7Wannabe5-Take9-One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts

[jacob]

Yes, this is the sort of thing that really highlights the resilience of lean eco-sustainable-level ERE vs. FAT-FIRE. Anybody who can figure out how to live well on $12,000/year or less is not going to have a target on their back when the rabble rises OR find themselves in the sheep-flock when the wolves decide it's time to feast and retreat.

This is an under-appreciated point. ERE is sitting quite comfortably in the pocket (<- this is me using a football metaphor, hopefully correctly) by virtue (<- literally) being extreme in a good way relative to those who otherwise complain. For example, the complaint that "if everybody does it, the government is going to increase the capital tax" is void by the fact that way before that happens, it's going to put the screws on the fat-FIREs or fat-earners, who typically have far higher NWs than the typical ERE-person.

This also corroborate Rander's 2052 suggestions #14 and #15. Fourteen is "Not to invest in things that are sensitive to social unrest". I include lifestyles in that. IOW, don't live in a way that people will envy or blame for all their personal misfortunes. Fifteen is "Do more than your fair share" which basically means having a good answer to "what did you do to prevent the pickle we're in now"? Again, living in a way that has become unobtainable to the younger generation would not be a good answer.

[7Wannabe5]

Again, living in a way that has become unobtainable to the younger generation would not be a good answer.

Yes, but perversely, this is why the fact that my own children (who are now fully adults in their 30s, and also reasonably frugal in their own ways) currently make/spend more money than me is a bit of a personal disincentive towards doing much more myself. For instance, my DD32's comment that my gift of "The Knowledge" book was "the most depressing Christmas present ever" kind of got to me. Or the time I was lecturing an 8th grade class full of recent refugee immigrants on not wasting paper towards maybe having some trees in their future, and one of the poor white kids who found his drug-addict mother dead at the bottom of a stairwell, smiled at me and said "Allah will provide, Ms. 7WB5, Allah will provide."

[Ego]

Yeah, I can grok how it would seem that way from the perspective of an ENTJ/INTJ. eNTPs think differently. We also motivate differently.
...
Anyways, my personality type is not such that I am productively motivated by thoughts of peril for future me. I tend to be motivated by curiousity and pleasure. I like being in a state of anticipation.

Sure, your personality type may cause you to see things differently, but your personality type doesn't make your situation any less perilous, right? In other words, just because you see it as less risky than it actually is, that doesn't make it less risky. Right?

My sisters, humans who know me best, sometimes diagnose me as suffering from either an anti-anxiety disorder, repressed anger, and/or ADHD. Another theory is that all the asthma medication I took in childhood completely burnt out my adrenal glands.

Our society is way too risk averse and those burnt adrenals probably paid dividends over your lifetime in this world where most people are afraid most of the time. But it is possible to go too far.

And now I am pissed off because you've got me arguing for p... pre.... preca.....

I can't even say the word.

[7Wannabe5]

Sure, your personality type may cause you to see things differently, but your personality type doesn't make your situation any less perilous, right? In other words, just because you see it as less risky than it actually is, that doesn't make it less risky. Right?

Well, there are at least 4 factors to consider here.

1) How good you are at the math.

2) How much your personality type/temperament tends to create error one way or the other, beyond your "will" or full consciousness.

3) How self-aware you are about (2.)

4) How much excitement vs. SWAN you consciously choose to allow for with your math.

For me, the answers would be:

1) Quite good.

2) Definitely naturally err on side of irrational exhuberence/optimism.

3) Fairly self-aware, but irrational exhuberance(AKA mild form mania) is a good feeling, so fairly frequently just let myself go for it.

4) I'm pretty much the opposite of many on this forum in this regard, because I would take on much more risk of losing, for increased expectation of "big win", although I would rarely look for a "big win" in terms of financial capital, or financial capital alone. I actually would have taken on more risk in my life than I have if I wasn't sometimes counter-motivated by concerns such as providing a safe nest for my children and/or not causing other humans who care about me to worry about me. I'm also sometimes counter-motivated by in-the-moment-physical-cowardice, but I can generally re-group on that pretty quickly. One of the primary reasons I am not afraid of "losing" is that it has been my experience that even "losing" tends to land me in more interesting places than "playing it safe." Although, I will admit that sometimes climbing back out of the pit after "losing" back to the point of having enough of a varied capital stash to take another roll can be dull work.


What's the worst outcome you can imagine happening to me? What is causing you to advise precaution? Let me take a stab.

