September Summer

With the whole back-to-school thing filling the media, and changes in radio hosts and such, you get the sense of a new season starting. But sometimes you forget, that summer is still around for a while yet. The cooler weather also heightens that sense.

But today was a nice temperature, enough that some landscaping work (P3) was able to easily work up a sweat. It's September summer.

My biggest challenge there now is that I don't think I have enough dirt. I could use some topsoil, and so might have to drum some up. I'd hoped that digging the pond would provide enough, but no such luck. I'm pretty close to enough though. probably just a yard or so would be fine. Plus with so much clay in the soil, it would be nice to add some more viable soil on top to support any plantings etc. Sounds like more money and waiting.

Went out for lunch today with an old colleague. Nice to tune into the corporate world again. News of layoffs of tech middle-management in town doesn't do much for the market.

My SO is off to an evening event with friends, and so I whipped up pasta for one, and dug up some wine from the basement cooking batch. Marginal stuff (home-made) but I managed to quaff a glass anyway. Sure makes you appreciate real stuff. Cuvee crappy basement swill... Chateau Swill.

Tested out a little solar panel assembly, and getting about 1Volt in direct sunlight. Enough to do something with perhaps. A voltage doubler would help - perhaps a boost converter circuit would be a good idea. Enough current there to turn a little motor - that was fun.

I've lost some enthusiasm for my home product exploration work, because of the scope of work to be done alone, and the isolation of doing it. Plus, having managed a team to do stuff like this, I can see the horrible contrast of how slow it is to do everything yourself. Ugh.

Made a nice batch of cinnamon buns. Whole lot of sugar and butter there, but they are tasty. Don't make sweet stuff like this, well, ever - so it's a nice treat. Froze half for later.

All in all a nice day - some manual labour, some meeting with friends, a little pursuit of P1 and P2 and some tech exploration. Punctuate that with some quiet time reading with some tea and a sticky-bun, and who could ask for more. I'm sure P2 will kick in sometime in the coming weeks, and I'll look back on this time with relish.

Plato Plods Along
Still working on The Republic when I get a chance. It seems to be half a dozen pages late in the afternoon, or a couple of pages in bed, before the eyes get heavy. But it's a fun read. Some elements of his process of constructing the future society are laughable, others uncannily relevant today, and others downright scary (e.g. infanticide for managing births and breeding). The style is quite tired, quite fsst. It's a treatise, I don't know why he tries to make it a conversation.

It's funny that there was no understanding of the nurture side of development at all - or at least in his circle. The idea of children not being aloud to know their parents and vice versa, along with state-run child rearing is very Orwellian. Then again, so is all the news coming out of the US - secret prisons, itemized we won't do these torture things anymore lists from generals etc. Sure makes 10 years ago seem like simpler times.

But like all 'simpler times' claims, it just means that things were simpler because we weren't exposed to what was going on. In general I think complexity in the world is not usually a degradation - usually ugly stuff comes out into the open because as the first step in raising outrage to fix the problems that were otherwise hidden before. I hope that's what's happening now.

Wrap
Oh well, too much there to explore, and the evening is too heavily setting around me. So I'll wrap up here and assign your task.

Your drop everything, Life-without-practice assignment for today is a bit more work this time. For the next 24 hours, eat way less than normal. Cut your meals in half, and if you feel hungry, just see what it's like to live with that for a while. No snacks, just three small sized meals. It's just 24 hours out of your entire life, it's not going to kill you.

Think about how weird it is that you are hesitant to do this. If you do follow through, think about how you NEVER experience this. This, one day - not even going without food, just having small portions!! Think about how this HUGE inconvenience would be an opulent luxury for so many millions. You don't need to do anything else about it - just experiencing that is enough. Maybe it will have an impact on you down the road. C'mon, do it. Can you not just try this, with a measily 24 hours of your life? Look at your plate, think about how to make it smaller - put half that sandwich back, or put some away for tomorrow, just to experience this.

Let me know what you decide, and how it goes.