Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse Virus pt. 8

It's dystopia! 

The world has been dealt a grievous blow from the virus and it appears now, more than ever, that nothing will ever be the same. If you are an educated person like myself, someone who reads regularly, reads the news regularly, and perhaps even watches the news regularly, you should be very alarmed. This is not normal, of course, nor is it a drill, nor is this where we could and should be at this stage in the pandemic. 

We're in a bad place right now. We're seeing the highest numbers of new case increases in a single day. It's very high, something like 4,000-5,000 new cases in a single day, in places like California and Texas. We've already reopened states but the reality of the situation is that if we don't close down all nonessential businesses in say, 4-5 weeks, there will be so many dead people in America, that there will no choice but to close down everything again. Here's the reality; nothing will be done until the shit hits the fan, however, it might be so bad at this current juncture that it's already too late. Sleep on that. 

I work at a grocery store. Today, I received a text from a union representative leader, stating that someone who works at my store was tested positive for the virus. This is the second person who's tested positive at my store, the first one being a worker that has already quarantined, become clean, and is back at work.

The fear of catching the virus is high. If I catch the virus and possibly die, will there be anything left to remember me by? This sort of darknesse is reality. It turns out, in a way, that the company cutting down hours on all employees is actually a good thing. Although we get less money, we're around mass crowded people in the market less [where they're not limiting the numbers of customers allowed in], saving us in the long run from being exposed to the virus more often. But some people need to work a lot of hours and make a lot of money, what about them? They're going to have to deal with having less money and fewer hours, unfortunately.

I'm sort of actually coming to the gravity of the situation recently. I was previously on a two-month leave of absence from work and it was good. I was safe from the virus and did a lot of reading and writing. But now I'm back working with the public, often in crowded aisles and a crowded front end workplace. The situation is dire.

It's only just now hit me today that most things don't matter much anymore. The most important thing right now is your health and finding a way to live.

What I mean to say is that it's finally dawned on me that mine as well as all of us, our collective goals, dreams, desires, and fortunes don't even matter anymore. In a post-COVID-19 world, your goals, dreams, and fortune don't matter one bit, because, in that world, the individual person doesn't matter much because we're all one and the same when it comes to the virus. Rather, I believe, in a post-virus world, the collective unity, the group, the whole human tribe as a whole, matters much more so than any other time in human history. If this thing doesn't bring us together soon, nothing else will.

So as I sit here writing this I think about my future. It doesn't matter if I never become a rock star, or the best selling author, or a computer coder, or any of that crap. Rather, what is more important than any of that is finding a way to live that is meaningful to you. Once this thing continues, it will take more lives, more lives than you can possibly imagine, and in that paradigm, things like money and jobs will decrease in value, because people will spend most of their time in quarantine and isolation so that they, and their loved ones don't die.

The lack of leadership shown in this current administration is shocking and appalling. However, even if Biden takes control in November, there's still a lot of shit that needs to be cleaned up in terms of government, and it could take years to fix that up. Not to mention that there probably won't be a coronavirus vaccine by that time, and Biden will have to form his own strategy against the virus because it will still be ravaging by that time, most likely.

There's a lot to think about. At this moment the best thing we can do is be there for ourselves, our loved ones, and try to find a way to live, a new way to live, that isn't tied down by the constraints of dream jobs, lots of money, and other such desires. Staring at the face of death, into the abyss, it only appears to be staring back at us.   

2100

Hello, how's it going? I was thinking about the current state of affairs in the world and started thinking about what planet Earth would look and be like in say, 2050, 2100. I'd like to jot down some ideas on that subject. 

1) Will we take to the Stars?

Well, technically speaking, we have already gone far in space via machinery. But to see the human race fly to the stars and live there, that would be a true scientific revolution, the likes of which haven't been seen for a long time.

2) What would a banana republic like the United States look like in say, 2100, over the current debacle going on since 2016?

Government has shown to be effective and useful when used by the right hands, working with the heads and hearts of the people. But there are always going to be bad actors in any sort of governing, thus, as bad as Trump is, is there any more worse it can get?

3) How would we react to an overheated Earth, with lots of pollution? Natural disasters that get worse and worse every year. It's already happened in the California and Australian fires recently, but the key to effective climate control is your government officials, signing laws that lessen the impact of pollution, using clean, renewable energy and resources and cracking down on companies that violate those protocols. 

4) What if there's life out there?

The potentiality of others, alien life, is always there. Perhaps not in our solar system but in another one like it, or different to it. Possibly travel there via wormholes. Wormhole technology. I surely jest with science fiction but if there's water on other planets perhaps there's a slight chance that sentient life lived there at some point in the billions of millennia.  

5) Will education fail our young?

Education is a powerful thing, especially when imposed upon the young. What we teach our youth, or even younger friends even, is what we know based on education and experience. Learning through various methods will help you get through in life, bearing a modest sentimental education. You don't have to go to college, you don't even have to have finished high school, the more you educate yourself through various activity like reading, writing, and public speaking, the better your chances. Sounding less street can get you places. 

6) Will there be hover cars? 

Of course! But probably meant for the pure novelty at first until they figure out how all the techno-gadgetry works.  

7) What will people eat?

Obviously, the world's supply of chicken, beef, and pork will run out. With a growing population, planet Earth is eventually going to run out of food. Will this inevitably bring about an apocalyptic vision that was early COVID where all retailers rationed chicken, beef, and pork to only two packages? Perhaps we will need a lot more farmers in the world and America can become like the Old West. Oh, where the buffalos roam. 

8) Will we run out of air? 

What if the oxygen on Earth runs out and we all have to fly to colonies on Mars? Or perhaps to some neighboring star?

9) Will there be laser-guns or portal-guns? 

There are some great laser-gun fights in Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It gave the novel a lot of pure action. Would laser-gun tech come about easily? Likewise, it would be cool to have a real, live, portal-gun, and be able to go places through your portals. Much like the critically acclaimed Steam game, Portal.  

10) Where does humanity go from here?