Maybe I will find myself abandoned in a Medicaid nursing home, drugged, and left in prone position on a lumpy cot, with my old butt exposed to all through the open slit of my filthy gown. There are no books or cookies made available to me. My roommates entertain themselves with holographic reruns of Judge Judy played at full volume. The nursing aide responsible for occasionally rotating me to avoid bed sores is full of resentment, because he doesn't want to rotate old women to make a living, but nobody ever taught him mathematics leaving him with few options, so he sometimes burns me and the other drugged old ladies with his cigarette for kicks. The average global temperature has continued to increase, so even though I am still near the 45th parallel, the wet bulb temperature reaches critical level on one July day, and the air-conditioning in the nursing home browns out. My roommates and I slowly suffocate to death in the heat and humidity. Nobody finds our rotting bodies for a month due to the ongoing riots.

I can accept this worst-case scenario with a good degree of emotional equanimity. I can also calculate that it isn't highly likely.

So, there are only 3 or 4 ways to motivate me or for me to motivate myself towards more conservative behavior:

1) Make me feel guilty/responsible for how terrible others will feel if the above scenario befalls me. (Engage my tertiary Fe.)

2) Convince me that I might have direct responsibility for others in some other worst-case scenario. For instance, my theoretical grandchild will be left in my care and will suffocate to death in the coming apocalypse, because I do not have enough financial resources to prevent this outcome, and financial resources will enable me to prevent this outcome. (REALLY engage my tertiary Fe.)

3) Somehow make me angry enough to take on a challenge/competition which otherwise does not interest me all that much (rouse my secondary Ti towards Te.) An example of how this might work would be the time a Young Republican azz-turd in my A.P. Chemistry class made an extremely sexist comment about females and science, so I made the effort to destroy the curve on the next exam, thereby setting back his Ivy League dreams by just a teensy bit.

4) Convince me that some amount of conservative behavior in the short-run will increase my chance for exploration/excitement in the long run. For example, health statistics will rarely alter my cookie-eating behavior, but comments such as "If you lose some weight, it will be easier for me to throw you around in bed." have been more inspiring. Obviously, there is no way that I will be convinced that doing something like working 10 years full-time as a data scientist in order to conservatively achieve chubby-FI at age 70 is a mathematically sound proposition in this regard.

[Ego]

What's the worst outcome you can imagine happening to me? What is causing you to advise precaution?

Options are diminishing.

Medical condition makes WFH a necessity. Masters degree leading to WFH is not panning out. Lentilbaby backstop is disappearing. Social Security is insufficient. Cost of medications shifted from medicaid to self.

Exuberance/optimism causes you to give up apartment for unique living situation. Unique living situation fails. You no longer have the income to get approved for an apartment. Family members are in moments of transition and you are reluctant to be a burden. Assets too high for housing assistance. Living in SmartCar.

Not nearly a worst outcome, but certainly not good.

[7Wannabe5]

@Ego:

Okay, putting aside the fact that I think living in my Smart car (if outfitted more towards camper) would be super-minimalist fun and is actually one of my 3 plans for becoming poly-homerous (the other two involving (1)establishing a footprint further north near a great lake where I vacation every summer and my second permaculture project location and (2)re-establishing a footprint in the most-educated-city-in-the-U.S. where my kids, sister and Mom live.) ...

Let's calculate the odds:

1) Medical condition makes WFH a necessity:

At this juncture, I would give this 20%, although I was much more concerned before mostly successful treatment was found.

2) Master's Degree leading to WFH is not panning out:

I am actually, perversely, more afraid that it will work out too well, and I will drift or osmose into a conventional lifestyle. Still, given my age, let's give it (30%).

3) Lenti-baby backstop is disappearing:

One weird thing about being a rational female is that it is nearly impossible for me to sexually fantasize. I literally can not make the sex life in my head any better than the sex life I rationally believe I could obtain in real life. I mean, it would be nice if I could summon up 1986 Jimmy Smits and imagine him getting busy upon me in my currently chubby-old-not-feeling-so-hot manifestation, but, nope, the best I can do is Dick Cheney, and, obviously, not the real ex-VP Dick Cheney, but just somebody who looks/vibes like him, but maybe manages the diesel parts division of Acme Motors. IOW, all I rationally believe I deserve at this juncture is somebody in possession of the bare minimum masculinity to get me off, but nothing else I might want or prefer. Luckily, I do possess enough power over my imagination that I can at least not allow him to talk afterwards.

