Maggie's FarmWe are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for. |
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Friday, August 2. 2019TimeThe ABC of time - In our Universe, time seems to go from past to future, not in reverse. But what if time doesn’t even have a direction?
Posted by The Barrister
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15:35
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Thursday, August 1. 2019Careers: Peaks, and eventual irrelevanceYour Professional Decline Is Coming (Much) Sooner Than You Think. Here’s how to make the most of it. I'd say it depends on what your career is, or your careers are. Somewhat related, Erik Erikson's Life Stages. All too gloomy in my view. The good life is not so elusive. Love thy neighbor, etc, and quit focusing on oneself. The Lord will not judge us on our earthly achievements. It's like the Eulogy vs. Resume thing when you die.
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Wednesday, July 31. 2019Managing your “Great Job Search”, repostedThis post represents a major effort by a friend who wanted to share his career's worth of accumulated knowledge and wisdom from the opportunity-seeking end and from the hiring end. He warns that it is not a final draft. He doesn't know when he will get around to polishing it up (because he does have a day job). Enjoy it, and send it around to those who might find it handy - young or older.
Up until then, I’d pretty much walked easily from opportunity to opportunity. After all, in the beginning there were not many skilled professionals in computing and the IT world, and demand far exceeded supply. At the last time I found myself looking for work, I’d nominally retired but had been requested to stay. During the financial meltdown however, all extensions were cancelled and I was summarily out of work with virtually no notice. I was already over 60 and the economy was unfavorable. I landed what I think is a wonderful, challenging, and interesting job but the process took over a year. The reason I mention this is because at the conclusion of my search, an experienced recruiter said -more or less in passing - that “You ran a great search.” I’d never thought of myself as even doing “a search.” I thought I was looking for a job. These are much the same thing, but I learned that a search is a disciplined way of looking for a job and doing it right makes a big difference in the outcome. These are my notes on how to do a great job search. For the more experienced reader to get something from this, I’ve had to write to the executive level. If you’re less senior (more junior?) or just starting out, some of this will be overkill, but it is maybe helpful to know this material in advance of needing it. The principles are the same. And while my vantage point is business/corporate, these basic principles should apply to any sort of work or career pursuit. Other than obvious stuff on dress, I don’t think there is any overtly male/female, but I admit I may used ”he” more than “she” just from habit. Continue reading "Managing your “Great Job Search”, reposted"
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Tuesday, July 30. 2019Some people are highly hypnotizableAnd some are not
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The Swan 48The Swan 48 from the 1970s is an iconic blue water sailboat, perfect for trans-Atlantic races (try not to bump into a whale and break your rudder) or for sailng to Bermuda. 2 people can sail her, but she requires extra hands for racing. It's a lot of boat for day-sailing, but people do it.
Here's the new Swan 48 - less beautiful but quicker.
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04:15
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Saturday, July 27. 2019Big Sale at Great CoursesAll courses $35 or less until mid-August. That is the cheapest life-enriching, deeply-enjoyable deal that exists on this planet.
Posted by The Barrister
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13:44
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Thursday, July 25. 2019David Berlinski is one of the smart guysIt's about the limits of Materialism and the limits of experts. He is mind-expanding. (His bio here. He is a polymath.) This is what high IQ looks like to me.
Wednesday, July 24. 2019Faux documentaries
Both movies - or all of Guest's movies - are good for a rainy day.
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13:33
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Tuesday, July 23. 2019Summer reading from America's most famous Neurologist
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18:12
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Tuesday, July 16. 2019Canterbury TalesFor anybody who had fun with Chaucer during high school or college, this essay, CHAUCER’S DIVINE SERIOUSNESS, will be a delight. Chaucer, the Londoner who is credited with the invention of modern literary English, was well-educated and became rich importing wine from France. Writing was his hobby. He invented English iambic pentameter - all credit to him for that gift. He had read Bocaccio too, which probably gave him ideas. I fondly remember reading Chaucer out loud in class, using the dialect our teacher thought was most likely accurate. Great fun. It still rings in my ears. Lots of footnotes were necessary. Word meanings change.
Posted by The Barrister
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13:31
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Sunday, July 14. 2019Life in America: Things you can do in your 90s if you stay in shape
He is recently back from a 10-day tour of Normandy with Mrs. BD, now spending a week, with a WW2 paratrooper vet-pal from the old folk's home, staying with our cousins on Nantucket. (Which my daughters term "Nan-f-it.") Knowing the old Irishman well, I predict a whisky, clam, and oyster diet, and lots of hiking around. He will regale anybody in reach with stories from the old days. A Blarney Stone gift, endlessly amusing with stories and jokes. Everybody who meets him loves him. What a blessing for him to make friends wherever he goes because everybody wants to hang out with him. I suspect they will go fishing for Stripers for supper this week, offshore. Can no longer kayak due to bum shoulder. In a couple of weeks, he will join us for 2 weeks in Wellfleet, also in seach of perfect oysters and fun waitresses to flirt with. He looks great, dresses well (new updated wardrobe due to weight loss - no old man clothes). Yes, he drives very well too - strong and steady with his brand-new Outback. Lots of guys in their 90s do not buy new cars, or even green bananas. Or are even alive. Age is a state of mind, or so they say. If you are not dead yet. Arthitis is the challenge, but that's the price paid for an active life. He has always been very strong and athletic (100 pushups with my wife on his back) and a history student at night. Plus a tennis fan, Giants fan. I used to run 10 miles with him. Good times. Another fun thing about the guy is that he is always up for a NYC adventure. Worked there for 30 years, but it is still a dopamine fix for him. Theater, music, a walk, a restaurant - whatever. If a long walk, best if he carries a cane. I swear he would do Mt. Washington if I challenged him. To top it all off, he and Mrs. BD are planning a cruise around the Magellan Straits, BA to Chile. How cool is that? Amazing bird-watching. Carpe diem. May he live long and prosper - even though he can no longer help me split logs as we used to do. I need help with that. I guess that's why we have a son.