Well, you ask that question to everyone and they'd all tell you something different. Some would say we need to take to the stars and colonize them. Others would say stay home and read your Bible. Yet more would say we need to improve science and technology, because, as they say, things like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cognitive learning are where it's at. We live in a postmodern philosophical world if one could even call it that. There's no telling where we as a people, as a tribe, as dna, will go. 

Excelsior! 

Anger Management in Video Games

 Everybody's been there. You're in the middle of a competitive match in a video game and then one of your teammates berates you and the rest of the team, hurling insults and cuss words, sometimes even slurs. 


It's not a good look on the individual that performs this action, but nonetheless, it is forever constant no matter what rank you are and no matter what competitive game you play. Here are some tips and tricks on how to control your anger in competitive video games. 

1) Don't react 

No matter what you do don't give that person who is toxic and angry the power of a reaction. It's always better to ignore that person and move on. If you're the angry person, realize that you overreacted and stepped out of bounds, and come to the conclusion that you have to control your emotions and the way you react to the game. 

2) Keep calm

Always keep calm. When you're winning, keep calm, when you're losing, keep calm. Don't raise your voice if you use voice communication in the game, rather, always speak with a cool and even level and tone. The calmer you are the more effective you can be in the game and improve. This is the most effective way to use voice coms in competitive games too. 

3) Get used to losing

Get used to losing. No matter how good you are at a game, all these team-based games that I play have many variables based on what my teammates and enemy team players are doing. So technically speaking, no matter how good I am as an individual player, I can still lose if my teammates are just a little derpy. Get used to it. It will happen and you will lose as a result of it. It's a part of life. 

4) Get mad, then get over it

Sometimes you have to just lay someone out on the pavement, and watch the gore from behind the scenes afterward. You will get angry at people and will inevitably tell them off. That's normal. What you must accept is that it was wrong to do so, apologize if you like or have the willpower to do so, and then simply move on. 

5) Keep playing

When most 'nerd rage' gamers get mad in a game they get so worked up emotionally that they stop playing the game. While this might be a good way to take a time out like a toddler, I actually think that if you're angry at the game, you should continue to play, and learn to calm down while continuing to play. Instead of smashing the TV screen, just keep playing and learn to enjoy the solace of gaming again. After all, the reason why we play video games is so that we can have fun. The longer you keep playing, the higher your chances are of having fun while doing so. So remember, have fun. 

Good luck and have fun!     

Dealing with Boredom and Frustration

We all get bored and we all get frustrated. I'd like to jot down some quick tips and tricks on how to deal with boredom and frustration. 

1) Get over it. 

Life isn't all thrills. In fact, most of life is an utter bore. It's how you deal with it that makes life more meaningful, and therefore, better. A lot of people complain about family, friends, kids, girlfriends, wives, boyfriends, husbands, coworkers, bosses, work, and you name it but the fact of the matter is that you will like yourself more, and other people will like being around you much more if you simply get over it and don't complain, or at least don't complain that much. Get over it.

2) Deal with boredom in your own intrinsic way. 

a) Everybody deals with boredom in their own way. Some people read books, like me. Others watch TV shows or the news. You should look for ways to deal with boredom in your own way that is unique to you. I don't even get bored at home because I've got so much to do; reading, writing, gaming, guitar playing, and even keyboard playing if I'm really feeling up to it. What you should not do is call your friends every time you're bored and try to hang out. Which leads me to my next point. 

b) Create, build, and develop your interior life. An interior life is a life that stands on its own, strong and resolute. Activities like reading, writing, and solo guitar playing are a regular part of my interior life. I would also include things like exercise, meditation, sleep, and getting enough rest as a part of the interior life as well. What the interior life is not is hanging out with your friends, your girlfriend, your wife, and kids. Not that that's bad, but you must truly develop your interior life on your own and on your own time. Doing so will result in your being able to deal with boredom and frustration in a much easier way. Why? Because you'll learn how to read yourself much better, which will result in you being better able to understand others, and consequently, the world.     

3) Deal with frustration in a constructive way.

If somebody completely insults you what is your response? Most people would fire back and insult them back quickly without thinking too much. Sure, that works but it's not constructive. A more constructive response would be to insult the person with a much smarter insult that leaves them looking like a dummy that can't read. Now that's constructive! LOL

But seriously, you must learn to deal with frustration in a constructive way. Sometimes at work, it's a hassle when other people who aren't managers ask me to do something for them. For the longest time that was a big pet peeve of mine, until I dealt with it in a constructive way; by simply not being mad about it. Sure, it's one extra task, but is one small extra task in my day really going to stop me from fulfilling my job to the best of my ability? When I thought about it in those terms I realized that helping a coworker wasn't that bad. Plus I have uber brownie points with all managers as well as lesser employees now. Not too shabby. 

4) If you're having trouble, simply change your perspective. If you can't change your perspective, just slightly change your attitude. 

Some people will never change their perspective on the world. They're the person they are right now and can't change no matter how much they try even though they want to because they're comfortable and they're simple. Nothing wrong with that. 

But for those individuals that want to get more out of life, they will have to eventually change their perspective on the world. This includes changing the way they perceive themselves as well as others. 

One of the hardest things for me to figure out in life was how to chill and keep a positive attitude no matter what under any circumstances. It's easier said than done and it took me thirty years. Some people figure it out in childhood. Others will never see the light. 

If you can't change your perspective, try just slightly changing your attitude. Maybe you're more of a loner, so try being more social and talking to people more in every way you can. Maybe you talk to too many people, so try talking to fewer people. Maybe you complain a lot about work, so try not complaining about work for a month. These small changes will lead to big progress which can eventually help you to change your perspective for the better. The war is over if you want it. 

"Boredom leads to frustration, frustration leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to the Darkside." 

The Importance of Routine

The importance of routine can't be understated especially during the time of COVID where most people are unemployed or working from home. A good schedule is great for your well being and health. Here are some of my thoughts about why a routine is important. 

1) It keeps you on schedule. 

