead of assigning that blame to existential dread, I figured it just had to be the low pressure, easy job I lucked into. Yep, that's it. I started emailing Wonder Woman all the reasons I wanted to quit. To her everlasting credit, she let me rant and didn't freak out. In the end, I didn't put in my notice, but I didn't feel better either.

I don't want to go to sleep because I'm scared of what will be on my phone when I wake up. I mean what if the worst happens? I have no idea what I will do. For a long time I thought I would just withdraw into my hobbies, delete all the news apps from my devices and become apolitical, finding some way to not feel guilty for the fifty million tons of privilege that would allow me to do that. I know better. I've been reading the news without pause since the days of Watergate. I would not know how to stop.

My entire early adulthood was taken up by 12 straight years of Reagan/Bush. The thought of my dotage being taken up by something worse is horrifying. If old, straight, white guys are feeling this way tonight, what must the politically aware POC, women and LGBT citizens of America be feeling?

Is this incoherent? I don't feel like I have the words to express my anxiety, my anger and my confusion. It's not supposed to be like this. I'm so angry at the people who encouraged this, who allowed it to happen and who stand to benefit from it. I want someone to pay.\

I'm not a control freak. Most of the time I hold my chin up and deal. Like everyone else in the world, I've survived everything that has ever happened to me. I'll survive the next week and the next four years, no matter what. Right? Right?

Someone asked me to write a blog post on whether I have faith in the future of humanity and I have been putting THAT off until after tonight because whatever happens today is really going to color my answer. That's overblown and over dramatic but it is also true. All we need is more air and water pollution and drill, baby, drill and "I'm not a scientist" types. I just want to scream profanity.

America is a mental ward tonight and there aren't any doctors available.

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Nov 5, 2024 ∞

Dealing With a Toxic Boss



Have you ever had to work for someone you just couldn't respect? Have you watched your colleagues leaving one by one as you trudged through hell on earth at work? Ever worked for a hypocrite? An ass-kisser? If you can answer any of these questions in the affirmative, and I can, then you know what it brings up all kinds of emotions. When you are forced into coping with what should be unacceptable behavior, it kills your self-esteem and ends up affecting all areas of your life. In hindsight, you wonder why you put up with it.

I had a boss one time who drove by my house on his way to work but wouldn't give me a ride to when I got hit by a reckless driver and totaled my car.

I had a boss who never, ever, not once worked a 40-hour work week.

I had a boss who bought 7000 laptops that were so unsuited for their purpose that they went into a dumpster a year later.

If you are in the bad boss club, take a look at some of the survival tips in these links.

8 Toxic Boss Signs and How to Deal With Them | The Muse

How to Handle a Toxic Boss | Careers | U.S. News



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Nov 5, 2024 ∞

AMA - What advice would you give someone graduating from high school?



The question is from Brandon - What advice would you give someone graduating from high school?

This question is a cross between what it says and what I'd like a chance to do if I were 18 all over again. It would be cool to have nearly 60 years of accumulated knowledge crammed into an 18-year old head. Let's go.

Yep, go to college

All the people out there making noise about how college isn't for everyone and that becoming a plumber or joining the army are good solid alternatives, you know the ones I'm talking about, those people are anti-education conservatives who went to college themselves and who plan on sending their children. They are trying to cover for the inability or unwillingness to make education affordable to the masses like the social democracies in Europe do—the countries that aren't sending half their tax revenues to defense contractors. People who go to college make more money, have longer life expectancies, and are happier than the people who don't go.

DO NOT JOIN THE MILITARY!!!

I am a vet and I do not hate the military, but it is not a job program, nor is it safe if you happen to be female. One out of three people who enlist do not finish their service with an honorable discharge. The usual pattern for that segment of enlistees is a general discharge for some sort of misconduct, health issues, weight issues, or incompatibility with military life. For those who don't complete their enlistment, all of the wonderful benefits described by their recruiters are no longer attainable, including the educational benefits.

Exercise and Eat Right Starting Now

Don't wait until you get out of shape to start exercising. Make going for a walk or run and going to the gym a habit starting right now. Just get used to the idea that you need 30 minutes to an hour each day to take care of your body. I'm not telling you that you can't eat pizza. I'm saying don't eat a whole pizza. Also, if you never worry about your alcohol consumption, then you are doing it right. If you do worry about it, that's a very good sign that drinking is not right for you. Weed probably isn't a better alternative. You need to get used to getting high on life.

Start Practicing Gratitude

Every day for the rest of your life, take a minute and write down three things you are grateful for. Your list doesn't have to be deep and philosophical. Did you find a good parking space today? Write that down! Did someone treat you nicely today? Write it down! Make it a habit to be continually on the lookout for things to be grateful for. It will do more for your outlook on life than anything else I can think of.

Vote Democrat

The Republican Party is a front for the top 1% of Americans on the wealth scale. They've discovered things that fire up white people and made that what they pretend to represent, but what they are really about is maintaining a system in this country where the richest people get richer and the rest of us fight over the scraps. I'm not saying that the Democrats are perfect because they are not, but they do not preach white supremacy, the subjugation of women, and the perpetuation of the war machine above all other government functions like the Republicans do.

