I really liked this one, H/T mindyourbusiness:
Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.
April 9
“From the very beginning, make it your practice to say to every harsh impression, ‘you are an impression and not at all what you appear to be.’ Next, examine and test it by the rules you possess, the first and greatest of which is this—whether it belongs to the things in our control or not in our control, and if the latter, be prepared to respond, ‘It is nothing to me.’”
—EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 1.5
It is easy to get myself worked up at the latest outrage. Everyone at work was talking about Chris Rock getting smacked by Will Smith. I got sucked in a little, it was a very mild joke and was in no way a “defense of his wife”. About a minute into the discussion, I stopped and told my co-worker “I could not care less about what those people do.” Then I changed the subject.
April 10
“It isn’t events themselves that disturb people, but only their judgments about them.”
—EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 5
During recovery from my surgery, I would sometimes slip into self pity and anger at my condition. My swelling was manageable and I wasn’t in pain, just stuck on the couch. My judgement of the fairness of the situation was causing me more distress than my actual condition. Every time I was able to control my attitude, I was still not happy with the situation, but I was not distressed either.
April 11
“Throw out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.17.1
One of the reasons I was successful in the Marine Corps was my ability to listen to training and do it the way they wanted me to and not the way I thought I knew how to do it. This started at the rifle range in boot camp. I thought I knew how to shoot and was trying to do it the way I knew. After shooting horribly for a couple days and a serious talking to from the range coach, I started doing it their way and was able to shoot high sharpshooter/low expert for my entire career.
April 12
“Atreus: Who would reject the flood of fortune’s gifts?
Thyestes: Anyone who has experienced how easily they flow
back.”
—SENECA, THYESTES, 536
Wealth can be a trap. I am fairly well off, and because of this, I have made decisions differently than I would have if I was poor and had less to lose. Not just getting the vaccine, but also my silence at work about politics when the progressives spout off about the latest thing. Not sure what the answer is from this point, or how much of a problem it is for me.
April 13
“Don’t act grudgingly, selfishly, without due diligence, or to be a contrarian. Don’t overdress your thought in fine language. Don’t be a person of too many words and too many deeds. . . . Be cheerful, not wanting outside help or the relief others might bring. A person needs to stand on their own, not be propped up.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 3.5
It is easy for me to be a contrarian, I don’t know anybody on a daily basis that I agree with, but it would serve no purpose to do it just to have an argument.(however, I could be arguing in my spare time) I have no problem with the second sentence, as anyone who interacts with me can tell, I am not a flowery speaker. It is not important if I impress other people with how my life appears. It is important that I am able to be happy with how my life is. Bragging about things {even if the are true) is not beneficial to anyone.
April 14
“Believe me, it’s better to produce the balance-sheet of your own life than that of the grain market.”
—SENECA, ON THE BREVITY OF LIFE, 18.3b
I have always been a productive worker and am fairly skillful at many trades. While that is good, it is more important that I am skillful at living and being a success in that regard. I hope at the end, my balance sheet reflects a good man who did try to improve himself.
April 15
“Nothing will ever befall me that I will receive with gloom or a bad disposition. I will pay my taxes gladly. Now, all the things which cause complaint or dread are like the taxes of life—things from which, my dear Lucilius, you should never hope for exemption or seek escape.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 96.2
I understand the concept of paying taxes gladly. I should be happy that I can afford to pay so much. I also understand that taxes are a fact of life for all of recorded history and before. That being said, taxation is theft and I still hate them. The taxes of life are a little easier to “pay gladly”. Aches, pains, and illness being a few of these. As long as I can control my impressions and judgement of these setbacks, they will not affect my state of mind.
Music this week is Badlands, Jake E. Lee’s band after Ozzy fired him. If you like stripped back 70’s style rock, they were great and it is a shame they were not more popular.
This has always been hard for me because it’s difficult for me to unlearn bad habits because “Well, wait. Is this the right way or is it THIS? I can’t remember.” I was taught (in spite of its nonsensicalness) (by a hard-ass English teacher) to ALWAYS put the period/comma INSIDE the quote whether the statement was a quote or not. This never made sense to me and looked awful, but I did it anyway. Now I’m more flexible and I want to do it the way it looks right, but there’s that little voice in my head saying DO IT MY WAY. I hesitate each and every time.
