If you have anger issues, this one is a great tool, H/T mindyourbusiness:
Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.
May 28
“The first thing to do—don’t get worked up. For everything happens according to the nature of all things, and in a short time you’ll be nobody and nowhere, even as the great emperors Hadrian and Augustus are now. The next thing to do—consider carefully the task at hand for what it is, while remembering that
your purpose is to be a good human being. Get straight to doing what nature requires of you, and speak as you see most just and fitting—with kindness, modesty, and sincerity.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.5
Don’t get angry when something bad happens, easier said than done. Luckily, I got to test that this week. My wife called and said the Corolla was running funny. I had her check the oil for milkshake and then watch the temperature while she drove home. Changed the fuel injectors and it was still misfiring. Took it to a shop, the head gasket blew and her driving it knocked a chunk out of the engine block. No use getting mad. Trying to determine if it’s worth fixing or not, while leaving emotion out of it.
May 29
“Work nourishes noble minds.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 31.5
I find this to be true. When I was laid up, my company let me “work” from home. I felt frustrated by not having a real job and not being able to work out. 3 weeks of going to the gym and running, I am starting to feel normal about it. I am no longer sore and I don’t argue with myself if I want to work out or not. Being active around the house also helps to keep me occupied on the weekends and really helps my state of mind.
May 30
“I can’t call a person a hard worker just because I hear they read and write, even if working at it all night. Until I know what a person is working for, I can’t deem them industrious. . . . I can if the end they work for is their own ruling principle, having it be and remain in constant harmony with Nature.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.4.41; 43
I don’t do “busy work”. If I have work to do towards scheduling ships for audits, or writing reports on audits I’ve completed, time flies by. If there is nothing to do, the day drags on. I have a coworker that always seems busy and can never seem to meet deadlines. Busyness does not equal productiveness.
May 31
“What is your vocation? To be a good person.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 11.5
Life is simple to me. I try to be as honest as possible and treat others well. I don’t always succeed, but that is the goal. The better I control unhealthy impulses, the better I do at these. The more this becomes a habit, the less impulses I have, and that makes controlling them even easier.
June 1
“Indeed, no one can thwart the purposes of your mind—for they can’t be touched by fire, steel, tyranny, slander, or anything.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.41
I can be stopped from doing what I set out to do. I cannot be stopped from intending to do something. Currently life is interfering with my plans. I will not let that change my attitude or how I approach things.
June 2
“How beautifully Plato put it. Whenever you want to talk about people, it’s best to take a bird’s-eye view and see everything all at once—of gatherings, armies, farms, weddings and divorces, births and deaths, noisy courtrooms or silent spaces, every foreign people, holidays, memorials, markets—all blended together and arranged in a pairing of opposites.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 7.48
I struggle to see that most people are good and want to do right. If I take a broader view, that becomes easier to see. It is too easy for me to say “I hate people”. Unfortunately, our modern culture seems to elevate some of the worst ones and it’s easy to forget that and miss the majority that are not evil. As I type this, I feel I am trying to talk myself into it, but as I said, I struggle to see that.
June 3
“He can’t serve in the military? Let him seek public office. Must he live in the private sector? Let him be a spokesperson. Is he condemned to silence? Let him aid his fellow citizens by silent public witness. Is it dangerous to enter the Forum? Let him display himself, in private homes, at public events and gatherings,
as a good associate, faithful friend, and moderate tablemate. Has he lost the duties of a citizen? Let him exercise those of a human being.”
—SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND, 4.3
It is important to be flexible and work with what I can do, not what I wish I could still do. I do not do well with this, it is difficult to admit when I can’t do something, especially if it is something I used to do easily. I am trying to understand where my limitations are now and not hurt myself by trying to do too much too fast.
Music this week is from the band I’ve seen live the most, Slayer.
First time was right after Iraq, they did the entire Reign in Blood album and I didn’t know that was happening.
I’ve seen them 7 times and was front row for 4 of them.
Wait….Seneca is Dirty Harry? “A man’s got know his limitations…”
He was known to ask people if they felt lucky.
Well, do ya?
“it is difficult to admit when I can’t do something, especially if it is something I used to do easily.”
That’s the summation of my life, right there, Ron. Every thing I try to do is far more difficult, far more tiring, far more exasperating.
