It’s kind of a cold day with a breeze and still relatively low mercury, so I had originally planned to just ride around some the subdivisions locally, off the main streets but the residential curly loopy-loop roads were surprisingly snowy and icy, due to the ice we got before the snow and the lighter attention they get compared to main through fares. End up on the main roads, and then I figured I’m warmed up enough I’ll ride out to Meads Road and then over Orchard Street to Broccoli Lane, all of which were fine but it still was a bit cold in the fingers. I like seeing the cows and open landscape, it reminds me there are places beyond my tiny, cold apartment.
Went to store this morning and the door froze shut on my truck. I had to climb out the passenger side, once because the wiper blade came loose and then when I got to Walmart. Actually three times after grocery shopping. The door opened fine when I got gas – card reader didn’t work but I went in and pre-paid $50. I’m really not planning any trips until Presidents Weekend in two weeks, next weekend maybe I’ll make trip to Walmart and out to my parents house, but that’s it.
I’ve been home for the balance of the day, reading and listening to Pearls Before Swine, a psychedelic folk band from the late 1960s. You know, I just like anything to do with hogs, as I’m a dirty hick. Plus anything psychedelic I associate with smoking pot, which I sort of wish I was doing and lyrics are kind of fun. I do like myself a good word salad.
I told myself I was going to spend some time cleaning this weekend, and I did some but not a lot. Enjoying all the good eats I got at Walmart – I spent $170 but I needed a lot of expensive stuff like coffee, plus I wanted to get another pair of blue jeans, more grease for the bike chain, things to make up a dish for the Chilli Cook-Off (I’m going to do black beans with tomatoes, hot peppers, chili-pepper, and Parmesan I’m thinking) and then sufficient groceries to make it to next Sunday with a variety of basic, nutrious ingredients. I don’t want things to spoil but I also don’t want to have to go to store.
Finished up reading 99% Percent Invisible City, got watching some videos on YouTube about the Amish and how they live. I read a book about the Amish last spring and their distinct blend of technology and the concept of worldliness they avoid – namely being attached to endless stream of coal-fired and natural-gas utility electricity, plastic-wrapped convience and junk foods, toilets that flush down to a sludge holding septic tank or waste water treatment plant that is then hauled to landfill, and weekly trash hauling to landfill. Amish aren’t exactly organic tree hugars – they use some chemicals and ag plastics on farm, fossil fuels and – but they use far less energy and produce far less waste then typical American household.
Cooking up rice, lentils, onions, mushrooms for dinner tonight and future nights. Decided to use some balsamic vinger and a touch of salt for flavor. Been doing way too many carbs lately, but it’s cheap and good, and brown rice and lentils aren’t the most unhealthy thing ever compared to what most Americans eat. I see both of my neighbors decided to subscribe to trash pickup – which is good as one neighbor started to have trash bags pile up by his unit. I wouldn’t mind if he had trash cans and hauled his own garbage in his truck like I do.
Indeed in the winter I often have trash stored outside for several weeks, even though more and more of my waste is just organics for composting now that I eat healthy. Most of wrappers I save for fire starting up at camp, and I don’t usually end up having to go transfer station any more as I just drop the cans and excess recyclable plastics (i.e. Milk bottles and coffee cans) in my parents recycle bin as they now have trash service. Maybe I’m stubborn and maybe I’m just a fire bug and a cheap SOB, I think trash pickup makes you extra wasteful. In the summer months, I rarely have much trash and not for long especially with fires all the time up at camp.
After dinner, I’m probably going to retire to bed shortly thereafter. I left my laptop charger my parents house, so I can’t work on my laptop until they drop it off midweek. It’s fine, I usually keep my laptop in the office, not that I ever have much downtime to use it there. I was kind of hoping to make up some more maps today, as I’ve kind of fallen behind the eight ball on new content for the blog. Even just simple but interesting maps would be good.
Doesn’t have to be all original, though I have some cool ideas, and I’ve had the map making bug again, since I’ve lost interest in Qt coding and app development. I have 10 books out on Hoopla to read over the next three weeks, though two are audio books that I plan to listen riding back and for to work on my bike. Certainly tomorrow and probably Wednesday the weather will be good for riding.
But the truth is Ground Hog Day is in the middle of winter – literally – and kind of cold. There isn’t a lot of camping areas nearby so there is a good chance that I’d have to stay in a hotel and I hate staying indoors when I travel. It’s such an early morning, high on a steep hill that this morning was probably quite icy with the snow that came down. So I’m kind of glad I just watched the celebration on my phone, even though it would have been a perfect day to go down there, being a Sunday morning.
There is so much news about the changes that the Trump administration is planning to implement on his second term. But I struggle to understand how much it will impact ordinary life. If you aren’t watching the news like a hawk, would you ever know who is in the White House currently?
Since I moved to suburban office from the downtown of the Capital City of New York State, I am so much more isolated from all the day-to-day workings of politics despite regularly having meetings downtown and walking laps in the Plaza before and after work. But I don’t follow the news nearly as closely, as I don’t need to. And it actually feels a lot better.
Truth is much in our lives is not defined by the politicians but our every day choices. Days don’t matter much. Weeks somewhat more, as do years. But decades matter much more. Trump is going to be there four more years, and while he can move the needle on the trajectory of society, his impact on history and our every day lives is marginal at best.
The news media gets rich selling advertising. They get viewers by trying to tell a compelling story, viewers who in turn watch the messages of advertisers. But you need not be imprisoned by the news media and all the drama. Turn it off and focus more on what you find beautiful, interesting and useful in your own life.
