RoamingFrancis' Journal

[AxelHeyst]

Do you think the Wheaton Levels are a useful framework?

Yes, but consider that a hammer is a useful tool when you need to drive a nail or bash something, but not if what you are trying to do is drill a hole. I don't often think about wheaton levels. I spent/spend more time thinking about reverse fishbones and WoGs/systems thinking *when I'm doing theoretical/abstract thinking.*

But of my total thinking time, only a minority is spent on these sorts of things. Most of my thinking time is spent on puzzling out designs and solutions for my builds and other creative projects (writing, trips, relationships...).

In other words, I zoom up and down scales of thinking fluidly but tend to spend most of my time thinking at the project and action level. Higher level thinking happens when I sense friction or too much uncertainty and know that I ought to bump up a scale or two to check out the view from 30k feet. Similar (the exact same?) as the familiar feeling of having skipped too many Weekly Reviews.

It sounds like you've got an intuition that becoming absorbed in theory isn't the right move. The WL discussion in particular probably isn't very relevant to your desire to level up. If you're having trouble feeling confident in deciding what actions to take, what skills to learn, etc, then maybe working with the concepts of reverse fishbones and wogs (chapter five) can be helpful to point you in the right direction.

An epiphany I had during the WoGshop at EREfest was that 'WoGs are useless: sketching WoGs is essential'. Every sketch I've ever made was useless to me after the fact, but the process of producing it generated/cultivated intuition/wisdom with respect to what actions to take.

It's important that the activity isn't abstract. It's a systems-thinking approach to pro-and-conning, stream of consciousness exploration, journaling, insight meditating, etc -- working with the actual events and decisions you have facing you.

And maybe the output of the exercise for you will be that you're wired different and these particular tools aren't useful for you. That'll be an educational success; you won't have to waste time with those tools in the future.

[theanimal]

How’s your cooking ability coming along? Have you been pursuing any other skills lately?

[RoamingFrancis]

Thanks for asking!

Yeah, I’ve actually been going through some big life changes recently. The short version is that I started a locksmithing apprenticeship and broke up with my girlfriend….

[RoamingFrancis]

3 months into a locksmithing career. Really enjoying it so far - the skills I'm learning are really fun. Experiencing the frustrations of working a traditional 9-to-5, but I know that I am making strategic choices, and that my locksmithing apprenticeship is a part of that strategy. One could say I'm using it to unlock freedom and open doors!

Also, I adopted a cat.

[ertyu]

Cat tax

Cannot mention cat and not provide cat pictures

What are your plans about the apprenticeship?

[RoamingFrancis]

Ah, old ertyu the bridge troll. How I wish to wander thy pestilent lands without being ransacked of my cat photos. I defy thee, knave!

(Yeah I’ll post a pic as soon as I figure out how to actually use the forum software)

WRT the apprenticeship:

I honestly have no idea. I got this job because:

1) I needed money

2) I wanted to learn how to work with my hands.

Locksmithing was the first opportunity that came my way and I grabbed it. I think I’d rather be working in a different field if I can find a way in.

I have no idea what I’m doing.

[ertyu]

Picking a thing and letting serendipity sort out the final outcome is a valid strategy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Good luck to you and cat

[RoamingFrancis]

Thanks for validating that.

Goals:
- transition to a nomadic lifestyle
- continue locksmithing
- get a job as an arborist
- make health #1 priority
-.introduce slack into my system. Transition from tightly coupled to loosely coupled.

I think vanlife is the closest thing to my desired lifestyle at the moment. I believe that this would be feasible with a cat. I’d most likely be looking for a home base somewhere in Colorado and moochdock in the Midwest and Quail Haven for part of the year.

I want to keep locksmithing. I wasn’t passionate about it at first, but I am now. I’ve been entering flow states while locksmithing that feel great. And it’s kinda fun learning how to break into buildings A potential career goal could be to get paid to break into a bank, as in a white hat hacker. The 9 to 5 structure is killing me though. I want to negotiate a new schedule with my employer to let me work fewer hours.

I want to get a job as an arborist. Maybe I could even combine this skill with locksmithing in a creative way that makes my work life more interesting.

