My side of the mountain

[AxelHeyst]

Awesome update f0x. Some of your thoughts about how home life feels resonant, and I really appreciated reading this:

But in reality, keeping on with something I'm already good at *that I do not care about at all* would be a weakass move. Even if I could live my life with tons of pats on the back, accolades, and envy from others, I know on my deathbed that I wimped out and didn't take the next big risk.

So easy to get in a rut of competence, of doubling down on what we're already good at. Yeah, that's how you compound $ to the moon maybe, but that's not the game we're in now is it?

[thef0x]

Right @Axel (btw, googled this name and have the book inbound), there's something powerful and humbling about keeping the beginners mind a constant force in one's life. At least when I look around at older folks I admire, they have many stories of starting over. It's just scary.

It's funny that I haven't really taken to heart the literal life experience I've had of starting from zero before this more recent "ah-ha". Looking back, I've always had to start small and build the engine. I think it's seductive idealism / wishful thinking that builds up our idealized outcomes into huge starting points, whereas with guitar, I have no interest in starting a band, so the 30 minutes of practice a day has felt frictionless. Whereas with writing, I have some story in mind that if I'm not doing 4 hours a day, starting yesterday, I'm not going to be great. I'm not immune to these things and it's been nice to drop the stories, give myself a long time horizon, low expectations, and just start swinging. Doing daily feels good, full stop, and that reminder has me motivated for tomorrow.

Also man your GTD thread led me down a ton of lectures, retooling my own productivity system, and having a lot of ah-ha's about why I do certain things even to the potential detriment to leisure. It's helped me figure out that I need to remove some access to my daily to-do list to give myself space because I compulsively must have those things off my plate... yet the list never ends because there's always something new to do. Thanks for your time and that write up, it ended up helping me understand myself way more than just "get 10% productivity gains". Twas a surprising journey to start.

@2B1S thanks dude; the waiting threw me more than I had hoped in a way that's also led to some serious reflection. Of course there are certain times to expect more or less equanimity, but damn that was too much. A GTD principle seems analogous here: get it out of my mind and into a system, even if (especially if) the content is emotional. I'm relieved but I'd like to not beat myself up so much next time the inevitable worry/waiting hits. Easier said than done.

@theanimal -- just threw together a batch of my super simple yet utterly satisfying green taco sauce, this one is cheap as hell and doesn't last long.

10 jalapenos
1 onion
3 glugs of avocado oil
3 glugs of vinegar (used white this time)
salt to taste
honey to taste

Boil the veg until the pepper walls are soft and the vividness of the color has faded. I cut the tops off with scissors and pull as many seeds out as I can but whatever. Immersion blend it all together.

The onion gives it a lot of natural sweetness and the oil makes the sauce so creamy it's easy to think there's dairy in there. Damn it's good.









\\

Sump pump stopped working! Yay /s

Finally opened the thing up, thinking the float valve needed to be replaced, only to find a horrifying ball of roots growing, blocking the float. An easy, disgusting fix.

It's been a year of fixing household appliances. I can't say I'm excited to know so much about how said devices work, but hey, confidence grows. It's funny how often family insists I pay people to solve these problems. Honestly, I'm too lazy? I think? Having to wait for someone to show up, interrupt my day, the small talk, the excessive spend, eh. Just not my cup of tea.

Quick instructions:

Disassemble, including oiling the rubber gaskets(wc) to ease pulling the lid up





It's alive!



Her name is Debra and she hated the fourth Harry Potter book. She now lives in the compost.



More to do re sealing the gap to prevent this from happening again but problem solved:



\\

Wanted a nanobag sling on my trip so I made one real quick:



Love this color

\\

$$ Monthly review:

Whatever! lol. Trying to walk this walk of not giving a shit anymore, this is sorted

Way more in than out. Spend was remarkably low even while abroad, so we were within 10% of normal "careful" months. Living in a VHCOL city makes the rest of the world feel cheap.

Worth noting that I'm not counting any eventual income from social security or frankly, the real possibility of a later in life inheritance so all of this is that much more conservative, although I can't know the future.

\\

Back to GTD: I have had a project on my mind for literally 15 years and it's bugged me on a monthly basis. Simple, too: writing a letter to a philosophy professor who deserves to know how much he positively impacted my life. The GTD deep dive made me realize: 1) this is subtly eating away at my own self esteem, putting a project aside because I was afraid to be vulnerable, and 2) this isn't about me, this person deserves to know how important their work is.

So I did it. I spent frankly a good amount of time on the letter and even then, I got it in the mailbox today knowing it was not perfect, but I had to ship it. Weird how I can do this so well with entrepreneurship but with creative stuff, I falter. More to reflect on here re why (mostly giving a shit, I think).

