Hristo's FI Journal

[Hristo Botev]

Isn’t that one just a lesson to not commit incest?

[RockyMtnLiving]

This is a profoundly interesting exchange.

What does Genesis 19:30-38 mean?

As a lawyer schooled in Scalia-esque original intent, I would first ask: (1) who was the author(s); (2) when were they writing -- what was the history; and (3) what was the contemporaneous meaning of those words? This is Scalia-esque legislative history/original intent classroom #101 stuff.

It gets further complicated though if, say, I was the current-day author but I was purporting to describe events that happened in the year 1450. Were Federalist authors Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison penning contemporaneous history, or something else?

And we live in a day and age when contemporaneous "news" is declared "fake" within minutes of it being published. What if I was posting today my own observations about the Spanish-American War? My "accurate" news, penned from my complicated perspectives two-centuries plus on from the event, would likely have been viewed as "fake" by the Spanish way back then, and likely in the current day.

What is a "story"? What is "fact"? What is "history"? Slippery stuff. In the United States, our current political leadership has taught us to question everything, and that ground truth isn't, at minimum, rooted in science. Our current leadership espouses that the contemporaneous written word isn't to be believed if it was penned by somebody who is opposed by the current leadership.

So what does that mean if the original author(s) of Genesis 19:30-38 were the "MSNBC" of their day?

What are we to make of words written centuries ago via many authors with complicated progeny?

What would Scalia have made of Genesis 19:30-38?

[daylen]

What is a "story"? What is "fact"? What is "history"?

His story of the facts.

Jokes aside, another point to keep in mind is that the older a text is the more likely it is to persist into the future. This has a few implications/interpretations, one being that multiple interpretations will tend to arise in relative isolation and will overtime become used less consciously until merging with the "logic" of those particular communities(%). Some interpretations are successful enough to invade the common tongue thereby becoming a shared metaphor used across communities/disciplines/cultures.

(%) ..while a select few deconstruct it back to the source and reconstruct it with reference.. thus continuing the cycle.

As for what a story or fact is, putting forth a particular definition would probably miss the mark this conversation is aiming for? Or perhaps I cannot make out the target yet.

[RockyMtnLiving]

Or perhaps I just cannot make out a target yet.

Agreed

I can't make out a target yet either, and since I have a huge number of years in the rear view mirror, and less years visible over the hood of my '75 Mustang, these topics are interesting to me.

I'm a conservative lawyer (or was). I'm religious (or was). I do believe in being analytical in all moments. And since the grave is a lot closer than the hospital in which I was born, these discussions are interesting to me.

Had I been smarter, I would have been a philosopher/cosmologist. Alas, I fell down the food chain and became a lawyer.

I believe in science, not faith. The former may in fact lead to the latter. I just don't know. As Feynman said, and here I am paraphrasing: "I'm comfortable saying I just don't know."

[Hristo Botev]

Seriously, I’m no theologian, but I’m pretty sure it’s just a lesson against incest.

[Hristo Botev]

And also pro-Israel tribalism

[Biscuits and Gravy]

Oh. I dunno what the underlying message of that passage is and to me it’s always read as very matter-of-fact and non-didactic, but that’s neither here nor there. Really I was just trying to poke a hole in HB’s “best” argument. You could substitute any uncomfortable bible passage.

[fiby41]

There are 'philosophical truths' and 'factual truths.' An anthropologist will have to discover craters and somehow link it to the place those cities were in the first place to prove the latter. 'Philosophical truths' are harder to dis/prove as they are usually conversations and interactions between people but philosophical insights can be gleaned from them. Example, if you look at that story from my lens, then the emphasis is on hospitality shown towards an unannounced guest (atithi devo bhava), two in his case, which was so great that it washed away his suffering the consequence of those two of his sins.

[Hristo Botev]

I'm beginning to realize that perhaps the focus of the ERE journey DW and I have been going down, ever so slowly, might be better understood not as a means by which to have some financial independence and to "retire" early (though that's obviously nice), but rather as a means to prepare our kids for a world that will look a good bit different than the one we grew up in, and one where they will be well served by having some of my grandparents' Great Depression self-reliance skills. And hopefully they will be able to build off of that basic foundation for the purpose of educating their own kids, for whom I can't even imagine the world in which they will become adults in.