Avoid Debt as Much as Possible

Go to a state-supported school, preferably one that has reduced tuition. Start a habit of saving money from your very first paycheck. When you want something, start saving for it instead of borrowing money. There is a huge difference between what you need and what you want. Internalize that fact and let it guide your spending habits. You may want a fancy car, but what you need is reliable transportation. You may want a big screen TV in your dorm room, but all you need is the laptop you use for school.

Miscellaneous Advice

• Use protection. Kids are great and I love mine, but unplanned pregnancies change your life.

• Wear sunscreen. Kurt Vonnegut was smart AF and he said that so I am going with it.

• Stay close to your family. If you've made it this far without too much trauma, that's awesome. Family is the best mutual aid society ever developed.
  
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Nov 4, 2024 ∞

Santa Fe, New Mexico, A Magical Place to Visit



One of my Internet friends is lucky enough to be going to New Mexico on business this week. Saturday he's heading up to Santa Fe and that makes him a lucky man. My wife and I spent a week's vacation there a while back and it was fantastic. There are so many great places to eat, hike, ride bikes and make day trips to. If you are into art, there are plenty of museums and galleries to captivate you.

Here are a few places I can recommend from personal experience.

Hikes

Chamisa Trail - in Santa Fe is a beautiful hiking trail that offers stunning views of the surrounding landscape. It is a popular destination for both locals and tourists looking to explore the outdoors. You can find more information about Chamisa Trail in Santa Fe by visiting this website: Chamisa Trail Santa Fe.

Armijo Trail - Explore this 4.7-mile loop trail near Cedar Crest, New Mexico. Generally considered a moderately challenging route, it takes an average of 2 h 11 min to complete. This is a very popular area for hiking and horseback riding, so you'll likely encounter other people while exploring.

Restaurants

The Shed - Located in a building dating back the the 1660s - We offer locals and visitors alike a time tested taste of the best that Northern New Mexico has to offer both in cuisine and hospitality. We are a family owned and operated business now under the management of the 3rd generation of Carswells. Visitors and locals returning to Santa Fe don't feel like they have arrived in Santa Fe until they have tasted the Shed chile once again.

Bumble Bee's Baja Grill- Great vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options along with organically raised meats. "When we say the “freshest of ingredients” we mean that all our meats are freshly grilled to include a fine selection of skirt steak, natural New Mexico lamb, Mahi-mahi from off the coast of South America, farm raised shrimp, skinless chicken breasts and tender pork carnitas which are braised and slow-cooked in special spices. We also prepare whole natural chickens that are marinated with our secret recipe and roasted on an imported French rotisserie. Fresh vegetables and fruits are brought in daily to prepare the savory garnish and fillings that adorn many of the selections."

Drive

The High Road to Taos - This route takes the traveler through an authentic remnant of Old Spain, still evident in the religion, architecture, topography, history, and people along the route. The byway travels through Chimayo, a community known for the beautiful Santuario de Chimayo and the El Posito, a hole in the floor of a side chapel filled with healing earth. Along N.M. 76, the byway follows through the creased and crinkled badlands, polka-dotted with scrubby piñon and juniper, with the Jemez Mountains enormous on the horizon.

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Nov 4, 2024 ∞

A Trip That Changed Me from Ask Me Anything



My Internet friend, R. Scott Jones, asked - What's one place you've traveled to (or perhaps an entire trip) that changed you? Tell us how you changed because of it, and why you think it inspired that change.

I've lived for all but a very short period of my adult life in the same southern military town where I went to high school. Most of my vacations have been to the beaches or mountains of the same state I live in. My military service took me to places like Texas and California, but never out of the United States. Then, over a period of three years during the beginning stages of the US war in Iraq, I became a traveling fool. My activism against that war took me to college campuses and demonstrations all over the US and Europe.

The way that happened was a matter of luck, politics, and maybe a tad bit of exploitation. I learned a lot about group dynamics, organizing, and the far left as it exists in the United States. I was a member of a tiny little community group in Fayetteville, NC, protesting the death penalty and other social justice issues. Then 9/11 happened, and George Bush and Co. decided to attack Iraq because 19 Saudi Arabians attacked the US. My son was in basic training in the Navy on 9/11 and was on the way to report to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower after completing Navy Nuclear Training when the first bombs fell on Baghdad. He was home on leave and went to a demonstration against the war and held a sign that said "No Blood for Oil." He was interviewed by an AP reporter. When he reported to the ship, he was brought up on charges and convicted. It was bullshit because even members of the military have free speech when they are off duty, out of uniform, and not purporting to represent the government. Thousands of GIs did it during the Vietnam War.

I was pissed about the way he was treated and told the story at a small gathering of activists I attended. In attendance was an instructor from the University of NC-Greensboro who was a member of the International Socialist Organization (ISO). He led the student group there and had ties with the national headquarters in Chicago. He approached me and asked if I would mind coming to his school to speak, and I agreed. I didn't know that I was being auditioned. When I spoke at the school, members of the national cadre were there, and they liked what I had to say and how I said it. Before I knew it, speaking invitations started pouring in. I was eager to represent Military Families Speak Out, a national organization I was trying to organize for, so I went to every place I was invited.

They asked me if I wanted to go to Paris to speak at the World Socialism Conference on an anti-war panel, and I agreed. I didn't even have a passport and had to hustle to get one. I was there for nine days. My roommate was a man named Shuja Graham, a former Black Panther given the death penalty for the death of a correctional officer in a prison riot, later exonerated, as he was not actually involved in the murder. I'm a former prison guard myself, but Shuja and I got along just fine. I met leftists from all over the world and started to see some of the nitpicking differences for which that strain of politics is known.