A good routine keeps you going with forward momentum. When l was in quarantine and isolation my routine was simple; wake up, clean up, read, eat, go for walks, and play video games. It kept me busy and engaged during the entire period, leaving me with very few moments where I was watching the paint dry on the wall.  The structure in a good routine can make or break you. Use it wisely. Lose it and everything drops like dominos. 

2) It's important for your well being, health, and mental health. 

A good routine makes you feel good. The fact that I've been writing blogs at the same time every night makes me feel really good. My attitude improves every time I do it. If you're used to working all the time and then all of sudden you're at home in isolation for two months, you're going to have a hard time adjusting. I would say that my time away from work was actually bad for me in terms of mental health and well being. I'm a social person that's used to a certain amount of contact, discussion, and affirmation from others. Of course, when I don't get that, I become a much different person. Not a worse person, but definitely not a better person for that matter either. 

Here's a funny story to show how important routine is for your mental health. 

One time I was chillin' with a couple friends and one of them was wasted. I took a Lyft home that night but my drunk friend wouldn't let me go home because he said he had to sober up and give me a ride home. He said he couldn't let me go via Lyft because he had to go through the routine of giving me a ride home. It was an interesting moment because although he was pretty buzzed he knew he still had to stick to what he was used to in order to feel right and/or good. Very important.

3) It improves you and everything you do. 

This is commonsense but it should be looked into. Every routine you adhere to improves you in some way. Cleaning the dishes at a certain time every day? That's an improvement on the character of the individual. Practice the guitar every day. That's +10 guitar skill ability. Work four or five days a week? That gives you money in your bank account. Going for a walk three times a week? That reduces stress and reduces calories. The point of doing all these things is to do them often enough so that you develop a routine. Once the routine sinks in you get those much sought after number of hours. Once you develop the fabled 10,000 hours in any one skill, you've begun to climb the stairs of excellence towards mastery. Of course, you never really master anything in life, but you can get better and better even when it seems like you've plateaued. An amazing feeling.     

4) You can find out what works for you in life and change as needed and accordingly. 

A routine helps you figure out what works for you in life and allows you to change your routine as needed and accordingly. With a good routine, you can truly be yourself, find yourself, and even do soul searching. Without it, you are aimless, adrift, and hugging the shore, meaning you'll be too afraid to try new things or change up your same old, same old. Are you still the same person year after year but want to change? Change up your routine and create a new one. That is an easy way to improve and/or change your character. Remember to find out what works for you. Stick to it or change up it as needed. Rinse and repeat.

Human, Ghoul, Zombie [rewrite]

Been practicing my fiction writing. Here's a rewrite of my zombie apocalypse virus short story called Human, Ghoul, Zombie. Enjoy and thank you for reading. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRRIycTDqOtVFWEfjfPmufpDHivxuRDStb75Oep91NONu8_N0L2xsYgaBd5Ey_jlZj-aGEEAeFl5bTD/pub?fbclid=IwAR0KioquKiYor5rwHalbX8hF8hBaDN4KMi55s3gjkeKPfYcieUrXivVWHik 

Retail vs Corona

It's been three days since I've been back to work after a two-month personal leave of absence. Here are my thoughts about the safety conditions of working at a grocery store at this stage in the pandemic. 

Okay, so I would say that things are a little safer overall but not that much safer. Most of the customers are all wearing facemasks but there are always a few bad apples; eating, drinking, and talking. Management has called for a rule in the breakroom that only allows up to four people to be in there.

As for customers' wellbeing, there's always a courtesy clerk outside cleaning cart handles for each individual customer. I've actually never seen that kind of service at a grocery store and question if other grocery stores are as precise and on the ball as we are in regards to cleaning cart handles. We're doing it every hour for every customer. Many customers have told me that other stores aren't doing this and that's the reason why they come to my store. 

But to the detriment of everybody's safety, there is no longer a limit on the number of customers that can be allowed to enter the store. So at any given time if the store happens to be busy, it's a zoo. Management is no longer limiting the number of customers, probably as a way to boost sales as they are way down. However, late at night, there aren't as many customers as two months ago, so there are times at night now that don't require a limit on customers in the store. But I would say, overall, that during the peak business hours in the morning and afternoon, it's a very unsafe working environment with too many people too close to each other. I only wish management would put the limit back in place in order to make us that much safer. 

In terms of things that I do personally, one must be smarter than ever before in terms of safety. All the associates are wearing masks but unfortunately, most of my coworkers aren't wearing gloves. This is a grave mistake and management should step up the requirement of facemasks with the addition of gloves. The store has free disposable gloves but for some reason or other, most of the staff aren't wearing them. This is especially dangerous for the courtesy clerks cleaning the cart handles and doing carts. Personally, I wear thick latex gloves that I clean and sanitize every day. It's a hassle to wear them and my hands do get sweaty sometimes but it's worth it to be safer. Again, I wish management would step up and require gloves for the safety of everyone.

The morale of the workforce is at an all-time low. Some of the older employees as well as the young new hires have bad attitudes or they're just tired. Well, when you see that we're working for minimum wage with the addition of the company taking away our hazard bonus pay, you realize how demoralizing it really is. Again, I believe this is where management should step up and rally their workers into some sort of happy place or even just a slightly better place. They did this yesterday when management bought us all gourmet food from a high-end restaurant. It takes things like that in addition to personal talks with employees as well as general statements to the entire staff. I don't see that kind of leadership coming out of the store or the company. There's no mutual leadership to bring us together. Rather it is the employees themselves that rally together and brings the group together. Thank God!   

It's safer for sure but it's going to take a much smarter individual to truly be safe. If somebody gets COVID and can't afford to take off work because of bills, is there any incentive to actually stay home? The fear is still there. 

Let's hear it for all grocery store workers! 

Hurrah! 

The Heat Death of the Universe

Summer is here and the time is right, for dancing in the street. Dancing in the street! No, just kidding. I actually don't dance but I have gone to the club on a few occasions to do just that. What this post is actually about is working all day in 100 degrees California summer heat.

