If you have anger issues, this one is a great tool (h/t mindyourbusiness)
August 20
“Inwardly, we ought to be different in every respect, but our outward dress should blend in with the crowd.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 5.2
I do not try to draw attention to myself. I know I think about things very differently than anyone I know in daily life. In the office, however, I dress the same as everyone else. I do have long hair, which I know points me out as a weirdo, but I do not try to stick out too much. It’s usually tied in a ponytail there, but for some reason one of the office ladies wants to braid it. Never gonna happen. On my time, I wear what my wife calls a “uniform”, work boots, jeans, and a t-shirt. She started calling it that after the first time she went to my home town and asked if it was a uniform, since 99% of the guys dress this way. I think the main point in this quote is to not ignore daily life and withdraw from society, but live with it and reap the benefits of living well with others.
August 21
“It’s ruinous for the soul to be anxious about the future and miserable in advance of misery, engulfed by anxiety that the things it desires might remain its own until the very end. For such a soul will never be at rest—by longing for things to come it will lose the ability to enjoy present things.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 98.5b–6a
I think this quote was written about my mother. I have always been able to brush off worrying about things that might be pending, she has the opposite approach. She finished chemo and six months later had to get a scan to see if the cancer was gone or not. In advance of this scan she wouldn’t start walking in the pool, because she was “waiting for the scan”. Her feet are numb and she now needs a walker to move around the house. She wouldn’t make plans to come visit us for thanksgiving, nor would she buy a new mattress that they desperately need, because of “waiting for the scan”. The scan came back clear, so now she can live. How much time was wasted and how much further would she be in her physical recovery if she hadn’t been “waiting for the scan”? Life is short, don’t waste it worrying.
August 22
“It is essential for you to remember that the attention you give to any action should be in due proportion to its worth, for then you won’t tire and give up, if you aren’t busying yourself with lesser things beyond what should be allowed.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.32b
If I focus on what’s important, I won’t wear myself out with unimportant things. This goes for work and my personal life. Every year in March, I have a battle with nature to cut back bushes that encroach on my yard and block my wife’s view of the lake. This year I was recovering from surgery and an infection, so I saved my energy for trying to get back in shape. Now the yard is a bit of a mess, but I am able to run and work out. If I had killed myself to fight the yard while I was still weak, I might have injured myself and I definitely would not have had the energy to start a workout program.
August 23
“Therefore, explain why a wise person shouldn’t get drunk—not with words, but by the facts of its ugliness and offensiveness. It’s most easy to prove that so-called pleasures, when they go beyond proper measure, are but punishments.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 83.27
I don’t like to overindulge to the point that it affects me the next day. When I was younger, I never had hangovers. I could drink A LOT and be able to do whatever I wanted the next day. My brother in law would get irritated because we would go out and drink together and he would be useless the next day. I always told myself if I was like that I would quit drinking. I am not that bad, but I have had a couple occasions of being sick after drinking too much now that I am over 50. Not bad enough to quit drinking, but I am more careful about how much I drink and what I drink.
August 24
“I’ll never be ashamed to quote a bad writer with a good saying.”
—SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND, 11.8
It doesn’t matter who is saying it, it matters what is being said. It is hard to remember this when any reference is immediately met with, “You can’t quote them, they are right(or left) wing” without actually looking to see if the point being raised is correct.
August 25
“Won’t you be walking in your predecessors’ footsteps? I surely will use the older path, but if I find a shorter and smoother way, I’ll blaze a trail there. The ones who pioneered these paths aren’t
our masters, but our guides. Truth stands open to everyone, it hasn’t been monopolized.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 33.11
I have read many books written by people that were dead before I was born. I don’t blindly follow them, I adapt their teachings to my belief and understanding. To me, following Stoicism is a personal journey and different people can have different interpretations of these writings without conflict because it is about how to live YOUR life, not how your neighbor should live.
