While I was out on my morning walk, this guy (that’s an assumption) decided to perch atop a pole. He (again, an assumption) was rather vocal and surveyed the area as I walked by.
I believe it’s a raven up there. They seem content.
Ponderings and Musings
Video: DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Camera Review.
My latest YouTube video features me reviewing the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Camera while exploring southeast Arizona over the past couple of weekends. I really like this camera and I’m excited about taking it on our upcoming adventures.
Endless Scrolling.
I’m a big fan of Jared Henderson’s YouTube channel. His thought provoking content often strikes a chord when I need to hear a tune, and today’s release is no different. In this video, Jared talks about why we “scroll” so much and some of the science around the habit.
I sometimes wonder if Steve Jobs knew in the back of his head as to what he was unleashing on the masses when Apple released the original iPhone. While a reliance on scrolling was possible with the devices that preceded the iPhone, it didn’t really hit the mainstream until the very early 2010s.
Please enjoy Jared’s video. Then put your phone away.
Perspective.
As a result of Trump’s latest round of tariffs, the U.S. stock market became very volatile. When I was watching the DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average) lose over 1000 points throughout yesterday, complete with photos of traders making gasping and other contorted faces on the CNBC news spread, I began to panic. I’m starting to close in on my retirement plans and those plans are hinging on two things: 1. the continuation of my marriage (though that’s not the reason I’m married) and 2. my 401K and other investments remaining solid.
My husband told me not to panic and he calming explained to me that we should be able to ride this out and let’s just stay put for the long haul. While I can’t find sense in the tariffs, his reaction makes sense. After all, he’s the smartest of the two of us so I calmed down and just vented on social media a bit.
Today it turns out that yesterday’s 1000+ point drop was just an appetizer. The DJIA closed down another 2200+ points today. Oof. My husband is out running errands, so I’m writing this blog entry to keep this all in perspective.
So, let’s recap with graphs: the DJIA is down 2231 points today.
And it’s down 2977 points over the last week.
And, the DJIA is down just over 4000 points since the beginning of the year.
However, when compared year over year, the DJIA is down only 589 points. Not great, but not horrid.
And when compared to two years ago, the DJIA is actually still up 4832 points.
Now, being up 4832 is not as good as being up 7063 points when compared to two years ago. I totally get that and I understand that our investments are riding on a downward trend with the economy and the stock market. This is all a result of the whims of a maniac that too many people have some weird fetish for. But as my husband and I discussed today at lunch, the market is not in ominous territory… yet. Who knows what TFG will do from the high chair before he leaves for another golf outing. That’s the lynchpin of this nutty Jenga game. I hate the uncertainty, I’m really sick of tolerating the rampant stupidity that has gripped this country, and I’m just flat out tired of the constant chaos.
Now, I’m not purposely looking for bright sides. I’m seeking and trying to keep things in perspective. As I continue my stoic studies (which I seemingly can’t consume fast enough these days), I’m reminded to keep things in perspective the best we can, for it could all end for me in the next moment (Memento Mori), and honestly, the world keeps turning.
Let’s not worry about what hasn’t happened yet. Why fear that which is not a certainty? Just be prepared to check receipts at the Walmart exit door until you can no longer stand up.
Solo.
I have worked from home since 2013. I enjoy the opportunity to work from home and I am my most productive when I’m not in a cube farm, distracted by the sights and sounds of others around me.
I still miss being around coworkers once in a while.
I look out the window a lot.
Stop!
OK, here’s the thing. I don’t want these alerts. I do not want some government official barking out alerts to my iPhone like I own some low fidelity speaker with a “DuKane” logo stamped on it, barely hanging from a ceiling tile in Room 205. My iPhone is not your PA system. I don’t want EAS alerts, I know every Amber alert involves a Silver Toyota, and unless there are nuclear warheads en route to SE Arizona, don’t vibrate my phone, don’t vibrate my watch, and don’t make my iPad squeal. I don’t want this. Stop it.
I get it. We must keep the public panicked at all times. That is the goal of our elected officials. I hate most of these people. Truth be known, if there is a nuclear warhead en route to SE Arizona, tell me so I can run toward it and get completely obliterated immediately.
That is my plan.
When we lived in Chicago, then mayor Lori Lightfoot used the EAS system during COVID like she was barking into an RCA Victrola every ten seconds to let us know we had to be off the streets by 9:00 PM because apparently the COVID virus could tell time. 8:55? Not a problem. 9:00 PM? Danger!
COVID ruined a lot of things for a lot of people and my tolerance for EAS alerts for bullshit is one of them.
Antitech.
I spent a few moments scrolling through my RSS news feed of the latest blog posts from people I follow. After all, that’s what a RSS news feed does. While it doesn’t create a todo list of things I must read, it creates a nifty catalog (albeit without the Dewey Decimal system or index cards with typewritten content from an IBM Selectric) of content for me to peruse at my leisure.
This usually ends up sucking me into some sort of technological vortex that takes me hours to claw my way out of, and then after I have returned to reality, gasping for air, I find my over enthusiastic brain synpatically firing in random direction with some sort of connective fit of churning through what I just spent an hour wasting my time on.
