added PDFs and most recent changes

51 files changed, 443 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/abundance.txt b/abundance.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f088a53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/abundance.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+Abundance is the natural state of the world. If you leave something alone, there is enough, plenty in fact for all. Anyone who thinks that life is a competitive battlefield filled with individuals struggling, clawing at each other to survive needs to get outside more.
+
+That's not what life is and the first time you sit still and listen to the forest, pause in a grassy meadow in the moonlight, or tk you'll realize our conception of the world as struggle is flat wrong. It's flat wrong for many reasons, but the one that's come to interest me the most is that that boundary between individual and environment is not nearly so neat and clean as we imagine.
+
+There is a harmonic resonance between the world and forms that make it up, a kind of vibrating, edge-blurring, feedback loop. Things move, change, do what they need to do, others dissolve, morph, recombine in new ways. Nothing is still, nothing is static, nothing is cut off from anything else. We're still not sure where a tree ends: is it the roots? The mats of fungi feeding nutrients to the roots, without which the tree would die? Where is the beginning and end? 
+
+The better question might be, why are we looking for these things? Where did we get the idea that things begin and end?
+
+If you do pause somewhere and sit and be still and watch, listen, smell, taste, you'll also notice something very important: you are part of this harmonic dance going on around you. The grass presses against your feet, the gnats explore your skin, the carpenter bees' wings announce their arrival to you. 
+
+
+
+
+When we come to a place where the ecosystem is thriving we feel at peace
+
+When we seperate ourselves from the ecosystem that abundance goes away. 
+
+Until we learn to love ourselves we can't fix anything, we can't be part of anything. We have to come to grips with who we are, how we fit into the larger picture. We need to see the ways in which we are part of ecosystems, we just have to change how we do it. We do not use things, we are in things. 
+
+Anyone who believes that life is a battlefield full of
+individual warriors should go out into the meadows
+on a spring night. There, you can learn that the
+biosphere does not spawn cutoff, clearly
+differentiated individuals who compete against one
+another—assuming you find such a meadow; that is,
+now that some farmers have started to sow a single,
+standardized species of grass.
+
+Such an experience of the harmony between a
+landscape and its lifeforms is probably not the
+result of objective analysis. But this is precisely the
+point: If you let the calyxes and grasses slide
+through your hands amid the firefly flurries,
+celebrating the coming summer, you don’t just
+perceive a multitude of other beings—the hundred
+or so species of plants and countless insects that
+make up the meadow’s ecosystem. You also
+experience yourself as a part of this scene. And this
+is probably the most powerful effect of experiences
+in the natural world. When you immerse yourself in
+the natural world, you wander a little through the
+landscape of your soul.
+For a long time now, such experiences have been
+considered not very reliable, certainly unscientific,
+and, if valid at all, deeply steeped in that pleasant
diff --git a/boat.txt b/boat.txt
index 98bfc6c..3e35f75 100644
--- a/boat.txt
+++ b/boat.txt
@@ -16,3 +16,7 @@ All lines, especially reefing, lead aft to the cockpit so you can do the heavy w
 Walk through transom to facilitate boarding from the dinghy with your hands full of groceries. Also the nicest way to take a swim, or for washing yourself as mentioned above.
 
 One of the smallest boats corresponding to the above whilst sporting 3 cabins, is the Beneteau Oceanis 361 that I’ve owned and loved very much. Crossed the Atlantic twice with it. You may want a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 40 from around 1999 (the 3 cabin - 1 head layout) for a bit more payload and space in the forward cabin and twin cockpit wheels that facilitate mobility to and from the walk through transom. Otherwise a very similar boat. These are two ‘budget’ options, which seem to be the prudent choice given the description of your means. Better spend far less on the initial acquisition cost than you think you can afford. 
+
+--- 
+
+Forward wind scoop: a bit of triangular canvas strung over a forward hatch between two scasions, sloping down to the deck as you move aft with a tension line to the rigging above to keep it taunt. Doubles as forward windshade and forces air down into the hatch to keep below decks cool. Keeps the air moving through. Saw this on Allied Seawind 30 on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRHskbdRFFs
diff --git a/books-to-do.txt b/books-to-do.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..671d6e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/books-to-do.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+The Farfarers
+
+The premise of Farfarers is that the Norse were not the first to arrive in Iceland, Greenland and North America. Mowat call the first settlers, Albans, the name generally given to the people of the British Isles who most likely were descendants of the Neolithic peoples of Britain. He argues that as they were driven out by successive waves of Celts, Norse and other invaders, the Alben pushed across the Atlantic, first to Iceland, then on to Greenland and North America.
+
+He traces the history of these people using everything from Norse epic poetry, to the diaries of Irish monks. There is very little evidence on the ground (though there is some), so Mowat is well outside archeological dogma, but the case is convincing and I see no reason to disbelieve the accounts of the Sagas, private journals, and so on just because they are "unprovable". All archeological is ultimately a hypothosis at best, I see no reason to favor tales constructed out of scraps of wood and fire over those constructed out of paper.
+
+It probably helps that Mowat is a first-rate storyteller and this is a rip-roaring good yarn. Also sailing, there's never been a bad book about sailors.