I've been back at work for only two days so far but both days were all day ventures doing work outside; carts and cart handle cleaning duty. Both require a lot of strength, endurance, and will power to complete without being overly tired when you get home. So, without further adieu, here are tips and tricks for working all day in the California summer sun, or as I like to call it, the heat death of the universe. 

1) Drink water: Okay, so this is a given. But only you personally know how much water you need at any specific time. Maybe you only need one bottle of water and that will last you 3 hours, perhaps you drink one bottle and you feel thirsty again 10 minutes later. This depends on the individual. When you're working outside you don't want to be going in and out to the bathroom all day. So you want to drink water and/or other drinks but drink them conservatively. For example, I'll chug a bottle of water when I'm super thirsty but only drink small amounts when I've got more energy. 

2 a) Move your body and do all physical tasks with no tension in the body, likewise, breathe easy breaths: Alright, so this is probably the most difficult bullet point because most people who work outside all day do physical labor that requires a lot of strength and endurance. It's easier said than done but essentially all you're doing is standing, walking, moving, and doing all your tasks with the least amount of effort, resulting in a relaxed body, easing all tensions. This is where Flanders comes in with his famous Simpsons line, "It's almost as if I'm wearing, nothing at all." 

2 b) The other part is breathing. This is the most complicated part of this post because there isn't any one true, right, or wrong way to breathe. What works for me when I'm out in the blazing sun is that I'm so calm and relaxed, that it's almost as if I'm not breathing. Of course, I actually am, it's just that I'm breathing such small, shallow, but essential breaths that I don't even realize it, feel it or think about it. What helped me a lot with this is actually meditation, guitar sessions, and live performances in front of people where I had to calm nerves by controlling my breathing. When I used to have more time for meditation I would exclusively focus on my breathing and do variations of breathing. Try breathing exercises and see what works for you. This is what works for me. Now I feel as if I'm a fish in water. "I dreamt I was a butterfly."  

3) Don't think too much; Thinking a lot requires energy, which we want to conserve as much as possible. This is where your zen training from meditation and breathing comes in. No matter how boring the work outside is, you can't eventually realize that this is boring, this sucks, and start thinking about a million other things. If you do that, then your head isn't in the game. If your head isn't in the game you're using energy to think about other stuff. The energy used in thinking about other stuff will whittle you down until you forget about the work you're doing, resulting in a piss poor job done.  "You're fired!"

4) Lastly, get plenty of rest. Even if you do all this stuff perfectly you will still be tired eventually even if it's two days later. For me, I don't get tired the day I work. For others, they might get tired sooner, or perhaps later if they are a super physically fit Superman. The point is that you want your muscles to be relaxed and have no tension every day that you work. The only way to achieve this Herculean task is by making sure you get plenty of rest. I recommend sleeping 6 1/2, 7 1/2, to 8 hours every night. Doing more makes me groggy. Doing less makes me think too much and have little strength. I recommend drinking chamomile tea before bed to relax the nervous system and fall asleep more easily. Other people that are so inclined might want to smoke some marijuana or have a shot of liquor. Whatever works best for you. Just make sure to get plenty of rest. 

 "Here comes the Sun King...Everybody's happy..."

Goodreads

In the last two months, I spent a lot of time reading. Here's a list of the things I read and what I plan on reading in the near future. 

The Plague by Albert Camus
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Marquez
Slan by A.E. Van Vogt 
The Day They H Bombed Los Angeles by Robert Moore Williams
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame collection 
Bring the Jubilee by Ward More
The Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals by Kant
Currently on page 800 out of 1400 pages in Plutarch's Lives
A little bit of Don Quixote 
The Tao Te Ching
Parts of Zhuangzi
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Parts of a 90s cyberpunk novel called Vurt

Plan on reading/finishing:

Plutarch's Lives
Don Quixote 
War and Peace by Tolstoy
The Bamboo Cutter 
Tunnel in the Sky by Robert Heinlein
Being and Nothingness by John Paul Sarte 

It's a list of merit methinks. I've made a decent dent into my own personal library collection. I hope to complete the collection sometime in the near future. Reading has been the one thing that has helped me the most during this pandemic, lockdown, and quarantine. Let's hear it for the great interior life activity of reading! 

Zen and the Art of Positive Thinking

What's up my fellow late-night readers? Today was my first day back to work after two months off. Here are some takeaways about what it was like being back in a blog titled Zen and the Art of Positive Thinking. 

First, I went to work with a strong, positive attitude. I already knew that everything had changed; the store was remodeled, everything items' placements were switched around, most of the young people were replaced by other young people, there's not really any younger women or girls my age that work in my department anymore, hours have been cut severely, and on top of that, the windows and doors are shuttered with plywood for fear of rioters and looters. Whew!

Even knowing all that, I went in thinking this will be fine, this will even be good. And it was. For the most part. I only had a few moments of weakness at the end of the night, where business was so slow that for the last three hours there were hardly any customers at all. I was so bored that I mentioned it to the security guard and the manager. "It was the most boring night of work ever."

I've never seen that happen in any place of business that I've worked at before, and I've been in the retail business for 15 years. Where most of all the customers stop coming in at a certain time. Astounding. In fact, business is so slow that the company is losing so much money that they're going to have to cut hours even more. You put that with possible rioters and looters and the COVID-19 pandemic and you have a recipe for disaster. 

So, yeah, there's all that. But where do I come in? Well, I went into work today and did the usual thing. An older coworker who knows me really well said, "You're different." I said jokingly, "Oh yeah, a lot of soul searching, good time." I played it off as a joke but the fact that she recognized that was an important moment of the day. For it was at that moment that I realized I had become more relaxed. I'm not talking as much because I don't feel I have to fill in space as much. And when I speak I only say what is needed, only going into more details if time and interest are there. Girls are more responsive. Women too surprisingly.