It's done! I'm so pleased. What a freeing experience. And writing it felt great. Duh!

Momentum feels high right now and my self esteem is continuing to build. Doing the work, knowing it, and growing is all there is.

I look at a lot of folks on this forum and I'm just floored at how incredibly productive and creative you guys and gals are. I aspire to grow up to those levels. But I'm good starting where I am, trying and failing, being bad at writing today and writing because I love it, because I want to create and produce stuff I'm proud of, even if it'll take years and years of practice.

Time to go tickle my kid and smash some veggie lentils.

[thef0x]

[theanimal]

. My daughter's milder version of kitchen mischief is stealing spices and dry goods then pouring them back and forth between measuring cups and bowls. Of course by the end of her "cooking" very little is actually within any specific vessel. It seems like I should be thankful we're not baking helmets.

[thef0x]

New EDC / "onebag"

Parts, cut



Blue elastic to compress a puffy down at the bottom of the pack, a new idea (doesn't work that well in practice but worth testing). An elastic exterior bottom pocket, my favorite pocket on basically all packs I make, borrowed from a good friend



Instead of making the bottom panel padded, I sewed on a cheap laptop sleeve directly to the back panel, so plopping it on the ground is no longer a concern

Gold and silver interior panels for a splash of color and to better illuminate/contrast items inside the pack







I hate making shoulder straps so I borrowed from the classic jansport pack and implemented a design that took under 20 minutes total, so so satisfying albeit less purdy





The front pocket wraps up onto the front panel of the pack so that I can get my big man paws in there without issue but it increases the complexity of the sewing sequencing slightly, esp if I want to hide the raw edge without a seam



I spent a lot of time trying to visualize how to sew a zipper stopper into the front panel seam without using another panel to butt up against it (see jansport), and this came out fairly clean, but still, I'd change this implementation up



The other side is not as clean



The beauty of the bottom pocket. When hiking, it's the perfect food storage pocket, but I plan on throwing a water bottle and wind jacket in there during everyday use.



Two pockets on the front panel, flush, imperfect but super useful. Pen and quick access stuff on top (e.g. passport when waiting in line at customs), cables at the bottom



Final look and I'm super pleased. I used 210d robic for most of the pack with a 70d inner and enjoy the fabric, although it feels very easy to cut, so laminate fabrics (think X-Pack, dyneema, ultra) would be far more durable (but at 6-10x the cost). [Edit: I just checked and robic has gotten more expensive :/ I got mine for a little over $5 / yard by buying in bulk on black friday, ymmv]



Unassuming all black, at around 18L volume, this pack and a careful packing list are enough for me for many many weeks abroad *in one ~climate*. Feels great to have worn out my v1 (zipper failure), one of my first packs I made, and coming back to this simple design with much more skill later, even if I emphasize speed over perfect sewing lines.

I need to bind the interior but I don't have have a binding attachment and .. eh.



It feels good to create.

[thef0x]

@theanimal same same but different, we get him outside with bowls and measuring cups and water so he can "cook". Potted flowers are quickly infiltrated, dirt is eaten. Something something immune system. He managed a spontaneous fecal transplant from my moms dog (look, he's fast) so all in all, whatever. We have a little 'tower' in the kitchen that he eats at and he's an eager sous-chef. "Stir stir".

\\

I'm pretty damn checked out with my business so I was pleasantly surprised today, checking our invoices dashboard, that we've grown 25% this year, all without much input on our end (b-partner included). A ten year project that actually worked. Crazy. Automating complex problems takes time.

A good reminder for me re writing, which has been so damn great. I can't believe I was waiting, silly.

Start small but begin. I'm still just doing 10 minutes, although my timer ends and I'll keep going, including writing a blurb about the next bit, as Hemingway would say, keeping some in the well for tomorrow.

I also realized, again, duh, this isn't my final draft. Don't think about the right words to use, just get the meaning across. I know the story, tell it, ugliness included, as this is a first pass. I have a lifetime to get this story right, and others, and what I'm really doing is building.

\\

Sleep continues to be mostly trash, still regularly sub 6 hours. Working on this and feeling it in my short term memory, also knowing I have to solve this for my long term brain health.

New stuff to try: regular evening sauna, 1mg melatonin, a knock off cold pad (circulates water in rubber tubes and uses evaporative cooling), exercise much earlier in the morning, exercise much later in the evening, shorting eating window ending 6 hours before bed.

Stuff that's helped: adding plywood with holes under my side of the bed to increase firmness that much more (I <3 sleeping on outside for this reason), 10% brightness on my computer screen past sundown, voice-less audio pre-bed, stretching pre bed, decaff coffee.