+
+
+
+Voices in the Stones
+The Overstory
+The Wolf at Twilight
+Davy
+Neither wolf nor Dog
+Only Approved Indians
+Columbus and Other Cannibals
+A World Full of Gods
+Grandma Gatewood's Walk
+The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs
+The old ways
+Extreme Ownership
+World we used to live in
+God is red
+Desert Solitaire
+Light Action in the Caribbean
+steep trails
+decline of the west
+the white stage
+After Progress 
+Braiding sweetgrass
+Heaven's Breathe
+Forest and Sea
+Appachian trail ann and myron sutter
diff --git a/books/enchiridion-epictetus.txt b/books/enchiridion-epictetus.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..65c2dcf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/books/enchiridion-epictetus.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+The stoics have a strange reputation in our culture. They've been reduced to caricature on one hand, and a non-chemical brain tranquilizer on the other. The reality is they're a rich, diverse group of thinkers united by a common thread of belief that we can find peace and happiness best by dealing with the world as it is. That is, not the world as you think it should be, as you wish it were, but as it is.
+
+The pop stoicism peddled these days -- especially in the tech circles I am sometimes forced to endure -- is stoicism severely dumbed down. It's essentially been turned into a non-chemical tranquilizer used to help you avoid seeing the very things Stoicism is likely to make you feel very uncomfortable about. The same thing has been done to meditation, Buddhism, and more, I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that eventually dumbing down would make its way back to the Greeks.
+
+The point is, if you want to learn something about stoicism, and you do, trust me, you need to go straight to the original sources. The Enchiridion of Epictetus is the text I started with many years ago, but many people find Marcus Aurelius's Meditations enjoyable as well.
+
+There's a passably good translation of Epictetus's Enchiridion available for [free on Project Gutenburg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45109) if you like ebooks. I enjoy the [Oxford University Press translation by Robin Hard](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/discourses-fragments-handbook-9780199595181?cc=us&lang=en&) ($18), which also includes the rather lengthy Discourses. I suggest starting with the Enchiridion, or in English, the Handbook.
+
+The Enchiridion has a bit in that I've been meditating on for some time now, it's a simple and brutal proposition. He argues that you cannot lead a worldly life based on external satisfactions and end up with a life where happiness comes from within. 
diff --git a/books/what-are-people-for.txt b/books/what-are-people-for.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3fd4ee7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/books/what-are-people-for.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+"we think it ordinary to spend twelve or sixteen or twenty years of a person's life and many thousands of public dollars on "education"-andnot a dime or a thought on character. Of course, it is preposterous to suppose that character could be cultivated by any sort of public program. Persons of character are not public products. They are made by local cultures, local responsibilities. That we have so few such persons does not suggest that we ought to start character workshops in the schools. It does suggest that "up" may be the wrong direction." 
+
+"creature is not a creator, and cannot be. There is only one Creation, and we are its members. To be creative is only to have health: to keep oneself fully alive in the Creation, to keep the Creation fully alive in oneself, to see the Creation anew, to welcome one's part in it anew." 
diff --git a/cheap-recipes.txt b/cheap-recipes.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f3d3787
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cheap-recipes.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+Black Beans and Rice
+
+http://earlyretirementextreme.com/day-3-grocery-shopping.html (48c per serve, 973 kj per serve)
+
+1 cup black beans
+3 cups cooked rice
+2 cloves garlic
+if any leftover meat, throw it in
+1 carrot
+2 c or so kale
+1/2 onion
+1 cup raisins
+1/4 cup soy sauce
+
+---
+
+Salchipapas
+
+3 sausages or hot dogs
+5 potatoes, cubed and roasted
+
+salsa rosada:
+
+2T Mayo 
+1 sm can tom sauce
+
+This is not a very traditional version of this dish, but there are variations all up and down Latin America. Anyway, here's my variation. I roast the potatoes at 450 for 20 minutes or until they're done. About five minutes before they're done I start frying the sausage or hot dogs. If using the latter, add a little fat of your choice the pan. Once the meat and potatoes are cooked through, combine them, add some tomato sauce, salt, and paper to taste and you're good. Top with some salsa rosada and lime marinated red onion and tomatoes. 
+
+https://www.laylita.com/recipes/curtido-de-cebolla-y-tomate-pickled-red-onion-and-tomato-salad/
+
+American's might know this one as a variation on "poor man's meal", a depression era hot dog and potato skillet recipe. I like the south of the border version a bit more since it has some additional flavor from the lime marinated onions.
+
+---
+
+Hoover Stew
+
+Ingredients:
+16 oz. box of noodles
+2 cans stewed tomatoes, undrained
+1 can corn, undrained
+1 can peas or beans (or both!), undrained
+1 package hot dogs
+
+Instructions:
+Cook pasta until it’s not quite done, then add sliced hot dogs and canned ingredients. Bring to a boil, then allow to simmer until pasta is done.
+
+---
+
+Smoky White Beans and Ham
+
+Ingredients
+
+    1 pound dried great northern beans
+    3 smoked ham hocks (about 1-1/2 pounds)
+    3 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken or beef broth
+    2 cups water
+    1 large onion, chopped
+    1 tablespoon onion powder
+    1 tablespoon garlic powder
+    2 teaspoons pepper
+    Thinly sliced green onions, optional
+
+Directions
+
+    Rinse and sort beans. Transfer to a 6-qt. electric pressure cooker. Add ham hocks. Stir in broth, water, onion and seasonings. Lock lid; close pressure-release valve. Adjust to pressure-cook on high for 30 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes; quick-release any remaining pressure.
+    When cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones; cut ham into small pieces and return to pressure cooker. Serve with a slotted spoon. Sprinkle with green onions if desired.
+
+Nutrition Facts
+2/3 cup: 196 calories, 2g fat (0 saturated fat), 8mg cholesterol, 594mg sodium, 32g carbohydrate (2g sugars, 10g fiber), 15g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 starch, 2 lean meat. 
+
+---
+
+
diff --git a/command-line-searchable-text-snippets.txt b/command-line-searchable-text-snippets.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d3667e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command-line-searchable-text-snippets.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+One of the best things about computers is that they can automate repetitive tasks. One of my favorite ways to automate my least favorite repetitive tasks -- typing the same thing over the over -- is with saved text snippets.
