Category: Blog

I’m noticing that quite a few people that view my stories on Instagram are people that I don’t know, and want nothing to do with. I started to go through my list of followers, and I quickly realized that leaving my account inactive for a long period of time might have been a mistake. A quick note about weeding the garden: Instagram doesn’t really make it easy, especially on the desktop version. It’s just a small scroll box in the center of the page. I really would like a way to bulk remove/block people. That should be a no-brainer.

Yes, I realize there are 3rd party solutions that may allow you to do this, the point is that IG should allow you to do this. I’m going to look for those solutions so that I don’t have to waste more time in the weeds than necessary.

I’ve often said that just don’t think my life is that damn interesting. That was no more apparent to me when I tried to make a daily vlog, and realized that I do pretty much the same thing every day. That doesn’t really lend itself to compelling video.

However, the reason for starting to do some kind of weekly vlog isn’t for the content, it’s really for the chops. If I start making some sort of weekly diary, it’s for keeping in practice with videography and editing. Not that I think I’ll ever get another job doing it ever again, but it’s for my satisfaction that I can do it. I don’t expect that to make sense to anyone, but for me it’s very much a matter of pride at this point.

The last few weeks of the Podcast have been less than ten minutes long, because they’re TikTok friendly. Would you believe that the podcast gets more views and engagement on TikTok than anywhere else?

I said that I would do that as long as I had nothing else to do, but I’m feeling the urge to do more as we continue to move on. I realize that it doesn’t have to be a format, although my brain wants to continue to format it a certain way. If I take my own advice and make it a living diary that I invite you all to read, then that’s how we proceed.

So the podcast—as ever—will change, because I change.

When? I don’t know that quite yet. We’ll see.

Here’s a fun fact for you: There have been approximately 1.1 million deaths from COVID.

The fact that we seem to have completely forgotten that horror is something I have trouble reconciling.

One of these days when the history of this chapter of Stupid People Doing Stupid Things is written, I hope we address this in some way.

Follow up from yesterday: The main problem I was having trying to fix that YT broken link is that it assumed that any YT link was for a video, and tried to treat it like an embed. I initially tried to fix it by trying another theme that was *close* to the same thing as this one, but the sidebar was fugly, and not customizable, not even through tweaking the CSS for some reason. Additionally, this theme tried to add a 2nd sidebar menu, and would not let me get rid of the one that you see. So, there was no way to have that YouTube link in the menu and have it act differently.

Then, I got a rare good night’s sleep and came up with a different idea. What if I create a new page for all the social links, and have all the links open to a new tab. That should work, right? So I created the Social Page you see in the sidebar and put all the places you can connect with me there.

It was then I found out that the problem wasn’t just in the sidebar, it’s any YouTube link placed anywhere.

Sometimes I swear these things are too smart for their own good.

Here’s a reminder that functional doesn’t necessarily mean correct. I had a link in the sidebar for YouTube that you’ll notice is no longer there. Turns out that when you click the link, it treats it as if it is a video, and tries to bring up that video in a lightbox. When you create a sidebar menu from WordPress Pages, it’s doing what it’s supposed to. Hat tip to the guy who told me the link was broken.

To fix this, I need to get more under the hood than I have in years. You may remember that this used to be a Squarespace site. If I can keep this exact look, it might be again. WordPress themes are so damn clunky sometimes. I tell you, there’s more on the backend of this theme than I think is necessary for how minimal I want it to look.

Time to make it correct.

I got rid of X(witter). I don’t listen to news or political podcasts anymore. If I want to hear what’s going on in Congress or the White House, C-Span is a primary source. I have plenty to do during a day to doomscrolling social media. I finish what I have to do during the day and I find I have no time to sit on social media.

I’ve been able to create because I’m taking the time to do that first before I do anything else. I let stuff go. Amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t care about anything that doesn’t matter.

Social Media Warriors. Keyboard Commandos. People who don’t know how to human.

Chaos Agents, bomb throwers, soundbite seekers, world burners.

This is what we’re dealing with if you let it in.

Do we need to? That’s the question.

Here’s something to think about: Did the anonymous nature of Social Media make it harder for us to let stuff go? Hell, even work from home might play a role. The cocooning we’ve done the past few years may have weakened our ability to human. So we lose our filters and we say what we think without giving a rat’s ass about the effects.

We all might be an island, but we’re all islands on the same damn planet. We need to remember that.

Here’s something I forgot from the corporate world: If someone has a job that centers around one thing, without which they would have no purpose, expect that they will fight like hell to keep that one thing to themselves.

I forgot that’s a thing.

When I offered to help someone by doing that one thing one time before they arrived, that person taught me how to do the thing, and then added several steps to the process that I am unable to do, so that I am unable to do the thing.

This is the only thing this person does.

It took me a minute to let that go and not take it personally. It’s not personal. Not to me. It’s deeply personal to that person. Let them have it. It’s not worth the fight.

Just get on about your business, and thank your lucky stars that your job doesn’t revolve around one specific task.

Right?

“When two control freaks fight, one is killed and one is injured, but nobody’s giving up a goddamn thing.”

I think that’s in The Art of War, Cubicle Farm Edition.

As long as there is an older generation hanging on to what they know, there will always be a conflict with a younger generation that sees a new path clearly.

Even my generation is not immune. We were quite aware of what we were going through, but we need to know that the new children are the ones we’ll be spitting on and as much as we might like to break that cycle, it seems like this is just a circle of life kind of thing.

The best we can do is Our Thing ™, and let them do Their Thing ™.

And so it goes.

There are times when I wonder whether or not the whole economy hangs on by a thread, that thread being ‘the way we’ve always done it’. Uncertainty and unpredictability throws the status quo for a loop.

I’m not sure that’s the way a global system should work. I am sure that’s the way it’s designed.

If anything, the Work From Home movement proves that we don’t need to look a certain way to perform. But of course, that causes another problem. I’ve talked about this before. If we’re not in the office, then not only is the company wasting money for office space they’re not utilizing, then all the other things around that office suffer. The gas station, the coffee shop, the fast food restaurants, the bars. The folks that are supposed to be making the money at the worker’s expense are taking a beating.

You’re not doing as you’re told. You’re a slow learner.

“You must try harder. It’s not easy to become sane.” — O’Brien

Standards could also mean professionalism. That’s how the Boomers and older try to dress it up.

If you want to be considered a professional, then be professional. A colorful swath of fabric around the neck is irrelevant.

There’s been a lot of talk about ‘standards’ lately. Many people of a certain age are lamenting the loss of standards. They are also crying about kids on their lawn, I suppose.

They’re not mad about standards. They’re mad that a new generation of people aren’t listening to them when they stamp their feet and yell that it’s always been done a certain way, and opt instead to come up with a new way to do it.

I hate to be dark about it, but eventually the annoyance will cease. Luckily, it will never have stopped us from the work.