My point here being that you may be seriously underestimating my flexibility or my competence in this realm. For instance, if I truly believed that this was my only option besides being a burden on my kids, I could either take up IPhone14 guy on his outstanding offer or round-up another offer/opportunity within 6 months maximum. One of my role-models, the author of "A Round-Heeled Woman" was still getting offers after age 70, although she couldn't quite manage to get any of her lovers to buy her a cottage in an expensive town on the West Coast, so I know that it is possible. Still, let's give this 25% , because also clearly not independent of (1).

4) Social Security is insufficient:

Definitely possible if I take early withdrawal. Much less so if I hold off until 70, as I now have calculated to be my best, most rational plan. So, maybe 40% likelihood.

5) Cost of medications shifted from Medicaid to self:

This is a serious consideration, because could be as much as $10,000/year. Prior to being diagnosed with Crohn's disease, I was a very low consumer of medical services/prescriptions. In fact, during the years I was running my business and only had very high deductible private health insurance, I didn't even usually choose to buy my moderately expensive asthma prescription drugs and made due with coffee, over-the-counter, and the occasional "loan" of an inhaler from another family member with a prescription plan. So, I really do feel pretty "trapped" by the fact that I haven't (yet) been able to hack an alternate solution to this problem. OTOH, given that my income has consistently been within the qualifying range for Medicaid for quite a few years, I don't think I am at great risk of being disqualified anytime soon. If Medicaid stops covering the particular drug I am on now, I will take on the risk of trying another means of treatment. There's a good possibility that I will take this risk just so I won't have to feel so trapped. (10%)

6) Exuberance/optimisim causes me to give up apartment for unique living situation:

Yeah, definitely could happen. (85%)

7) Unique living situation fails:

Yeah, this could happen too. (80%)

8) You no longer have the income to get approved for an apartment:

I didn't have the income to get approved for the apartment I currently occupy. I do have good credit and a very middle-class appearance. I also may have fudged a bit on the self-employment income Okay, not a foolproof tactic, so let's give this one (50%).


9) Family members are in moment of transition and you are reluctant to be a burden:

A lot of this applies to LentilBaby option too, especially given that I have on more than one occasion been financially supported by a man who wasn't even all that or at all interested in me sexually/romantically, but appreciated me as a housemate/companion, so I only focused on the more "Baby" aspects under that possibility. I am generally recognized as being the opposite of a burden as a housemate, even in situations where I pay no rent. I am highly to reasonably skilled in pretty much every homemaker category including those usually assigned to members of the male gender, and I am very easy-going towards helpful or entertaining in most social situations. This is one of the reasons why I do feel like it is kind of wasteful that I am currently living by myself.

Also, I have a fairly extensive circle of family/friends, so there would have to be a whole lot of simultaneous transition (especially considering that there are a good number of transitions I could help with) going on to make this a likely possibility: (5%)

10) Assets too high for housing assistance:

Obviously, if it comes to this juncture, I will then choose to use whatever financial assets I have to purchase whatever I can afford that resembles a house. (20%)

Okay, so plugging it all in, and correcting for some lack of independence in factors, given that I am not freely choosing to live in my SmartCar, the likelihood that I will be forced by the above contingencies into having to live in my SmartCar is approximately: Less than .5% = >insignificant.

[Scott 2]

Cost of medications shifted from Medicaid to self

For ages 65 plus, this doesn't have to be uncertain. You can check the Medicare formulary and see how the drug is covered. If it is expensive and falls in the donut hole, qualification for Medicare Savings, specifically extra help, may be key.

Alternatively, your doctor may shift to a medicine that is administered in office (maybe even the same one) - moving the expense under your part B. If this happens, you're on the hook for 20%. Your part G plan becomes essential, as it would pick up that portion.

It's possible you might be able to navigate other assistance programs to ensure access to medicine. But the full original medicare suite is tough to beat. Any doctor treating your condition and medicare patients, probably knows exactly how the drug is handled.

[7Wannabe5]

@Scott2:

Yes, the worst-case scenario $10,000 I estimated would only occur if my coverage slipped prior to age 65. And it's entirely likely that I would then be able to reduce the expense through pharmaceutical company discount program. Some similar drugs are getting closer to being available in generic self-injectable form. I currently have to receive the drug through IV transfusion every 8 weeks, which is why it is so ridiculously expensive. I also hate being tied on this 8 week chain, even though I have no current plans for rambling.

[Ego]

Is that true if you shift from the pharma stuff to medical marijuana?