+
+For example, when I cold email a company for work I have some boilerplate text that says something like hey, my name is Scott, I work for WIRED, I'm contacting you because... and so on. Similarly, when I write a bit of Python to build something for this site, I'm probably going to write something to the effect of this several times:
+
+~~~python
+class MyClass():
+    """
+    Docstring describing class
+    """
+    
+    def myfunc(self):
+    """
+    Docstring describing function
+    """   
+~~~
+
+To save some time I have built up a lot of little text snippets over time. When I was X11 I used [Autokey](https://github.com/autokey/autokey). It's pretty simple, you define a shortcut for your longer chunk of text, and then whenever you type that shortcut Autokey "expands" it to your longer text.
+
+It's a nice little app and I wish it worked under Wayland, or even XWayland, but currently it doesn't, and it's unclear to me whether it's possible to do this at all with Wayland's security model. Even if it is possible, no one seems to have written anything like Autokey for Wayland yet.
+
+That kinda sucks. But really what I need is a fast way to get these saved chunks of text into documents I'm creating. If I'm in vim, then it's no problem, I just dropped all my old Autokey snippets into my vimrc and added some keybindings. But alas I am not always writing in Vim. My current job requires me to use Gmail, which is the bane of my existence 
+
+***
+
+Tangential rant: it blows my mind that people don't just put up with Gmail, they love it. I don't get it. Forget the privacy-invasion of reading your email, forget the tracking, forget the data harvesting, the UI is awful. The fonts are illegible. HTML email constantly renders strangely and Gmail will never fall back to plain text. The search is no better than notmuch, and the keybinding support is a joke. I can navigate, search, and act on email using mutt 10x faster than Gmail. I waste hours a week using Gmail. But, no choice. 
+
+***
+
+To get those dozen or so snippets I use regularly for work I discovered 
diff --git a/cooking.txt b/cooking.txt
index 7f17ede..78ddad0 100644
--- a/cooking.txt
+++ b/cooking.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Vintage RVs aren't the best place to cook. Our kitchen works, but it's cramped. Vans are even more cramped. Most of the time we cook outside and if you're planning to do this I'd plan to cook outside as well. 
 
-I end up cooking three ways. 
+I end up cooking a few different ways. 
 
 **Grilling**: Thanks to all the testing I've done for *Wired*, I've grilled on everything from the provided pit at state park campground to some fancy grills like the Green Egg. My favorite, and the one I actually own, is the Weber Smokey Joe portable grill. It's big enough to feed a family of five, but small enough to still be portable. I've customized and modified mine a bit, which you can read about in my [guide to grilling and smoking on the road]().
 
@@ -8,4 +8,7 @@ I end up cooking three ways.
 
 **Pressure Cooker**: Pressure cookers I have not tested extensively. The one I own was recommended to me by someone I trust, and I love it. It's the Kuhn Rikon Duromatic (I have the 7.4-quart model). It was well worth the money, and I can't imagine anything that would make it better. A pressure cooker saves tons of time and fuel (once you get it pressurized it takes barely any heat to keep it there). I have a bunch of go-to recipes that involve nothing more than throwing stuff in the pressure cooker and turning it on. Some time later, dinner is served. Simple and sweet.
 
+**Dutch Oven**: This is the latest one I've tackled. I haven't done a ton of dutch oven cooking yet, but what I have has been fun and not too difficult. The hardest part here is translating oven-based recipes to dutch oven with coals recipes. I'm still figuring out how many coals and at what stage of coal produces the best result. I also suspect that there is considerable variation between dutch ovens. Currently I have a [cheapo 10-inch Lodge dutch oven](https://www.amazon.com/Lodge-L10CO3-Cast-Dutch-4-Quart/dp/B00008GKDV/?tag=lxf0d-20){: rel=nofollow}. It works fine, but does not fill me with joy. I'm on the hunt for an older, better model.
+
+
 
diff --git a/covid-notes.txt b/covid-notes.txt
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+++ b/covid-notes.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+While I agree people need to get back to work, and I look forward to them being able to do so (I am fortunate to work from home and so far, have been able to continue), I do worry about some of the findings that suggest there may be long term consequences to covid-19, even among the asymptomatic, e.g., lungs are affected even though people didn't even know they had the disease:
+
+https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/ryct.2020200110
+
+I've seen other less formal reports of lingering damage to the heart and kidneys as well. I think this hits a big blindspot in American thinking regarding the virus (conceiving of the future isn't our nation's strong suit). On one had perhaps there's nothing to be done, no way to avoid that longer term impact and we just have to bear it collectively. On the other I wonder how considering this might change our individual responses? If we knew there was 
+
+I know for me, meditating on this over the course of the last few weeks has made me consider my choices in the light of future impacts. But maybe that's just me, I've always been on the collapse now, avoid the rush bandwagon (I found you years ago from a link in a permaculture forum when I was first experimenting with hügelkultur beds).
diff --git a/covid.txt b/covid.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe67407
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+++ b/covid.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+"I wish travel in the widespread recommendation sense was understood and in a wider or more metaphorical sense. Try out new things. Different ways of living. Associating with different socioeconomic classes. Different kinds of works. Different faiths. Different politics. Different ways of providing for yourself. Testing boundaries."
+
+
+At the risk of pointing out the obvious, life is not on pause. Culture is on pause.
+
+
+
+This seems to be something that becomes whatever the politicians want it to be. This is no longer about health and science.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+This is the same sort of paradox Michael Pollan identified regarding food: we are the first generation to have obesity and malnourishment simultaneously.