I didn't do much classic tourism, other than visiting Notre Dame and the Seine one afternoon. I spent much time talking politics and drinking. I went to a demonstration organized by the French League of Communist Revolutionaries and bought a Palestinian scarf from the Italian Communist Party, whom I later learned were Stalinists. My hosts, the ISO, were Trots, disciples of Leon Trotsky, an early Communist thought leader assassinated on Stalin's orders. Most of my far-left-leaning political friends back home belonged to an organization associated with Maoism.

When I returned home, I continued to speak out and travel, eventually going to Italy and Great Britain on ISO-sponsored trips. As the anti-war movement grew, some activists got lots of press, like Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq who gained fame for camping out in a ditch outside of Bush's Texas ranch. Another became known for appearing in Michael Moore's movie, Fahrenheit 911. GI resistors started getting attention and invitations to speak. People organizing against the war competed to see which well-known person they could get to come to their demos. Factions developed. It was distasteful. The ISO cadre, whom I had come to look upon as my friends, suddenly wanted to dictate to me where I could and could not speak, depending on the politics of the organizers. I was outraged because I was on one team, Team Stop the War. That was my goal. I wasn't trying to grow anyone's membership or advance some nuanced understanding of far-left politics. I just wanted for kids like my son to quit being sent to die in Iraq.

Although I remained very much against US policy, I made the abrupt decision to quit traveling and speaking after making one last trip to Atlanta for an event that had nothing to do with any political group. Thereafter, I attended meetings of the same hometown organization I started with and went to our tiny demos happily. My adventures on the national and international stage were enlightening, and I got to meet a lot of military families and hopefully discourage a few young people from joining up. My adventures with the ISO, of which I must stress, I was never a member, were enlightening, if for nothing else, to see a small slice of American culture that most people never experience.

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Nov 3, 2024 ∞

Can Any Here Be Objective?



I am one link in a chain of military service stretching over four generations. I didn't go to war, as the period between 1983 and 1989 lacked one to send me to. They only needed a few guys for the invasions of Grenada and Panama, and I wasn't one of them. I've lived in military towns for most of my life. I'm also a committed progressive, somewhat to the left of almost everybody you probably know. I've learned over the years that no one on either side of the political spectrum has an objective view of the people who actually serve in the military. People on the right insist that they are all heroes fighting for our freedom, even the truck mechanics who spent four years in the motor pool at Ft. Hood and got out. People on the left vacillate between calling them victims of the war machine and mercenaries, depending on which ones they are talking about.

Practically the only folks who have an objective view of who soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are, are those men and women themselves. Here's what one of my friends, a former special operations soldier (Green Beret) said about himself and his fellows on why or why not military service makes you more American than other people.

They volunteered to be there, they get compensated for their time just like any other person that works any other salaried job, they have employment benefits rarely seen outside silicon valley and wall street, they travel the world, have the opportunity to pursue degrees at no cost, and the majority of their day is spent just sitting around waiting to go home. Once they leave service, if they have long-term effects from service they will be compensated for those for the rest of their life tax free, have access to healthcare for reduced cost, reduced cost life insurance, access to programs and services that allow them to build business, buy homes, and send their children to school with no money out of pocket, and will be able to tell outlandish stories with little ability to be fact checked even in our social media obsessed culture. BUT, they are more American because they do something that you feel guilty for not doing yourself. Like the garbage collectors, the police, firefighters, teachers, janitors, landscapers, painters, carpenters, roofers, plumbers, teachers, nurses, etc…

Military Life | The Point Magazine

What is something that civilians don't realize about the military and its members? - Quora

Public, Veterans Agree: Most Americans Don’t Understand Military Life | Pew Research Center

Defense Finance and Accounting Service > MilitaryMembers > payentitlements > Pay Tables

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Nov 3, 2024 ∞

I'm An Expert on Relationships, LOL



The November Ask Me Anything blogging challenge is going well. Today's question is once again from @annie@social.lol on Mastodon. She wants to know, "What's an important lesson you've learned about relationships?" As a happily married guy, albeit in marriage number four, I feel fully qualified to share my expertise on this one. Anyway, relationships also include friends, work, and more.

High School Sweethearts

I got married the first time to my high school sweetheart. I was 18, she was 17. We already had a baby and had another one pretty quickly to boot. Today, all four of us are doing OK. Getting an early start on children made me a young grandparent able to do plenty of stuff with my huge collection (13) of descendants. Although the marriage didn't last long (three years), it did not ruin my life in any appreciable way.

Don't Marry Someone You Meet in Rehab

I don't really need to explain this one, do I? Also, ten-year age gaps create certain realities, many of them not positive. 1/10 Would not recommend!

Even Good Relationships Can Wither

I think it's fine, healthy even, to have interests and hobbies different than those of your partner, but interests and hobbies need to take second place in a marriage. The most important thing in a marriage is the other person in it. Taking them for granted or assuming that all the hard work is in the past is unwise. That's all I have to say about that.