[7Wannabe5]

@Ego:

Medical marijuana would be much cheaper. Unfortunately, arbitrarily taking myself off of pharma drug and on to marijuana would be extreme example of irrational exhuberance. Prior to taking the drug I am on now, and after trying another advanced biologic that didn't work for me, I was in very rough shape: randomly shitting myself in public, shitting blood and mucus every day, pain so bad I passed out cold from it on one occasion, constant impossible to ignore feeling like my colon was spasming in dry heaves, and extreme exhaustion by around 2:00 every afternoon. If I go off the drug that now has me mostly in remission, there is a risk that I will develop immunity to it and it will no longer work for me. So, really I should be feeling extremely thankful/lucky rather than trapped by my treatments. It's just easy to start to forget how much worse it could be once you are a ways past it. Acceptance. Acceptance. Acceptance...

[Scott 2]

Since the infusion is done in a medical office, it's likely to fall under Medicare part B. Without a plan G, the copay is rough. From what I understand, drug company assistance programs don't play well with Medicare.

I didn't appreciate how far you progressed through step therapy. It's great the treatment is working. A little cannabis isn't the replacement.

[Ego]

I was in very rough shape: randomly shitting myself in public, shitting blood and mucus every day, pain so bad I passed out cold from it on one occasion, constant impossible to ignore feeling like my colon was spasming in dry heaves, and extreme exhaustion by around 2:00 every afternoon. If I go off the drug that now has me mostly in remission, there is a risk that I will develop immunity to it and it will no longer work for me.

That is horrible. I am sorry you are going though it.

We are all a black swan away from extremely difficult circumstances. It seems that your black swan arrived. Your attitude in dealing with it is admirable.

While you cannot control whether the drug continues to work or whether Medicare will cover it, you can position yourself so that you are most likely to get coverage and housing/financial assistance if those terrible symptoms return.

At 65, when you transition to Medicare, you have the option of being a dually-eligible person. That is, eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Trouble is, most states (excluding CA) have an asset test for the Medicaid portion, with a five year lookback period. They will look back at your finances for five years to see if you disposed of assets with the intention to qualify. Housing assistance also has asset tests with lookback.

You are under 60 so you have five years to work out the details. It seems almost anti-ERE to suggest avoiding savings, but that may be the best option for you.

Also, your state is transitioning how they deal with dually-eligible people so it may be wise to keep an eye on that process.

[7Wannabe5]

Since the infusion is done in a medical office, it's likely to fall under Medicare part B. Without a plan G, the copay is rough. From what I understand, drug company assistance programs don't play well with Medicare.

Here's what I found specific to my situation:

In 2023, you’ll pay a monthly premium of $97.10* and a $226 deductible if you sign up for the immunosuppressive drug benefit. Once you’ve met the deductible, you’ll pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for your immunosuppressive drugs. If you sign up for the immunosuppressive drug benefit and have limited income and resources, but don't have full Medicaid coverage, you may qualify for help paying the costs through one of these Medicare Savings Programs: Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) Program, Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB) Program, and Qualifying Individual (QI) Program. Learn about Medicare Savings Programs.

* You may pay a higher premium based on your income.

Crohn's disease is a qualified disability, but you have to be in near-death's-door condition with no hope of remediation to qualify for Social Security Disability benefit with it. So, for instance, the fact that I can't very well be in full-physical charge of a classroom full of young children if I have to run to the bathroom suddenly and frequently, would have to be accommodated by an employer, but I have already accommodated myself by only tutoring small groups and never in the morning when my symptoms are likely to be worst.

You are under 60 so you have five years to work out the details. It seems almost anti-ERE to suggest avoiding savings, but that may be the best option for you.

Yes, this is my best option unless I could absolutely count on being able to get and maintain very high-paying job(s) based on my soon to be completed (September) data science degree. Other middling options such as taking a relatively low-paying entry-level full-time job teaching high school math would be counter-productive. My original reasoning for acquiring the data science degree was that if nothing else worked to remediate my terrible symptoms, I was going to have to go to a less expensive medical system internationally and pay out-of-pocket to have my colon surgically removed and replaced with a colostomy device, which even in a less expensive setting might cost upwards of $100,000. The downside of this solution, and the reason the U.S. medical system will not cover it unless you are pretty much dead already, is that Crohn's disease can hop to other locations throughout your digestive system, so cutting out the chunk that is currently ulcerated is not a cure. However, there was a good likelihood that such a measure would grant me at least 10 years of reprieve from worst symptoms, which are actually so bad, the scene where the Alien in "Alien" bursts out of a stomach was written by a human with Crohn's disease. Marijuana is one of the few pain-killers that can be used, because almost all other pain-killers make the underlying disease worse.