[Hristo Botev]

OK, I voted. Where's the switch I can flip to let the world know they don't need to direct their political ads to me anymore?

[Hristo Botev]

I had to fire up the car yesterday to (a) keep the battery from dying, and (b) drop off some donated dinners for participants of a life skills class that a local women's clinic regularly puts on for new and expectant mothers.

For (b), yet another silver lining of the pandemic has been that, in the past when it was my turn to buy the dinners for these classes, I'd always just check some boxes on the online catering menu of a handful of large chain restaurants in town (Chipotle, Chic-fil-A, Moe's, etc.), because it's easy and convenient and can be done while sitting on my fat ass at work without having to actually talk to anyone. Well, with the pandemic, the meals for the participants need to be individually packaged (so a catering menu won't work), which got us to thinking that it might make more sense to see if one of our local restaurants could handle the order (without bankrupting us). I'm friends/friendly with the owners of a couple of the restaurants I pass on our main street as I walk to work (a brunch place and an Alsacian place), and sure enough both owners were thrilled to fill the order with us--and the owner of the Alsacian place even knocked $5 off the cost of each of the individually packaged meals when she found out who the order was for and why we were doing it. (She also told us she'd kick us out of her restaurant if she ever heard that we went back to ordering the class meals from Chipotle, etc. after the pandemic is over!--she's kind of a badass.) Well, the moms were thrilled--instead of boring food from the catering menu of Chipotle or wherever, they got high end Alsacian mauricette sandwiches with a fantastically fresh and delicious salad, and it was probably cheaper than it'd have been if we'd done the catering thing.

Anyway, that's not the point of my post. The point of my post is that I took the opportunity of being on the road during the middle of the week to stop by my local homebrew store and do some Christmas shopping.

And, here's what everyone is getting from me for Christmas this year (well, everyone 21 and over at least):

I was thrilled to see this, as when DW and I lived in Cleveland way back when we fell in love with the seasonal Christmas Ale that The Great Lakes Brewery makes (which you can't get where we live now). And so I was thinking I'd try to brew my own version at home, based on some recipes I found online. But, frankly, I'm not sure I'm quite ready to graduate from kit brewing. I'm going to get there eventually (and then, hopefully, on to all grain brewing), but I'm not there yet.

So, if anyone is interested, here's the wort in process (i.e., what I did so I'd have an excuse to not watch the debate with DW last night):


And with the malt extract added:


Getting ready to add the hops:


And, right before terminating the boil:


This is my fourth brew, and it's the first one where I had nothing go wrong (that I know of). E.g., I didn't accidentally drop the thermometer into the carboy when pitching the yeast, which I then had to fish out of the bottom while hoping I didn't contaminate the wort. And I didn't allow the water to get too hot when steeping the grains, leeching tannins into the wort. And I didn't pitch the yeast before the wort had sufficiently cooled down. (These are all things I've done before, and yet I haven't killed anyone yet.)

This one will be ready for drinking just in time for Thanksgiving!

ETA: Listened to this podcast on my way to work( http://littlethings.strongtowns.org/e/a ... epreneurs/), and this dude (Alexander Hagler) kind of epitomizes the ERE ideal in my mind--it was subtle, but in between all the talk of entrepreneurship there were lots of serendipity and web-of-goals inferences.

[Hristo Botev]

“Even when Fortuna spins us downward, the wheel sometimes halts for a moment, and we find ourselves in a good, small cycle within the larger bad cycle.”

[Hristo Botev]