I have long debates with myself about punctuation and word order.
“Well, those are logically equivalant, and I like this way, but that is the “correct” way…”
I have long debates with myself and others about English. I speak, write and think in my native dialect. A few people, like Pope J that also speaks fluent Minnesodan understands.
I try not to feel sorry for myself out loud. Instead, remember the good days, been a lot of them, when the fish don’t bite I’m happy ’cause I don’t have to clean any.
Your accent doesn’t come through in writing.
Meet me at the crick.
Down here in Kansas City and all the way down to (that I know of) the SE corner of Kansas and the Ozarks, “crick” is normal.
/wanders away to find one of the regional dialect tests
I’ve heard both, but usually a crick is considered smaller than a creek.
I was of the opinion that they were synonyms, a flowing body of fresh water too small to be a river or stream.
UCS:
I should have specified that it was the way I’ve heard both used. Of course, to add to confusion, I live near a river/stream that’s called Big Creek that is considered to have its own watershed.
There’s a whole bunch of Big Creeks
The one by the 95?
ALWAYS put the period/comma INSIDE the quote whether the statement was a quote or not
Does it change the meaning? It’s not like leaving necessary punctuation out:
“Eats shoots and leaves.” v “Eats, shoots and leaves.”
I took Mo as saying it was akin to something like:
“She had an ‘appointment’.” vs “She had an ‘appointment.'”
Does that change the meaning, cause confusion?
Change == minutely. Cause confusion == no.
e.g.,
I was told we were supposed to put the period “inside the quote.” vs. I was told we were supposed to put the period “inside the quote”.
Note where the period is.
You punctuated the period-quote correctly because they are full sentences.
I have to deal with that particular issue all the time at work.
In the cited patent, the widget is “not directly coupled to the gantry.”
v.
In the cited patent, the widget is “not directly coupled to the gantry”.
One implies the source material ended a thought with the quoted portion. The other doesn’t. What if the source material says “the widget is not directly coupled to the gantry, except when being stored for transport.”? Could the first one be considered misleading?
Some people do it like this:
In the cited patent, the widget is “not directly coupled to the gantry[.]”
Personally, I find that way horrific. I use option 2.
OT: I moved into a new phone and Greasemonkey is not an option to be installed. Is there anything I can do to install Monocle?
Tampermonkey
Grayed out.
Did you restart it?
?
I unplugged it and plugged it back in. ?
I’ve never been able to get Monocle or Eyepiece to work on my phone. ?
It worked on my old phone, and most everything transferred, including some scripts, but this didn’t and the add-on store won’t let me add it on.
Try the thermostat.
Looks great, Trashy, some people made really nice lids. I’m embarrassed. Good job.
I don’t think so. I’ve been running without monocle for a while because FireWoke killed the extensions feature and Brave doesn’t support extensions. I’d be happy to be proven wrong on that, though.
Next option for mobile is to write an app, but I haven’t had the time to get very far into that project. It would also be something where we should probably do some server side improvements to support app features, and that’s not happening right now for obvious reasons.
Oh, and here’s a sneak peek of the other glibs project I’m working on.
Love it!
Thanks, trashy!
?
Brave on my laptop does.
Re other project: w00t! Lovely.
Hey Trashy, don’t want to bug you but did you get my lid(s)?
oh wait never mind I see it in the pic! Awesome!
@DB it’s there in the picture he shared.
Confirmed that I received yours, db. There are a few that I haven’t yet sent emails out for. The list isn’t in front of me, but Toxeth, HE, and db are on it for sure.
That’s gonna be super cool, trashy!
In the cited patent, the widget is “not directly coupled to the gantry[.]”
That’s just completely wrong. Now, the sentence doesn’t have a period, for starters. You use square brackets to denote things that you are inserting into the quote, and the period isn’t really being inserted into the quote itself, as part of the (expanded) quote, but is supposed to be punctuation for the sentence the quote is part of.
Help your brother, Jack, off the horse?
I don’t follow that “rule”.
Punctuation inside quotation is Chicago Manual of Style.
Yes. It’s also Mrs. Floyd style.
Never looked right to me, because I think punctuation serves a much more important purpose than people give it credit for.