+
+
+
+
+•	104 nuclear reactors in 31 states, operated by 30 different companies. Every single one “temporarily” storing high-level waste that will be lethal for 10,000 to 24,000 years
+
+•	40,000 to 80,000 (exact number unknown) chemical factories producing or processing materials with multiple “compounds known to be carcinogenic and/or mutagenic”
+
+•	More than 40 weapons-testing facilities and 70,000 nuclear bombs and missiles
+
+•	104,000,000 cubic meters of high-level radioactive waste from weapons-testing activities alone
+
+•	925 operating uranium mines
+
+•	20 to 30 times the average historical background rates of mercury in rain
+
+•	2,200 square miles of excavated valleys and leveled mountains in Appalachia alone
+
+•	478,562 active natural gas mines in the United States in 2008, with 1,800 expected to be drilled in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania alone in 2010
+
+•	18,433,779,281 cubic feet of trash per year, or 100,000 acres of trash one-foot deep per year, or about 250 square miles, with trash 400 feet deep
diff --git a/equinox.txt b/equinox.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bfbb06c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/equinox.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+There is nothing like a good storm by the sea. The smell of salt on the wind, the slash and clatter of palms and the wind comes ashore. The muffled *thick thick think* of the first drops spitting on the sand. The lightning flashing far out at sea is always visible long before you hear any hint of a rumble. It blinks like christmas lights on the horizen.
+
+The waves of wind begin to swing ashore, it's then that you can sense the life in the storm, the personalities, the intentions. Storms are alive too. They have a path to follow just like us. Just because something only lasts a few days, does not mean it doesn't have intentions. Just because you can't decipher the intentions doesn't mean they aren't there.
+
+<img src="images/2020/DSC02341.jpg" id="image-2356" class="picwide" />
+
+Tonight I sat by the fire feeling the barometer drop, feeling the stir of wind, watching the whirl of embers as the fire died down and the wind came up. I could feel it coming, I could sense its presence. 
+
+This storm comes from the southwest, a mix a southern and western personalities, a storm we all know in this part of the world. I never worry about storm unless is comes from the north. Storms from the north aren't more dangerous exactly, but they're chaotic and unpredictable. You never know what a north wind will bring. Though around here the ones you really have to watch out for are the east and southeast winds. But we're months from those. 
+
+This one we watched arrive. Storm clouds sweeping up from the southwest all day. One or two at first, floating lazily along. Then more, as if they were forming up around some kind of a plan. Whatever the plan was, it didn't involve Edisto. Despite spitting rain a little during the night it was back to sunshine the next day.
+
+I love a good storm, but not when I have to drive. That morning we headed down the coast a couple hours to Hunting Island State Park.The drive was sunny, fortunately. Uneventful. Beaufort proved to be a charming little coastal southern town. Or  it looked that way anyway. By the time we drove through, the rest of the country was starting to lock down over the coronavirus. South Carolina remained in a state of blissful ignorance, but having watched the virus spread via stories of friends and family on the west coast, I wasn't about to head out and wander that streets. 
+
+I'd just as soon strangers always keep a six foot distance from me. But South Carolina wasn't about to make rules regarding that or anything else. South Carolina is the south's "live free or die" state. There still aren't helmet laws here, which I think is great actually. But a virus is not a motorcycle. A virus is not something you choose to do. A virus really has nothing to do with "rights". A virus is a good reminder that rights are a thing conferred by communities of people to members of those communities. There are no "natural" rights.
+
+It's also important to dig too, because behind all the talk of rights, usually you find someone making money. As one of the camp hosts put to it when I asked if he thought the South Carolina State Parks would close, "These greedy bastards? Never." And he was right. The parks down there remained essentially open through April 12. 
+
+So we missed Beaufort because the virus-exposure-to-fun ratio did not work out in its favor. We did get to spend a few days on Hunting Island though. By a stroke of pure luck we had the nicest campsite in the campground, which was good because otherwise it was packed in and crowded, as beach campgrounds tend to be. The best I can say for it was that the water was walking distance away. 
+
+<img src="images/2020/DSC_1992.jpg" id="image-2359" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-16_153134_hunting-island.jpg" id="image-2354" class="picwide" />
+
+The kids spent all day every day out on the sand. We even made in the water a couple times despite the cold. As you do.
+
+<img src="images/2020/DSC_2009.jpg" id="image-2360" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/DSC_1989.jpg" id="image-2358" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/DSC02342.jpg" id="image-2357" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-15_151306_hunting-island.jpg" id="image-2350" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-15_145915_hunting-island.jpg" id="image-2349" class="picwide" />
+
+The beach here was not nearly as forthcoming with treasures. There were shells, and a lot of jellyfish, but little of the fossils and other things we'd been finding in Edisto.
+
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-16_151554_hunting-island.jpg" id="image-2352" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-16_150934_hunting-island.jpg" id="image-2351" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-16_153017_hunting-island.jpg" id="image-2353" class="picwide" />
+
+And then our options began to fade. North Carolina shut down its parks, which killed our next plan, which was head to the outer banks for a few months. Then Florida shut down its state parks and we were starting to feel the squeeze. Competition for what few camping spots remained became much more intense. We full timers may fly under the radar for most people, but there are far more of us than you know. Take away public camping and the options get thin quickly. We decided it was time to get out of South Carolina. 
+
+Here's the thing. Maybe you can get Covid-19 and be fine. But what if you can't? Do you really want to find out right now when there's no treatment and hospitals are crowded? When we don't even really understand what the virus does, [especially any long term effect](https://mobile.twitter.com/lilienfeld1/status/1251335135909122049)? Just because you survive it does not mean you go back to normal. Ask anyone who lives with Lyme, RSV, chronic fatigue syndrome, or any of the other virus-borne diseases with long term consequences. Viruses are nothing new, sickness and death are nothing new, but that doesn't means we should run full speed toward them without a care.
