Thursday, September 25, 2025

Life is speeding up (temporarily, I hope)

Sandbags on the gondola of a hot-air balloon.

I had a conversation with a very nice lady who is in her late thirties today. We were talking about the challenges of getting older as she described how her relationship with her parents and in-laws changed over time.

We all need some stress in our lives, otherwise we become depressed. Likewise, we cannot have too much stress or it pounds us into the dirt.

It is a bit like surfing. There is a range of places on a wave where surfing is possible and life moves forward gracefully and with ease.

Consequently, we all need a brake and a throttle to modulate the amount of stress in our lives.

One of the struggles is that as we age our baseline tolerance for stress isn't as high as when we were younger, even though the variation of stress coming at us doesn't get smaller. In fact, the stresses get larger as we are on fixed incomes and the number of people who expect us to "help" with time or $$$ seems to increase.

Furthermore, the variation in our ability to resist stress has wider swings. We have periods of low energy, often for no knowable reason. 

That makes our ability to anticipate surges well in advance very important, so our application of the brake or throttle has time to take effect.

The next four weeks

My crystal ball tells me that claims on my time will multiply over the next four weeks. It isn't just one thing, the demands come from several different sources.

The quality and quantity of blog posts will be spotty. 

This too will pass.

Your patience will be appreciated.

 

Random BS

Eleven-year-old student disarms another student who brought a gun to school.

Lansing School District expelled the eleven-year-old student for violating school district policy.

Lansing is about 20 miles north of Eaton Rapids. Kudos to the kid who know how to drop the mag and rack the slide to clear the weapon.

8 comments:

  1. Proof that EVERYONE on a "school board" is an abject moron in need of institutionalization.

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    1. Lol, I didn't read the linked article, but feel very strongly in support of what Dan said.
      Another sign of the great divide in our society. That we can be at such polar opposites over issues like education (supposed to be easy). How do we tackle the tougher issues if we can't even find agreement on teaching children?

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  2. ERJ, I feel like life has been picking up speed over the last four months to the point that it is uncomfortable. I am not sure what that portends if anything, other than I am feeling less in control although I am as busy as ever.

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    1. Both writers and comedians have used the line (or variation thereof): Slowly at first, and then very suddenly.
      4th turnings work this way. There are years when nothing seems to happen, and weeks that last years.
      Strayss and Howe specifically reference the acceleration of things as an indicator youbare moving along now.
      I too have noticed. It was predicted. 6 mos. after the election results were certified, all hell started breaking loose (slowly at firat.. now suddenly). Expect some fireworks very soon. Toothpaste does not go back into the tube.
      Secure your finances. Market crashes are useful tools for color revolutions.

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  3. One of the great challenges of our age is determining whether a story is true, altered, or made up totally. Particularly with AI and the ability to manipulate or fabricate audio and video evidence. I fear we are coming to a place where the only real validity will be our own eyes and ears on the source of the story.

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    1. Sadly, I fear the story is true.

      A few years ago a porter in a parking garage in Warren, Michigan stopped a woman from being stabbed to death by pulling his legal, concealed weapon. The woman had already sustained several stab wounds. The porter did not discharge his weapon, merely displaying it was enough to make the other woman, the one with the knife, stop.

      The business that owned the property the parking ramp was on fired the porter. The woman who was being stabbed was an employee of that business.

      Crazy world.

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    2. THIS, is why I moved my family out of NY.
      I get the moral and legal arguments at play, truly. NY does not support the castle doctrine (and similar) b/c use of lethal force makes you the judge, jury, AND executioner. Thats a factual statement - If I shoot the perp dead, they do not get to go to trial to prove their innocence - they're already dead!
      Where I disagree with The State, is that my life and safety is superseded by their right to a trial by jury. Instead of fighting The State, I moved my family somewheres our thoughts and feelings align with the locals and law enforcement.
      This is only going to become more and more binary I feel. You better be comfortable where you are, the future will be more polarized.
      Stories and situations like this only serve to highlight the growing divide. Half the people of Lansing are happy the kid knows how to function a semi-auto pistol, half the city is aghast over it. So binary, thats a problem. LOL, meanwhile TN just mandated firearm safety instruction for all students.
      The linked story is the same - he SAVED that womans life! Congrats, our lawyers say we cannot employ you anymore. Wait, what?!?!?
      What a time to be alive!

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  4. Yesterday within a half an hour I got phone calls that told me that three long-tie friends are terminally ill. Two old, one middle age. Yes, some days are very stressful and it seems that life is now becoming more tense and unstable for everyone. ---ken

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