\\

My most fun these days is time with my wife and kid. It could sound boring from the outside but it's so rich, so full. I've never felt so much love.

I wanted to start a lifestyle business so I had the time to be a present dad, breaking the cycle.

Today I pushed my guy up and down the street in that tricycle we got for free from that nanny at the park. Pure elation on both sides.

Life is good!



Our spot in Cassis had a stellar view!

[basuragomi]

Very cool pack! Going to steal some of those ideas for my own attempt.

[Slevin]

Loving all the pack designs! And also looks like a great outlet for creative energy… it won’t be too long until the the kiddo starts putting in requests for their own! Not too many kiddos get to grow up with custom styled packs made by dad .

[thef0x]

Thanks y'all! Design is type 1 fun for me but the sewing is not my favorite thing. I respect folks who get into that skillset but I'm just a bumbling mess of fingers and expletives when working. I love imagining new ideas, though, and when an idea comes out how I'd hoped, damn it's satisfying.

\\

The writing continues and it's so damn fun. I'm writing ~a page a day (275 wordsish) in just ten minutes, including sometimes sitting there just waiting for the last couple of minutes to be over (this is part of the practice, imo).

I'm committing to 30 days of this to start and know I'll get there. Next baby step is to shift my 10 minute block to the mornings, before 11am, reliably (30 days). Then I'll add maybe only 5 minutes for a PM spot, idk what that'll entail yet, review and planning for the next day or probably just more bumbling.

I'm not focused on anything other than to tell the story, today. I guess in a real way, all the daydreaming, outlining (~16 pages), and talking about this novel idea with friends has made the dive in frictionless. Reminding myself to keep that in mind with future projects, be they fiction writing or otherwise.

I can feel myself wanting to excuse the mess of thoughts, grammar, and run on sentences on this journal <-- "I'm better than this, this isn't me, etc" but in reality, I'm trying to be messy and expressive here too. It's felt good to let my guard down and just produce. While sometimes I wish I spent more time cleaning up the language to carry this journal to my "true writing potential," I know I'd be stymied by my editing mind and ruin the fun of the whole project.

Come as you are, I guess. I'm enjoying both forms of creativity immensely.

\\

More on the "productivity" stuff:

Switched my tracking system out of gmail (extensive labeling) and into Joplin notes, self hosted ofc. I know I'm not following GTD to the tee but the change has felt good.

Buckets:

.inbox
> daily
> one-off
> recurring
.notes
.post
.someday
.waiting-for
complete

My previous system was to remove labels from completed work instead of bucketing them into a completed notebook. Now, esp with an added joplin calendar plugin, I can see what items I completed when and that self-esteem boost has been awesome.

I've taken this idea of "completion review dopamine" into my relationship as well, asking my DW to review what we've done out in the open and behind the scenes on a regular basis. It feels good to brag about making progress on important things and it feels even better to acknowledge and honor my partner doing the same, my kid, standing there, way too many apple slices stuffed in his mouth, saying "ASSHOLE" while nodding, his own version of participation (we're working on pronunciation / talking with food in our mouths). Thanks buddy.

\\

The above feels like a really straightforward rubric to replicate. It's all in Atomic Habits ofc but I'd forgotten to remember.

I've paired down my expectations for exercise as well and whadda'yaknow, been more consistent there as well.

Unsurprisingly, stacking important habits early in the day has improved compliance and reduced friction. Like anyone, I'll putter out in the PM, although I've kept up these habits regardless. But why make it harder on myself, best to get stuff done before noon.

\\

Speaking of which, I was asking myself how does @mountainFrugal make his productivity seem so effortless, enjoying his monthly reviews and seeing how much the guy is accomplishing. I decided to start his journal from page 1 and yeah, duh, stacked homeotelic action is the answer.

Relevant post: viewtopic.php?p=242959#p242959

This got me thinking about writing in nature, writing abroad, and had me writing in my sauna the other day (lol this was not so good). I've always romanticized the Moveable Feast way of living and have realized the reason why is that it's hitting on many actions I want to be doing: living abroad, slowing down with coffee/tea, writing, and enjoying other creators.

Then the thought occurred to me that I'm already doing a lot of these stacked actions, but I'm not noticing it.

Like the GTD "completed" bucket review, dissecting what I'm already doing right, how it's already helping me, is a huge win (self esteem, dopamine, motivation). So time to incorporate more of that type of review into my life.

What I'm already doing that's efficiently aligning me with my 'right path'.

And heck, this journal is one of them.

Cheers to self discovery and uncovering all the duh's.

