Don't Think, Just Do
I never seek flow in getting things done, I always seek detachment from my monkey mind and just executing on what is in front of me. That is when I am most productive. I do not worry about the order of what needs to be done or the steps to do it or the time it may take or how I might feel. I just pick up the next task and execute.
Writing Documentation for Your House
This has been something I have long thought about for my own house. Keeping a record of every change, improvement, or reference for my house. As with all things I tend to want to do, I tend to overthink it. I have kept my house records very simple. The reality is nobody cares how long your system component has been functioning, just the calculus around fixing versus replacing it. I totally appreciate the geek level of this linked blog post:
Stasis is Not Good Rehab
Sunday I ended up with a spasmed muscle in my lower right back. This resulted in an agonizing day. The rest of the week became recovery from the whole right side of my body tensing and being out of alignment from the one problem. I have been diligent about keeping up my flexibility routine and stretching often throughout the day. I have tried running earlier in the week, but had to temper it with plenty of walking.
Relationships vs Systems
Working in the engineering world, a common theme is to see people wanting to put systems in place when really we need to cultivate relationships. It is always a mistake to think about working with other people or teams as requiring an interface and system to replace interacting with others. Long term relationships imply trust and empathy.
RIP Charlie Munger
One of the qualities that make Charlie memorable for me is his blunt wit and not his wealth. Perhaps the wealth lead to the wit, but I’d like to think not. I have had Poor Charlie’s Almanac on order for about eight months. It looks to be finally arriving in a week.
44 memorable Charlie Munger quotes about life and markets
Running Sucks
Managing Change
I have always been one to enjoy change. Change often means good things can happen. Change often means a new opportunity to grow, which often comes with pain. We don’t get to choose our change, but we do get to seek out learning from it.
As more change is on the horizon for me, I need to work through my own feelings of change and then help communicate and deliver them to others who often like change less than I do.
Civilized Progress
It’s sometimes argued that there’s no real progress; that a civilization that kills multitudes in mass warfare, that pollutes the land and oceans with ever larger quantities of debris, that destroys the dignity of individuals by subjecting them to a forced mechanized existence can hardly be called an advance over the simpler hunting and gathering and agricultural existence of prehistoric times. But this argument, though romantically appealing, doesn’t hold up.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
This is a book I had read mainly in two parts. The first part was at the start of 2022. I had heard many great things about this novel and thought I should give it a go, but I gave in to the weight of Russian literature. It had really bothered me that I did not finish reading it and so I went for it last month. It is such a bleak book and as Clifford Lee Sargent mentions in his review, it is two pages of crime and over five hundred pages of punishment.
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
In my youth I had dabbled with Mountaineering. This was a book I considered luxurious to consume. It is a well written book and well regarded. I walked away feeling horrible as the author must have felt and conveyed to the reader. So much tragedy and so much helplessness in witnessing the events unfold. This book took about a week to recover from. It was quite intense. I also cannot say this lit an adventure fire under me, but perhaps the timing was wrong.