August 26
“I was shipwrecked before I even boarded . . . the journey showed me this—how much of what we have is unnecessary, and how easily we can decide to rid ourselves of these things whenever it’s necessary, never suffering the loss.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 87.1
If I am ever shipwrecked and lose everything, I hope I could have the composure demonstrated here. When bad things happen, it is important to realistically look at it and deal with it understanding how much is not in my control. The shipwreck of the last two years has shown me how much of my happiness was based on things I had no control of and I have learned from studying and practicing Stoicism to be happier and more in control of my emotions and reactions.
Today’s music is from a good 80’s rock band. I have always hated “hair metal”: Firehouse, Winger, Slaughter, Bon Jovi, Poison, and the like (Once my brother and I tried to start a riot at a Poison concert). Some bands that made good rock were put into this category. For those who like punk, I’m sure this is a distinction without a difference, but Whitesnake has some solid songs. (Is This Love does fall into the crappy pop side)
The first song I heard from them, I thought it was Zeppelin:
Another kick ass song from them:
Never heard this one on the radio, but I always liked it:
“Inwardly, we ought to be different in every respect, but our outward dress should blend in with the crowd.”
Easy to say when all you have to wear is a toga
Talking about your favorite escort?
I have successfully been bottling mine up so as to be able to deal with my situations at hand without going batshit insane on somebody (although I did, in fact, break and go batshit insane on somebody). This was borne out yesterday during a back, neck, scalp, and shoulder massage. She said, “What in the world has been going on in your life? Here, let’s work those knots out.” I’m still sore.
I get irrationally angry at times, rationally angry at others, but I can’t express it because then I’m the bad guy and things will generally get worse, regardless of approach taken after the outburst. Doesn’t matter if it’s coworkers, shopkeepers, family, or random strangers, letting it out will generally makes things bad for me. So I’m stuck figuring out what to do with this pent up rage and ways of maintaining a facade of normalcy.
My brother in Christ, you need hard exercise.
Now that the house is paid off, maybe a trainer?
I’m thinking hammer, anvil, and heat source.
Oh… mustn’t forget tongs. My smithing gloves aren’t that heat resistant.
Until you can procure the heat source, banging the hammer on cold steel may be cathartic, even if it doesn’t produce a finished tool.
The heat source is cheaper than the anvil these days.
The tricky bit is having a safe place to use the heat source.
😔 That is my biggest hurdle right now.
But with your house paid off, you’re one step closer (albeit with the roof payoff in between.)
I mean, going to the gym is simpler.
But in the meantime, I’ll have something I can point to as ‘gains’ before there’s any visible effect on the rest of me.
Take up a combat sport. Nothing makes normal bullshit seem unimportant like getting punched in the face.
That involves dealing with people.
I’d prefer not to. /Bartleby
Running or cycling? I notice about a +0.5 MPH speed difference when riding after a shitty day.
My karate days are over. I cannot land a punch anymore.
Are you sore from the massage, or from the emotions?
Yes.
That was an insightful question.
I had gone to the GI doc earlier that day. In the middle of questioning normal things, she paused and said, “Are you tired?” in a very concerned tone. Well, yes. Sometimes doctors just look at me and get to the heart of it.
I’m so glad you finally got your badly-needed massage! 💆♀️
I need to go again soon, but I’m going to wait a bit.
Bottling it up never worked for me.
Eventually, I would snap over something small and then feel like an idiot.
Hopefully the person you went batshit insane on deserved it.
It’s usually tied in a ponytail there, but for some reason one of the office ladies wants to braid it.
Back in the days when I had a pony tail, the only time a woman wanted to braid it was when I got it cut off. The folks at Locks of Love want donated hair braided. My pony tail was almost long enough for two donations.
The scan came back clear
Good.
It’s usually tied in a ponytail there, but for some reason one of the office ladies wants to braid it.
That’s racist!!!
“I’ll never be ashamed to quote a bad writer with a good saying.”
Easy to say when you dont write for glibertarians
Apropos to all of this, I ran across a Stoic quote the other day: (words to the effect of) Don’t spend time thinking about what it means to be a good man. Just be one.
I rather liked it.
If you don’t know what it means to be a good man, how are you supposed to be one?