\\

Foooood









"From the purge" cold brew, a great way to resuscitate old beans

[7Wannabe5]

Very interesting journal. Are you certain that you are an INTJ? You write more like you possess some of the bouncy mental energy of an ENTP. Further evidence would be your identification with the role of entrepreneur, the warmth (towards Fe)that comes through when you write about your son, the sensuality apparent in designating your ideal life as Moveable Feast, and the fact that you went through a phase where you theorized/experimented in the realm of dating/sexuality. However, you do also vibe more decisive/leader than classic ENTP, so I might peg you as eNTX, which could intermittently vibe like a high-functioning INTJ. Your approach to research/mastery might nail the matter. To what extent would you identify with young Benjamin Franklin running away from his azzhole older brother to whom he had been apprenticed in realm of printing, and then exhibiting the skill of swimming, which he had taught himself by reading a book, for a crowd of humans gathered near the docks of Philadelphia?

[postpastrock]

Enjoying reading your journal, thanks for sharing! Curious if you have any go-to resources for your cooking?

[Slevin]

just threw together a batch of my super simple yet utterly satisfying green taco sauce, this one is cheap as hell and doesn't last long.

10 jalapenos
1 onion
3 glugs of avocado oil
3 glugs of vinegar (used white this time)
salt to taste
honey to taste

Boil the veg until the pepper walls are soft and the vividness of the color has faded. I cut the tops off with scissors and pull as many seeds out as I can but whatever. Immersion blend it all together.

The onion gives it a lot of natural sweetness and the oil makes the sauce so creamy it's easy to think there's dairy in there. Damn it's good.

Thanks for this recipe! Made variations on this 4x now I think (we had a lot of peppers); sneaking in ~1 cup of sunflower seeds / cashews adds a whole other layer of creaminess. Obviously totally unnecessary if you don't have loads of these sitting around all the time.

[thef0x]

Bullet point Oct wrap up, writing from Hakone Japan:

-- got sick in France and it persisted for four weeks. I've joked that I got french pigeon flu: my kid insisted on playing at the playground in the rain -- fair enough -- and this meant immediately jumping on the trampoline the city birds used as their daily bath. Lovely. He's fine, I was brutalized. Eventually went to the doctor and, verbatim quote, "let's throw the kitchen sink at this". Antibiotics and steroids. 0/10 fun but grateful for modern medicine. Much of October was shadowed by systemic inflammation and crud making its way out of my body. Nevertheless, some wins...

-- huuuuuuge purge after coming home from France and just cannot explain how good this makes me feel. re GTD it's that sense of "clear" that feels like focus, the essential, the valuable, the meaningful all in arms reach. Once momentum swung to volume-of-stuff-out-of-house, sentimental blood was shed and glorious it was. Photos of things to remember (boy scout badges) and gifts to friends and family (most of which they didn't want, a good lesson re gift giving -- people like experiences, not stuff). So much cleared out. Drawers are empty. Feels oh so good.

It has to be a recurring thing because it's so so easy to bring stuff in and hey, it's been hugely to our benefit: zero purchased furniture in our house besides the bed (aside: requested a replacement part from whatever company and they sent a whole new bed frame, so we'll be set for a long time <-- did keep this). Better to have things be used and enjoyed than stashed and saved for (whe)never.

Managed to convince my wife to go for it with me and she's done well, albeit begrudgingly to start. This has given me more confidence that we won't outgrow our house even if we decided to & were able to have another kid.

Used this experiment to reduce my workout equipment too, moving a few items into well-organized storage while emphasizing more free space for dynamic movement and recovery (kettle bell swings and no-idea-what-I'm-doing yoga).

Aesthetically, I like having a backpack 60% full and our house is starting to feel similar, esp the basement where my office + gym + indoor grow room + craft/sewing room are located <-- writing this out is absurd. I'm excited for our main floor to get less busy as well but kiddo play stuff sprawls.

We're in Japan now and I managed to get buy in from my wife for mega-purge round 2 when we get back. Living in a tiny space helps remind me what's essential (speaking of which, DW is reading Essentialism and enjoying it, wonderful).

-- huge healthcare punch in the face: $5700. You amortize this cost over the lifetime savings of us doing high deductible, low premium plans and we're out ahead (self-insuring 'lite'). It still hurts. We called and got an immediate 10% off for a full cash payment. Put it on a new credit card (chase biz ink) for another ~12% savings from the cash back reward on spend. $1185 off for basically zero work. Even so, yowwww it hurts. Glad it rose my heart rate 0 BPM, felt great frankly. I did more emotional lifting consoling said family member about the cost than feeling it. "It's why we're careful" over and over, and it's true. I consider being in this position to be 99% luck.