Learned to hem pants yesterday. The kiddos start winter uniforms today (though it's still hitting 80 degrees here), which means DS has to wear pants to school. Pants for an active elementary school boy will drive any parent crazy, because he wears through the knees pretty quickly. Eventually we found uniform pants for sale that have double-reinforced knees, but he still wears through them (just more slowly). Anyway, this time around DW was unable to find DS's exact size, and so she went a couple sizes up, and as I'm the guy that reclaimed the sewing machine from my in-laws storage, the hemming responsibilities fell on me. Now, I haven't actually figured out how to use the sewing machine yet, apart from watching some YouTube videos while folding laundry and confirming that the machine still turns on. So that meant I was hemming by hand, which is probably preferable because if (BIG IF) DS manages to go the winter without blowing the knees in these pants,* he could theoretically wear them next year as well, and all I'd have to do is take out the hem and re-hem them (there's still plenty of fabric for that). Well, what I learned from my first hemming experience is that threading a needle at 10 at night on Sunday is very difficult, and I had to thread the needle multiple times because I kept screwing up. That said, I think I've mostly climbed the learning curve at this point, and so hopefully this will be a skill that I'll be able to utilize in the future (but not too much, hemming pants is a pain in the ass). In fact, I've got a pair of dress pants that I've been wearing to work only occasionally because one of the hems came out, and I haven't gotten around to taking them to the seamstress yet. Now, I won't have to; I'll do it myself--but say a Hail Mary for me, as hemming a $30 pair of kids' uniform pants is less anxiety-inducing than hemming one of my 3 pairs of work trousers.

*Web of goals success, possibly: Because DW stepped down from her management role, she'll be able to be home when the kids finish school, which means we don't have to send the kids (and pay for) aftercare at the school any longer. AND, it was during aftercare that DS was engaging in most of his pants knee-blowing activities. So maybe, just maybe, these pants will last the year, and perhaps even more than a year.

[Hristo Botev]

My long overdue dive into the climate change gyre (thanks WB Yeats), prompted by this community-building parish exercise I'll be participating in (viewtopic.php?f=20&t=11677), has changed my worldview in ways that I suspect will be permanent. I've got weeks/months/years of reading and learning still ahead of me, but suffice it to say for the time being I'm almost entirely uninterested in anything that doesn't have to do with how my family and my community are going to thrive in a world that is declining. Needless to say, I've lost almost all interest in my job, at least for now. But I need to suck it up, because I've still got 2 savings goals that need to be met: prepaying the rest of the kids K-12 tuition and paying off the mortgage. Once those two things are done, I can't imagine I'll still be coming into the office 5 days a week.

ERE has gone from being a mostly abstract concept (I want to be a "renaissance man"), to a list of actual, specific things I need to do, like yesterday.

So, while I grunt it out at work for the next couple of years, here's a working list of specific projects I need to accomplish, in no particular order:

- Build up a pantry of dry good stores, and cycle through those stores as our primary food source;
- Start viewing my patio and community vegetable garden plots as significant food sources, and not as hobbies;
- Construct a roof-based rain catchment system;
- Store potable water;
- Strengthen community ties, through volunteering and taking on various leadership roles;
- Write and publish local and/or niche histories/biographies;
- Replace windows and improve insulation, also undertake needed home repairs (e.g., upstairs subfloor needs to be replaced);
- Begin canning/preserving;
- Learn to repair clothing;
- Learn to all grain home brew, and begin making country wine;
- Continue building my library of (actual) books;
- Learn to play the piano; and
- Get healthy.

[GreenGentleman]

My long overdue dive into the climate change gyre (thanks WB Yeats), prompted by this community-building parish exercise I'll be participating in (viewtopic.php?f=20&t=11677), has changed my worldview in ways that I suspect will be permanent.

-- SNIP--

- Get healthy.

Very impressive that you changed your viewpoint on climate this dramatically where your taking real steps in your own life to combat it.

I like that in the list of goals the shortest one is 'get healthy' which (depending on where you are) might be the hardest one on the list.

Out of curiosity, whats your perspective now in terms of climate impact on your life? Whats the timeline that your looking at.
I still need to finish reading the other thread (thanks for reminding me) so if you elaborated there feel free to ignore.

Ps. Whats the etiquette on discussions in other people's journals, fair game until the owner of the topic tells you to f off?

[Hristo Botev]

Welcome again GG; I read your first journal entry and am looking forward to seeing more!

I wouldn't say I'm taking steps to "combat" CC. Rather, I'm taking steps to prepare myself (and my family) to be ready for it.

Re: healthy, I don't have too far to go; I'm lucky to be married to a dietitian who for the most part keeps me in check. But, I certainly could lose a few pounds and improve strength and endurance.

Re: climate impact on my life now, I don't really know; that's part of why I posted the question on the other thread--I'd never really given it much thought. That said, from reading a bunch of the peak oil stuff recently and now the climate change stuff, I'm just seeing varying signs of societal decline everywhere I look. And so that's just something I'm trying to work through.