If I have to explain it, you wouldn’t understand it.
I expect that kind of a response from a bullshit artist, not you, man.
What it meant to be a “man”, so to speak, was different for Spartans, Koori, medieval knights, Cossacks, and so on. Trying to define each individual’s moral position on any given topic would be impossible. So, when confronted with a choice of what to do, you already know what is right, and what is wrong. So, do what is right.
Just don’t try to justify your actions when what you did was wrong and you know that.
In order to know what is right, you have to have a predefined value of right, which required thinking of it beforehand.
The problem is not thinking of what it means to be a good man, but in doing that thinking after the decisions are made.
Only you can make a determination of what is right or wrong, and only you can make a decision, right or wrong. All the philosophy in the world is just post hoc reasoning. It might help you out in where to put an exact line down on something, but all of your experiences in life have led you to the moment of choice, thinking about them or not
And, after that, it is up to you. If you feel that what you have done is the correct and righteous action then you have fulfilled your duty to yourself. If, on the other hand, you do not feel that you have done yourself right, you have failed.
I’ve fallen off of my Stoic path the last few months. And the last couple weeks have thrown a lot of work and personal stressors at me. Nothing serious, but “death by a thousand cuts” kinda shit. I was not stoic about it at all and the tension has really built up. So, I took next week off and am going to reassess and refocus. Part of that will be getting back into reading the Stoics. The other parts of it will include disc golf, camping, and breweries.
Enjoy your vacation, it was so nice to know absolutely nothing that was happening for a week and a half on mine.
Seconded. I made a point of shutting off all notifications on my phone while we were in WA.
It was really nice.
Thanks. Work email notifications were just turned off. When I hit the road for my beer/disc golf tour, phone will go into “do not disturb” mode and all will be right with the world.
Enjoy that journey Mike!
New advice, get a rangefinder. You won’t believe the things you learn.
Thanks, Yusef! That’s a good idea on the rangefinder. I’ll look into that.
🙂
I’m planning my route post-Honey Harvest. It looks like I need an overnight stop somewhere on the mitten of Michigan (Mackinaw City is the furthest north the days drive range from the next stop would be advisable) any recommendations? (Further north the better)
Manistee
More or less due east from Green Bay?
Exactly
Looks viable distance wise, anything in particular you’d recommend visiting while in the area?
Go disc golfing with Yusef.
I’m doing the spartan thing, living very minimal.
If it doesn’t fit in my van it goes away.
“It is essential for you to remember that the attention you give to any action should be in due proportion to its worth, for then you won’t tire and give up, if you aren’t busying yourself with lesser things beyond what should be allowed.”
I think the world is trying to tell me something. I get James Clear’s (Atomic Habits guy) newsletter and the latest one contained this:
It’s easy to slip into busy-work mode instead of tackling the important (and often unpleasant) tasks.
As always, thanks for putting this together, Ron.
That kind of describes my thought process on whether to fight the bushes or concentrate on getting healthy again.
Not doing the yard means my yard is a mess this year.
Not getting in shape meant probable long term issues.
Easy choice.
Not doing the yard work means the city slaps a fine on me.
I don’t have neighbors, and I still did mow the grass.
You did remind me that I want to buy another extension cord (or two) since I had to reorder my electrical layout to stop tripping breakers during hot days. Need to run the weadeater and clear the sidewalk. I should do that on my way home today.
“I’ll never be ashamed to quote a bad writer with a good saying.”
I’ll steal a good idea from anybody.
“It’s most easy to prove that so-called pleasures, when they go beyond proper measure, are but punishments.”
This reminds me of something I heard once. We often “reward” ourselves with things that aren’t really rewards. Going on a shopping spree, over indulging, etc., that in the long run damage our bodies and bank accounts.
I reward myself with pie for breakfast on Sundays sometimes.
I know it’s not good for me, but it is a fruit, right?
Unless it’s a Pecan Pie, or Chess Pie, or ‘Umble Pie.
Blueberry, blackberry and pumpkin are my three favorites.
Also cherry and strawberry, now I want pie.