-- my mom's late husband had season tickets to our local MLS team so was able to bring two buds to said elimination game. Talked shit and cluelessly watched the ball chasing, was funny how seriously everyone took it. Sold one ticket (friend who cancelled) and made money on the affair, what a world. Went out for Chinese food afterward and frankly it was great, a friend stole the check before I could offer and yeah the whole night felt like a big treat. This is how I enjoy spending money.

-- made that pack and it's been great. Enjoying the fruits of your own labor is rare in modern life it seems, yet it's so satisfying.

-- jailbroke my kindle so I can read .EPUB files natively and to put Tux on the front screen, ofc. Speaking of linux, I realized after a friend challenged me why I enjoy linux so much: it's MYOS (make your operating system). It's like wearing a tailor fitted jacket every time I start the computer. Writing this on my wife's windows machine and I get it, everything can just be a bootloader for your favorite web browser but dammit I love my hotkeys, scripts, and custom windows manager (gnome w goodies).

-- wrote a new home assistant automation: get a morning app notification prompting me if I want to sauna: yes --> pick time of day --> pick temperature --> get reminder when it's ready. Feels so luxurious. My own little smart phone butler.

-- more family time, more friend time, more tea time, bullish overall on social life. Staying connected with friends I cherish and enjoying everyone's stories. It feels great to be excited for everyone's successes. Lifting others up is a super power and it's infectious.

-- my philo professor wrote back! So cool. I still venerate this guy so much that I feel resistance build when writing back but that's something to overcome as he's such a cool guy. Glad I finally got the huevos to connect.

-- worked four weeks in a row which is uncommon these days but my biz partner was in Taiwan and having taken three weeks for France and then now three for Japan, this made sense. Did zero calls, really the bare minimum, and it was awesome. Also finally feeling enough distance from the grind that creative business brain is back and grinding at next moves <-- this is feeling good and unlike previous years I'm not immediately jumping into manic work mode. Giving myself space to really prioritize what matters most against what feels interesting against dimly-lit scripts in my head. No major moves yet but I at least feel confident I've identified next, large-multiplier steps. This doesn't matter re $$ but I really do enjoy creative parts of business. I also love having it all on my shoulders (even if it's been designed to be off my shoulders). Feeling the one-to-one impact of my work to personal reward has always been a big part of entrepreneurship for me (samesies re making stuff).

-- My France packing list was perfect with zero items unused. I went as minimal as I have yet and idk why but nailing this feels irrationally good to me (same re backpacking lists). Didn't obsess at all with my list for Japan but somehow we managed to collectively go lighter (two bags + strollers, three bodies) and yeah, I love it. What's it say about me?

Part of the answer: at my wedding my sister said she admired that I'm always willing to question the narrative, whereas she's always one to follow the script (said way more beautifully than this). But I'm here in Japan and all of the order and rule following.. oh my god I love it. I love that people don't j-walk.. so weird. I like politeness a lot. People excuse themselves with a bow. Rudeness is visibly ugly here, unlike in the USA where it's almost venerated depending on where you live (yee haw /s). I like respecting the rules of the game re social niceties. This realization surprised me because I'm just also willing to completely front-to-back question what game I want to be playing in the first place. This false dichotomy has been interesting to uncover here in Japan. I can both love everything in it's right place (great song) and simultaneously reject 90%+ of the script handed to me. I can forge my own path while respecting the culture I was born into or that I find myself in.. up until a certain point (hard pass at the theocracy line).

-- writing has been so fun. I don't feel like I'm writing as much as I'm discovering and puzzle-solving. This first draft is heavily expository but getting inside the beats of the story has been great. I'm not a writer but I am someone who has been writing daily for a month. Even that feels trivial compared to the personal enjoy I'm experiencing, so sticking with that perspective for now. I'm far from obsessing here but maybe I'll get there. Maybe I don't need to. 0/10 forcing it. Long game here.

-- Money stuff, even in spite of a big punch in the face, has been wild. The engine really has been built <-- I'm still surprised it actually worked and that feeling of novel satisfaction keeps feeling great. I'm proud of myself. It's hard to feel like long term projects land successfully and concretely (instead of petering out or a new opportunity replacing it or giving up, etc).

Even with the unexpected expense, we're well over 50% savings rate this month.

Also hit a big round number milestone. Not working hard. Pinch me.

-- Will do a long post in a few weeks but Japan has truly exceeded expectations, esp with a lil babe, and I'm optimistic again about slow travel with a young family during this stage of the game (freshly in the "terrible twos" and the banshee screams have landed).

Upcoming & tweaks:

Reboot the hydroponic greens/herbs

More morning walks w/ kiddo (mental health <--> sunlight)

Converting to more cardio-y hybrid training w/ dumbell work and shorter rest intervals

Maybe a big work chunk in anticipation of Q1 2025 but may postpone to Q3 based on timing

Small ramp up on writing

Early season roady to the southwest?

