Early Retirement Extreme Forums

...The path to happiness isn't trying to prove to someone else that they’re wrong and that I am right, but it is to find the people, places, things and activities that resonate with me... Some people never make it to that realization. I'm glad to hear the situation has turned the corner to where th...

it’s not any kind of “rule,” it’s just sophistry I'm not sure it even rises to that standard since I've never heard much in the way of an argument for it. Nor any sort of reference that would lead me to believe it is standing rule of the Senate or whatever. Best thing in a lot of ways would be to j...

Bet the R’s will immediately work to get a replacement...but I thought they have to wait until after the election? ... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrick_Garland_Supreme_Court_nomination https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN26A02B First, it was a sad night to hear of the passing of Justice G...

A Portland-centric view of the fires. Some interesting satellite imagery from ~13:30 to 16:00.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGC5N15khX4

US climate change maps for 2070 and moderate--high emissions scenarios which are still the most realistic outcome. https://projects.propublica.org/climate-migration/ There's some interesting illustrations in that link. Although 2070 is beyond my horizon, if I consider my future geographic range an ...

Fiddling with vegetation is treating symptoms in the short-term while ignoring the long-term issue. It is only if done from an either/or perspective. Holistically it's the same problem as medical people face in triage where short-term life threatening situations are prioritized in the treatment tim...

The good news is the western ecology is adapted to mega-droughts. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/07/megadroughts-could-return-southwestern-us/ And in recent years (up through 2000) there's been more precipitation than in the past https://wrcc.dri.edu/Climate/comp_table_show.php?...

but decades of poor forest management policy have made for much more explosive fires. That definitely is a factor, and sadly the result of well-intended environmental policies gone wrong. The situation appears mired down in bureaucracy without much visible initiative to mitigate the risk. I suppose...

Some interesting data for historical context. Beware there's a discontinuity in reporting methods starting in 1983 so taken 'at a glance' might be misleading.

https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_ ... Fires.html

Seriously, I never believed that “the man” was out to screw me either. Yeah, that was just a low fruit for-instance of a negative belief system and not among the things I was thinking about a few days ago. To many I now am 'the man', or would be if I weren't a bit stealthy about it. ... except that...

Hmm. A web is too complex a model for me. System of systems too. I'm thinking more foundations or footings. Things you build or act upon, so really only a small subset of the universe of possible beliefs. One negative belief system I grew up immersed in, and many of the people around me never escape...

unemployable wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 11, 2020 6:47 pm

No, @ertyu, not at all you. Hanging out with people who belittle and take advantage of you is always and everywhere a choice.

Ok, cool. I think we're pretty much on the same page with that one.

I feel bad for you guys, and I wonder to what extent this trend will be impacting even the Northern Midwest forests in another 20 years? They are fairly common already. There were some massive and deadly ones the same day as the infamous Chicago fire. I drive through a large burned out area on the ...

unemployable wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 11, 2020 1:48 pm

Sounds like it would behoove you to pick better friends.

If you were responding to me, I never suggested it was from friends. A former friend or two, yes, but it's a disqualifier when it comes to regarding someone as a friend.

I probably deposited $0.02 in this thread before. As a preemptive response to any fact checking, I'll just say people and situations change. This isn't in the context of shaming, but as that day approaches the group of people I've had retirement-related discussions with has broadened. I just respond...

... I am just rather fascinated by the trade-off between going up/forward versus sideways/out. Also, I very recently found myself holding the hand of an extremely wealthy man while he died, and this experience is informing my current take on things in the direction of "piling up stuff"->not so good...

Yeesh, what a craptastic week. The last short sprint of my career is beginning to take shape and what's clear is that I'm in over my head. It will take a huge effort to continue treading water. I dunno if I have it in me, and I am having a hard time imagining a way out that won't result in some hard...

Well, the emerging trend is violence between clashing "civilians" in the US (scare quotes because I think militia-like mentalities are evolving on both sides, and the next phase will be them taking center stage, a juncture where the tipping point will be in sight). I first started wringing my hands ...

please tell me more about this. i find the thought comforting. in my mind russia is the outsized military power in the region and us bases are what keep them at bay. but if that’s lies, i’d like to know. thanks in advance. They do have outsized military power, relatively speaking, especially nuclea...

Maybe the trick is to avoid forming a world view at all. Try to be prepared for as many eventualities as possible but then live your life in an almost short-sighted way. Dunno. That's my faux Zen way of handling it. We aren't meant to know the future and trying to put it in a neat box results in st...