Every year my grandmother made me strawberry/rhubarb pie for my birthday. The fruit was from her garden and I’ve never had any as good as she made it.
But I might go try to track one down, anyway. Thanks, Ron!
Rhubarb pie, unsoiled with strawberries, is the the ultimate pie. Peach is also delicious. Oh, and juneberry…mmmm.
Rhubarb is the Supreme Galactic Emperor of pies
The wife likes it. I don’t.
May be a trifle far from you, but I can personally vouch for the strawberry rhubarb pie (AKA the perfect pie): https://www.amish365.com/union-ohio-covered-wagon-farm-market/
That site fails in that I can’t instantly find the two most vital pieces of information – where are they and when are they open. I have to go hunting for it.
I mean you run a blog about Amish sites and businesses, but don’t include that key information that won’t be put on the internet by the owner/operators themselves?
1235 miles door-to-door!
(AKA the perfect pie)
Yes.
LOL!
On the homepage:
Classic Amish Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
A local place has a pie they make once in a while called the Peaple pie. It’s peach and apple, but my favorites are their savory pub pies.
The People Pie? Is it located on Fleet Street under a barber shop by chance?
I may stop in since I’m passing Cleveland twice, but I do have to ding them for not including their hours of operation on their site. If not for a privacy invading map app, I’d not have known that I’d only be able to visit on the outbound leg of the journey, since they’re closed on the days I’d be around on my return trip.
UCS:
They do most of their selling at various farmer’s markets. Unfortunately (for me), they generally just bring their fruit pies to those.
What good is that?
I mean, I missed stopping in Pie Town, New Mexico last year.
Why do pie makers make it so hard to find their pies?
Why do pie makers make it so hard to find their pies?
I’ve often wondered this very thing…
Lemon, apple, and cherry are my top three. Though I admit, I’m liable to have too much of any kind of pie.
How is Key Lime not in any of these posts?
*shakes head*
You people.
Boston cream
Just had to be the freak… didn’t you?
yes
Jumbleberry pie.
I could eat that ’til I’m sick. Explains why I haven’t made it in years. Good jam and/or jelly, too.
Cake is made with flour and eggs. I mean, how can that be bad for you?
Well, flour is pretty bad for you.
/hands Zwak a pudding pop
This guy gets it!
I thought Pie was a vampire.
Tomorrow is another brew festival. I will be pouring mead, cider, and sour ales to the plebes. Hopefully, the forecasted rain will not materialize.
Are there awards to be won, or just for the fun of it?
No competitions
Several home brew clubs and three dozen or so small, local breweries pouring booze the populace. The gate goes to the local brew club which donates about half the gate to a local charity.
Shameless self promotion.
Sounds like fun!
We go and pour homebrew at other people’s festivals. They come to ours in return.
Lettuce assume.
Suppose, in the course of a real estate “negotiation” the seller (seller’s agent) egregiously misrepresents certain facts. Does one merely shrug, and say, “better luck next time”?
I think not.
Material misrepresentation is not a small thing and a matter that often results in civil torts.
If the misrepresentation is something you can fix/live with it’s a good place to really kick some negotiating ass. You’re at a point where you have nothing to lose, decide how much you want to reduce the price to, double the reduction and it gives you room to work your way back up a little.
If you can’t live with the misrepresentation, just walk away, not worth the aggravation.
I was always told how to deal with trauma and pain by “Stuffing it Down with Some Brown”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g518RnwQfsE
Chocolate?
Dog content.
That is precisely why herding dogs are not for lazy people!
Great video!
Are you keeping up with Doggy Daycare Farm Trips (now known as The Farm)? Great stuff happening there
No! I gotta fix that.
Did they stop doing the daycare?
Yep – stopped daycare. They bring in the former daycare pack only on Wednesdays to help the rescue dogs.
That guy is amazing. Have you watched any of his training videos?
I have previously but most of them are for members only, and I had to cancel pretty much all my paid YouTube & Patreon subscriptions on account of my albatross (i.e. condo).
We watched some stock dog trials (cattle herding) at the fair this week. Those dogs are amazing.