Still, there’s no crying in baseball.
Golf, sex, hobbies, etc. First you get better, then you plateau, and then you get worse.
I haven’t gotten to the part of golf where I get better. Perhaps I started on a plateau.
Hit the driving range and putting green more often.
Condolences on your head gasket. BTDT x3.
That’s a pisser on the block.
Don’t replace it with a Jasper reman. Their quality control has been crap the last couple of years.
My first car died when it blew a head-gasket and cracked the heads.
Had to stoically take the T to work for a while.
You broke out a classic car for a commute?
That would have been way more fun than the Boston subway.
Hope you had enough cash on you. (Obligatory: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Jw_v3F_Q0 )
Better version.
Oi! Oi! OI!
?
Always good, GT. One of the first albums I ever bought.
Just for you, 4(20), one of my all-time favorites (the song, not the beverage): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2rZ7t2F71eE
“Indeed, no one can thwart the purposes of your mind—for they can’t be touched by fire, steel, tyranny, slander, or anything.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.41
I don’t know about ‘anything’. I have a unique ability (I think) to mind fuck myself on occasion.
As always, thanks for these, Ron!
Sorry about the car.
When Viktor Frankl was imprisoned in a Nazi death camp, more than half-starved, bereft of his family and wife, with seemingly nothing to live for, he found that only he could give his life meaning; only he could determine what his suffering meant. Maybe that’s what Marcus tried to say.
kinnath – if you or yours are actually feeling sick.
https://rhsusa.com
Went through them a few weeks ago. Had to pay out-of-pocket for the appointment, but they gave me the full Dr. Z treatment – including horse and malaria medicine. Started feeling better within a day.
Already taking quinine, zinc, lactoferin, Vita D and Vita C. We keep the stuff on hand all the time.
I took nothing when I had it but for me the first 24 hours was worst. It was kind of exciting to get the disease everyone’s been taking about. And then really
boring.
I had been taking the prevent protocol for awhile, so I was only sick for a couple days. Just upped dosages and rested. Tuesday, hammered shit. Wednesday, a little better. Thursday, short walk. Friday, lifted. NBD.
You probably would’ve been fine if you hadn’t.
For me, everyone said I had mild covid because I was vaccinated. If I weren’t, though. there’s also a 99% chance it would’ve been mild.
I had three days of fever, a week of persistant cough, then I was good.
Oh, but that was back in March of 2020, so there were no tests to prove it was ‘real’ Wuhan.
I suspect I got the ‘Vid in October of 2019 when the SU and I were in northern Italy. (I found out later that blood samples from September of 2019 in northern Italy had been tested a few months ago and, sure enough, the ‘Vid was there as early as then.)
Weirdest cold I’d ever had.
I had the J&J, as well. I have no idea if that did anything. I suspect my overall general health was the biggest factor.
Felt like shit one day, tired for three more, then lost smell and taste for a week. Other then that, I felt fine through that last part.
This is my wife’s second bout of Covid. We’re doing the same thing we did last year when she got it.
This is my first time with Covid. I am also going through my annual bout of severe grass pollen allergies. So, I would not have tested if my wife wasn’t sick.
Get well soon!
thanks
Mama don’t ‘low no covid round here
https://genius.com/Hank-thompson-mama-dont-allow-lyrics
I read that as “a bout of severe gas” for a
moment.
Also I hope you recover so quickly that you get to enjoy a long weekend.
Today I learned Cockroaches eat Bedbugs. Finally, something redeeming.
I still wouldn’t want them in my house.
Sometimes they can entertaining
Slayer fan…..OK I see the need for stoicism.??
They are great. It took this punk a while to come around in HS, but Seasons in the Abyss did it for me.
I like them, but I still prefer Pantera.
The Genus of Big Cats?
Oh wait that was Panthera. Sorry.
Swissy: I just submitted an article.
For those of you pissed off about the fiction pieces, this is actually on a libertarianish topic. But, I will be submitting another fiction piece to piss you off soon.
For those of you pissed off about the fiction pieces
People are pissed off about the fiction pieces? Do they know that all they have to do is wait 30 minutes and then they can post all the Twitter bullshit they want?
But they’ve got shit to say!!!
I’ve heard some rumblings that we post too much fiction, yes.