Second, it's not all about being a hippy and having good vibes. That's one aspect of this. It's also about the body. At my job, the work is very strenuous and if you strain yourself just a little too much doing one little thing then you're body's equilibrium gets off balance. 

I was jokingly thinking about this today at work as if I were thinking about 'nen'. Nen is an idea I got from a Japanese anime called Hunter x Hunter. Yes, this is a little silly but hear me out. 

Nen is the body's physical energy and capabilities. Differing from the mind's energy, nen is what's used to focus the body, keep it in shape, and allows you to do strenuous activities for long periods of time without using too much energy. This saves you time by allowing you to work hard in a reasonable time period, getting your tasks done more easily, while at the same time, conserving your body's energies so that not only will you not be tired at the end of the night when you go home, but you might actually be re-energized. 

Yeah, that sounds pretty wacky, doesn't it? What if I told you that nen, or something like it, is actually a real thing? Of course, you won't always feel renewed after a hard day of work. On the contrary, some nights you'll be exhausted, but the point is that you work in such a way that you're hardly ever straining your body, and your muscles are so lucid, that there's hardly anything you can't do, and it won't make you too tired when you go home at night.    

You don't have to be super athletic or strong. Simply standing up straight with no tension is nen. Breathing slow, small, shallow breaths is nen. Even breathing takes up energy. If you breathe too much too fast your body will respond in a certain type of way that is stressful and energy-consuming. Breathing is an essential and important element. "Breathe, breathe in the air," as the Pink Floyd song goes. 

Obviously, these things aren't going to save the world. But they will make your workdays a lot more manageable. Some days will be like today; essentially perfect for all practical purposes. The point is to put this to practice all the other days and not weaken. 

Back to work. The grind continues.

Back To Reality

Hello, world. I've been on a leave of absence from work since April. Tomorrow I get back to my retail gig at the market. I thought I'd jot down some thoughts on the time I spent away from work. 

I've been in my own quarantine without having caught the virus since April. I didn't see or talk to people in person other than people at the grocery store and my family. I really started to miss those everyday actions and interactions with people. I went out on a lot of long walks on most days. Even tonight I went for a long walk. 

The time I spent away for two months was great. Time spent enjoying an interior life. This pandemic calls for the individual to have an interior life. If you don't have an interior life this pandemic is going to be very rough for you.

I caught up on a lot of reading. I read The Plague by Albert Camus, We the Russian dystopian novel, Slan the first mutant novel sort of like X-Men, The Day They H Bombed Los Angeles the first zombie novel from the 1960s, an entire Science Fiction Hall of Fame collection of short stories from the 1930s-1960s, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Marquez, The Satyricon by Petronius Nero's style expert, The Art of War, the Tao Te Ching, parts of Don Quixote, 75% of Plutarch's Lives, and parts of Zhuangzi. All of these things have merit and were well spent reading time. I was particularly impressed by Love in the Time of Cholera. How it goes to such excruciating and yet humorous details about the tribulations of undying love. 

Reading was probably the one thing that I couldn't do without during this time. I learned a lot reading Plutarch's Lives about famous men of antiquity [my favorites are Pompey, Crassus, Ceasar, Pericles, Romulus, and Nero], their virtues or lack thereof, military conquest, and the culture, history, and philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome. I plan on finishing Plutarch's Lives within the next week or so. I got into reading Plutarch because my brother turned me onto a podcast about the History of Rome, Mike Duncan's History of Rome [downloaded over 100 million times] so I supplemented that with Plutarch. The book was given to me by a customer at my work. She thought I would like it because I've told her that I've read certain things in history and philosophy.

I also spent a lot of time gaming. I played a lot of Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, and Team Fortress 2. My go-to games for the last six years. I started playing ranked Heroes of the Storm a lot more and that's been a good experience. I took a break from competitive Overwatch but still plan on playing it in the future. Likewise, I've been on a break from Team Fortress 2. So it's mostly been Heroes of the Storm ranked mode. Playing online games competitively teaches you how to be a team player and a leader. To improve and rank up in games takes determination, will, skill, and sheer luck. Although I probably played way too much I would say it was a good experience. Therapeutic even.

I also spent a lot of time reading the news, watching the news, and discussing politics with friends on social media. If you aren't following up on the news you should wise up and start paying attention. There's so much happening in a single 24-hour news cycle nowadays that not reading the news for one day will put you far behind on the issues. I read the news every night before bed and sometimes also in the morning when I wake up. It's a routine.

With the pandemic still ravaging the human population in America and the unending systemic oppression of black and brown people by police still haunting us every day, keeping up with the news will make you a smarter, more informed individual. You don't want to be an everyday low information person. Those people sound dumb when they speak before others and they speak the loudest as well. Do you want to be like them? If not, then keep up on the news. You don't have to be a news junkie but a few articles every day goes a long way.  I recommend Rachel Maddow [for a general but important view] on msnbc for TV and the Nytimes [for a national view] website for text-based news.

Lastly, I want to say that I did a lot of thinking and soul searching, without even going anywhere, doing anything in particular, or leaving my house. This is the time for us to do that; during a pandemic that's put millions of Americans out of work, during a period of civil unrest where police brutality and racism is running rampant. I thought a lot about what I want out of life. Goals, dreams, actions, near, far-term, the future, and all the metaphysical feelings associated with it. The time off really chilled me out. I see now more than ever that the world exists based on your reaction to it, as well as others'. You can only control yourself, your own actions, and your own thoughts. If you can bring people into your life and make them meaningful to it in some way then perhaps that's what we are all here for. "Love is life's sovereign goal." If more people saw life in that way, the world would be a much better place.

Communication Breakdown

I had a good experience today. I went out for a walk when I saw an older acquaintance of mine, a neighbor. A woman that I've talked to about life, and work, with here and there. 

We got to talking about what's going on in the world and it was a great experience. One of the problems right now is that people are so divided because they aren't communicating with each other in such a way that they're understanding each other. There's a big miscommunication campaign going on right now in the media, government, social media, and even in real life with our friends, neighbors, and acquaintances. 