Good Relationships Have Requirements

It is quite possible to be true to yourself and also put your partner's needs at the top of your list. My relationship with Wonder Woman works because I have respect for her needs. I know what things are important to her, and I accept that without argument. She does the same for me. She kind of had to train me, and I had to allow myself to be trained. I don't think either one of us has extravagant demands. We have evolved into a couple that spends most of our time together. Most of what we do, we do together. I don't go running with her, but I do go to most of her races. When we are at home, we spend most of the time in the same room, often within an arm's reach of each other. We always kiss goodbye, including before work, at lunch, and before sleeping.

Work is Hit or Miss

In the job I retired from, I made several friends that outlasted my employment. A couple of them have lasted more than 20 years. We've done things socially, been to each other's houses. I've watched them get married and have kids just as they've watched my family grow. I believe in being friendly with the people I work with and finding out about their lives. I had the same boss for many, many years, and the guy was so disinterested in everyone who worked for him. He didn't know anything personal about his employees, and I just marveled at his indifference. Most work relationships don't evolve into friendships, but I think it's important to humanize my co-workers and not see them as cogs in a machine.

Organizations

I'm an outspoken and energetic person. When I'm in a group of people with a common purpose and something needs to be done, I don't mind voicing my opinion about the direction we take, nor do I mind stepping up to do the work. I don't know how to be any other way. The upside to this is lots of people appreciate you. The downside is a lot of people resent you. I don't like being resented, but what I like even less is a group of people staring at each other, waiting for someone else to make the first move.

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Nov 2, 2024 ∞
My Favorite Better Touch Tool Actions
Better Touch Tool, an app from Folivora.ai is one of my favorite automation apps. Here are a few of the shortcuts I use with it.
• ⌘+Q - Runs an Apple Script that prompts “Are you sure you want to close this app”
• shift+shift - opens/closes notification center
• control+control - reveals desktop
• option+option - reveals all Windows
• esc+esc - activate screen saver/lock screen
• fn+e - Raycast emoji picker
• fn+v - Raycast clipboard manager
• four-finger click on MTP - activate screen saver/lock screen
• one finger click on bottom center of MTP - Google search
• three finger tap on MTP - simulate alt+tab
Nov 2, 2024 ∞

An OG Blogger Who Is Still at It



Jason Kottke began blogging in 1998. In 2005 he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award (LOL). In 2024, he's still at it and still getting new subscribers. Although he is a designer by profession, he's made his living through subscriptions to his blog, ad and affiliate income since 2005. A Vermont, resident, Kottke has a world-wide audince, may of them who have followed him for many years.

In a recent discussion among the members of his website at kottke.org he wrote the following introduction, while asking his readers to also introduce themselves.

I'll go first: My name is Jason and I live in VT with my two kids. I'm struggling with the increasing darkness & cold of stick season here in VT and some early-onset empty nesting, but I'm trying to combat it by biking as much as I can before the snow flies. My son and I are watching Devs (a rewatch for me) and I'm listening to Percival Everett's James on audiobook, which is incredible so far. I can be found on Instagram, Threads, and Mastodon, but I'm enjoying Bluesky the most these days.

Kottke's blog is a mix of original writing and his comments on news and feature articles. On the blog's 25th anniversary, Om Malik, noted Silicon Valley write commented:

Kottke, the blog that curates the best of the whimsical and creative web and reflects the eclectic personality of its founder, Jason Kottke, is turning 25.

Martin Kelley said:

he never tried to ramp his site up to become a media empire. No venture capitalist money, no clickbait headlines, no pivot to video or other trendy media chimera

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Nov 2, 2024 ∞

Please Make It Easier!



In the continuation of the Ask Me Anything series, today I am tackling a question from Annie, first answered by Keenan, Estebanxto and Kerri Ann - if you could instantly change one internal pattern/thing about yourself, what would it be?

This is an easy one. I would turn myself into a natural people person on the spot. I'd love to live in a world where relationships were easy for me. I can come across as personable and friendly, and there is a large part of me that truly is that way, but it takes so much effort. I make the effort because I enjoy the rewards and reactions I get from being that person, but my god, it takes so much energy and concentration. Left to my own devices and true nature, I'd silently do my own thing, content to be left alone most of the time.

For a long time in my life, I acted very taciturn, rarely showing much emotion other than irritation. I was pretty gruff. It was all to keep people at a distance because I was so clueless about how to deal with them. I grew up moving once or twice a year, and my first 14 years on planet earth were spent always being the new kid. I didn't know what it felt like to be settled or to have long-term relationships. As an immature new kid, I felt like I always had something to prove, and if it backfired, my natural inclination was to angrily withdraw.

In early adulthood, I dealt with substance abuse and mental health issues, both of which I sought treatment for, and after a myriad of struggles, finally got on top of. When I finally entered long-term sobriety, I realized that I absolutely needed people in order to be healthy, and that's when I decided to drop the gruff, grouchy, grumpy nature that I had always used. I was 43 years old. At work, I adopted the attitude that I would have were I self-employed instead of a civil servant. I really concentrated on being friendly and approachable and started thinking about how other people felt. I was at that job for 20 years, and I'm still friends with people from there. All of them will tell you that I had a mid-career personality change.