Therefore, my best bet is to figure out how I can simultaneously maintain enough assets/credit that if liquified/accessed could buy me such an international market surgery if current and all other drugs fail, yet also maintain my eligibility for Medicaid. The Medicaid program in my state does not consider assets if you are below 65, so not yet eligible for Medicare. My current assets are actually semi-"hidden" and two means by which I could hide more assets would be by purchasing a primary residence (which can have value up to $500,000) or by "hiding" assets in a business or similar jointly held enterprise. At the time of my first divorce, I already owned my business in partnership with one of my sisters, so I consulted a lawyer about its evaluation as an asset and he assured me that there was no way my rare book inventory would be valued beyond my cost of acquisition. So, that would be another option for "hiding" more assets that I didn't need to be liquid towards international market surgery.

If I get my spending back down below $12,000 while maintaining my income at just below Medicaid limit of $18,000, I could save at least another $40,000 before I turn 65. The only means by which I can currently imagine getting my spending even lower than $12,000 would involve moving back in with either IPhone 14 Guy (previously known as my poly-partner The Cowboy) or my manic-walker-wielding decrepit bi-polar mother, because in both of those situations my shelter expenses would drop to zero. Neither of these options are very appealing, although I should also mention that The Cowboy has previously offered to legally marry me so I can be on his very good high-level government employee insurance, so that is another possible option if all else fails.

Anyways, if I was just one tree in a permaculture project under my intelligent management, I would just let me go. However, since I am the organism around which any permaculture project under my intelligent management is centered, that is not (yet) a viable/preferrable option. Therefore, I have to think more along the lines of the intelligent gardener I chatted with one day when I was working as a temp during garden season at Home Depot. I was helping him out in the Garden Supplements and Poisons aisle, and he explained to me his rationale for purchasing a highly toxic substance, which was that he was just going to apply the smallest amount needed to save a very valuable tree. IOW, his take was that there was no substance/strategy that should be strictly verboten under intelligent management. So, that is how I will proceed in regard to dealing with my Black Swan/Death of a Pond level problem with Crohn's Disease. Another counter-example along this line would be the ancient tribe which inhabited Greenland(or Iceland?) which died out because they refused to start eating fish because it was verboten in their cultural heritage. I will not be that tribe.

This post is becoming very long, so I will stop here for now, but I still need to hash out my thoughts/tactics regarding securing poly-homerous affordable housing options for my senior years, and my thoughts/tactics for getting back into shape given my lingering symptoms which leave me still maybe 15% disabled in certain ways that limit my options, and the side-effects of my current medication, and the fact that I am now post-menopausal and aging.

[NewBlood]

Now, I just have to figure out something fun/worthwhile to do with my grad degree, so that it isn't a complete waste. Maybe an Eco-Anarchist Data Science project?

If getting paid is not the focus, this may be of interest if you're not already aware of it:
https://www.datascienceforsocialgood.org/

[7Wannabe5]

@NewBlood:

Thanks for the link. I have been trying to think along the lines of "There has to be some value to this toolset beyond full-time corporate employment."

[NewBlood]

Why, yes there is
See also this: https://www.statisticswithoutborders.org/

[zbigi]

@NewBlood:

Thanks for the link. I have been trying to think along the lines of "There has to be some value to this toolset beyond full-time corporate employment."

There's also government, academia, think tanks and similar NGOs.

[Henry]

Crohn's disease is a qualified disability, but you have to be in near-death's-door condition with no hope of remediation to qualify for Social Security Disability benefit with it.

So the shit could literally hit the fan and yet still not figuratively hit the fan.

[7Wannabe5]

@NewBlood@zbigi:

Thank you for the suggestions. I looked at the Statistics Without Borders website, and I was struck by one of their projects which involved schooling for children in Africa, and my thought was "Why wouldn't I just go teach these kids directly rather than volunteering for a data science project to help the non-profit?" My second, sad thought was that the African kids in the photos actually look cleaner and happier than the disadvantaged kids I currently teach in the U.S.

I'm sure I can eventually come up with a fulflling or fun project to make use of this toolset. I think it's just the fact that I haven't yet even achieved Advanced Beginner mastery combined with the highly towards corporate employment slant of my particular M.S. program that is inhibiting more creative thought on my part. It's like I keep getting different new pieces for a construction model kit mailed to me every couple months, but the enclosed instructions are always toward the same final result, which is maybe endless variations on a "race car", and I would rather build a "drumming bear" or a "worm robot."

