Hi. I'm jon.404, a Unix/Linux/Database/Openstack/Kubernetes Administrator, AWS/GCP/Azure Engineer, mathematics enthusiast, and amateur philosopher. This is where I rant about that which upsets me, laugh about that which amuses me, and jabber about that which holds my interest most: *nix.
The Celebrity Life of a Blogger
Posted 07-20-2015 at 02:16 PM by rocket357
It never ceases to amaze me how people who make their money in the lime light get in an uproar because they can't take a piss without someone reporting about it. Now, I'm all for fair treatment of other people, and yes, the US (in particular) has shifted to "money is more important than self integrity". Perhaps it's not a shift, per se, but rather a gross realization of a long term change in culture. But I digress...it still amazes me.
The point is, this planet isn't here to kiss your ass. Life sucks. And when it seems it can't get any worse, it does. And just as you recover from one blow, life has 17 more waiting in the shadows all expertly choreographed to ruin your day. That is how life works.
To counteract this mass-suicide inducing depression, you have to expend energy to make life what you want it to be. Don't like your current job? Learn a new one...in your own time if you have to. Don't like being tied to debt? Don't apply for credit cards then run them up past what you can handle.
It's really, incredibly simple...honest, it is. Think about when you moved out of your parents' home (if you are past that point in your life). Did that happen *to* you (I assume that there are some), or did you scream "FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!" like Mel Gibson as you peeled out of your Mom's driveway towards whatever apartment, dorm, barracks, or whatever you knew lay ahead?
That's life. You find yourself in a situation that is unbearable, so you work really hard at making it better. It's what you do.
Along a similar vein, I give you this:
Don't like criticism? **Don't put it on the internet**. Don't like hackers taking your private photos and making them public? **Don't put it on the internet**. Don't like the fact that company Q said your credit card was safe with them, but now your identity has been stolen? **Don't put it on the internet**.
For the less astute, I'll point out an observation...there is a pattern developing, ever so subtly, in that previous paragraph.
See, the internet is something akin to the wild west (at least, it currently is). Sure, there is gross misconduct that warrants police attention (swatting comes to mind), but your average everyday routine internet-y stuff just isn't newsworthy. No one cares that albinoboy23564 called you a name.
I've gone through the freedom run quite a few times in my life. The first was when I headed off to college. The second was when I headed off to the Marines. The third was when I headed off to college (I'm dumb, it took me two tries). The fourth, when I left Louisiana and moved to Texas for a killer job. The fifth, when I left Texas and moved to Seattle for *the* killer job.
Sure, complain when things are not going your way...just realize that complaining is like a pressure release valve. It helps you, but the noise annoys everyone around you. If you want lasting change, *do something about it*, because you're the only one in position to do so.
The point is, this planet isn't here to kiss your ass. Life sucks. And when it seems it can't get any worse, it does. And just as you recover from one blow, life has 17 more waiting in the shadows all expertly choreographed to ruin your day. That is how life works.
To counteract this mass-suicide inducing depression, you have to expend energy to make life what you want it to be. Don't like your current job? Learn a new one...in your own time if you have to. Don't like being tied to debt? Don't apply for credit cards then run them up past what you can handle.
It's really, incredibly simple...honest, it is. Think about when you moved out of your parents' home (if you are past that point in your life). Did that happen *to* you (I assume that there are some), or did you scream "FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!" like Mel Gibson as you peeled out of your Mom's driveway towards whatever apartment, dorm, barracks, or whatever you knew lay ahead?
That's life. You find yourself in a situation that is unbearable, so you work really hard at making it better. It's what you do.
Along a similar vein, I give you this:
Don't like criticism? **Don't put it on the internet**. Don't like hackers taking your private photos and making them public? **Don't put it on the internet**. Don't like the fact that company Q said your credit card was safe with them, but now your identity has been stolen? **Don't put it on the internet**.
For the less astute, I'll point out an observation...there is a pattern developing, ever so subtly, in that previous paragraph.
See, the internet is something akin to the wild west (at least, it currently is). Sure, there is gross misconduct that warrants police attention (swatting comes to mind), but your average everyday routine internet-y stuff just isn't newsworthy. No one cares that albinoboy23564 called you a name.
I've gone through the freedom run quite a few times in my life. The first was when I headed off to college. The second was when I headed off to the Marines. The third was when I headed off to college (I'm dumb, it took me two tries). The fourth, when I left Louisiana and moved to Texas for a killer job. The fifth, when I left Texas and moved to Seattle for *the* killer job.
Sure, complain when things are not going your way...just realize that complaining is like a pressure release valve. It helps you, but the noise annoys everyone around you. If you want lasting change, *do something about it*, because you're the only one in position to do so.
Total Comments 13
Comments
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I'm curious. What interchange prompted this? It must have been good.Posted 07-21-2015 at 09:22 AM by vmccord 
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This is something I've been meaning to put into words for a while.
There was a particular exchange that *reminded* me to write it up, but there isn't a single exchange that I wrote about.Posted 07-21-2015 at 06:26 PM by rocket357
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1. I do think that when you engage in a financial transaction part of the agreement is that retailer will take steps to prevent unauthorized use of your credit card. That's true whether you are shopping at Piggly Wiggly where the clerk kept the carbons or Peapod.com. Caveat emptor can only take a shopper so far.
2. How could you possibly adapt to the weather shift from Texas to Washington? I would think the shock might kill a person.Posted 07-22-2015 at 09:11 AM by vmccord
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1. Ahh but you can...you can pay in cash, as that is still an option (albeit considerably more inconvenient).