In my personal life, I decided to start sharing the things I loved, which at the time were 12-Step meetings and riding my bike. I'd spent the last decade heavily involved in activism, always struggling against the things that made me mad at the world. Bush's wars, Conservative attempts to punish LGBT people, criminal justice inequality and more were things I organized against, but it had taken its toll on me. I stepped away from that and directed my energy into being the guy who was just grateful to be sober another day. When I realized I had a talent for endurance cycling, I became an evangelist about it to people who were interested, constantly talking people into attempting challenging bike rides of greater and greater distances. I met Wonder Woman at one of those rides.

I finally learned how to make small talk. I adopted the role of a nurturer and started trying to make people comfortable, whether it was on a bike ride or at work when I went to help teachers and administrators with various computer problems. It was about this time that my grandchildren started entering the world, and I found that to soften me up a bit as well. I remember explicitly training myself to smile more.

Today my problem is maintaining that friendly persona. It takes a lot of energy and sometimes I run out. "What's the matter Lou? Why are you so quiet?" is something I hear with regularity. There's nothing actually wrong. I just need some time to recharge my batteries and be still. By design, our home is a quiet place. It's relaxing. I have become an extrovert with introverted tendencies.

When I look at people I know who seem to be always on their game, friendly and helpful by nature, I marvel at how they do it. I wonder if it even takes any effort on their part. I have a coworker who can talk to anyone and keep a calm demeanor throughout it all. He rarely complains and is always there to help when asked. Someone recently said that the two of us were alike, and I took it as a great compliment. Maybe I'm getting better at maintaining a friendly outside when my inside isn't feeling it. I hope so. It sure took long enough!

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Nov 1, 2024 ∞

Writers from The First Day of Weblog Posting Month - Ask Me Anything



Today bloggers across the IndyWeb started doing AMAs with questions from a variety of sources. Here are the writers I found with tagged Mastodon posts.

I remember every mean thing anyone ever said to me - By Keenan answering "If you could instantly change one internal pattern or thing, what would it be?"

Kicking Off Ask Me Anything for the November Challenges | Living Out Loud - Yours truly answering "Why do you have the politics you do?"

😣 Perfectionism is Exhausting | And So It Goes… - Kerri Ann answering the same question as Keenan (above).

Writing Month #1: Things I Was Wrong About – Matt’s Weird Little Garden - Matt answering "What have you been wrong about?"

What do I do for work, and drink? - [Gabz/mL] gabz answering "1) I would actually love to read about your work (genetics? agriculture?) but I'm not sure how to phrase the question other than "So what do you do for work exactly?" but maybe more like what's something you really like about your job? (or hate) or what's your typical workday like? and 2) what's your favorite brand and/or flavor(s) of fizzy water? I am a fizzy water drinker till I die."

If you could instantly change one internal pattern/thing about yourself, what would it be? - Ask Me Anything Challenge #WeblogPoMoAMA | A wannabe blog Estebantxo answering the same question as Keenan and Kerri Ann (above).

Musing with the Magpie · Writing Month Day 1 Magpie answering "What are you doing to prepare for the coming winter?"

WeblogPoMo AMA #1: Work And Drink | Leon Mika - Leon Answering the same questions as gabz

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Nov 1, 2024 ∞

Kicking Off Ask Me Anything for the November Challenges



Question: Why do you have the politics you have today?

In real life, outside of my family and a couple of close friends, I rarely talk politics unless someone says something real backwards around me, in which case I speak up. I consider any endorsement of what passes for Republican policy to be backwards, so I'm not going to let anyone subject me to it. I don't go around preaching to anyone and all I want is the same treatment.

That's the root of my politics right there. It's the golden rule. I want to live in a society where people treat other people the way they want to be treated. Republicans want a two tiered system where there is a definite advantage given to white, native born people. They want to explain away the disparity in educational achievement and the rates of incarceration by acting like minorities are stupid criminals instead of using our joint national resources to bring about a better system. If I were poor (again) I'd want to be treated with compassion, not scorn.

Conservatives want a government that puts more money in their pocket and screw everybody who isn't like them. I want a government that provides for the common good. don't believe in a government that foster's an elite class who get to skip paying taxes on their yachts and jets. I think that the effective tax rate for people who live off accumulated generational wealth should be at least as much as the people who clean their houses.

In order to have the kind of country I want, the insane amount of money that gets funneled to defense corporations has to be drastically reduced. Our government has a vested interest in keeping people scared of terrorists, the Chinese, the Russians, Mexican drug lords. None of the money spent towards combatting that lengthens lives the way it would if it were spent on cancer research and improved medical care for everyone.

I want to live in a country with educated people because I believe education to be important. I worked in schools for decades and I know how dedicated teachers are. Republicans have fostered a narrative that schools are failing and it isn't true. They use any excuse to avoid spending money on education, preferring to give tax cuts to those who already have the most money. They want to give money to private schools that allow non-certified teachers to tell children that men and dinosaurs walked the earth together.

I believe in science. Only a fool would look at the rapidly changing climate and think the best thing to do is drill more oil wells, but that is the policy Republicans want. I want to drink clean water and breath clean air and I don't want to be told how spending the money for those basic life giving necessities sin't good for the balance sheet of some billionaire.

So there you have it. Those are my reasons. I don't think the Democratic party has the solution to all those problems, but they are a hell of a lot closer than the alternative. The two party system is terrible. There is too much money in politics. I hope we incrementally change the system to something that better serves more people, especially those that need it most.