For instance, my editor wanted me to use a period after every ellipse that ended a sentence. For nonfiction, that’s sensible, but I’m writing fiction. A period after a terminal ellipse DEFEATS THE ENTIRE PURPOSE OF THE ELLIPSE.
He had never thought of it that way.
Why would you have a terminal ellipse in nonfiction? I thought it was someone trailing off and not finishing…
It would be like putting a period after a terminal dash where there is a sudden interr-
Because it’s not used that way in nonfiction. It’s to indicate that there are words left out of something you’re citing. It needs to have a terminal period to indicate that the citation is, in fact, finished.
Ah. I see.
You can tell I’ve not done nonfiction. That usage had entirely slipped my mind.
Heh. Need to write a style guide for STEVE SMITH GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION.
BY PUNCTUATION MEAN?
MANY EXCLAMATIONS, ALSO LEAVES MARK!
HELP BROTHER JACK OFF BIGFOOT.
STEVE HATE COMMAS.
I do follow that one….
I actually didn’t mean to start a thread on punctuation, though.
I’m learning a new thing. I’m dreading that moment I go into a new job and think, “But that’s not the way I was taught!” and agonizing over it.
Oh, come on, a bunch of nitpickers and writers, you had to know we’d pick up on that strand.
You know where you are, right?
I agree, that punctuation rule always bugged me, too. It’s dumb.
I feel the same way about the AP style not using the Oxford comma. It just leads to confusion, which is the opposite of what you should want with news reporting.
Exactly! re Oxford comma. I can’t even with that.
Clearly you haven’t learned your journalism at an expensive school. Yes, you do want to create confusion.
I don’t put punctuation inside quotation marks unless its actually part of the quote. Because the only thing that belongs inside the quotation marks is the, you know, quote.
I’ll do it for prose that is “literary.” But the vast majority of my writing – probably 99% – is technical.
Click “Go.” ← nuh-uh
Click “Go”. ← that’s better
What I do is use a different color when the text matches exactly with an interface element.
And I had a boss that would send back anything with the verb “click.”
What’s wrong with “click”?
He thought it was “unprofessional” and slang-y. He was old.
What if you’re describing a GIF of Dorothy clicking her heels in the ruby slippers?
Oddly enough, I’ve never needed to do that at any time in my career.
Everything is “tap” now. *barf*
I had some good news today, the roofer came out, looked at the winter damage and admitted that his team didn’t quite do the job right. Then looked at the fallen chimney and said he could repair that and quoted a price that made me very happy. Now a couple weeks and I’ll be all fixed up.
I’ve been fussing with chimney repair guys for a couple weeks, either no response or a negative response. Finally the snow will be gone and I can worry about my tomato plants and the frost in another month or two. I’ll be able to work in the garage, garden or slack off.
I’ll be able to get to look at the big iron soon and keep my promise to UCS.
Good deal. Ready for spring!
Huzzah! He sounds like a good guy.
Name’s Mike, too, goes with the territory, I guess.
Big Iron, you say?
“It isn’t events themselves that disturb people, but only their judgments about them.”
I love this one. So little is truly under your control, but training yourself to be more resilient is always worthwhile.
Thanks, Ron!
Still working on it.
Like most good things, it’s easier said than done.
This is a big issue of mine, and the main reason I became interested in Stoicism. I’ve been slacking on it lately and need to get back to reading.
This series is great…every Friday I get another reminder/pep talk. Thanks again, Ron.
Glad you enjoy it and I hope it’s helpful.
I keep talking to friends who are reading the stoics, as well as religious texts. I sense a disturbance in the secular force.
Maybe people are getting tired of the hysteria and non-stop assault on all things good.
Unfortunately many people have offloaded their values and morality to their political party. Maybe some are starting to see through the bullshit and flip-flopping and are realizing that was a bad idea.
It’s a servicable meat sauce, just don’t call it chili.
Is it the noodles that are the problem, or is it the cheese?
Yes. And they put cinnamon in the sauce. Blech.
Cinnamon? Gross.
We’ve almost driven them all out of the Cleveland area. I believe one still lurks over on the Eastside.
There’s a reason it’s called Cincinnati Chili. FFS, they have multiple chains selling it.
Sometime posted a map without Ohio- the people in Cincinnati will be pissed they’re gonna end up with the Hicks in Kentucky.
Not as pissed as the us hicks in KY.
Ignore the extraneous ‘the’ in that comment.