Well, I intend to keep on keepin’ on, so folks can rumble away.
Good, Animal, and all the rest of y’all
Well those rumblers can just cough up some non-fiction content themselves to fix that.
Absolutely. Personally I think we have an amazing blend of topics here. It would be boring if it were only one thing all the time.
If they want more libertarian thought/non-fiction content, they should actually engage with those articles that do get posted rather than anxiously waiting for the 30 minute timer to pop before frantically posting their social media/tabloid current events newsfeed here for the daily outrage porn…
Incentives work. Engagement spurs more content creation. Lack of engagement drives it away.
I’ve been annoying people with my fiction.
Why didn’t anyone tell me?!
your fiction is fine
Your fiction isn’t annoying to me. I enjoy it. Please keep on keeping on.
That goes for Animal as well. Fiction is a nice break from the news.
The fuck?
We get enough real life bullshit. Bring on MORE fiction!
Real life seems more unbelievable.
/Looks at the local and national politicians
I see this site as a magazine. If you don’t like the fiction, skip it and read another article. Or better yet, write some nonfiction of your own.
If recent disagreements have taught me anything it’s that there will be content that is not to everyone’s tastes. What matters is how your respond to it.
Don’t be like me, people. I’m a horrible role model
That’s why we’re friends, UCS
I love your fiction and I certainly am not rumbling about it. What do these rumblers want more of? It’s certainly not movie posts.
Maybe this is a Marxist plot to divide us…
*looks around for commies
Also not a rumbler.
ASTROLOGY IS SCIENCE!
AND, has PUPPY PICS!!!!
I still wonder if that dog is ever clean, given her prediliction for mud
She is usually clean before going to the park, but not after.
However, I can’t get pine pitch out of her fur and I have lots of those in my woods, so she’s collecting black spots.
*(Bzzzzz)*
Oops, now she looks mangey.
For what it’s worth, the fiction here is really the only fiction I read at all anymore and I relish it. I have no complaints about the articles, or types thereof, at all. The knowledge base of the contributors here continues to amaze and astound me.
Drinker reviews the new Top Gun
I loved that review — probably as entertaining as the movie.
I know it’s fashionable to shit on modern art, but this is really fucking cool.
He did several other paintings of the bridge. Kind of interesting to see the progression.
That’s supposed to be a bridge?
Modern? That’s 100+ years old.
I agree that it’s cool.
You might be doing it wrong.
I’ve done some sketchy parallel parking jobs, but never cause an airbag deployment.
Also, why is it parking spots look bigger from further away or when on foot than when trying to fit the car into them?
I love how one commenter refers to the airbag as the ‘reward pillow’.
Timeline has been released in the shooting
https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-parents-angered-over-police-response-to-shooting-11653665511
The delay was deliberate and handed down. For an hour, the children called 911 on cell phones, telling 911 that the shooter was killing kids, and begging for help. The article doesn’t say it, but I imagine those also called their parents too and told them the same thing. And that’s why the parents showed up at the school screaming at the police to do something.
I am going to have to get off the internet for awhile. Starting to get too pissed off.
Not stoic at all.
I’m not feeling very stoic myself either about this.
I can’t even begin to count the lies in that. The criminal was shooting a rifle in an enclosed area and the assholes couldn’t hear it? Bull-fucking-shit.
It took law enforcement an hour to respond and the response started when the Border Patrol showed up. The PD never did respond.
I will state, stoically, that that incident commander could eat a bullet to die with some semblance of honor.
Wow.
Why do I get the feeling it’s going to get worse?
Don’t you get it Sparty. ALL OFFICERS MADE IT HOME SAFE!
So “…the on-scene commander Tuesday ‘was convinced at the time that there was no more threat to the children’…” – copypasta actually from a Fox article since the WSJ one is paywalled.
That makes no sense. Maybe he (?) could be convinced of that if he believed they were all deceased already. Or maybe what he was trying to say is that they were struggling with how to go through a chokepoint without “spray and pray”, but as stated it’s nonsense. Why would somebody believe that?
If I’m uncharitable I believe it’s a case of “We might get shot if we go through that door” being spun into what the officer believes is the best excuse left.