Red Rising book 2 (holy the first one was so fun)

Questions / pondering:

I have enough. Therefore all investing after enough should be risk-up instead of risk-down? I don't believe I can pick stocks so this might look like some degen crypto silliness again. Upside is more impact and giving, downside is ..?

Gotta make a sling pack so shape, sizing, features are brewing

When is AI gonna be good enough that I can make my text-based cyberpunk idle MMO meets Utopia strategy game as a solo studio

Politics... hmmmmmm

[thef0x]

Very interesting journal. Are you certain that you are an INTJ? You write more like you possess some of the bouncy mental energy of an ENTP. Further evidence would be your identification with the role of entrepreneur, the warmth (towards Fe)that comes through when you write about your son, the sensuality apparent in designating your ideal life as Moveable Feast, and the fact that you went through a phase where you theorized/experimented in the realm of dating/sexuality. However, you do also vibe more decisive/leader than classic ENTP, so I might peg you as eNTX, which could intermittently vibe like a high-functioning INTJ. Your approach to research/mastery might nail the matter. To what extent would you identify with young Benjamin Franklin running away from his azzhole older brother to whom he had been apprenticed in realm of printing, and then exhibiting the skill of swimming, which he had taught himself by reading a book, for a crowd of humans gathered near the docks of Philadelphia?

Thanks for reading! I love your writing style and voice.

Haha goodness I don't know how to grok that interesting example but I think I'm very "heart centric" re P/J. How I've thought of it is that I'm willing to act quickly and make decisions / lead based on incomplete information, knowing I'm not necessarily making the best choice but perhaps the most strategic one given my limited knowledge.

I also think less is more re decision making and variable analysis, informed by some basic reading into psych, accepting that frankly humans aren't great at multivariate modeling/analysis. We're crap with big data. While one could model the stock market with as many data points as possible, I think this diminishes model performance instead of enhancing it. I take this basic concept to heart re decision making. Act fast, get messy.

I was raised by a really ENFP mom and I think her softness impacted me, while her indecisiveness drives me totally nuts. I like being around other leaders and am happy to be led as long as I buy the why and how. I'll speak up if I think I can provide a better way, knowing that there are rules of engagement that make my pleas more or less viable for the crowd. This is part of the social skills development stuff.

I was way more introverted growing up but forced that change first in college (overcoming fear of public speaking) and then with dating (demanding enough skills to ensure I had choice re long term partner).

I think you're probably right that I'm closer to eNTX. What I do suspect is that I'm probably in the lower quartile of IQs on this forum which I love, thanks for having me I consider myself clever and strategic, knowing many other folks with faster CPUs than my own. Again, that's where I want to spend my time, surrounded by others far sharper and more knowledgeable than myself.

Here to learn!

Enjoying reading your journal, thanks for sharing! Curious if you have any go-to resources for your cooking?

Thanks postpastrock! I was lucky to grow up with a mom prepping dinner when I arrived home from school so I'd often hop on top of the kitchen counter and help chop veg while talking about my day; something I'm excited to share with my own noodle if he's interested.

My mom was big on a variety of cuisines and dishes even if they weren't perfectly authentic to save some $$ on groceries. As such, I grew up exposed to a many flavors and tastes with a mom (and sisters) who all enjoyed thinking/tasting through what we were eating. One sister ended up as a sous-chef at a fancy restaurant so that also helped me learn new techniques.

I'd say the best book I've read re cooking was Tim Ferriss' 4 Hour Chef which is so much more than a cookbook. I'd start there as Tim does a great job breaking down the why and how of constructing deliciousness.

Then it was really just letting the dishes I've enjoyed take me into new skills and ingredients. I focused a lot of cooking ingredients to the right level of doneness (who likes soggy veg, yuck) which I think is a huge unlock in cooking quality. Simple ingredients cooked to perfection can carry a dish. Roasted carrots don't need anything fancy to be utterly sublime.

Finally, I've added a lot of sauces and garnish to my fridge to ensure I can mix and match flavors with ease. When a dish needs some zing and bite, pickled red onion comes to the rescue. When I want some deeper, savory flavor I'll consider soy sauce or almond butter. Understanding food components as adjectives has helped a lot. I think that book Salt Fat Acid Heat (can't remember the exact title) probably also hits these higher level points. So you'll see a lot of home made hot sauces and fresh herbs in my fridge as they take zero work to finish a dish but can add 30%+ of flavor complexity per bite. That'd be a 80/20 suggestion if you're time-starved. There's a great infographic in 4 hour chef re cuisines and herbs/spices overlap, so if you could only read a page, it'd be that one.