Nobody wants fucking Cincy in their state.
Now we’re back to 56 states, flag makers rejoice.
Tosu must always be stopped.
When I was in Boot Camp, they started yelling at the country boys as soon as we moved into the range phase – “do it our way, no Kentucky windage!” I knew I couldn’t shoot, so no worries here.
So what is “Kentucky windage”?
Shooting while drunk?
I think that’s Irish windage.
Aiming offset without adjusting the sights.
Watch where the first round lands and then adjust.
Since your supposed to adjust your sites (not your aim), you drive the DI insane because you end up chasing the strike of the round all over the paper.
My problem was that I was used to shooting with a scope, usually not more than 1-200 yards.
Iron sights with sling support, out to 500 yards, is a completely different thing.
I actually hit a few in the 20″ bull at 500 yards, with those old worn out M-1s Now I can’t see 500 yards.
Firearms instructors loved me cause I didn’t grow up with guns so I was taught the military way
When I was in Basic, during BRM week, we were on the zero range, I think it was the first day firing live ammo. Before we went onto the range itself, the Senior Drill Sergeant ranted at us for twenty minutes about “any of you that have ever fired a rifle before, forget anything you think you know! We’re going to teach you the right way to fire a weapon.”
So we got on the range. Firing three-round groups, adjusting sights, firing again. I was surprised at how easy the M16A1 was to shoot well; decent ergonomics, no recoil, sights not too bad. So I was plugging out nice, tight little ragged one-hole groups at 25 meters.
After my second round of three, the NCO who was spotting for me told me “stay there,” and left. He came back with the Company XO, a 1LT who was actually kind of a dick. The XO: “I’m spotting for you now.”
“Yes sir.” I shot two more three-round groups, after which I was pretty well zeroed. There was a cease-file, and we went up and got our targets. The XO took a dime out of his pocket and was covering the groups on my paper target with it.
He looked at me and smiled just a little. “Who taught you to shoot?”
“My Dad, sir. I’ve been shooting since I was five.”
Remember what the Senior Drill said to you guys about forgetting everything you know about shooting a rifle?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Forget all that. Keep doing exactly what you’re doing.”
Shot 40 out of 40 on the Qualification course, shooting just the way the Old Man taught me.
Lol. True story.
As I remember a couple other guys got the same message at some point in the process. Like me, they were kids from a rural background who were already pretty good shots. The XO had a pretty practical viewpoint; if you were hitting the target, you were doing fine.
And yeah, the M16 was a pretty easy gun to shoot well.
Teaching on the M16 is one of its greatest achievements as our primary battle rifle
We got the same lecture – but the recruit with our platoon’s (and training series) high-score was a guy from Maine who competed in Olympic style matches all through his teens. I believe his reward was a trip to Scout-Sniper school.
Gotta run, so I’ll just leave this here (sorry Ron)
Daily Quordle 74
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Daily Quordle 74
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quordle.com
Daily Quordle 74
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Squirl Fight!
https://youtu.be/zLac3g3SOKw
Pie in the Sky makes an appearance
https://www.reddit.com/r/HolUp/comments/txr9g3/absolute_unit/
Nice article as always Ron.
““Atreus: Who would reject the flood of fortune’s gifts?
Thyestes: Anyone who has experienced how easily they flow
back.”
—SENECA, THYESTES, 536
Wealth can be a trap. I am fairly well off, and because of this, I have made decisions differently than I would have if I was poor and had less to lose. Not just getting the vaccine, but also my silence at work about politics when the progressives spout off about the latest thing. Not sure what the answer is from this point, or how much of a problem it is for me.”
I hear you bring this up fairly often. That makes me think it is a problem to you, but you’re avoiding dealing with it. Maybe that means ignoring the progs since you’re not in control of it, or maybe something else.
but also my silence at work about politics when the progressives spout off about the latest thing
This is really about having class at the workplace. Early in my career, my big boss took his wife and our team out to dinner. Everyone there is a hardcore leftist but me. My boss began in on some leftist talking point during the meal. The wife (very progressive) leans over and politely let’s her know that she should stop and change the subject. My boss replies that she’s not afraid to state her views (no shit, it’s a friendly audience). Big Boss’s wife tells my boss that she’s missing the point and it’s not all appropriate.