+
+We decided to take steps we felt would best help us avoid coming in contact with SARS-CoV-2. 
+Unfortunately that meant changing our plans. But it's hardly the first time we've had to change plans. These things happen. Traveling around in RV isn't a right you know, it's a privilege that we've enjoyed, but right now it isn't possible. A big part of travel is waiting, so that's what we're doing right now, just like everyone else.
diff --git a/fear.txt b/fear.txt
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/fear.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+I spend a fair amount of time thinking about fear. My own mostly, but sometimes how others get through or past their fear. 
+
+I listen to a history podcast, particularly military history. I'm interested in warrior cultures, how that way of life manifests itself in the various places it's come up in history, be it amoung the tribes of North America pre-western contact, or special forces soldiers in Vietnam. In practical terms of human behavior there's not a huge difference.
+
+Anyway, dig into this idea at all and you will brush up against fear. In many ways fear is a constant part of any warrior society. It's a very obvious fear though. There is nothing subtle about it. Fear of death, fear of injury. These are things anyone can relate to, what become fascinating is how individuals move past those fears.
+
+I think what I like so much about these stories of overcoming fear is that the fear is so obvious and confrontational. The fears in most of our lives are neither as extreme nor as obvious, which in a paradoxical way makes them almost harder to recognize and deal with.
+
+There are many kinds of fear. There's the one you probably thought of when you first read the word a sentences back: fear as in something is going to get you. There are other sorts of fear though and the one I've been thinking about lately is the kind of fear you have when you get married. Or at least you might have had. I did anyway. 
+
+If you've ever been married you probably recall a certain amount of anxiety, fear, about getting married. Not that you're scared of marriage, or scared of your partner, or the commitment (if you had any of those fears I sincerely hope you didn't get married). The fear I'm thinking of stems I think from the fact that this thing -- this case marriage -- means a lot to you, it's this very important thing, and you want it work out the way you have it in your head, but you're afraid too -- what if it doesn't work out that way?
+
+This is the kind of fear that I think subtly grabs us and pulls us around in all sort of ways. I know it does me. I can sit around for months rationalizing all sorts of inaction, dodging that underlying fear, which usually boils down to: oh crap, what if this doesn't work out the way I want?
+
+God forbid you take this question to the internet because there are seemingly millions out there waiting to browbeat you for your inaction, to belittle your fear and tell you to get over it by just doing it. But what few, if any of these people do is help you answer that questions, what if it doesn't work out?
+
+Like if full of decisions that may not work out. That plan to quit your job and travel the world working in dive shops or building websites? It might work. It also might not. And you'd be wise to spend some time at least considerng the latter and planning around it.
+
+That whole travel in a 1969 RV? There are some ways in which that might not work out. They range from the frustrating, finding yourself at the side of the road, unable to move a 12 ton hunk of steel and fiberglass, to the potentially fatal, finding yourself unable to stop a 12 ton hunk of metal and steel. I've had both happen to me. So far I am still here to tell the tale, but who knows? It's a fear I have. It's fear that's kept me from doing what I've wanted to do a number of times. Glance through our travels, see how many mountains we've climbed?
+
+There's a book I really dislike that nevertheless has one bit of wisdom in it that I do like: "the more we're scared of something, the more we know we have to do it." There's an element of the cheesy, "face your fears" nonsense in that, but there's also something more subtle there if you consider it as speaking to that other sort of fear: that fear of what if it doesn't go the way I want? 
+
+The answer is, it doesn't matter how it goes, if you're scared that it might go wrong the lession to take away is that this thing, getting married, traveling the world, driving a vintage RV, whatever it may be, is important to you. And if it's important to you, you need to follow it. You need to see where it goes. That doesn't mean it won't end badly. It just means you have follow it. 
+
+I'm not telling you to chuck caution to the wind. I'm not suggesting you risk everything just because you're scared of the outcome. But you know those things, those things you're afraid of, but they just won't go away. You do have grab them, you have to direct your will toward them and see where it goes.
diff --git a/high-water.txt b/high-water.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a194d3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/high-water.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+After a winter in Georgia, we were ready for some warmer climes. We managed to book up a month of beach time at some South Carolina State Parks. Everything came together well, weather, work, and bus repairs. Like we did nearly three years ago, we split the drive down into two days. This time we stopped off for a night at a tiny state park on the Edisto River.
+
+<img src="images/2020/DSC_1860.jpg" id="image-2326" class="picwide" />
+
+This part of the country, and upriver of here, has out-rained even the pacific northwest so far this year, and it showed. The river was ten feet over flood stage. It was difficult to even tell where the river was, it looked more like a lake. Another three feet and and campground would have been under. There wasn't much land to explore, we settled for an early fire and some marshmallows.
+
+<div class="cluster">
+<span class="row-2">
+<img src="images/2020/DSC_1855.jpg" id="image-2329" class="cluster pic66" />
+<img src="images/2020/DSC_1849.jpg" id="image-2328" class="cluster pic66" />
+</span>
+<img src="images/2020/DSC_1856.jpg" id="image-2327" class="cluster picwide" />
+</div>
+
+The next day we headed the rest of the way out to what I still think of as the [edge of the continent](/jrnl/2017/04/edge-continent). Edisto Island is remote, for the east coast anyway. It's true, Charleston is only an hour and half away, but somehow Edisto still feels like the edge of the world. 
