#125 - Diffuse Sense Of Dread
I heard this phrase somewhere, “a diffuse sense of dread.”. It seems very appropriate. Since I have been stranded in the United States, I can tell that I have been affected by this. Dread being defined as a formless anxiety without any specific target.
Which certainly applies to the environment that we live in today. We have egregiously stupid bullies in power all over the world and morons who have no idea how to handle a pandemic. Global warming is making itself felt. This summer the western United States was (is) on fire. Australia, an entire continent, seems to now burst into flame annually. China seems to be bent on world domination. Consumerism and waste are rampant. A large portion of the world’s population seem to make their decisions by social media soundbite, and the fact that there was a fly on Mike Pence’s hair during a debate seems to have garnered more airtime than the debate itself …
And so what have I been doing to pander to this feeling of dread … ? I’ve been accumulating firearms and medical gear and trying to refresh my skills in the fields of CQC, medicine and wilderness survival.
Why? 😊 Hell! I don’t know. If the fecal matter was really to hit the rotary oscillator, I don’t have enough gear to help anybody other than just myself, Mark and Lisa. But at least I could do that. For a little while.
I guess part of it is I would rather refresh my skills in those areas than not. Knowing these things and being proficient at them (especially the medical skills) can’t be a bad thing. And I’m a little amused by how much I’ve forgotten since my time in the military. And, to be fair, how much I have remembered and how quickly much of it comes back.
And – I believe it is better to be doing that than just being a couch potato and streaming Netflix.
My goal is to head out for at least a couple of nights of minimalist camping in the mountains west of Las Vegas sometime in the next 3 – 4 weeks. That should be interesting 😊.
A friend of mine has just released a new book. It may not be for everybody (compared to the demographic that reads this blog I mean 😊), but I leave the link here regardless. She writes excellently. Makes me smile. Great job you’ve done Heather – I’m looking forward to reading the book tomorrow when it comes out on Kindle.
The struggle with hypothyroidism continued. I changed my medication about three weeks ago, and honestly, I feel worse. I’m told by somebody that has had this condition for many years that it does take a bit of fine-tuning to figure out exactly what’s going on. And sometimes even the brand or form of medication can make a difference. So, about another three weeks and then another blood panel and see what happens. Right now, if anything, I seem to be more tired rather than less. Even though they tripled my dosage. Ah well. Life goes on. But I have done this 2nd post within a month … that is certainly an improvement.
The weather in Nevada is finally starting to grow cooler. For about the last 10 days it hasn’t gotten over 100. That counts as cooler in Las Vegas. 😊
Two quotes from Miyamoto Musashi to ponder:
“There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself.”
“Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is, and you must bend to its power or live a lie.”
If more people truly understood these concepts the world would be a better place.
Speaking of the world, I voted yesterday (early mail in ballot). Rarely have I done anything that felt so futile. There is no ‘good’. There is only slightly less egregiously stupid than the other. Sigh.
The further we drift from the truth the more society will hate those who speak it!… And where are we today?
Apropos of nothing at all, “folding houses”.
I ran across this in the search for reasonably priced housing the other day. Well, more accurately Mark ran across it and forwarded me the link. Really amazing what technologies are available these days. As Mark and I have discussed we are right on the cusp of a revolution in housing. Or at least so, optimistically, I choose to believe.
Two things I have noticed though, when it comes to this concept of affordable ‘tiny’ housing.
One is that the companies that do this, both in the states and in Europe, seem to think that ‘affordable’ means charging as much as you can get away with for the smallest house possible. Their pricing is, to my mind, insane. E.g. $US270,000 for a 540ft2 Studio shed.
www.Haus.me – US$500,000 - $US1,000,000 for 400ft2 – 800ft2 homes. Granted – These are literally just “drop on the lot” and they are ready to go, totally off grid. However, if you look at the way the houses are made, I would surely hate to have to try to get support if something broke down. They are, indeed, the highest quality German engineering, but still… But really you should look at them. Amazing technology.
The second is that the companies that do this the best seem to be predominantly in Europe. Here in the United States I think that the market for these kinds of houses is severely hampered by zoning regulations.
And – speaking of affordable housing - [In my belief a huge crisis worldwide] - I heard an acronym the other day. NIMBY - the “not in my backyard” attitude of the majority of municipalities in the United States. Everybody wants affordable housing for the economically disadvantaged … as long as it’s not close to them. So the municipal entities create zoning regulations that make it hard to get affordable housing permitted.
Another idle thought - The Wall – Against immigration from Mexico. Hmm. I think we need to instead put a WALL around California. I am so tired of hearing sentences that are variations on “Well the people from California came here and made land/house prices go up.” The people from California seem to make any place they go to uninhabitable. They certainly seem to have done that in their home state. So federal authorities should just the expand the Stay At Home order for COVID-19 to include the entire state 😊.
Last but not least – I’m going to update my resume and start tentatively looking for work. I’m not desperate yet but I am thinking it would be interesting to find out whether I get any interest or not. I only need one bite after all – Or … I will read Heather’s book and act on that instead 😊
And on that optimistic note I will go do some yoga and my physical therapy for the day. Stay well everybody.