You might get shot. Yep, it comes with the job you coward. Cops keep going on about how dangerous their job is, but when the rare dangerous situation occurs far too often they sit it out. Take the Norse approach to the coward cops. Declare the cops who didn’t move to the sound of fire as “outlaws” and let the people of the community and state of Texas deal with them as they may.
My job is more dangerous than being a cop. They crow on and on about how there is a war against them, but the truth is that there isn’t. They are just cowards, and more often than not bullies.
It’s called cowardice. When fear has taken over, rationalizing reasons to not put yourself in danger becomes natural. Hey “no lives are at risk in the room were all the rifle fire is coming from” – I’ll stay out here for a while.
A lot of the cops there were cowards. And cowards can be very dangerous to people who aren’t dangerous, like the unarmed parents.
Reading that is bad for my bp.
Here’s the non-paywalled link so we can all be enraged together.
Took it to a shop, the head gasket blew and her driving it knocked a chunk out of the engine block. No use getting mad. Trying to determine if it’s worth fixing or not, while leaving emotion out of it.
Ouch. Sorry.
Related to car work, it looks like it’s time for me to start looking for a new vehicle. Repair costs on the Mini are at the point where it’ll be throwing good money after bad. I was hoping to be able to avoid trying to buy now, but figure locking in a low interest rate will at least provide some benefit.
Get a new car, and swap out the engine in the Mini for a carburated crate engine. Do the work yourself.
Maybe a Harbor Freight engine swap! Those are fun! Start your mini with a ripcord.
Maybe a Harbor Freight engine swap! Those are fun! Start your mini with a ripcord.
The squirrels second the notion.
It’s the phone, I am sure of it.
i bought a new KIA Forte GT Manual the day before yesterday. My old sonic was worn out. Looking at current used vehicle prices pretty much forced me to buy new. I didnt like it much, but thems the brakes. I paid basically MSRP for it. On the flip side, i sold my 2016 chevy sonic that had hail damage, a cracked windshield, 190k miles, an evaporative emissions problem, and few quirky electrical issues for 8500. This is the world of rampant price inflation that we live in.
Kia’s are on the list, I’m looking for a small SUV that has a trailer hitch for easy bike rack mounting. I’ll probably keep the Mini, as I doubt I’ll get that much for it (2011 car, over 125,000 miles on it), but over 35 MPG means it’s worth taking up the parking space.
RAV4 might be worth a look, too.
That’s what I’m eyeing as a secondary/utility vehicle. Adventure trim.
New Forte GT looks neat. Comparable to my ’15 Civic SI. I’ll be keeping that since it’s paid off.
Grabbed the wrong link: This one. I guess the foreign market gets a hybrid. No hybrid for me.
My older brother bought a brand new civic in 05. he is still driving it.
It’s taken that long to get home from the dealership?
Kia or RAV4 is a good choice. Oddly the Hyundai siblings of Kia have cheap feeling suspensions. You will still get close to your Mini’s mileage with a new small SUV. Also you will get crazy money for your used car right now. I traded in the Mighty Canyonero (4 years old) and got 27,000 for it. I originally paid 32,000. Trading in used cars is one of the few things going well for consumers right now.
Oh, and check out the Ford Maverick. Good mileage with a pickup bed. Really nice interiors,.
That is a good low price as well for the value. kind of a Ranchero updated,
RAV4’s our daily driver. I’ve been quite pleased with it — we’ve had it eight years now and with regular maintenance, it’s running like a champ.
Nice – that should last a very long time. I still drive a manual too.
My kid just got a manual Tacoma. Had he wanted an auto, it would have been months.
I just listed the 2007 Jetta manual he had been driving. It’s still a fun car to drive – I’d keep the damn thing if I had a bigger garage.
We occasionally get a Jetta as a rental or for when our car’s going into the shop overnight. They’re a blast to drive, kinda like a slightly larger “hot hatch” VW Golf you can get in Europe but not here.
I drove a stick up until about 5 years ago when i needed a new ride and couldn’t find one. i have never had a kia before, but my understanding is that they are good vehicles. The forte i got is one of only a few small cars that you still get with a stick. A lot of them all come standard with a CVT, which i hate, or automatic only.
i learned to drive in an 85 toyota pickup, and i have been partial to a stick ever since.
https://www.crainkiaftsmith.com/searchnew.aspx?Model=Forte&Transmission=6-Speed%20Manual
my new car
Congrats.