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Oct 31, 2024 ∞

Calling All Bloggers, November is Almost Here



Alright, all you bloggers, November is the month to get behind the keyboard and show everyone what you can do. There are three "challenges" going on at the same time! Crazy, huh? A challenge is nothing more than a soft commitment on your part to write within a certain set of guidelines. There aren't any prizes and it doesn't cost anything.You just get a sense of satisfaction and a chance to use some cool hashtags during the month.

National Blog Posting Month

From Indyweb.org

It was started in 2006 by Eden Kennedy "as kind of a joke because I'd failed at NaNoWriMo the previous year". [1] In 2010, NaBloPoMo was sold to Blogher.com. Blogher continued to run NaBloPoMo, expanding the challenge to every month of the year until around 2017.

The BlogHer site no longer contains any mention about NaBloPoMo and the former link for it redirects to the homepage. Many people still participate using Twitter hashtag #NaBloPoMo.

• First post with the idea: 2006-10-14 Eden Kennedy: NaBloWriMo! (archived)
• Renaming the idea: 2006-10-15 Eden Kennedy: NaBloPoMo (archived)

Writing Month

From WritingMonth.org

In November 2024, 255 authors plan to write a total of 9,564,016 words towards their projects.

Pick your own goal that best challenges you and write your novel, short stories, poems, stage or screen play, blog posts, or any other writing project as part of a growing community of writers.

This is Writing Month.

WeblogPoMo AMA

From WeblogPoMo (see full post for more details)

This challenge is to foster writer interaction: write a blog post starting with a question—the AMA—and then answer the question yourself in the blog post. Others will likewise write AMA/question posts, but also answer the AMA/questions from other bloggers, linking to their initial post.

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Oct 31, 2024 ∞

I've Been Accused of Hoarding



When Wonder Woman decides she doesn't need something anymore it gets tossed into recycling, or it gets donated. When I decide I don't need something right now, I place it aside because you never know, I might need it later. Therein lies a slight problem. She looks at my stuff with a rapacious gleam in my eye, and from time to time I get a wee bit offended and protective of my stack of eight different sizes of jeans.

One place I can hoard to my heart's content is on my computer. I have stacks of external hard drives full of, well, stuff - movies, music, 25-year-old website archives, multiple backups of photos. I also have accounts in iCloud, Google Drive, One Drive, Box and Dropbox with files on all of them. I have files I created in Microsoft Works, a program that was discontinued 15 years ago.

When it comes to music, of course I have a subscription to one of those all-you-can-eat services, where I can listen to almost everything but the ripped CDs I bought at coffee houses and bars in the far distant past, but I worked hard to download all that music from Napster and I just don't want to let go of it.

I've carried a smartphone around in my pocket since shortly after the iPhone was released. At work, I have always snapped pictures of bar code stickers we used to identify computers, the admin panel on printers, lights on switches and routers and all kinds of serial numbers. I have a career's worth of those photos that I only occasionally cull.

The 2009 iMac I used as a Plex server to watch movies hasn't been plugged in for four years, yet it and all the movies I ripped back in the days when Netflix sent you DVDs in the mail are still located in our family room. When I hear one of my friends talking about their movie streaming setups, I have to stifle the urge to bring them a hard drive to fill up for me. We subscribe to EVERY channel and don't have time to watch what we are already paying for, and here I am thinking of ways to get more.

I went through a collection of articles I'd saved today "to read later". It went back several years, and you could see my learning and interests patterns through different periods. I had dozens of saved YouTube videos on deadlifting and squatting from my power lifting days. There were tons of articles on stupid shit Trump did from 2105-2020 when I was building up my encyclopedic knowledge of his many faults. I had to trash a bunch of NYT and WaPo articles because I'm mad at them and canceled my subscriptions. I had automatically saved the entire blogging content of two of my favorite writers, Matt Birchler and Jarrod Blundy over the course of 2024 and had to eliminate all but the reference material from those prodigious writers.

Of course, I have every tech guy's obligatory box of various cables and connectors. You just never know when you might need a 30-pin iPod cable or s-video adapter. FireWire might even stage a comeback. Stranger things have happened. I think there's even a Windows 7 laptop, sans power cord, around here somewhere that hasn't been booted up in 12 years. We have an extra iPad that I keep trying to think of a use for, and I am still holding on to my last Apple Watch, thinking I might make it my nighttime sleep recorder. I've been thinking about that for quite a while.

Anyway, when Wonder Woman reads this, it may be my last blog post, so if y'all don't hear from me, you'll know she beat me to death for not getting rid of some of my very valuable personal possessions!

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Oct 31, 2024 ∞

Elephas Did What Others Wouldn't



I had a real-world task today that was perfect for AI, except all the tools I tried kept quitting halfway through. I had a list of over 100 URLs that I needed to convert into a Chrome bookmark file for an import I was trying to do. This involves going out on the internet to get the title of each page and formatting an HTML link, complete with the correct header and footer.

I tried:

• Google Gemini Pro
• ChatGPT Web Interface
• Typing Mind

All three of these would generate between 40–50 lines of code and then quit. The last app I tried was Elephas. I used a very simple prompt, "You are a web developer. You create web pages based on descriptions given to you." The reason Elephas succeeded where others failed was because of the choices it offers in AI models and the limits on them. It allows you to choose between:

• OpenAI (15 different choices)
• Groq
• Claude (7 different choices)
• Custom (local)
• Gemini (four different choices)

I selected gpt-4-turbo and was able to set the context tokens to a max of 100,000. It took a while to generate the file, but it finally did it in a usable format.

