Well, it has been a couple of weeks, and I have again moved to the opposite side of the world from Asia. I’m here in Buenos Aires again, and in my apartment as of yesterday. It is not, unfortunately, quite as nice as I envisioned it to be. But one thing I will say is that it is extremely quiet. That was the biggest problem with the prior apartment. Certainly can’t complain about that here. And definitely the neighborhood is nicer. The main problem is that I am a minimalist, and the persons who are renting this apartment out obviously are not. I am going to talk to the agent today and find out if I can get a cardboard box into which I can store large quantities of bric-a-brac that just irritate me no end.

However, in the grand scheme of things, that is all pretty trivial. It is quiet, and I have a nice desk to work on, and I’m going out today to buy a 25-inch computer monitor to add to my laptop. I will be here, after all, four months. Definitely worth it to be able to work comfortably.

Due to the exigencies of work in Asia, I studied absolutely no Spanish for nine weeks. Fortunately, I don’t seem to have forgotten as much as I thought. But, my studies will renew again.

Jet lag absolutely kicked my ass this time. I’m on day six, and most days my brain is just fuzzy from fatigue. Very difficult to do anything. I apologize that this particular blog entry is more of a brief update rather than anything particularly interesting 😊.

I feel vastly more comfortable in the city now. I distinctly remember from last time that I was still feeling my way around, trying to find out where to do the most basic things, and I definitely wasn’t comfortable with the neighborhood I was living in. This time, although I miss my home in Asia, I certainly feel more like this is a second home now. And, yesterday I found a large Western-style grocery store and Home Depot type of establishment. Eureka!

I gather that there is some event called the World Cup that is going to be going on in Russia in from 14 June – 15 July. Yet another of the world’s bizarre tribal rituals I guess. But Argentina is football crazy, and I’m told it’s the quite an interesting experience here. Work slows down, especially during any match that involves Argentina (then it just stops completely). I’m shaking my head. I simply do not get it. Why do they go so overboard about this stuff? Maybe I should get a T-Shirt or hat that says “World What?” … That would go over well I’m sure.

And, apropos of that particular thought, it reminds me of the latest podcast I was listening to from You Are Not So Smart. This was a series of four podcasts called the Backfire Effect. The Backfire Effect was a finding that when you use facts to try to convince someone of something that challenges one of their deeply held beliefs, it can sometimes make them cling to those beliefs even more strongly. And what is interesting about episode 4 is, taking the scientific approach, new studies were done that, in fact, modify the final conclusions of the previous three. That is, after all, the scientific method. When more data comes along that modifies previous conclusions, one evaluates, and if justified, one then modifies one’s beliefs.

This unfortunately, made me realize that I suffer from something called naïve realism. Naïve realism is the belief that since I believe certain things, that when I run across somebody else that doesn’t believe what I believe, that if I can just show them the same facts that I have seen, that somehow that will make everything all right. Well, as it says, naïve.

My plan for the next 4 months is to work on long term software applications for my partners, study Spanish until I weep, and lastly, try to complete at least 6 courses from Great Courses Plus (Economics, History, Nutrition, and, just for the hell of it, try to reeducate myself in Programming by learning a new language – Python).

I will also keep to my workout schedule, and, as of 4 weeks ago, I am putting Yoga back into my week. At least 3 – 4 times. Although I’ve only been doing it for a month, I can already feel my flexibility coming back.

I am trying magnesium supplements. I believe, anecdotally, that I am seeing two major effects from it. Less muscle spasms and just possibly slightly more energy.

 https://www.foundmyfitness.com/ 

Very information dense site but has a lot of good information. Dr. Rhonda Patrick.

And ... one more link.

https://skepticalscience.com/debunk

A place to download a book on how to debunk erroneous ideas

So. Life is good. I’m looking forward to getting a lot of studying done, working out, and generally relaxing and being productive 😊 …