Nice!
I’ll be interested to hear your opinions after driving out awhile.
So far, its fun. Put it in sport mode, and it’s surprising fast. That little turbo 4 cyl puts out 200hp. handles well so far, although all i have done is commute back and forth to work a few times in it.
Kia is much better than they used to be.
Someone I used to know from swing dancing had an early Kia. Nothing but trouble. She was not alone in having trouble with them.
Sorry about your car. Best wishes on finding something new.
Assuming good faith on the part of others, instead of automagically attributing their actions to malice is difficult. I have to work on it every day.
Dead Skin Mask
Jesse defends the cops.
(not really)
Where is SIV when you need him?
Also, on the subject of the TX reporting – news sites are showing a drawing of the school with yellow arrows indicating the shooter’s movements. If Google Maps is to be believed as up-to-date (and in this case I’d bet on it), they’re just stupidly in error. There’s no part of the school that can correspond with the drawing. What they’re trying to show is the northwesternmost set of structures. The offset shown on the map (2 rooms farther W than the others) ain’t there.
Maybe Google’s imagery is out-of-date, but this is one more dang instance of numbskullery by the “authorities”.
(I can’t help it – I “think in maps” and virtually always look up a map and imagery if anything’s on my mind.)
I’ve heard some rumblings that we post too much fiction, yes.
There’s an option.
Lazy LOL of the Day!
I got a new spam call. Instead of wanting to talk about my car warranty, they were issuing a warning about my student loan payments.
Bitch, Please. I paid off my student loans five years ago.
I’m still trying to figure out the grift of the spammers (both text and phone) who want to buy my property located at %redacted%. My house is not for sale, I’m busy living in it, and if I was going to sell it, it’s not going to be to an unsolicited spammer.
They are either agents for the big investment groups scooping up as much property as they can get their mitts on, or hope to flip it to one of those groups.
Assuming, of course, they’re not just looking to get enough data to steal your identity.
I believe it is the latter.
I’ve been getting the same caller from Publisher’s Clearing House, wants to give me 7K a week for the rest of my life. He is persistent, I’ve swore at him, argued that I don’t want/need the money, which is true. Today was 8:30 AM, not sure what New Delhi time is. About 5-6 times in the past 2-3 weeks.
How long does it take anyone to get a message. I’m sure there are a few people that would like 7K a week but not me.
Central Daylight Time is UTC-5.
India is UTC+5½.
So add 10½ hours to 0830 and you get 1900.
I get called regularly about my “application to Grand Canyon Univ.” Dude, I’m already retired. I’ve gotten those student loans calls for years too.
I stopped picking up if the number isn’t in my contact list. “Trashy, you have an overdue parking ticket”, “trashy, your grandma died”, “trashy, your family worries about you living in a trash can”. So much spam!
Trashy, would you like to extend your car warranty?
Meanwhile…
*knocks on wooden head*
I just keep fixing the mighty Honda. Down here in the flatlands, it gets about 40mpg. It used to get about 32 in Livingston, but chugging up and down a big hill on a dirt road in second gear all the time will take a toll.
“ Busyness does not equal productiveness.”
^This. This is my favorite for today’s Stoic post.
sometimes I sits and thinks
sometimes I just sits
folks can rumble away
*dons tin foil*
Since the narrative of Uvalde seems to be shifting toward the response from the cops, is it possible that TMITE is purposely steering the narrative away from something that is legislatively DOA (gun control) to something that they can try to get squishy types on board with (defund the police)?
If there were any event that would put the mushy middle toward defund the police, it’s cops standing around doing nothing while grade schoolers are getting slaughtered.
Maybe, but I did a quick search of a few news sites and I found this at MSN: “‘Wrong decision’: What happens when the so-called good guys with guns are afraid?” So still gun control, at least there.
I think people (and I’ll go ahead and include reporters in that group) are just honestly appalled by what they’re hearing.
Yes. If what I’ve gleaned from the limited stuff I’ve read is true (they were hanging around outside while the active shooter was still in there and prevented, with tazers, parents from going in to kill the guy), then it goes well past cowardice into evil.
same thing happened at Parkland a few years back and the defund movement didn’t gain any traction out of it. Anyway, the defund thing will never happen. The police are the enforcement arm of the state. there is no way you could ever convince the state to get rid of its protectors.