Elephas has a variety of pricing plans for both subscriptions, starting at 8.99amonthforlimitedusageupto249 for a lifetime plan with unlimited tokens. I use the version that is available through Setapp with my own API keys for OpenAI and Gemini, for which the charges are negligible.

Another interesting feature of Elephas is its ability to scan folders of documents on your local machine and incorporate that knowledge into its answers. I have an Obsidian vault with 7K notes that it uses, as well as a 1GB directory of PDF files on various topics. It can also do all the standard things we've come to expect from AI apps:

• Generate ideas
• Summarization
• Write articles (don't do this, it's lazy)
• Answer questions
• Reply to emails

There is also an iOS version of Elephas.

✉️ Reply by email

Oct 30, 2024 ∞

3 Productivity Tips and Apps



Here are three cool things I've learned about recently.

1. Create a cumulative clipboard with Popclip

Popclip is an app that does all sorts of things with text you select, from sending it to different apps, to formatting it, looking it up on Google, adding it to your calendar. One trick I learned it can do is to create a list from things you copy to your clipboard, so that you can copy 10 different things and then paste them all at once.

2. Access Menu Bar Commands from Anywhere with Better Touch Tool

Better Touch Toolis an app that lets you create an infinite amount of shortcuts and automations with your keyboard, mouse and trackpad. One of the things I set it up to do is add the menu bar commands to where ever my cursor is located when I type the ⌘ twice. I don't have to remember any shortcuts other than that one to use all the available commands in any program

3. Use Raycast to Auto-Quit Apps

Raycast is a free keyboard driven app launcher similar to Spotlight, except it has superpowers and can replace all kinds of other programs on your computer, like your clipboard manager, your emoji picker and your window manager. One cool feature you can use on a case by case basis is to have it quit programs you aren't using automatically. Macs do a good job with memory management, but after a while your interface gets cluttered if you leave everything open. Just set Raycast to certain quit apps if they go 10 minutes without being used.

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Oct 30, 2024 ∞

Nothing Lasts Forever



One of the central tenets of Buddhism is that everything is decaying. Eventually, everything falls apart. One just has to buy a home to see the truth in this. Trust me. Today, lots of people were disappointed that a well-liked Internet service, Omnivore, which allowed you to save articles to read later, subscribe to newsletters without using your personal email, and have some articles automatically archived, was turning off its servers on November 15. Some folks had just transitioned to using Omnivore, only to find that their efforts were now wasted. It was my favorite way to read a couple of my favorite writers, so I had to scramble to come up with an alternative.

People have seen it happen time and again. Huge, popular websites and companies have just disappeared or changed so completely that they are no longer the same: MySpace, Digg, StumbleUpon, Epinions, the list is endless. We are used to it now. That's why I say people were disappointed rather than shocked.

If you look at stats, the average length of time that people stay in a job continues to decrease. In 2024, it's a reality that in order to grow your wages, you often have to move from one employer to another. Pensions are very rare these days. Most of us have self-funded retirement; some are lucky to have an employer contribution, but our accounts are portable, unlike in the past. Even jobs that were once looked at as lifetime opportunities aren't the same anymore. I am a retired state employee, and one of the benefits I earned is lifetime health insurance. Too bad for new hires, though. The Republican state legislature took that away from future retirees, including teachers.

I have seen landmark restaurants close their doors forever. It makes me really sad to think that my beloved Zorbas, the diner at the end of my street where I have eaten for 30 years, will be gone one day. I don't think that one set of my grandchildren has ever spent the night with us without going there for pancakes on a weekend morning. Things can be so central to our lives, and then one day they are just gone.

Some great films from the early days of the movie industry weren't preserved, and the works of people like Rudolph Valentino, Clara Bow, and many others from the silent era will never be seen again. The military records of hundreds of thousands of World War Two veterans were burned in a fire at a VA records warehouse in the '60s, and the information on them is not retrievable. People think that the advent of computers means that data will last forever, but that's not true. CDs, floppy disks, and hard drives all have life spans, and if the data, whether it be pictures or music or books, isn't continually moved from one medium to another, one day it will be gone.

I am of an age where my much-loved grandparents are long gone. Nobody likes to dwell on death, but we know that as we age, the frequency at which we confront it accelerates. Our relatives, our peers, our heroes, and idols begin to leave. I still find it hard to believe that I live in a world without people like Muhammed Ali and Hank Aaron, but I do.

So, as trite as it may be, I'm using this reflection to encourage you (and myself) to savor what we have right now. Call your mom. Eat at your favorite restaurant. Read your favorite magazine. Watch your favorite TV show. Enjoy it all. One day it will all be gone.