I've been cooking for myself since my junior year of college so many terrible dishes have been made (and eaten lol). Cooking is one of those very low risk ways of adding variety and experimentation in daily life so I'd encourage you to dive in.

Thanks for this recipe! Made variations on this 4x now I think (we had a lot of peppers); sneaking in ~1 cup of sunflower seeds / cashews adds a whole other layer of creaminess. Obviously totally unnecessary if you don't have loads of these sitting around all the time.

Very yes, the best part of this sauce is the creaminess and I can imagine the cashews esp add a whole new layer of mouth feel. I saw you scored that huge amount so I'd be curious if you have any other surprises (to me) to share re cashew wins.

\\

Thank you all for commenting and following along. This community is awesome. Cheers!

[thef0x]

Japan

What an incredible place. The most fun I've had ~urban traveling in a very long time.

I loved how respectful and orderly people are in Japan. I love the dedication to "in-it's-place-ed-ness" in Japan and how '~nature*' is an art form to be attended to and cherished.

* Most of these photos are cultivated spaces manicured to the branch, with staff literally sweeping debris off the moss. So ~nature. In Kanazawa and farther north the colors and trees really did look intentional but that was indeed the natural landscaping of the mountains and trees in Japan. The landscapes of the PNW (N. Cascades) feel jagged, stressful, and dangerous in comparison.

I could talk endlessly about the places and food we experiences but photos are better. Wish I could share the pictures of my kid playing with the same group of friends after school two days in a row in Kyoto or my wife burrowed in a rain jacket examining shops in Golden Gai.

There are always new places to explore but I immediately knew that I'll be back to Japan sooner rather than later.



































































Teamlab Borderless experience: https://i.imgur.com/hKirNtC.mp4





Sushi belt: https://i.imgur.com/SUAAXau.mp4

[thef0x]

Business mind dump:

I've had a ton of 3% ideas for our business that would only hit one of these in its own silo: sales, marketing, onboarding, ops, retention, and cost cutting.

The next increment of a 1.5-2x multiplier on our business would require people, a lot of education and training, eating into EBITDA short term, and my time and my biz partner's time for many many months in a row. It would be to hire an organic marketing agency or a person who is good at SEO, another sales person, and probably more $$ on paid marketing plus skill acquisition (prob would be me) and cost of said training/consultation. Then if that all works to grow the business, more operational staff fulfillment + accompanying costs.

(If you are an expert at any of the above requirements (seo marketing, sales, paid advertising) feel free to DM me. I would love to trade for coaching somehow and/or keep your info on file in case we do decide to execute on this in the future).

Right now our biz is growing by roughly $XYZ,000 absolute dollar amount per year. +30% this year is gonna be +23% and then 19%, etc. To accelerate our growth rate, we'd need more ppl, more spend, more time, redo documentation, dev work, change automations and tracking, yadda yadda yadda.

Also while silly, my taxes on my income are extremely well configured right now. I'm reluctant to give away exact info but effective rate is 13.8% (not including biz taxes on rev, just my takehome). This is mostly dumb in so far as I'll be earning more money on an absolute basis, but right now for my income, my taxes are in the pocket. I also have a bit more income earning wiggle room before I'll have to pay the new 7% LTCG tax in my state.

Default nothing different = more W2 income and LTCG income than last year for however long. Even then, a negative growth trend doesn't mean our ARR goes away, as the age of our average account over 12 months is growing per month. Default alive is small, lean, with super old accounts printing.

It's like a train that you're riding every day of the week to get to your destination, as a customer, and you just use it and we do the stuff and you're happy. Similar vibes inside operations. It's a good place to be objectively.

So why am I writing about it at all? After all, I've been doing a lot of cool shit this year that's been fun and exciting.

I think I'm still clinging to the vision / pressure of "start a business that lets me live anywhere" and "retire off the passive income of my investments*" or even "I need to make enough money to be able to live doing this whole business thing".

I'm excited in general by the strategy, creativity, experimentation, and insights found inside entrepreneurship but I have no need for more money. Want to do something else creatively (writing) but it's hard (to do for long periods of time currently). Also still stuck in my pre-FIRE ways, somewhat. And come here to whine about it, woe as me Hey cheaper than therapy!

I am torn though because I do like the business stuff. If I had a vote to "have it my way**," I think I would vote for something biz related in an ideal month of my life in some potential future. So I want it incorporated into life somehow, but still not yet ready for a new 16 months of execution (same w biz partner).

Still figuring this shit out!

I think the meta realization is that I want clean edges in these areas of my life. But with my business, I'm not sure that makes the most sense for me right now.