Posted by Bird Dog
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13:17
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Sunday, July 7. 2019Is your user interface with reality effective?Sunday, June 30. 2019"Re-streeting" housing projectsA quote:
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14:00
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Thursday, June 27. 2019The way to fly, commercially
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14:55
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Saturday, June 22. 2019It is complicated to move a US president around, overseas
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Tuesday, June 18. 2019Life in America: A New England GraveyardWhere we planted my dear brother-in-law's ashes on Saturday afternoon, in the family churchyard next to my parents. Typical of the Bird Dog family, his widow's first words: "Let's make this quick, everybody, cuz I'm paying the gravedigger by the hour." We all got an F in Solemnity class. Damn, I miss that good guy, and will miss him terribly in Cape Cod this summer. Navy vet, outdoor-lover, running buddy, fishing buddy, beer-drinking buddy, body-surfing buddy, hiking buddy, farm work buddy. Always up for anything energetic or challenging. Wry, dry humor. It sucks, as my sister says. Yep. Happy trails, Uncle Bob, and maybe catch ya later in the great unknown.
Posted by Bird Dog
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20:26
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Sunday, June 16. 2019Isaiah
Great Books podcast: The Book of Isaiah
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12:23
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Sunday, June 9. 2019How we get stuff #2Inside a container ship
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20:11
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Re the 70th anniversary of Nineteen Eighty-four
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18:22
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Thursday, June 6. 2019Flash BoysJust finishing Michael Lewis' Flash Boys, a terrific history of high frequency trading, front-running and markets in general. It reads like a thriller. You'd expect a Wall Street drama to be all about ego, bad guys ripping people off, and money being 'stolen'. Certainly that all plays a role, but it's not central to the story. One of the best parts is the side story of Serge Aleynikov, one of the few people arrested, tried, and imprisoned after the crash in 2008. What's truly sad is that he had little to no involvement in any of the events leading up to that, nor was he involved in any transaction coding or theft of any kind (though Goldman Sachs and the US Government said otherwise). It's a sad state of affairs when someone capable of 'fixing' the problems that lead to flash crashes and other tech-driven market impairments is listed as a 'bad guy'. At any rate, he lost his money, his family, his reputation - but eventually won his case and was freed. He has a great quote: “If the incarceration experience doesn’t break your spirit, it changes you in a way that you lose many fears. You begin to realize that your life is not ruled by your ego and ambition and that it can end at any time. So why worry? You learn that just like on the street, there is life in prison, and random people get there based on the jeopardy of the system. The prisons are filled by people who crossed the law, as well as by those who were incidentally and circumstantially picked and crushed by somebody else’s agenda. On the other hand, as a vivid benefit, you become very much independent of material property and learn to appreciate very simple pleasures in life such as the sunlight and morning breeze.”~Serge Aleynikov Monday, June 3. 2019Air Traffic ControlThis is a bit dated, but darn interesting.
Posted by The News Junkie
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Friday, May 31. 2019Grandpa's documented life, with watercolors
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15:09
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Friday, May 17. 2019Fun but dubious origins of a few expressionsThere is an old Hotel/Pub in Marble Arch, London , which used to have gallows adjacent to it. Prisoners were taken to the gallows (after a fair trial of course) to be hung. The horse-drawn dray, carting the prisoner, was accompanied by an armed guard, who would stop the dray outside the pub and ask the prisoner if he would like ''ONE LAST DRINK''. If he said YES, it was referred to as ONE FOR THE ROAD. If he declined, that prisoner was ON THE WAGON. They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot and then once a day it was taken and sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive you were "piss poor", but worse than that were the really poor folk, who couldn't even afford to buy a pot, they "Didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low. The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be in England. Here are some facts about the 1500s: Most people got married in June, because they took their yearly bath in May and they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell, brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women, and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!" ''. Continue reading "Fun but dubious origins of a few expressions"
Posted by The Barrister
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17:52
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Tuesday, May 14. 2019Pieter Breughel
It's worth a trip to Vienna only to see the Breughel room at the Kunsthistorisches Museum. However, I doubt any of our readers made it to this winter's Breughel show at that same museum. Still, a half-million people did. It is unlikely that any museum will ever be able to assemble such an exhibition again.
Posted by Bird Dog
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16:35
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Sunday, May 12. 2019Invisible InfluencesWe flatter ourselves with the idea that we make our own decisions, arrive at our own rational conclusions, etc. If psychology has taught us about the unconscious influences that tend to control our thoughts and choices, the current social "science" of influence and persuasion addresses the external forces that control our minds. It is darn interesting, but depressing. As a prof of Marketing, Berger surely knows how to sell us but gives us tools to see through it all too. Recommended: Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior
Posted by The Barrister
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13:58
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