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Oct 29, 2024 ∞
Betrayed By the Internet Again

If you stick around the Internet long enough, you will inevitably see some of your favorite websites and apps disappear right before your very eyes. Today, many people were disappointed to hear that an incredibly useful and free read-it-later service, Omnivore had been purchased by another company. The announcement email gave users until November 15 to export their saved articles, stating that the companies server's would be erased after that date.
There are a number of other read-it-later services and apps people can turn to. My choice is one that's been around a long time, Pocket, owned by the Mozilla foundation, the organization behind the popular Firefox browser. I like Pocket because it's affordable, less than $4 a month when you pay for a full year. It's archiving feature is limitless and it saves a copy of the articles you add regardless of whether they are later removed by the original publisher. You can add multiple tags to your saved articles and it call all be exported to extensible apps like Obsidian. You can save articles to Pocket with a browser extension or straight from an RSS reader like Inoreader.
Other options include:
• Instapaper
• Readwise
• Matter
• Goodlinks App
• Anybox App
  
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Oct 29, 2024 ∞

A Meditation on Nice People



A long time ago, a friend of mine told me that in life, you find what you look for. I believe that to be true most of the time. I'm always on the lookout for nice people. Thinking about them is a tool I use in my personal gratitude practice, a daily exercise where I record three things I'm grateful for. I have been doing it for years. There's never been a time in my life when I couldn't find some folks with kindness in their heart. Even during the years when I worked as a prison guard, there were inmates who did kind things in a non-manipulative way. I used to drink coffee continually on that job. You could buy a packet of Taster's Choice in the canteen for a dime in those days. An old con who cleaned the area around my desk gave me some sage advice one day. "Mr Plummer," he said, "Don't ever put that coffee cup down and turn your back on it. These boys will spit in it if you do." It's been almost 40 years since he told me that and I still remember him for saving me from that indignity.

During the years I worked as an IT tech in the school system, I would always be showered with gifts at Christmas. Teachers would bring me baked goods, iTunes gift cards, coupon books, CDs and more. With all that teaching involves, remembering the guy who comes around once in a while to look at your laptop takes some real effort. When I took a mid-career break to get married and go hiking for six months, many of those teachers send care packages to my wife and I with edible treats, socks, bug spray and other things from our wish list.

People with demanding, public facing jobs who maintain their cool and make others feel welcome have a special gift. The wait staff at my favorite diner, even when they are slammed, still acknowledge their regulars. They are still nice and patient with kids. They take a minute to crack jokes and to make fun of me for always ordering the same thing.

So many of the tools I've learned to love on my computer are apps that some developer has made and given away for free. Everything I know about creating a blog is a result of freely distributed guides and tutorials. The number of letters I've gotten from complete strangers on the Internet to thank me for something or to encourage me or to praise me is just astounding. People will go out of their way just to make someone else feel good and I think that is awesome. Yes, I have also experienced some meanness online but it's overshadowed by kindness.

I think often about some of the giants I have know who dedicated their lives to the social justice movement. I know men and women who worked in the deep south during the Civil Rights era at great danger to themselves. I know organizers who survived the 1979 Greensboro Massacre who are still committed to the cause of helping poor people. I know union workers who've left home to travel to other areas to help organize workers so that they might enjoy the same benefits. I know soldiers who, sickened by war, laid down their rifles to speak out to try and stop the senseless killing that our government asked them to do in the nebulous name of freedom.

Look for kind people today. Better yet, be kind. Get your name added to someone's gratitude list.

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Oct 28, 2024 ∞
Blogging Resources Complements of Robert Birming

One of the nicest and most helpful people I've encountered on my blogging journey is a Swedish writer by the name of Robert Birming who blogs in English. Robert posts on a daily basis and he also has a newsletter. A man with considerable technical skills, he is the developer of the Bearming theme on BearBlog. Robert maintains a page that every indy blogger should bookmark. The resources it contains are incredible. Give him a follow on Mastodon @birming@social.lol
Blog Inspiration
• Blog Voices - Get inspired by reading other bloggers' stories about why they do what they do, how they do it, and how they find inspiration for their blog posts.
• Blogging - Inspiring and encouraging blog posts about blogging, written by experienced bloggers. Great resources to ignite the creative flame, whether you're a newbie or a pro.
• Writing - Great articles about writing in general and crafting blog posts in particular. Inspiring reading, whether you're a novice or an expert.
• Designing - Top-notch resources for creating a personal blog design that is not only visually stunning, but also user-friendly and efficient.
• Accessibility - A collection of essential guidelines, best practices, and tools designed to help you create an accessible blog.
• Optimization - A great set of website optimization tools that will help you enhance your blog’s performance and user experience.
• Add-Ons - A list of add-ons that can be integrated with your current blogging platform to enhance its functionality.
• Discover Blogs - What better way to get inspired than reading other people’s blogs? Here are some good way to explore the blogosphere.
• What to Blog About? - Are you struggling to find topics to write about on your blog? Take a look at these helpful posts to ignite your writing inspiration.
• Tools & Inspiration - Great resources about blogging, whether you've just started a blog or you’re an experienced blogger who wants to level up.
• Webrings - A webring is a network of interconnected blogs. Each blog in the ring features a navigation bar, typically located at the bottom of the site, containing links to the previous and next blog in the webring.
• Blog Challenges - Blog challenges are interactive events with a shared goal or theme over a specific period. They are designed to encourage creativity, develop a consistent posting habit, and foster a sense of community among participants.
• Bear Blog - Tips, tricks and tweaks made specifically for Bear blog, an awesome blogging platform on which this blog is hosted
• BlogBoost - BlogBoost is an Apple shortcut with various ways to get the inspiration flowing, such as daily prompts and random inspiring quotes. It supports a wide range of text editors. Check out the BlogBoost post for more information.
  
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