2. It was quite hilarious. The first summer here when it got "up to" 85 degrees, a cashier asked my son (5 at the time) if he liked the heat. He excitedly said "Oh, yes, it's AWESOME!" She must've thought he had lost his mind. I have grown fond of the cool, damp, grey...I don't know how I lived in South Texas as long as I did =)Posted 07-22-2015 at 12:18 PM by rocket357
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1. There is still an element of trust in the transaction: from the price of each item and that each item is as is labeled (ie not half sawdust), to the subtotal and to the calculated tax. Yes, you can do the latter yourself, but the first is based solely on trust (backed up with repercussions to the retailer if trust is misplaced).
2. That's funny. I would miss the sun. I don't mind heat, even with humidity, but grey days drag me down. 'Course I'm in an over-air-conditioned, windowless room....Posted 07-22-2015 at 12:58 PM by vmccord
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1. You could always produce the item yourself, from raw materials gathered/mined/forged yourself. Not very efficient, but the requirement of trust goes down considerably. But I agree, if you purchase from someone else, there is a level of trust required that you cannot work around.
2. What won me over is the magic windows they have here. You open them up and the inside of your apartment/house/condo/whatever *cools off*. I joked about selling the magic windows in Texas. They would sell.Posted 07-22-2015 at 04:09 PM by rocket357
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1. I don't think I want to to make sausage from scratch. My delicate sensibilities insist I trust the retailer.
2. I can't complain. Kansas is generally beautiful. Not too hot (usually). Not too cold (ever). And way sunnier than Ohio.Posted 07-22-2015 at 04:21 PM by vmccord
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1. Sausage is one of those things that requires implicit trust, this is true. You either make it yourself because you trust no one, or you stick your fingers in your ears and sing "I can't hear you blah blah blah" at the top of your lungs while someone is talking about making sausage, and you implicitly trust their judgment and just buy it from them...which, oddly, requires that you trust them *more* than your typical transaction.
2. I drove through Kansas many years ago. I swear we were on the road for 6 days total, 9 of which were in Kansas. In other words: I see you guys planted a tree to go with that other tree you have. I don't mean to push, but when McDonald's signs are three feet off the ground and you can see them halfway across the state...really, I've never been scared of the sky like I was in Kansas. It seemed so...*close*.Posted 07-22-2015 at 04:34 PM by rocket357
Updated 07-22-2015 at 04:37 PM by rocket357 -
So..... Kansas is kind of like Texas?
Posted 07-23-2015 at 04:27 PM by vmccord
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Fair point.
At least in Kansas I never hit a horse skeleton in the left lane of a two lane highway (apparently no one had used the left lane for quite a while because cars are so few and far between west of San Antonio...I'm the only dumbass out there using the left lane, I guess). When you are so far out in the sticks that you can't even find a country music station, you're in the middle of nowhere.
Thankfully Kansas was more civilized than that =)Posted 07-23-2015 at 05:27 PM by rocket357
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Ingrates are fun to watch when blowing a fuse. At least for me.
Especially because I like to tease.
Might be moving to Austin (Hill country) later this year maybe.
Wetter there. Still hot but bohemian residents there.
Not border bandidos like I am used to. Out here in the desert.
Dead armadillos line the road outside of Austin though sometimes.
When my Dad was stationed in Wichita Kansas. The Indian gang I ran with in Oaklawn were not all that "civilized". But that was long ago. Kansas might have become more civilized since then.
I remember it was cold cold cold there in the winter there.
Something that is now my kryptonite.Posted 07-28-2015 at 02:27 PM by rokytnji
Updated 07-28-2015 at 02:31 PM by rokytnji -
Ahh, Austin. The part of Texas that isn't like...Texas. Austin is a fun and dare I say "hip" place, but it was a bit much for my liking. You may thoroughly enjoy it if you do move there, but I found the prevailing attitudes a bit obnoxious.
After living in Seattle this long, I suspect that my return to visit family in Texas is going to feel something like being placed in a kryptonite box. I hope not, but that is only hope.Posted 07-29-2015 at 01:01 AM by rocket357
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Obnoxious attitudes always come with the territory, because of my looks and lifestyle. Funniest thing is to see a a short mans disease mentality, trying to look down on me, while craning his neck to look up at me.
I seen some of that at a posh restaurant my youngest boy treated us to. He is a metro yuppie type. Does very well in life. Better than I. We blew their minds when the valet service pulled up in his cherry 1962 Cadillac
2 door lowrider. Probably making some assumptions go up in smoke.
I know all the young girls on a Friday night at the bar started gazing like they wanted to go for a ride with us. But we had my 2 year old grand daughter and my wife as dates already.
On your original post. I see a lot of human beings of this and earlier generation in certain environments
with a sense of entitlement. In a stressful situation or environment. They will be the 1st to fall by the way side with the "but what about me!!!!" mindset.
I withdrew from the world by raising my boys on the Mexican border and putting them in a school in the country in a small town instead of a inner city high school. I raised them to be independent and to self assured in their skill set as a human being. Nothing given freely with out effort given 1st.
Seems my system bore good fruit.
My boy used the same system when buying his house in Austin. Picking a neighborhood figuring in where his
daughter will go to school and how the neighborhood kids are also. I have no worries about my offspring surviving in the world to come. My grand daughter is part cossack and filipino. With blond hair.
She is gonna be a heart breaker. And we all know. Women run things though we guys like to think we do.Posted 07-29-2015 at 08:55 AM by rokytnji