Ps. Whats the etiquette on discussions in other people's journals, fair game until the owner of the topic tells you to f off?

I'm the wrong guy to ask. You can feel free to say whatever you want on my own journal, and I won't tell you to f off (well, not in so many words).

[GreenGentleman]

I'm the wrong guy to ask. You can feel free to say whatever you want on my own journal, and I won't tell you to f off (well, not in so many words).

Wonderful ! Its nice engaging with a journal as people struggle with similar issues.

Welcome again GG; I read your first journal entry and am looking forward to seeing more!

I wouldn't say I'm taking steps to "combat" CC. Rather, I'm taking steps to prepare myself (and my family) to be ready for it.

Re: healthy, I don't have too far to go; I'm lucky to be married to a dietitian who for the most part keeps me in check. But, I certainly could lose a few pounds and improve strength and endurance.

Re: climate impact on my life now, I don't really know; that's part of why I posted the question on the other thread--I'd never really given it much thought. That said, from reading a bunch of the peak oil stuff recently and now the climate change stuff, I'm just seeing varying signs of societal decline everywhere I look. And so that's just something I'm trying to work through.

Ah, clearly I've interpreted your post based on my own biases, fascinating. I assumed it was to combat climate change as thats why I'm getting insulation done, it didn't occur to me that it could be to prepare for the effects of CC. I've always been a realistic optimist about the world which means I feel less inclined to prepare for the worst possible outcomes. Might not be a bad idea for me to take some more steps to prepare.

Re: Health that is a fortunate situation.

[Hristo Botev]

I assumed it was to combat climate change as thats why I'm getting insulation done, it didn't occur to me that it could be to prepare for the effects of CC.

FWIW, I think that, for the most part, whatever you'd do to (as much as possible) decouple yourself from industrialized society is congruent with what you'd do to combat CC. From an ERE web of goals perspective, you're getting insulation done to combat CC, whereas I'm getting insulation done to prepare my house for a world in which electricity/natural gas prices might be more expensive due to limited resources. The choice to invest in better insulation meets both goals, and it is also (presumably) more cost effective in the long term, thereby also meeting the FIRE goal of reducing your spending. Same with walking or biking for transportation: it combats CC, prepares you for a de-industrializing and post-CC world, it's cheaper, and it's healthier. And one ERE-type connection between these two choices (insulation and walking/biking) is that by spending more time outside in the elements (and in the heat or in the cold), you are better acclimated to non-conditioned temperatures, which means you are comfortable in warmer/cooler temps at home, and you can better maintain those higher/lower temps without engaging the HVAC system, thanks to the better insulation.

So for me, reducing my ecological footprint is a goal, but more so is preparing my kids to thrive in a world that looks different than the one I grew up in. But my choices meet both of these goals.

[Hristo Botev]

Sometimes I just wake up hummin'
Feelin' like the world is right
Want to jump right up and run outside
And take in the morning light
And feel the music running through me
Makes me want to dance
Clap my hands and dance
Sometimes it just takes my lady
To smile and make my day complete
And when she's touching me
I feel free and easy to be me
Lucky to be alive
Feelin' alright
Take a walk outside
People they tell me now,
You're living too fast
Slow down now Jerry boy
Take it easy let some of life pass
But I don't lnow no other way
Got to live it day to day
But if I die before my time
When I leave I'm leaving nothing behind *Cause I got a feeling
Something that I can't explain
It's like dancing naked
In that high hill country rain
I ain't worried 'bout tomorrow
I'll get by best I can
Lovin' is my will to live
It makes me laugh
Want to sing and dance
Clap my hands, yeah!

[Hristo Botev]

(2020 sucks; it's almost as hard to pick something for Billy Joe as it was for John Prine--but, this one seems appropriate)

I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna cross that river
I'm gonna catch tomorrow now
You're gonna wanna hold me
Just like I always told you
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
Nobody here will ever find me
But I always be around
Just like the songs I leave behind me
I'm gonna live forever now

You fathers and you mothers
Be good to one another
Please try to raise your children right
Don't let the darkness take 'em
Don't make 'em feel forsaken
Just lead them safely to the light
When this old world has blown us under
And all the stars from fall this sky
Remember someone really loves you
We'll live forever you and I

I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna cross that river
I'm gonna catch tomorrow now