She's a Jewish woman. She talked about her experiences growing up Jewish but not telling people she's Jewish, and how often she saw that white people made discriminatory comments about jews. She said she's been working on herself her whole life but that the brutal murder of George Floyd really was a shock where we have to question who we are as a nation. 

I told her that police brutality isn't just a black thing and that it's actually more of a white thing because there are more white men as leading police commissioners that make or abuse police policies in their precincts. But of course, I added that it's also the human condition, that is, it's a human rights issue that everybody should talk about.  

I told her about how I'd been racially profiled in Wisconsin as a teenager. And that I was lucky no police encounter ever escalated to the point of violence.

The point is that when we communicate with people in a meaningful way, others can see you, and you can see them, for who you/they are as an individual. Not as a number, race, or religion. When everyone sees one another for who they are as an individual, we can come to a better understanding of who we are and respect each other's lives and liberty in a more meaningful way. 

There's so much division in the nation right now, it's astounding. Just because somebody isn't the same skin color as you doesn't mean that they are any less of a human being. And if you think that talking about racism doesn't help then you might be a racist. The reality is that while sometimes talk can be petty, and downright disruptive, in the long run, talk is what brings us together, where we can show solidarity towards our fellow man, where we can see that although we don't have the same skin color or the same religion, that we are all in this together and that we all deserve love, dignity, and happiness.

So I urge you to talk to your fellow friends, neighbors, coworkers, acquaintances, and even talk to random strangers on the streets, everybody you want. The more you talk to people the more you can get to understand them, even if it's just a little bit at a time. This is walking the Earth. 

A little bit of understanding goes a long way. Communication is the key to victory against the evils of civil unrest and police brutality. Talk to people. Ask questions. Be smart. Make your own social circles. Have a diverse group with a variety of ideas and positions. We all have to talk to each other and make ourselves loud and clear. This is how things are changed in the world. Start small, end up with big achievements. Our voices together are unmatched by any President's tweet. The power of the vote has blood on its hands, it's the most valuable power the citizen has. Use it. Through communication, voting, and protests we can make the world a better place. 

Communication breakdown, It's always the Same
Havin' Another Breakdown, Drives me Insane   

The Importance of Rest

One of the things I, as well as others, overlook is the importance of rest. We live in a 24/7 news hour frenzy where new things are happening all the time. Including when most of the population is asleep in America during the late evenings. 


One of the things that have helped me to deal with the stress of today's turmoil is making sure I get enough rest. I've even experimented with changing my sleeping patterns. I'm mostly a late night sleeper. I like to go to bed at 2-3 am most days and wake up around 1030 am. For about a week I tried a morning schedule where I went to bed as early as 930 pm and woke up at 5 am. As you can imagine, if you're a night person, no matter how much sleep you get, you will not like being a morning person.

Anyways, I can't stress enough the amount of turmoil going on in the country right now. I believe that most of my friends, peers, and acquaintances have been lulled into a false sense of security. The reality is that COVID-19 is still running rampant, killing people every day, and the protests while itself is a good thing, is actually bringing out all the provocateurs and racists to the streets, where more black and brown people will get hurt by said racists as well as cops. What's a guy to do? 

Well, for starters make sure you stay informed and that you vote. Stacy Abrams had a good op-ed in the NYTimes yesterday about how important the vote is. Don't forget that. Read through a variety of news periodicals online and not just your favorites. Take part in political talks on Facebook if you like to get your point across to a lot of people. Always be aware that we are not safe right now, nobody is really safe from COVID right now, nor is anyone safe from police brutality, especially if you're a black or brown person or protester. If you aren't worried about anything you are completely oblivious. Not everybody has the luxury of being oblivious because we work hard jobs, have rent, and have family to support here or abroad. 

Remember those white people who stood on state capitol buildings because they wanted to go back to work during the height of the first wave of the pandemic? [They were carrying AR assault rifles, some of them.] That's what oblivious looks like. Protesting something so trivial in the middle of a pandemic. Now, some people have compared that to the protests that are taking place now, protesting the brutal murder of George Floyd. To that, I say it's not the same thing at all, yet the risk is the same, if not worse. The problem is that we have a serious pandemic sweeping the globe but nobody seems to take it seriously enough because if they caught COVID they had a very mild case or they don't know anyone that's died from the virus. Trust me, if everyone had a personal friend, family member, or acquaintance that died from COVID, every American would take this virus so seriously that we would've already quelled the disease like China, South Korea, and Japan. 

Start me up, I never stop. We are not like computers. We all need to make sure we get plenty of rest. The body must be shut down and restarted like a computer every day. Some of us need more sleep than others. I would say the average for me is 7 1/2 to 8 hours but I've done well with six hours as well. Although that isn't ideal. 

Today I had a lot of errands to run. I left the house at 1030 am and got back home around 5 pm. I was so tired from all the running around that I slept from 5 pm to 11 30 pm almost straight, waking up but not even getting out of bed. Obviously, for most people this would disrupt their day, they would fall behind on their plans and errands, not contact their friends and family, it would cause them to stay up much later, and overall they wouldn't like the experience. 

However, although I know that sleeping the day away isn't ideal I also recognize that I needed it and that sleep is more important than ever nowadays. Think about how important sleep is for our mental health and well being. Without sleep or only a little sleep, we would all be mindless zombies. I missed my usual daily activities today but in the end, I was greatly rewarded because I got enough rest, I feel great, and I'm fully recharged for whatever the night brings me as well as tomorrow's morning. 

Sleepytime, time, all the time. I can't stress enough how important sleep is. Most of the time when I'm irritated, annoyed, or stressed out its mostly because I'm too tired and need sleep. With all this chaos going on in American cities right now, the pandemic ravaging the land, the highest unemployment numbers in record history, and a possible rigged election already in the works for 2020, I would say that this is the most stressful time period of my young life. The kicker is that it could only get worse. 

