I knew of Scott from Born to Run and have heard of him in various podcasts. He sounds like an absolute machine when it comes to endurance. Adventure books have a place that strikes a mood for me. I am finding as I get older, the adventure for me is in right in front of me. The idea of travel feels more and more like escapism. The idea of challenging myself in a big way like this feels like removal from real life. Maybe I don’t have what it takes. I did enjoy the book and do find it inspiring when I don’t want to get out of the house and put in some miles.

Spent this week visiting Austin, Texas. Second time I have been there this year. Austin always strikes me as a city that didn’t get enough hugs when it was young and needs a lot of attention. I did take some time to walk about 12 miles around the city. Visited some of the sites, drank some of the drinks, and enjoyed their finest Texas brisket. It did not disappoint with above average people watching and some of the characters I met.

I watched a gift giving guide and was impressed by the KNIPEX pliers mainly because of their parallel clasping and smooth finish contact. They are pricey, but this is a tool I use often around the house. When they arrived I was even more impressed with how well they are made. They are manufactured in German and are quite exquisite. I call this Werkzeugvergnügen or tool pleasure.

Inside the War Against Headlight Brightness by Nate Rodgers

On a recent episode of the_ Carmudgeon Show_ podcast, auto journalist Jason Cammisa described a phenomenon occurring with some LED headlights in which there are observable minor spots of dimness among an otherwise bright field of light. “With complex arrays of LEDs and of optics,” he said, “car companies realized they can engineer in a dark spot where it’s being measured, but the rest of the field is vastly over-illuminated. And I’ve had now two car companies’ engineers, when I played stupid and said, ‘What’s the dark spot?’ … And the lighting engineers are all fucking proud of themselves: ‘That’s where they measure the fucking thing!’ And I’m like, ‘You assholes, you’re the reason that every fucking new car is blinding the shit out of everyone.’”

It is day three of 15 degrees mornings and my excuses to not run are familiar and consistent.

Found this as I was browsing the New York Times. I can’t even imagine what convoluted process this must be a part of.

In 2020 we had to convert the dining room into a recovery area for the Mother in Law. Shortly after that, we converted it into my spouses permanent office space. It was pragmatic to put in a better light than a chandelier and one with a fan made sense.

There is something satisfying about making something you need, and making it well.

We lost Charlie Munger late last year. By chance i had pre-ordered this book eight months prior to its release date and it shipped about a week after his death. The book offers a good insight into how Munger views the world and thinks about investing. For him, investing is all about doing your homework and finding the opportunities that rise above the common bets. You otherwise are participating in the same odds as everyone else and your, and their, participation drive down the rewards. Another point that resonates from this book is the idea of investing in what you know coupled with valuing actual value that is produced.

Catastrophizing is a survival approach, but it is not the only approach. Survival is not mandatory, but a necessary part of our evolution. You should not question the want to survive, but rather the method of survival. Catastrophizing can be a useful near term reaction to a problem, but we use more positive forms of survival such as preparedness and confidence that our past abilities will be able to meet the demands of future challenges. This is a much more positive approach and will result in a better mental outlook as you will have some sense of control in a chaotic world.