I’ve made a bunch of sacrifices to get established in this career. I’ve been spending about 20 hrs/wk commuting in order to get to the shop. And my health has been suffering as a result. The best thing I can do for myself now is to continue working in the same field but work a lot closer to home. Bottom line is that my health is more important than some job, and while I had to make some sacrifices to get established, I’m not willing to sacrifice my health anymore.

I’m working on my systems thinking. I’m at a point where money is a (mostly) solved problem, on the condition that I stay on the 9-to-5 treadmill. I can still work to increase my earning potential, but the more important thing is to reduce the expenses that I have incurred as a result of making a big lifestyle transition. In more practical terms, I’m talking about finding a way to reduce the commute (time capital) and build up other stores of capital so that I am less dependent on the job for survival.

Basically, I traded a time-abundant money-poor lifestyle for a time-poor money-abundant lifestyle. And I want my goddamn time back.

[Ego]

I want to keep locksmithing. I wasn’t passionate about it at first, but I am now. I’ve been entering flow states while locksmithing that feel great. And it’s kinda fun learning how to break into buildings A potential career goal could be to get paid to break into a bank, as in a white hat hacker. The 9 to 5 structure is killing me though. I want to negotiate a new schedule with my employer to let me work fewer hours.

Nice!

We had/have two regular locksmiths we used at the property. Until recently both were Boomer owned. One of the Boomers closed up shop because he could find no one willing to buy the business, which was nearly impossible to sell because he (along with a few tools) was the business. The other owner handed the business over to his only employee.

This same dynamic has played out with our floor refinisher, appliance repair guy, window repair shop and a small contractor we use. I had to pay a fire escape inspector to come down from Los Angeles because all of the inspectors in town have closed up. All of these businesses were small time operations with either one employee or none. My guess is that all but the floor refinisher netted the owner $150K+.

Now is the time to get into one of these businesses... or maybe more than one, if they are complimentary. Pay attention to the backend. How do the clients find the locksmith? What program does the company use to invoice? What is the gap between what they bill you at and what they pay you? How do they access parts/supplies? Which supplies do you need to keep on hand? Do you need an account with the supplier? Which tools are used most often and which can be rented? What certifications do you need? Which calls produce the most profit and which have the most risk. Which areas of the business are you weakest?

In other words, imagine yourself the owner because chances are good that with the exit of so many Boomers from these industries, you could easily start a business like this on your own and be successful.

I also happen to have a good friend who is a locksmith. He works part-time doing odd jobs for a few small property management companies (not mine). He drives to the jobs in a regular car and uses second-hand supplies he picks up at the swap meet, which he then charges to his clients. From my perspective, he has a pretty good, low-stress life.

Good luck!

[delay]

Basically, I traded a time-abundant money-poor lifestyle for a time-poor money-abundant lifestyle. And I want my goddamn time back.

Thanks for your journal update!

When you want more free time many options come to mind. Seasonal jobs like tourism or farming leave you with a long and free off-season. A shipping job often comes with large blocks of free time, like some seamen have a 3 months on board then 3 months off schedule. Stand-in as a temporary replacement for a permanent worker or to absorb peak business. Administrative jobs are often just copying values between Excel sheets and can be done in little time.

Why not make a list of job opportunities and order them by free time abundance?

[shaz]

If you move into a van now and park it near your job, could that gain you back 20 hours per week?

[RoamingFrancis]

Well, the locksmithing thing didn't work out. I got fired. I am very confused about why I got fired (I thought it was actually going really well) and am still in dialogue with my former employer. The question is what to do next.

It wasn't a waste of time though. In addition to getting an intro to locksmithing, I learned a ton about my own strengths and weaknesses as well as about how the world works.

[AxelHeyst]

Are you confused about why you got fired because they didn't tell you (weird!), or because they told you and it didn't make sense to you? Either way, I highly recommend figuring it out - there's likely valuable insight contained in grokking what happened as well as you can.

Sorry to hear about that regardless. Termination sucks.

[Frita]

Bummer, rejection is not fun. Figuring out next steps can be a challenge even when one has advanced warning.

In addition to AH’s questions, consider whether there was a communication issue from the start and/or in an ongoing manner. Were expectations clear and consistent? Was there feedback and opportunities to course-correct/sync up? Was there an expectation of being able to mindread without open, honest, direct communication?

Digging deeper: Have you been in this situation before? Does any feeling and/or moving forward jujitsu seem familiar?