* The added bonus of continuing to earn income from the biz was not planned for -- we thought we'd have to sell to hit our FIRE numbers.
** Fully remote and vaguely async

[thef0x]

Money:

November was expensive.

We paid for all of Japan, got ebikes, and paid for tickets and lodging for a month in Baja Mexico early next year. Definitely all in the "discretionary spend" bucket.

I'll be working -- maybe doing some added calls as well -- and hanging out at the beach w the kiddo. We have multiple folks coming to visit and I'm mega stoked.

I'm pleased to say that we still saved 55% of take home in Nov.

Projecting things out:

- our current travel budget is ~15% of our spend.
- the new car was another 14% this year.
- had an unplanned medical expense that was 4.3%.

On our annual spend, we saved:

- 2.7% on groceries this year.
- 1.7% of our spend on gas.
- 0.9% on the medical expense.
- 0.2% on energy (including charging our new electric car and bikes!).

Minimum spend SWR @ 4% is currently being met at <$76k this year without the car, travel, but with the amortized medical expense. Amortize the car over 10 years and the medical expense to every 5, and we're at $78.5k or 4.13% SWR.

Travel: We spent +~0.9% on our SWR this year on travel. It was great and felt abundant. Represented against last years income, it was 5.25% of our income in last years earnings. We expect it to be lower next year but we don't need it to be.

Money Resilience:

- If I lost all my business income over night, we could be camping-FIRE at 4% without issue. I love camping.

- I'm not including equity in my house or potential rental income arbitrage from my house in any of this. I am including all expenses paid for owning a house, though, in the math above.

- Even if I had $0 in equities, I'd be able to retire in ~7.2 years because, even with this travel-enhanced lifestyle, we're still earning 3x what we spend.

- I have the experience and capacity to find a problem and create a system to solve it for money.

- We have so many beans.

[thef0x]

Everyone around me goes insane in December, a memoir

[Edit: Deleted unnecessary details]

Reasonable approaches to my family generally having a hard time in December:

- Metta meditation
- Physical distance via travel
- Smaller events more frequently
- Saying no more often while balancing supporting loved ones

Uplifting changes I can do if I have to be located in the PNW specifically in December:

- More time outside
- Winter light box
- More snow time

What is ~one solution that accomplishes all of these activities?

I plan way in advance and rent a place in Baja MX. I invite ppl over on a non-overlapping manner to share the sunny holiday spirit. I video chat with my family more frequently while abroad and spend more effort on thoughtful gifts I can give them to enrich their own Decembers.

Maybe I'm back in time for xmas day? <-- not what I want right now but what might be best long term.

Until my kid is in school, I'll plan on an equatorial holiday season, then head back home and enjoy the mountain snow and lengthening days with settled, happier family.

Re allocating my resources / currencies to solve this problem, this is a case where I'm glad to work enough to pay for this trade and, coincidentally, already have (already scheduled ~work-from-beach 2025) but just for the wrong month.

\\



Starting him early as. So far, "so fun".



A very cool, very fun project (and gift) from my FIL.

The "farmers wife" of sewing machines. A 1955 Singer 15-91 in great condition. I'll take it all apart, clean / de-rust, and reassemble. I might need to replace the potted motor but we'll see.

What a gem. The golden engraved patterning against the black enamel. It's just stunning.

Excited to use this machine for lighter material production like tarps and perhaps a ballcap or two.

[thef0x]

Bullseye 2025 Day:

Wake up rested because I went to bed early
1a) Coffee & water & cuddles w my people on the couch
1b) 30 min indoor bike where I'm thinking about my story and switching modes
1c) Write intensely
Food
2a) Time outside with my kid
2b) Tea x meditation
2c) Lift / sprint
2d) Sauna & shower
Food
3a) Short walk
3b) Make/build x interests x skill (development)
3b) Help others*
3b) Play with kid & wife
Food
4b) Bedtime routine with kid
4c) Snuggle with wife
4d) Recovery & relaxation routine
Asleep quickly & deeply

* Welcoming that I'm a participant in a world of others <-- joyful relationship to service

\\

Different way to block it:

[thef0x]

Gratitude for previous gifts

It's easy to feel excited about getting something that's new-to-me. Yay stuff. It's probably a thing that helps me out in some way or something that's fun.

But unfortunately there's also potential for it to be used-not-enough with an in-drawer status that isn't boosting my life exp gains. Item hoarding when you have limited inventory, which, for me, has a slow draining effect on my HP.

So instead of welcoming in too many new items, I'm thinking of how much I enjoy the great things I have -- and noticing what has made the cut (e.g. 'would you buy it again?').

I hope to sharpen that eye for the future so that the things I am able to choose to invite into my life reliably provide me immense value.

Here's to the good stuff.