The second wave of COVID could hit much harder and cause a longer and more extreme shutdown and quarantine. The protests and police brutality could fizzle. They could pass measures that attempt to reduce police power but in the long run they might never defeat systemic racism and the brutalization by cops unto black and brown Americans. Trump could win reelection and the United States could become an even more diffusive firepot led by a despotic Nero. 

So sleep it off. Tomorrow never knows. Keep everything in your memory and your records because everything going on right now is particularly noteworthy. This is a historic time period. Always be skeptical, always be questioning. Don't focus on the noise being made by idiots or people dumber than you. The future is you. The world outside is important but so are you and your own personal life. In order to be at your best, you need rest.

How Social Media Propels and Fuels Our Ignorance

Social media is a godsend in today's day and age. Think about it this way. I'm not a paid gigging writer but because I write daily on here my ideas are shown to countless thousands of people. Without it, I don't know if I would still be doing the blog. Would it be worth it if nobody read my writing?

Social media is important. But there comes a time when we have to see it for what it is and realize that deep down, social media propels and fuels our ignorance.

I'm a smart guy. I work in retail where most of the workers and bosses aren't so smart. I'm a big fish in a small pond in that aspect. When I go online on Facebook and interact with countless friends, peers, or even acquaintances, it's like my job times a million. What I mean to say is that intelligence drops down and everything else turns up to eleven. You can now see my point clearly. 

The problem is that social media has become a cesspool for bots, scammers, provocateurs, and hackers. Some of these are very easy to spot, others much less so. Most people on Facebook go on there to have a good time; they see what's new with friends and family, they like a few posts, they may or may not post something themselves, and then they continue on with their lives. But other people, myself included, often spend a lot of time on Facebook, not really sure what we're looking for, but we know it when we get it, that shot of dopamine; oh somebody liked my stuff! 

Of course, that's only one way of seeing Facebook. The other side of Facebook that I'm seeing right now is a lot more sinister than what it was originally intended for. After the brutal murder video of George Floyd was shown on social media, it's clear to say that pretty much everyone has seen it. Unless you live under a rock. But it's already having a bad ripple effect. Now there are pictures and videos of white people posing with their knee on their friends' necks, smiling, in a mockery of the murder of George Floyd. 

On top of that, the nationwide protests have sowed much discord on social media. My friends are my friends. Meaning that most of them are well to do, college-educated, professional people who, although they've never been brutalized by a cop before, they stand in solidarity with black and brown people and support them in the cause for more rules and regulations to stop these murders of black and brown men by police officers. It's what you would expect. But, at the same time, I think that just agreeing to stand with black people in and of itself isn't a solution, rather it's almost like a pat on the back, "my people systematically destroyed your race, and I'm sorry, but this is the most I can do," I get it. We get it, white people, you realize that the white power structure is rigged against blacks and you're sorry for it. But there's only so much I can take of my white friends posting BLM memes. The truth is that to be a true ally of black people you have to go a much farther mile, one that most white people wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. You can't just protest right now and say, "I'm an honorary black man now." It doesn't work like that.  

So I've seen a lot of that. And I've also seen a lot from the alt-right and conservative side as well. Now, I don't have too many alt-right friends but I have many conservative friends who are older than me. In terms of the alt-right, I've seen a lot of political propaganda supporting Trump and justifying the brutalization by police to protesters. I see a lot of young people that are Trump supporters trolling the left in posts, asking them questions, about facts. When has Trump or his base ever cared about facts? The reality is that it is Trump's actions that warrant his removal from office. Although he never tells the facts either. He always lies about everything. "I didn't hide in that bunker from the protesters, I was inspecting the bunker, I inspect bunkers." 

As far as my older conservative friends go, I can sometimes see their point of view. They're business owners and some of them even protected their businesses with guns out on the streets where looting took place. They support Trump no matter what but some of them also think that there's no right or left, they're both corrupt, but for whatever reason they still support Trump. Most of these people are in their 40s/50s, they have money, and some of them are musicians. The musicians lean more heavily towards the libertarian idealogy like the 1970s never ended. 

When you interact with all of that going on, as a real, legitimate person, you see that's all rather a waste of your time and efforts unless you want to come to some sort of understanding. When someone takes the time to agree with you on something they just read it off for a second, either react to it or don't, and then leave it forever in a vacuum. The people that really interact the most are the provocateurs, the ones that want to rile you up, the internet trolls that the internet is based on.    

Not to mention the countless articles that are distributed on social media. This is what people construe as facts. But the sad reality is that most of the articles I see shared on social media aren't from fact worthy websites. In fact, they're from crappy websites run on the old javascript engine, where there are ads in the news articles. Has nobody on social media ever heard of the guardian, the LAtimes, the NYTimes, or the daily news? How about WSJ? Nope, I've hardly ever seen articles from any of those reputable periodicals. But I see plenty of news from Buzzfeed. Some from Slate and Politico. Those last two aren't bad but still.

The fact that people use these illegitimate sources to prove their points and to show off facts, shows that we live in an era where facts don't matter, as these sources often report fake news, false facts, like the President himself. It's like 24/7 Fox News. This is a grievous blow to the historical accuracy of this time period we're all living in and to real journalism, which still takes place sometimes by people like Rachel Maddow and the Washingtonpost staff journalists like Robert Costa, Phillip Ruecker, and Ashley Parker. 

Moving forward, I think we all have to be a lot smarter when using social media. Things have changed so drastically from 2016 to 2020. Remember, social media was used by Russian hackers to help get Trump elected. Is that the kind of election we want to continue to have in the future? So we have to be more vigilant in detecting falsehoods from shared articles, proving, or disproving facts. Not only does the article have to report the facts but they have to get every detail of the facts right otherwise their merit is diminished and supports their enemies. You got that?  

This is a difficult thing to write about. I'm sure there are plenty of other people who agree with me on this or have similar thoughts on the topic. Personally, I only log into Facebook a couple times a day. After checking it out for five minutes I log off. By logging off it forces me to reset and think about if I really want to go back again and for what purpose. The times have not been kind to social media. And although the movement of the protests has been spearheaded by social media, remember that it was the widespread sharing of the brutal murder that sparked all this unrest in the first place. There was an anti-lynching bill today. Well, that brutal murder video was a lynching for the entire world to see. The internet has become an angry mob, but to what purpose, only time will tell.  I'm hopeful that positive things can happen out of all this. 