+
+Civilization falls away as you drive. The road winds through alternating stretches of muddy marshland and deep stands of gnarled oak trees, bearded with Spanish Moss. Chain stores and strip malls disappear, replaced by crumbling no-name gas stations, fish shacks, cinder block garages, old single story motels. 
+
+<img src="images/2020/DSCF0173.jpg" id="image-2346" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/DSCF0194.jpg" id="image-2345" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/DSCF0164.jpg" id="image-2344" class="picwide" />
+
+It's not some idyllic world out here of course. The land and people here are abused like they are everywhere. Environmental destruction and the deep, unsolvable poverty that follows it linger everywhere in the shadows. The ruin of modern systems is always more obvious out here at the leading edges, the places where the supposed benefits never quite reached, just inexhaustible desires. These are the places from which life was extracted to enable comfort in some other place.
+
+There's a divide. I notice it every time we come down here. You cross a high bridge over the ICW onto Edisto Island proper and everything after that is magically fine, derelict buildings hidden away, poverty pushed off the main highway to some backroad most of us will never take.
+
+Life here is different let's say. And we'll leave it at that. 
+
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-02_130659_edisto.jpg" id="image-2332" class="picwide" />
+
+Humans are latecomers here anyway, newcomers to this world of sea and sand and muddy marsh. This is the time of year that other migrants are passing through. Every morning we get to wake to the *tea-kett-le, tea-kett-le* of Carolina wrens, the *chip chip chip* of cardinals, and the more elaborate songs of the warblers headed north to their summer homes. I can't think of a better way to wake up than lifting your head, looking out the window, and seeing a Carolina wren staring back at you. 
+
+Our time at the beach here is starkly divided. I am a sitter. To me the beach is a place to come and watch the sea, the sky, the birds. For much of the rest of my family it's a place to hunt for treasures from previous worlds. While I relaxed, staring up at the blue veil of sky, occasionally given depth by a passing gull or brown pelican, Corrinne and the kids wandered up and down the shore finding fossil shark's teeth, bones, bits of black, fossilized turtle shells, and thoroughly modern seashells. 
+
+<div class="cluster">
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-13_125328_edisto-beach.jpg" id="image-2347" class="cluster picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-11_111550_edisto-beach.jpg" id="image-2338" class="cluster picwide" />
+<span class="row-2">
+<img src="images/2020/DSC_1934.jpg" id="image-2342" class="cluster pic66" />
+<img src="images/2020/DSC_1950.jpg" id="image-2343" class="cluster pic66" />
+</span>
+<img src="images/2020/DSC_1864.jpg" id="image-2341" class="cluster picwide" />
+</div>
+
+The temperature always hovered on the edge of warm, usually tipping over by late afternoon.Most days you could find a small depression in the sand to stay out of the breeze and it was warm enough to relax in shorts. Sit up though and the temperature dropped considerably. 
+
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-01_151817_edisto-beach.jpg" id="image-2331" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-01_151756_edisto-beach.jpg" id="image-2330" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-08_141242_edisto-beach.jpg" id="image-2336" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-02_145520_edisto.jpg" id="image-2333" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-02_145734_edisto.jpg" id="image-2334" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-08_141323_edisto-beach.jpg" id="image-2348" class="picwide" />
+
+I did a lot of staring at the sky. I'm not sure if it's the act of lying down and looking up, or the actual view of the blue sky, or warmth and light of the sun itself, or some combination of those things and more I haven't sussed out, but there is something wonderfully cathartic and healing about staring up at the sky.
+
+I did it every chance I got, which alas was not quite as much as the last time we were here. But things change, morph, I wouldn't want them to stay the same. If they stayed the same it never would have warmed up enough to coax me off my back and out into the water.
+
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-13_125446_edisto-beach.jpg" id="image-2339" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-13_125715_edisto-beach.jpg" id="image-2340" class="picwide" />
+
+The water was cold, biting cold when the wind hit you after you came up. But you have to get in. And not just when it's easy, not just when everyone is swimming. 
+
+You have to get in even on the days when you don't want to. Even when it's so cold your teeth are chattering before you even get your shirt off. Those are the times when you have to reach down inside and find some way to get out there. The ocean makes me do it. It's part of an old deal we have. I'd to it anyway though. You have to or you'll look back and spend the rest of your days facing the worst question of all -- I wonder what it would have been like?
diff --git a/kindle-hacking.txt b/kindle-hacking.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..064c700
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kindle-hacking.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+links:
+
+[Installing ADB and Fastboot on Linux & Device Detection "Drivers"](https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/guide-installing-adb-fastboot-linux-adb-t3478678)
+
+You need to be on 6.3.1.2 firmware:
+[Fire HD 8 2018 (karnak) amonet-3](https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/orig-development/unlock-fire-hd-8-2018-karnak-amonet-3-t3963496/page52)
+
+[Download 6.3.1.2 firmware](https://fireos-tablet-src.s3.amazonaws.com/LlO8A9g4Q6ugQCylaeqWBWxYBb/update-kindle-Fire_HD8_8th_Gen-NS6312_user_1852_0002517056644.bin)
+
+2. Download the amazon frimware above and keep it where you can flash it.
