Month: March 2021

The Real Shaming

Chill Regular-ass Post

Something I’ve noticed too that bothers me and makes me hate people is the denigration of those wanting to go on vacations and holidays.

These jaunts are seen as “frivolous” and “unnecessary.” This in a world where people work too much, have been cooped up inside for a year, and especially in places like the UK and much of Europe, are very likely to have people they love overseas whom they have not seen in a year or more.

Getting a break is vital to mental health. Seeing those you love is also vital to mental health. So telling people they are being whiny entitled babies for wanting to resume some semblance of normal human activities, to travel overseas, go on a getaway and to preserve their mental well-being is well and truly fucked up.

Some people really are just terrible.

Relio Virt

Chill Regular-ass Post

These people that Watkins is talking about — and there are so many of them — creep me out.

We’ve been on lockdown for so long we’ve entered a strange place where people will shame others for not wanting to be in the house anymore, let alone not accomplishing enough during the pandemic. They’re the most responsible, they cook the most French meals, practice yoga six times a day, which causes them to lose 38 pounds (and yet they’re also the most spiritual), and they’re double-masking even when they’re all alone, because nobody is handling this stay-at-home pandemic life better than they are. But this is not normal life. And I’m OK with acknowledging that.

They really will be the first ones lining up to go into the pods, eating bugs and such. It’ll affirm them somehow.

Eternal Recurrence

Chill Regular-ass Post

The “Who could have KNOWNNNNN?” defense is always trotted out in cases where almost everyone with a brain knew a thing, but the plutes and pols either wish to avoid culpability or really were that stupid. It happened with the Iraq War, the Great Recession and its causes, and it’s happening again with the pandemic.

And people fall for it. Somehow.

Retention

Chill Regular-ass Post

Many years ago, I traveled to Florida with my girlfriend, who was not a Florida native. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel to get some food. There was a retention pond there.

“Why’d they put an alligator statue in the retention pond?” she asked me.

I said, “That’s not a statue. This is Florida. That’s an alligator just hangin’ out.”

She didn’t believe me. She insisted that alligators wouldn’t just be around; that did not make sense to her. But she believed me when I threw a stick at the creature and it started swimming. “Oh my god, that’s a real live alligator!” she nearly screamed.

Welcome to Florida.

No Green

Chill Uncategorized

Here’s the problem with all the “green” buildings with no ventilation, even apart from Covid-related concerns:

BTW, above 1000ppm CO2 there is noticeable cognitive impairment. Above 2500ppm, mental decline becomes extremely large. This sort of terrible ventilation is not good and I don’t want any part of any “green” building like this as I kind of need my brain for my job.

Riskiness

Chill Uncategorized

Risk is something most people are just laughably terrible at assessing, and our institutions do no better at all — often worse. People take seem to take horrendous risks in some areas and won’t take the tiniest one in others, based on nothing but propaganda and a “feeling” about something.

Makes just no sense at all.