Lastly, I want to conclude by saying that one of the problems with social media is that your friends agree with you and those that don't, well they aren't your friends and you unfriend them because they're Trump supporters, too far left, or too far right, and not centrist enough. That's why I actually like having conservatives on my friend's list because I don't want to only interact with people who agree with me. To understand the complexity of the situation, you have to sometimes put yourself in another person's shoes, so if I can see why this 40-year-old businessman supports Trump no matter what, maybe I can learn more about what makes him or her tick, and come to an understanding between us, between them and the left, and the world. It's all about understanding. Of course, I disagree with them but when I see their points they make in favor of or against certain issues, I can see the slips and cracks where their reasoning is faulty, and show them the reason why they're wrong, explaining it to them in a way that we don't have to fight or attack each other, but recognize each other as fellow Americans with the right to share and express our ideas.

Sometimes you're being attacked not because you're black but because you're the smartest guy in the room. Always have friends that are not just allies, but are as smart as, or smarter than yourself, you want more of those kinds of friends. This ensures that if you make a blunder, they can always swoop in and save the day, whether it be a workplace conflict, business, or even social media. Imagine you make a great point on a post, only to have your much dumber associate tarnish it with some inane comment? 

Democracy Dies in Darknesse

There's been a lot happening in the last couple of months. Hell, in the last eight days. We've been under quarantine dealing with COVID-19, the worst pandemic since the 1918 Flu, which has killed over 100,000 Americans. On top of that, every night for the last eight nights in a row, people have taken to the streets, risking the spread of COVID-19, to protest the brutal murder captured on video of George Floyd, a nonviolent black man.

We've all seen the brutal murder video on social media or news media outlets. It's hard to watch. An officer was seen with his knee pinned on George Floyd's neck. There were people there who witnessed the murder, and it was filmed by a 17-year old girl. George Floyd died eight minutes later, his last words being, "I can't breathe." He called out to his mother in his dying words. The national outcry for his murder has been resounding over a week later still.

There was a lot of rioting and looting reported and seen on video. However, what the media isn't reporting nearly as much is the peaceful protests that are going on in the midst of the chaos. This is sort of like the 1960s but there's one major difference.

There weren't this many different and varied people all protesting the same thing in the 1960s. That is new. This will lead to many young people becoming 'awakened', tuned in to the systemic issue of police brutality against black men in America. This will lead them to other issues that are important to them, specifically them, their families, and their communities, making them more educated and more effective in voting and voting measures.

This is the way we can change America. Yes, peaceful protests are good. And yes, some of it will be bloody, as were the protests of the 1960s. But, we can't let the media use us, the protestors as an angry mob. We must galvanize our forces, register more voters, and vote in the right people that will help our cause, whatever that might be. In this case, fixing the problem of police brutality against black men, it's going to be a long fight that could take decades.

Police departments are local entities, not national. So to stop this problem, one would have to go to the heart of every single local police department and vote for the right police leaders, and all that could take a very, long, time. But the people demand justice, now! Right? It's not quite so easy. You can quell the chaos, but you cannot stop the wheels of justice. This is where time works for you. That's where all those protesters come in.

Personally, I've been accosted by cops many times. I'm a black man. Luckily, I was never harmed or arrested. But many times as a teenager in Wisconsin, the cops would ask to see what was in my backpack and check it. They were racist cops but I got lucky. They could've been looking for a violent offender one of those times and things could've escalated in some way. I could've been George Floyd. Any black man could. That's the problem. That's why we're enraged.  

As if that wasn't dark enough, there's a small chance that despite all this, the protests won't change much, and more black deaths at the hands of white police officers will take place? What will be the response then? Well, who knows, right? This goes to show that one justice for one death isn't enough and that we must go beyond, into voting measures that will counter this. Am I hopeful? Yes. Optimistic? Yes. But thinking about how bad the protests have been, how the issue has hundreds of years of white racism and hatred, there's a feeling I get that these protests won't be enough, as powerful as they are. Your protest voice is strong, but your voting voice is much stronger. That's my opinion. I thank and value all the protesters. I just wish there weren't so many looters and rioters. Not to mention the businesses burning down their buildings for insurance money. But that's another story the media isn't telling.

Next, it's all one story, it's all apart of one single story, which is ours right now; 2020, winter lockdown, beginning of summer quarantine, COVID-19, George Floyd's death, past 100,000 cases, the second wave has hit, Trump orders military to attack protesters for a photo op at church, Trump Administration stops anything to do with the containment of coronavirus. Although it is morbid to put all of this together, I think it's really important to see it all as one big picture, rather than say, just the protests, racism, police brutality, or just COVID.

When you see it for what it really is, you have to ask yourself one question; What is the turning point for Republicans? At what point will they stop, will they let this President step down or be removed out of office before they give him unyielding powers? Is there never a time where they will say no to this President, will they ever relinquish power, will they ever realize that they're fueling this frenzy, this angry mob, and to what purpose? I'm no conspiracy theorist but it doesn't take a genius to know that the Republicans will do anything it takes to keep control and to keep Trump in power. They've proven that time and again. And anyone who disagrees with Trump gets fired and replaced by a croony who does agree with everything he says. It's no wonder democracy is dying in darkness. We have a Nero rather than a President of the United States.

This is why your vote matters more than ever. That, and taking part in your community, helping them in whatever ways you can. You can protest if you want, but voting is even better. If you do both, then you are a Godsend. Don't forget that great things happen out of catastrophe. We will achieve great things together as Americans in the coming days, months, and years. This lodestar democracy has seen better days but with your help, and more importantly, your vote, America can live up to its name, and we can live in a better, more nuanced America, where the peoples' voice is heard as well as felt.