[RoamingFrancis]

What they told me is that I got fired because I wasn’t learning the trade fast enough. I think they’re lying and that there’s a lot more going on below the surface.

@Frita yes, there were communication issues from the start. Unclear expectations and zero feedback, even when I clearly requested feedback from management. I was expected to mindread my immediate manager, who was a good locksmith but had zero relationship or managerial skills.

I think I could legitimately sue the company for an unfair firing, but I’m not sure if this is the best path for me given opportunity cost, energy investment, and unclear roi.

[grundomatic]

Ugh, I'm sorry. A similar thing happened to @Cam when he was an apprenticing electrician. I'm certain you'll find something new and exciting to do soon enough.

[ertyu]

a good locksmith but had zero relationship or managerial skills.

This happens more often than you think. I had a driving instructor like that and never learned anything from him. Knowing how to do and knowing how to teach are two different skills. Someone who agrees to teach you, doesn't teach you, and then is mad at you when you don't miraculously have the knowledge fast enough, is probably not someone you want to learn from. Imo if you're into locksmithing, find another opportunity with someone else somewhere else. Or design a self-learning program from youtube videos, or purchase a course if such exists. Good luck

[RoamingFrancis]

Thanks for the empathy y'all.

I'm not sure what the future holds for me wrt locksmithing. I got into it because the opportunity popped up and it sounded interesting. I had no prior mechanical experience so I feel like I completely rewired my brain over the last six months. I am still in touch with a lot of supportive coworkers, so I have other people I can learn from if I choose to continue that path.

My primary interest now though is mycology. I have been growing oyster and reishi mushrooms and having a ton of fun with it. Last night I watched a Paul Stamets documentary with my dad and really want to dive deeper in this field.

I'm grateful to my past self for putting myself through the past six months, even though it was extremely painful and challenging. I had a heartbreaking breakup on New Year's, immediately shifted into the new job, and was spending 3 hours a day commuting plus an 8-hour workday in an enclosed submarine-like environment while learning a challenging skill from a guy who was a dick. Not fun at all but I learned a lot from it and now I have more skills and career capital. I'm at a point now where I don't think I'll ever have to get a real job.

A friend in Washington invited me on a kayaking trip. The current plan is to do that, take a break from civilization, and return with a clear head. I'd still like to visit Quail Haven for ERE Fest and head down to Mexico afterwards.

The brain changes caused by locksmithing have caused my interests to change quite a bit. Now all I'm really interested in are physical, manual skills. Wilderness survival, mushroom cultivation, gardening, fermentation, rope skills (for sailing, climbing, and shibari!).

I started learning Arabic again and it has been beautiful. I am taking Omid Safi's online courses on the Qur'an and Rumi's masterpiece, the Masnavi. I've also been diving into harder literature like Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, and even the Beats such as William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. One of the writers that has most influenced me in the past year has been Michael Muhammad Knight, who has been referred to as "the Hunter S. Thompson of Islamic literature."

[RoamingFrancis]

I've also been meditating a lot less and replacing the time I spent mediating with working out or other physical movements. Embodiment is really important to me, and while I still meditate sometimes, it's not a huge priority right now.

I'm looking for the place I will eventually call home. I'd like to have a relatively isolated cabin somewhere with space to host friends. The key thing is figuring out how much need for social interaction I really have. I used to think I was extroverted, until I had my first romantic relationship and realized that I just didn't have my intimacy needs met by my family of origin and so found intimacy in large groups. Now I still really like people sometimes, but I also find them to be a headache just as frequently. I need to take these changing social needs into consideration when deciding how remote I'd like my place to be.

Other books I'm reading:

Iron John by Robert Bly - I fucking love this one. I'd describe it as an eco-Jungian take on modern masculinity. A good antidote to a lot of the toxic stuff in the manosphere.

The Art and Practice of Geomancy by John Michael Greer - I've been doing divination practices from this book and having a lot of fun with it.

The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin - Really well written story involving Aboriginal peoples of Austrailia

Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin - Neurodivergent OG!!! Dives into autism and has personally inspired me to create a future for myself where I don't have to mask

Radical Love by Omid Safi - Anthology of Sufi poetry

[delay]

That's an awesome book list. John Michael Greer has written several books on divination, they're great fun, the tarot one works better for me. Best wishes for your search for a place to call home!