Year: 2014
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Wealth Inequality Shouldn’t Matter So Much
A quick preface to say that a lot of people are in real poverty through little or no fault of their own, and that’s a sad thing. I would like for them to have it better, and agree that to some degree it’s worth forcing the richest to pay for them. That said, I think…
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Pushups if Late
If you’ve ever led a group of more than a couple people, you know that timeliness is a big factor. If there’s any leeway for people to show up late, someone is going to do it every time, which means that nothing starts on time. Then when people see that things don’t start on time,…
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The 2015 Gear Post
At last! I’m going to start this gear post with a promise, since everyone’s been so patient: the 2016 Gear Post will be out on or before the Monday following Thanksgiving of 2015. The bad news is that I fear my gear posts are going to slowly become more boring over time. While my main…
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Sett Has Failed
Beginning now, Sett is going into maintenance mode. Todd won’t be working on it anymore, except to help me fix the occasional bug on parts he built, and I will work on it as a side project, mostly fixing bugs. Before I talk about some of the upsides of this decision, I want to acknowledge…
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Ephemeral Friendships
Glasses clinked and spoons rattled against porcelain as we sat in a backstreet cafe in Tokyo. Our table was three chairs one one side and a low couch on the other. Across from me was Jimmy. We met a couple years ago because a mutual friend moved to Jimmy’s town in New Zealand. He introduced…
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Debt is the Opposite of Freedom
Most of us, especially people like you who have come to read this blog, value freedom. And not the corndog and bald eagle variety, but the ability to make a wide range of decisions that affect the outcome of one’s life. Freedom may not be everything; the single billionaire can do almost anything he likes,…
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When to Maximize, When to Suffice
I’m a natural maximizer. Whenever I do something, my natural inclination is to go all the way. For example, I travel comfortably and productively with just one bag that weighs less than ten pounds. My RV has become almost comical, with marble and wood floors, gold leaf, and advanced security and automation systems. The pitfall…
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Seeing Faults in Others
Sometimes I would be in my own little world. I remember, as a kid, helping my dad with projects, and he would say that I was oblivious to what was going on around me. He’d be waiting for me to hand him a hammer, but I’d be staring off at something else. And then, around…
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What Won’t You Change?
A while back I watched some of the debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham, a firmly entrenched creationist. The debate was mostly hilarious and mind-boggling, but one question really stood out to me. Someone asked each of them, what, if anything, could change their mind. Bill Nye said anything– any shred of evidence that…
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What I’m Thankful for in 2014
I think that gratitude is an essential part of a good life. If you don’t appreciate the people, places, and things that make up your life, you don’t have much motivation do anything. I feel the weight of gratitude every day. Many times a day I think of how fortunate I am to be where…