That’s a run on but accurate sentence.
Out of the five entries waiting for me on my RSS list today, three of them were devoted to why people are giving up the Internet.
I. Completely. Get It.
One such post included an interesting video shared by Dave at Blogography. I shall link to his post so you can read his much more articulate rendition of this theme, complete with video.
I clicked through the video Dave shared. Now, if you follow the link above you’ll know why I clicked the link. The content is quite interesting but more importantly, the videographer has a big mustache. Count me in.
After I clicked the link YouTube promptly suggested I view this (screenshot, not a link).
It has a flashy thumbnail (which I apparently suck at based on the feedback on my own YouTube channel), a clickbait title, and oh look, there’s thousands of views.
I guarantee that video will not make me laugh so I’m not clicking it. Because it’s probably a mish-mash of poor production values coupled with hideously upscaled video to some sort of AI barf of HD and I’m just not doing it. I don’t know who Paul Van Scott is nor do I really care. I simply clicked “Do not recommend channel”. Sorry, Paul Van Scott.
So this one popped up in its place. Cue the Apple pundit suggestion; this is very popular on my personalized YouTube experience. I don’t know Luke but I’m thinking he makes a living talking about Apple. Not my Jam, though good for Luke for having a hobby.
“Do not recommend channel”.
So I moved through my RSS feed and came across this entry from Brandon of Brandon’s Journal: “Is Anyone Else Tired of the Internet?“
YES!
I recently commented somewhere that we are in a post-innovative tech world now and that the tech companies are now focused on roping in eyeballs and revenue through services. There’s no really new *innovation* coming out, just iterative rehashes of the same old, same old, but with a slight twist: there has to be an app for that.
For example, Jeff Geerling, a YouTube geek that does some really nifty things with technology, recently shared a story where he had to connect his new dishwasher to the Internet and create an account on his smartphone so he could use a “Rinse Only” cycle on the new appliance.
What the hell?
Look, I get it. Capitalism dictates that the stockholders must be happy at all times. How else will CEOs earn millions upon millions of dollars firing people and making other related big decisions? No one is really focused on the Next Big Thing when regurgitating an “improved” version of a money making thing will make more money. There are no more Steve Jobs types. Not Musk, certainly not Zuck, and definitely not Tim Cook.
It’s all about revenue generation. And honestly, that’s kind of pathetic.
I mentioned on some forum a while back that we are beyond peak technology and that I really don’t think tech is better today than it was a decade ago. It’s gone from a nice to have to a “god, do I really need to create an app to change the TV channel?” situation. As an old guy screaming at clouds, no I do not think tech is better than ever. We’re beyond that.
I was screeched at by a commenter who reminded me that she no longer needs to get out of her car to pick up her groceries at the Target, they bring them to her because Technology Is Great. I told her she should get out of her car once in a while because I’m sure her fat ass could use the walk.
I’m so hostile and friendly at the same time.
There’s a difference between innovation and a combination of induced laziness/raping the user of any and all information available.
Now that I’ve ranted a bit on Ye Ancient Blogge, I’m going to go watch this video featuring the guy with big mustache.
Journaling, continued.
In November I wrote about my journaling habit, and how I was using a combination of the Day One app with my new-at-the-time paper journaling practice. Shortly after writing that blog entry I moved away from Day One and went a bit more in on paper journaling. In lieu of Day One I am using Obsidian, which works on just about anything.
Paper based journaling has become much more important to me.
At the beginning of the year I resolved to do more journaling in concert with general philosophical studying I was embracing. I have found writing in my journal to be an excellent thought exercise. As mentioned in the November blog entry, I find the words to be more meaningful when I take the time to write them down in my own handwriting, in lieu of just typing them on a random keyboard I have nearby. It’s good to take the time to write the way I learned decades ago.
I have been following along with the year with Ryan Holiday’s “The Daily Stoic” and it has made a positive impact on my thinking in 2025. It’s probably the strongest contributor to building my personal foundation as we all try to navigate this endlessly chaotic times here in the United States.
Taking a few moments a couple of times a day to write down what I’m thinking or how I’m feeling or to reflect on how my approach to life fits in with the lesson of the day in “The Daily Stoic” has unraveled the cacophony of thoughts I often have at any given moment. I wouldn’t say that I have found clarity, as that seems to be too strong of a word for how I feel at the moment, but I have found my thoughts around life to be more in the realm of “partly cloudy”. Journaling has definitely contributed to this.
As an aside, it seems that since the first of the year I have really embraced wearing hoodies. I doubt I’ll wear them when it’s well over 100°F in a month or two, but for now they are quite comfortable.
It’s good to be comfortable, in both mind and body.
Horchata.
This is a Horchata Cream Ale from Borderlands Brewing here in Tucson.
It is a beautiful night to sit outside and enjoy a drink, especially after a long week. Limits must always be honored and respected, hence a cream ale in limited quantities.
The work week was successful. The weekend looks promising. I have plans of taking video, enjoying Mother Nature, and especially enjoying the new moon skies this weekend.
It’s the little things that make life better. Focus on the little things.