Aren’t they?
We had a goat herd in the neighborhood until last winter. The people that came to pick them up had two border collies with them. The poor goats had no chance!
lol
Disagree.
This times a thousand KK, dare to be different
DARE TO BE DIFFERENT
Dare to be stupid
I think he covers the “be different” in the first part.
The second part is about “looking different”.
What do you disagree about with this one?
I dunno…I wear what I like. I like certain styles & bright colors. I often stand out in a crowd because I simply wear what’s pleasing to me.
Also, I really enjoy fashion as a design/art form.
For example, I love John Fluevog shoes. They’re weird & colorful and I appreciate the design & craftsmanship.
The better question… which crowd?
The non-conformist crowd. The ones that all dress the same in black.
/looks down at black Viva Las Vegas t-shirt and shorts
Got it.
Black Docs?
I’m working from home, so I haven’t strapped on the Docs today. But yes, I do have black Docs, as well as some other colors.
I still have a pair of 8holes, but it is mostly black lowtop Chucks these days.
KK is correct.
Preach it. There are a lot of very solid 80’s hard-rock bands that get dismissed as “hair metal” just because they had long hair and wore spandex.
+1 Tesla
Hells yes! I’ve seen Tesla live three times. They never disappoint!
Wait, there are people who know what musicians look like?
Am I the only sighted person strictly concerned with the sound?
Music videos are a thing. Have been for a few year now. You should watch/listen to one some time.
For those who still escew the old site….. The last few days have completely broken them.
Sullum put up an article late yesterday making fun of a Trump for requesting the release of the search warrant affidavit. In it he says it can never help Trump and it will never be released, anyway.
That didn’t last 18 hours before the judge cut his legs out from under him.
They have an article lamenting conservative calls for FBI reforms saying conservatives were never interested in police reform until Trump tried to sell nuclear secrets. Ruby Ridge and Waco never happened for this guy, I guess.
It is wall-to-wall rationalizations of anti-trump rhetoric and government abuses.
They are completely unhinged.
Having completely infiltrated the nation’s primary institutions, the Long March has been working its way through the lesser ones.
They love Big Brother.
Is is stoic to keep toxic people and certain TOS websites out of your life? I think so. I do not visit.
It is wall-to-wall rationalizations of anti-trump rhetoric and government abuses.
Scary Orange Totalitarian is scary.
Just another day in LA.
What’s that Iron Law about rewards and punishment?
I found it funny that the cnn “opinion” piece (do they even post opinion pieces by actual conservatives over there? I’ve never seen one) this morning on Republican attacks on the IRS were amplified under Obama. It didn’t even bother to try and determine a precise reason why that may be. I mean, nothing, nothing at all happened during those years that may have made Republicans even more skeptical of the IRS as an institution than they were already naturally inclined to be….
First you’re hearing about this?
What you had done there was observed.
Oh, you mean this little
scandal, er, “controversy”? Hey, that was barely anything. Just the IRS doing its job really, nothing to it. Forget that the President’s enemies were the ones targeted. Forget about the destroyed hard drives, Blackberry devices, and missing backups. All pure coincidence!Have you not read the updated reports, the IRS was heroes. Any contrary talk is a signal that you may be engaged in wrongthink.
But why?
https://twitter.com/levie/status/1558833945059344384
It’s a snake confusing device.
Here is one of their earlier experiments.
Similar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_L4QMOvH2o
Has anyone seen this:
Veterans Affairs says worker ‘inappropriately’ discussed medically assisted death with veteran
988: How can I help you?
Caller: I feel so depressed I want to kill myself.
988: Alright. We can help you find someone to assist. Please wait while I forward your call.
Socialized medicine just trying to save taxpayers a dollar.
Hmmm. Stoic acceptance. Unfocussed, bottled-up rage. Yeah.
So, after a merciful 12-year absence, my acute vertigo attacks are back. They’re debilitating. They’re most likely BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo), appear to have been brought on by booze, and Epley manoeuvres aren’t really doing a lot to fix ’em.