That’s stuck with me over the years, especially as it becomes more rare among the left. Fortunately my current team and bosses leave their politics at the door.
My boss replies that she’s not afraid to state her views
Career-limiting move. When the Big Boss’s wife tells you to shut your trap, you shut your effing trap whether you agree or not. Arguing with the Big Boss’s wife is likely to piss him off more than arguing with him.
Mostly I ignore them, but it is tiresome.
Good Counterflow Podcast with Jay Dyer
Font choice is important
https://twitter.com/_HelenDale/status/1511254011877412864
LOL
I will be getting that for my ex-wife.
Where can I get one of those?
Forty minutes until the end of workday on a friday. There’s maybe one other person from my group around. My only thought is “I don’t want to be here”.
I don’t think I’m going to be any more productive if I sit here for forty minutes than if I just leave, but I get paid if I sit here.
Just played Hurdle on Arcadium.com. Pretty fun version of wordle/quordle.
Wow, that was rough.
I almost typed, “Yeah, I like the end.” But euphemisms. The last puzzle is a great idea.
I have to deal with that particular issue all the time at work.
In the cited patent, the widget is “not directly coupled to the gantry.”
v.
In the cited patent, the widget is “not directly coupled to the gantry”.
My purely idiosyncratic style book says if the quotation marks are basically a stand-in for italicization, the period goes outside.
My internal style book says that if the quotation marks are basically a stand-in for italicization, then the NAP doesn’t apply and they deserve a severe beating.
Too soon; trshy’s second lternative is how I would do it.
Holy shit, it’s on.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jury-whitmer-kidnapping-case-2-defendants-acquitted
Sometimes we actually have a justice system
Nice.
So the court says I need to take it up with the merit board for a punishment I have yet to receive. The merit board made up of the same administration that wants to punish me for what is now, pretty clear science that there is no need to get the vaccine except in narrow circumstances.
However, that ruling might be a silver lining as personnel that refused either to disclose their medical status and/or refused to get a vaccine can in my opinion show that the government did not ensure that those employees are protected from unfair or arbitrary treatment.
I ain’t holding my breath though
10 year ban.
https://nypost.com/2022/04/08/did-will-smith-lose-his-oscar-the-academy-reveals-decision/
But he can keep his award.
I’d like to see the movie where an Oscar winner is ordered to relinquish the prize, but he flees with the award and the Academy sends a squad of enforcers after him.
So incredibly tedious
Two of the three Republicans who crossed the aisle to confirm the president’s Supreme Court pick, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, are women. Mitt Romney of Utah joined Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine this week to vote in favor of Jackson’s nomination. But it was the women’s ability to put principles before politics that led the way.
Collins and Murkowski have watched male senators questioning Jackson. They have seen their colleagues’ constant interruptions. And they have seen Jackson stand up to such hectoring with fortitude. As women in public office, I can imagine they saw a familiar pattern and decided to take a stand. It’s one that serves American progress and stands up for justice.
Blah blah blah much oppressionz.
I do not demean Judge Jackson because she is black, nor because she is a woman, although she will always be first and foremost the manifestation of Joe Biden’s bizarre fixation on black women.
She is another in a parade of Harvard “legal scholars” who believe rights are created and granted at the sole discretion of the State. I reject this unequivocally.
So 2 women “led the way” for a group of 3? Ok.
Mitt might as well be a woman
He’s definitely a bitch.
“Take a stand” is the new “cave on principles you supposedly stand for”.
Got it.
Those great principled people who voted our way, unlike the evil, politics playing people on the other side.
“the women’s ability to put principles before politics”
If they voted the way they did for the reason described by the author, then they actually set aside principles in favor of gender* solidarity. Though being rock solid RINO’s, I think it’s more likely they voted the way they would have anyway, if Jackson was a man, with the same exact record.
*Or is it sex? Don’t ask me, I’m not a biologist.
So 2 women “led the way” for a group of 3? Ok.
Bravely. So very very bravely.
Holy cow- I was just scanning the headlines.
Whitmer trial: two acquitted, two mistrial.
Woohoo. There are some pissed of folks at the DoJ.
Went and double checked. Defense pitched a shutout.
Back to the topic for a moment – have you posted this brief monologue by Marcus Aurelius, stand-up comic?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqmOs8Zqw5o