☝️
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/former-new-york-resident-found-guilty-aiding
A former New York resident has been found guilty in Brooklyn federal court of traveling to the Middle East to recruit Islamic State fighters and obtain weapons for the militants.
Mirsad Kandic, 40, will face up to life in prison at sentencing in November.
I think all people who funded ISIS should face life in prison. Timber Sycamore
Ask yourself what Team V.I. Biden would be doing differently if they were purposely trying to destroy the middle class.
https://nypost.com/2022/05/26/team-biden-might-be-purposefully-crushing-the-middle-class/
Since the answer is “nothing” then their motivation doesn’t really matter does it?
I don’t think there is any doubt.
The question becomes what to do about it.
I’ve been saying that for awhile now.
Good lord…
The girl, who says she survived after smearing a friend’s blood on herself so the shooter would think that she was already dead, told CNN producer Nora Neus that the shooter made eye contact with the teacher, said “goodnight,” and then killed her. He then fired on others, killing some of her friends, and made his way into an adjoining classroom.
“Mia could hear screams, she heard a lot more gunfire, and then she says she heard music. She thinks it was the gunman that put it on. He started blasting sad music” said Neus, who then asked Mia to elaborate on what type of music she heard. “She just said, ‘I want people to die’ music.” …
“When I heard the shooting through the door, I told my friend to hide under something so he won’t find us,” a fourth-grade boy who survived told local outlet KENS-5. “I was hiding hard. And I was telling my friend to not talk because he is going to hear us.”
“When the cops came, the cop said: ‘Yell if you need help!’ And one of the persons in my class said ‘help.’ The guy overheard and he came in and shot her,” the boy said. “The cop barged into that classroom. The guy shot at the cop. And the cops started shooting.”
The street dealers have returned. I just heard the ice cream man drive by. The start of summer is now official.
I’d prefer Kamala take the lead on this.
President Joe Biden is putting Domestic Policy Adviser Susan Rice in charge of the administration’s gun control efforts, the White House said Thursday.
“She is coordinating the President’s whole-of-government approach to reducing gun violence,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters during the daily briefing.
Jean-Pierre cited Rice’s “decades of experience” in the federal government as making her qualified to handle the issue.
Dropping like flies.
“To my fellow sad Americans, I cannot, in good conscience, perform at the NRA convention in Houston this weekend,” his statement began.
“While I agree with most of the positions held by the NRA, I have come to believe that, while background checks would not stop every madman with a gun, it is at the very least a step in the right direction toward trying to prevent the kind of tragedy we saw this week in Uvalde — in my beloved, weeping Texas.”
I stand by my Kid Rock suggestion. I wonder if Colt Ford is available.
Did I miss the part where Texas FFL dealers don’t have to run gun buyers through NICS?
Only if you have a concealed carry license.
Kid Rock is probably too redpilled and would only play at the GOA convention.
Heh – Now I know why Kid Rocks new album isn’t getting radio play…
https://youtu.be/kyFnLqJx-uU
“The first thing to do—don’t get worked up.
I have a few minutes of acknowledging that something happened and will get emotional. Then it goes to problem solving mode. This works for my mom, wife, and I. The rest of my family tends to get emotional and stop there. I can get emotional once the work is done or the decision is made.
My wife and Mom came home to find my grandmother stroked out and laying on the floor. Mom checked vitals while my wife called ambulance, they then freaked out for a bit, then my wife started cleaning up after the ambulance left with mom and grand mom. Time was sleeping off beer in another country.
I was stating with my in-laws helping out when my FIL was dying. He told my MIL he wanted a haircut before he met with his church group. There were barbers that might do a house call, but my SIL/ BIL & MIL debated (argued) for 20 minutes on what to do. I went to Target when the arguments started, told my wife ill be back in 10 minutes . Bought clippers and cut his hair. It was rough emotionally, because he kept calling me his boy the entire time, but it got done and stopped the stupid arguments in their tracks.
About not getting angry about situations you can’t change – A friend in the California crowd needed me to send a package. It just cost me $40. Absolutely insane cost. I remained stoic, and just told my pal he didn’t have to pay me back. I preferred to make him feel guilty about it for months.