Timing couldn’t be worse, as I have to do a fair amount of traveling by car over the next month. I’m taking betahistine to try to deal with ’em. It’s better than nothing.
Farg.
Sorry, BEAM.
Why do you think it’s booze? I thought BPPV had something to do with debris in the ear canal.
So if you don’t get monkeypox from getting fucked in the ear, you’ll get vertigo instead?
It does, but the trigger for the initial acute vertigo attack always seems to be booze, although not strongly dose-dependent (that is, I’m not going on a bender or anything). I suspect it’s more of a “perfect storm” kinda thing, since dehydration can also be a culprit, et cetera.
Sorry.
Have you ever tried this?
It doesn’t make sense, it stinks of peppermint and some other flavors, you rub it in your hands and inhale it deeply a few times.
It works for my positional vertigo like nothing else I’ve found.
That does work. I keep some around as well. Seems to blow open sinuses and ear canals which is helpful.
I’ve used ginger for nausea, and it does seem to help. Never tried it for vertigo. I’ll check it out.
Beats eating a tablespoon of horseradish. That’ll blow your head cavities out too, but it isn’t fun.
Speak for yourself!
Texas: “Drought, drought, drought…”
Grumble: “Think I’ll take a week’s vacation, get some woodworking done.”
Texas: “Rain, rain, rain…”
Grumble: “MOTHERFUCK WHEN IS THE NEXT DAILY STOIC?!?!”
Heh heh heh.
Thankfully I did not take the week off for it. But holy crap what a heatwave-breaker!
You weren’t missed during the DFW meetup last month were you? If so I apologize.
No, I wasn’t there.
That was unexpected. The threaded shaft onto which the “cutter head’ screws (on my Husqvarna weedeater) is 3/8 fine thread, not (as I had assumed) M10 x 1.0.
So what, they say.
I have a 3/8 fine tap. I don’t have to go to Fastenal and buy a single use 10mm tap. Now I can bore out one of the wrong-threaded adapters which came with the brush cutter head I bought at Home Depot and tap it to fit. I ask: why would they bother to list the sizes and thread pitch of the included adapters on the package?
Speaking of stupid corporate behavior; check out the Shakespeare weedeater accessory website. It’s kind of impressive how they can make such a slick site while providing no useful information whatsoever.
Holy shit, what a pitch!
Nasty.
But why?
Snake amputees.
Holy shit, what a pitch!
Nasty.
I was expecting a beanball.
If the misrepresentation is something you can fix/live with it’s a good place to really kick some negotiating ass. You’re at a point where you have nothing to lose, decide how much you want to reduce the price to, double the reduction and it gives you room to work your way back up a little.
If you can’t live with the misrepresentation, just walk away, not worth the aggravation.
Too late. The deal is done.
If the misrepresentation is (a) well documented and (b) cost you (or will cost you) significant money, then you have a dandy lawsuit.
Not very stoic.
I don’t want to know what old Gus Guts wanted to do with his bucket of parts.
Related
The Bee.
My kind of feminist.
ENB could learn a thing or two.
Pro tip for the ladies: Plochman’s Mustard comes in a fine-point dispenser, so you can be more detailed when listing your grievances.
Who’s got time for details?
But I’ve been saving these up for YEARS!! What’s the point of doing that if you can’t dredge ’em up and use ’em?
“23. Your mother had no right to wear a hazmat suit to our wedding.”
That’s more of a moral judgment than a grievance, I think.
Although mebbe she didn’t like how she looked in formal wear. ???
Too fine a point on it, and you might need to take a sounding.
“my girlfriend duties, like have sex with you”
I bet that’s just delightful.
Yep…I know I love perfunctory sex.
For Brooksie:
The used car market.
My dad used to have a standard cab pre-runner, ’99 I think or something like that. People used to come up to him in parking lots asking to buy it.
Weird for a 2x.
For Brooksie:
Nice.
The country is in the best of hands.
Who’s the brunette in the brown dress. Yowza.
Looking at the cast in IMDB, I’m thinking it’s Julie Newmar.