+3. Boot into recovery (Volume Down + Power at the same time)
+4. Select "adb sideload" or whatever it says using your volume keys and press the power to select
+5. Now adb sideload <frimware>.bin
+
+https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN6PphcI6XQ
+
diff --git a/pdfs/arc-of-time.pdf b/pdfs/arc-of-time.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa0280b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/arc-of-time.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/aspens.pdf b/pdfs/aspens.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d722a83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/aspens.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/austin-part-1.pdf b/pdfs/austin-part-1.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8fd684b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/austin-part-1.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/austin-part-2.pdf b/pdfs/austin-part-2.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6ddfbed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/austin-part-2.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/breakdown.pdf b/pdfs/breakdown.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fdcb036
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/breakdown.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/canyon-ancient.pdf b/pdfs/canyon-ancient.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e0bf554
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/canyon-ancient.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/canyoneering.pdf b/pdfs/canyoneering.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b3dc6e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/canyoneering.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/canyonlands.pdf b/pdfs/canyonlands.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bccc0e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/canyonlands.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/dallas.pdf b/pdfs/dallas.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7913971
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/dallas.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/dauphin-island.pdf b/pdfs/dauphin-island.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c995106
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/dauphin-island.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/davis-bayou.pdf b/pdfs/davis-bayou.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd23e1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/davis-bayou.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/dialed-in.pdf b/pdfs/dialed-in.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8d50e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/dialed-in.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/dolores-river.pdf b/pdfs/dolores-river.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..10d875d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/dolores-river.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/escaping-texas.pdf b/pdfs/escaping-texas.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9c0751
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/escaping-texas.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/ghost-town.pdf b/pdfs/ghost-town.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7e8a4de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/ghost-town.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/gulf-islands-national-seashore.pdf b/pdfs/gulf-islands-national-seashore.pdf
index f18d8a6..1a184d1 100644
--- a/pdfs/gulf-islands-national-seashore.pdf
+++ b/pdfs/gulf-islands-national-seashore.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/high-country.pdf b/pdfs/high-country.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fed09f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/high-country.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/junction-creek.pdf b/pdfs/junction-creek.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c44e267
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/junction-creek.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/keeps-raining.pdf b/pdfs/keeps-raining.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c266adc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/keeps-raining.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/mancos-days.pdf b/pdfs/mancos-days.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c70acd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/mancos-days.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/mancos-mesa-verde.pdf b/pdfs/mancos-mesa-verde.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1f0f628
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/mancos-mesa-verde.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/new-orleans-instrumental-number-2.pdf b/pdfs/new-orleans-instrumental-number-2.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d336fd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/new-orleans-instrumental-number-2.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/new-orleans-instrumental-numer-1.pdf b/pdfs/new-orleans-instrumental-numer-1.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c389646
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/new-orleans-instrumental-numer-1.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/output.pdf b/pdfs/output.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..06c9329
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/output.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/pacific-sense.pdf b/pdfs/pacific-sense.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..706b4eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/pacific-sense.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/palmetto-island-state-park.pdf b/pdfs/palmetto-island-state-park.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0553de0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/palmetto-island-state-park.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/pokemon.pdf b/pdfs/pokemon.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b4adec7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/pokemon.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/ridgway-state-park.pdf b/pdfs/ridgway-state-park.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9377c39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/ridgway-state-park.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/road-again.pdf b/pdfs/road-again.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..36958a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/road-again.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/shadow-lassen.pdf b/pdfs/shadow-lassen.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5526d54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/shadow-lassen.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/solstice.pdf b/pdfs/solstice.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2cc125b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/solstice.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/time-placement.pdf b/pdfs/time-placement.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c8e777
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/time-placement.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/trains-hot-springs.pdf b/pdfs/trains-hot-springs.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..121ffd0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/trains-hot-springs.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/valley-fire.pdf b/pdfs/valley-fire.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a096e69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/valley-fire.pdf
diff --git a/pdfs/zion.pdf b/pdfs/zion.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f162b6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfs/zion.pdf
diff --git a/pre-apacholyptic-adventures.txt b/pre-apacholyptic-adventures.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..53b52e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pre-apacholyptic-adventures.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+There are days that are good for driving and days that are not. I prefer Wednesdays. This was a Thursday. Close enough. I took the day off work and we hit the road, back to Athens.
+
+<img src="images/2020/2020-03-15_101749_hunting-island.jpg" id="image-2361" class="picwide" />
+
+We didn't want to go. But to avoid a pandemic you have to be willing to sacrifice. And where we were there were no sacrifices being made. There is a sense of entitlement that runs deep in this country. I can't figure it out, but I see it all around me -- this idea that you can get everything you want out of life without compromise or concession. It's annoying when you're talking about politics or economics, but it's disastrous when it comes to community health.
+
+Staying six feet away from other people is socially awkward, but if that's all it takes to stop a pandemic, that's not a big deal for a few months. People spent *years* avoiding London and Paris during the plague. If all we need to do is stay six feet apart, and remain at home for a few months, we're getting off light. Unfortunately, even that wasn't happening in the campground. Rather the opposite in fact.
+
+We've already had a [bout of bad illness in the bus](/jrnl/2018/01/escaping-california) and let's just say it's not an ideal place to be ill. If one person gets something, everyone gets it, there's no way around that. We were not interested in dealing with that *and* having South Carolina State Parks close on us. 
+
+Our reservation at Hunting Island was up. We'd planned to go back to Edisto for a couple more weeks, but the uncertainty regarding public lands -- would state parks in SC stay open? Would we be safe in them? Would groceries continue to make it to a small island at the edge of the world? Would the residents of that island mind our presence if things got real bad? -- made it an easy decision. We decided to head for some private land.
+
+Fortunately we had a friend back in Athens with a place we could stay for a while, so we jumped on it. We just had to make the four hour drive back. No big deal.
+
+<img src="images/2020/DSCF0074.jpg" id="image-2363" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2020/DSCF0065.jpg" id="image-2362" class="picwide" />
+
+It started inauspiciously, as stressful drives inevitably do. I was dumping the tank when I noticed the driver's rear tire was low. There's two wheels in the back, so I wasn't overly worried, but it wasn't a great way to start. Still, it was only a couple hundred miles, what could possibly go wrong?
