We 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.
The very smart and thoughtful Oren Cass discusses his new book,The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America.
It's a podcast and a transcript. Cass is mostly concerned about the majority of Americans who do not attend college. He believes the policy emphasis on higher ed is misplaced. So do I.
I suggest that everybody have a plan in mind, or on paper, for what to do with money and life if your spouse drops dead, or becomes disabled or unemployed today. I guess that's assuming the spouse has an income, income-producing assets, or plain assets, or that the spouse manages some or all of the family finances.
Things happen out of the blue as I have recently seen, even to the healthiest people. Well, it's guaranteed that they will, sooner or later. It's a very good idea to have a plan, and to not pretend that things will go on like the present forever. It is impossible to make a plan in the midst of personal and financial chaos.
I suppose this is more relevant to gals, because guys begin dropping like flies after age 50 or 60, with accelerating pace each year thereafter. Gals need to know what the assets are, where they are, what the life insurance is, what the social security is, what the bills are, and need to have some idea of what they will do when sudden widowhood strikes. The odds are that it will.
Sometimes it was a Triathlon with biking, but most often just a Biathlon, 7-10 mile run race and a one mile swim race across and back Long Pond in Wellfleet. Last time I did that I almost drowned trying to keep up with my brother, who is a Master Swimmer, a world competitor. We have Bookish-Athletes in my family. And Good Olde Cape Cod. Bob loved it. Heaven for him. We always angled our morning runs through the ancient graveyards...
I'd like to do a Maggie's Scientific Survey of the cost of unskilled labor where y'all live. I mean jobs like lugging and hauling and lifting indoors and outdoors, barn and garage clean-up, and jobs like paper-filing, house-cleaning, and junk-removal.
Around here, these jobs cost 20-30/hour. They will ask for pay in cash. Apparently high school kids no longer are willing to do this work. It's too hard for their delicate selves. I would like to think that in Ohio or Missouri American youth would jump at a couple of hours' work for gas money.
A 23 year-old (legal) Polish immigrant with a US accounting degree. Works for Task Rabbit (taskrabbit.com) on weekends. Strong. Eager to work and lift and to move stuff around and throw out brown furniture that nobody wants or is willing to take away. Dumpster. And we moved or purged tons of books and moved heavy furniture around.
Best thing about this kid: I said after an hour and half of shlepping that it was time for a ten-minute break. Want a coffee? Bustelo? He said "Yes, please. And may I try your piano during our break? I have never played a Steinway." Sure, I said.
Self-taught, played his own sort of Keith Jarrett-like jazz. A delight, a gentle touch. Told him he had God's gift of some talent, and should stick with it. He said he played around with a cheap keyboard.
Great at getting rid of household cluttered stuff. Moving fast with me as a second body. $30/hr is a bargain, and with piano, it feels free.
I thought he was inspired by Jarrett, but he had never heard of Keith Jarrett. I have always loved Keith so I turned him on to Keith. Here's Keith:
While attempting to return my refreshed work space to some simulacrum of order (with books back on shelves, minus 1000 of them) and somewhat different pictures on the walls to lighten things up, I came across a book I read about ten years ago and want to re-read. I read lots of books, but never remember enough of what I read. Not demented yet, but it reminds me of the joke about Alzheimer's patients being able to hide their own Easter eggs.
Right now, I am going through the Patrick O'Brian naval series. Delicious reading and you learn a bit about running a serious sailing warship.
Guys never listen to anybody, but we have some amateur decorators around here who have all sorts of ideas about how to make my work space and living space brighter, less cluttered, and lighter. I am going along with it, because I know nothing. My current plan for the entire HQ in general is to get rid of stuff and lighten everything.
One of my daughters is ordering a Task Rabbit for me. They are known to be miraculous helpers for moving stuff around and throwing stuff out. One just has to be brave and get rid of stuff, however sentimental. And we have had dumpsters here since July. Dumpsters' gaping maws beg to be filled with stuff.
While making my rounds today, watched a master backhoe operator using that shovel as easily and delicately as his own hand. Just wonderful grace and expertise. Later, watched a squirrel burying a nut with his hands, digging and then replacing the soil and patting it down.
A lengthy interview with many good moments. Listen while cleaning a closet or something. It will save you the trouble of reading their book. Peterson does the interview but he properly keeps himself out of it and lets them talk.
Today there was a brief article on Netflix which claims that it's a kind of Ponzi scheme. This is based on a concept which I found interesting, but misguided. Netflix gained 7mm subscribers, but spent $7bb on programming. The next question was "were these 7mm people spending $1,000 a quarter?"
That's the wrong question.
The nice thing about programming is it's evergreen. Once you have it - you have it forever. So it has value over time, value that is increasing, since revenue can be generated forever, in theory. $7bb in programming didn't generate 7mm subscribers, but the range and quality of programming on Netflix did. Assuming each subscriber wants to watch every program on Netflix, that could take some time, especially if Netflix continues to add programs, which they will. Since each subscriber pays $11 a month, the cost of new programming is amortized over about 7 1/2 years, assuming subscribers stay that long. It seems, right now, that the average subscription is about 13 years or more (my parents have had it in some form since it started in 1997).
I am not talking about either hiking/walking on well-built trails where sneakers are fine or, the other extreme, technical climbing. The great in-between is what we enjoy taking on. Rugged hikes with steeps and some scrambling requiring fitness and hands and knees at times.
Some people claim Tuckerman's to the top of Mt. Washington is a great example of that sort of thing. Most outdoor people in New England have taken it on at least once.
Hiking is an all-weather sport. Our favorite hiking gear:
Pants: Prana and Montane Medium-duty hiking boots: Meindl and Vasque Light, layerable packable all-weather jackets: Many choices, but Patagonia way too expensive. Daypacks: Osprey Knee pads: Any cheap ones on Amazon. If you have bony knees, they are handy on rocks. Hiking poles: Glorified walking-sticks. Not needed for well-build trails but handy for rough hill hiking and useless on rocks. In Euroland, everybody uses them. On our Dolomites hikes we could have used them on scree slopes - everybody else did and they would have spared Mrs. BD some knee damage on the steep downhills. Ordinary LL Bean poles are fine. When there is scrambling, just stick them on your daypack. Most daypacks have pole-holders.
Pic is part of the Giant's Playground/Arching Rocks bouldering route at Mohonk
In Yankeeland we are in prime hiking season. No bugs, no heat.
I am finding rock scrambling to be more interesting than regular hiking or even hill hiking. Demands agility, judgement, full-body conditioning, and a bit of stress-tolerance. I have no interest in technical climbing, though, although it is fun to watch people do it in places like The Gunks.
One item that might help me a bit with scrambling is some knee pads. I have bony knees which do not enjoy too much time on rocks. Scrambling means a fair bit of hands and knees, high step-ups, and steeply-angled boulders. In other words, fun with just a whiff of danger.
A few cool scrambling trails in the Northeast that we are familiar with:
What do people do to be in shape for this type of "hiking"? Stair-climbers, 2 steps at a time - and sideways stair-climbers. Rule of thumb for rock hikers: almost never go down the way you came up. Down is rarely safe.
Barbour waxed-cotton jackets are made for cool weather and cool drizzle, not for temperatures below 25 degrees (F). They are tough though, and can take a beating. Their appeal is to tradition and style nowadays, while Gore-tex is more practical and cheaper, and take no breaking-in time.