+
+Nothing for the first 70 or so miles. I even managed to get the rear tire filled up at a truck stop. All my tires in fact. No charge. And the woman stayed well away from me while doing it. Perfect. For minute I thought, hey, maybe this will all work out.
+
+Forty miles later the engine sputtered. At first I thought maybe my foot had let up off the gas pedal by accident. My knee had been swollen and driving was painful, so it wasn't out of the question. But no. Ten minutes later, it happened again. This time it was worse. I pulled over. Naturally it was the only stretch of the drive with no cell service. 
+
+I knew from the way it behaved that the problem was gas, specifically not enough of it getting to the engine. I had a quick look and saw air bubbling into the fuel filter. Not good. I knew there was a little leak in the filling hose at the rear of the gas tank. I decided to start there, I got out old trusty -- the rigged up combo of small hose clamps that, along with some aluminum foil and header tape, once let us limp along with a cracked exhaust manifold -- and put it to new use on the rear of the gas tank. It stopped the leaking gas (a task I'd had on my list for the following weekend anyway), and for about ten miles I was pretty happy with myself.
+
+Then it happened again. Damnit. Stopped again. Now Corrinne wasn't just looking at me with that look that said, *really? today*, she actually said, "Really? Today?" I didn't say anything. I opened up the doghouse again. There were still bubbles leaking up in the fuel filter, so I knew the problem was somewhere between that and the gas tank. About 18 feet of fuel line and one pump. I put on my headlamp, crawled under the bus, inhaled unholy amounts of grass pollen, and slowly worked my way up the fuel line to the pump. No leaks. I stared at the fuel pump. The very [first thing I ever replaced in the bus](/jrnl/2016/06/engine). It's probably the fuel pump I thought as I lay there in the pollen. 
+
+Under ordinary circumstances I'd just hop in the car, drive to the nearest parts shop, get a new fuel pump and install it. But that would mean all kinds of potential exposure of me and the family to coronavirus. That would defeat the purpose of this drive, which was to get us away from people, not closer to them.
+
+I considered the problem for a bit, lying there, staring up at the engine. If there's extra air coming in, maybe if I tightened up the carburetor to cut the air coming in that way it would balance out? At least enough to let me limp back to Athens. I crawled out and did it. It didn't help much -- the real problem was not enough fuel, not too much air -- but it helped enough that it got us back on the road, limping along. 
+
+After experimenting some I figured out how to accelerate in such a way that it would not stutter much and I could get up to about 50 miles an hour. It took a while, but I limped into Augusta. I decided to skip the interstate and drove through on surface streets. It was slow going, but the bus didn't stutter as much at lower speeds, and eventually we got out of the city and back onto the highway to Athens. 
+
+<img src="images/2020/DSCF0107.jpg" id="image-2364" class="picwide" />
+
+In the end it took an extra three hours, but we made it to the old farmhouse turned schoolhouse where we've been staying ever since. I was tired, but grateful to have made it. I squared the bus away, and made dinner. We put the kids to bed, and I went online and ordered a fuel pump from Rock Auto. Problem solved, no one sick.
diff --git a/scratch.txt b/scratch.txt
index 7bee981..0d82fdf 100644
--- a/scratch.txt
+++ b/scratch.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,19 @@
-I did. For just over three years. 2004 among them. I ran the kitchen at Fresh Pasta Bistro, which became Viva around the time I left. I believe it finally shut down for good a couple years ago. Anyway, yeah, Northampton. Good town.
+a.girl.and.her.commander When I first decided I was going to live on the road, I got a lot of questions from people that were trying to understand why the heck anyone would do such a thing. Sometimes I kept it simple and just answered with, "I want to travel more!" but it was so much bigger than that. I would go as far as to say that traveling full time wasn't even the number 1 instigator of this big life change.⁣
+⁣
+It was a couple months before I found Mander and I remember trying to explain my motivation behind what I was doing to my Mom and Sister. I told them, "It's a spiritual endeavor. I want to be tested in ways I can't imagine and try to be ok no matter what." I was excited for things to be hard. I was excited to be forced to grow. I was pulling the rug out from under my own feet and putting faith in myself like I had never done before.⁣
+⁣
+Now, mind you, "ok" doesn't mean happy as a clam, totally unaffected, no bad feelings ever. On the contrary, it means letting go of the reigns, opening myself up to the unknown and trusting that I had the ability to see myself through it. That's basically welcoming a whole heap of tough stuff to happen to ya. And it has. And I'm ok. Heck, I'm more than ok. I'm better than before. This whole endeavor, from the word go, has done nothing but affirmed my suspicions that we are stronger and more malleable than we ever give ourselves credit for. And no matter what, we will adjust and find a way to be ok. ⁣
+
+Cycles. Loops. Close them where you find them. For example, heres an energy loop: sun, plants, animals, waste, plants animals, waste. Find yourself in that. For example, the sun helps plants grow, hogs eat some of those plants, hog get slaughtered and made into bacon, I eat the bacon, I crap out the bacon into a composting toilet that eventually becomes soil for the plants that grow so the hogs can eat them... this is a minimally wasteful loop. I don't want to call it closed because there are variables (water, sunlight, not having a plague of locusts decend on your plants, etc), but it is robust on scale that swings from robust to totally batshit crazy, which would be the cycle that puts bacon in a package you buy from the store.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
 
 
 A while back someone at work mentioned wanting to write about how there is little to no regulation in the realm of "alternative" medicine and its rife with scams. I volunteered to write a rebuttal, because I'm glad alternative medicine is not regulated. I did not elaborate and I forgot all about it until someone brought it up again, this time specifically asking why I was glad there were no regulations.