So the shit could literally hit the fan and yet still not figuratively hit the fan.

Yup. Although, it is also the case that the qualifications for total disability with Crohn's disease are more in alignment with the symptoms suffered by those who have ulceration near the juncture of small/large intestines, because this often causes extreme weight loss, and is the most common manifestation. So, if you have Crohn's and a BMI under maybe 16, you are considered disabled. When the disease is currently manifesting towards the end of the colon/rectum, as in my case, weight loss due to not being able to eat is less likely, but eventually the ulceration may lead to all sorts of terrible results that will make you realize that humans are really just worms with lots of fancy appendages attached. For instance, the ulcerated colon may attach itself to other organs in order to perform its prime directive of removing shit from your body, so you can wind up with newly formed open wound exits spewing shit through other sites on your skin or tunnels formed so shit is now exiting your body with your urine or through you reproductive organs, etc. etc. If this happens and can't be surgically corrected, you will be declared fully disabled due to Crohn's disease.

[7Wannabe5]

SKILLATHON 2024

January:
1)Meta-Self-Improvement Retrospective Towards Skillathon Planning.
2)Intuitive Eating/Gentle Nutrition/Fun Movement.

February:
1)Sixty-Two Pick-Up.
2) GTD/Minimalism/Clutter-Control Reboot

March:
1) GTD/Minimalism/Clutter-Control Reboot cont.
2) Gonzo Capitalism: The Wilder Side

April:
1) Poly-Homerous Planning/Smart Camper Build.
2) Mobile-Permaculture/Scavenger Walking.

May: YTBD
June: The Wilder Side: Found Books and Lost Arts, a multi-faceted cooperative project with my three sisters.
July: Transcendent Eco-Sexuality
August: Data Science Project.
September: YTBD
October: Tree Climbing
November: End of Life Planning/62 Pickup Redux.
December: YTBD

In recent years I've been keeping a rough rotating list of the factors currently most limiting to my Freedom. Lack of Vigor remains #1 with a bullet at this juncture. Therefore, as I continue this month with my reboot of GTD (Getting Things Done practice), I've been thinking about the concept of Getting Things Done Very Slowly (as well as Very Inexpensively) and how this might be related to Efficacy, Efficiency and/or Effectiveness. I happened upon this extremely interesting image and associated blog:



https://csl4d.wordpress.com/2016/12/12/ ... ctiveness/

Or in simpler terms:

Efficacy = Getting Things Done
Efficiency = Doing Things Right
Effectiveness= Doing the Right Things

Although David Allen's book is entitled in alignment with Efficacy, it actually touches upon all 3 of the Es, but from the perspective that you need to start with some "bottom up" efficacy (material/mental "clutter control") in relationship to current commitments on your resources. As an eNTP, I am actually better than most humans about not fretting (near zero percent likelihood that I am unable to relax while having sex, reading a novel, or eating pudding, because stuff undone on my ToDo list) about having a lot of open project loops, but I am also worse about creating waaaaay too many and/or ever getting them to closed. So, even though the intended audience for "GTD" has pretty much the most super-boring collection of "projects" imaginable ( based on the examples offered by Allen), the practices it outlines can still be very helpful for an eNTP in getting a better handle on her much more interesting project-scape. It's just that the emphasis will be less towards reducing "fretting" and more towards increasing "focus." For example, although Allen doesn't place much emphasis on this task for his usual busy-beaver executive "fretting" type clients, creating a hard boundary between Current Projects and Someday/Maybe projects is critical for an eNTP. Making current project "Next Actions" super-tiny bite-sized can also be helpful due to eNTP tendency towards procrastination.

Anyways, where I am at currently is that I need to kill or complete/continue the pile of projects I happily spun up in conjunction with my big Money Dimple move/take, and also kill or complete/continue the pile of projects I less happily spun up in conjunction with my Black Swan/Crohn's Disease event/diagnosis, as I move into the pile of projects associated with The Wilder Side: Lost Books and Found Arts, a multi-faceted cooperative project with my 3 sisters (and our kids and SOs.) And since Lack of Vigor is currently my primary limiting factor to Getting Things Done, it would make sense that I should also bump anything I can do that will tend towards increasing my Vigor to the top of my current project pile.

In terms of the Efficiency elements most relevant to "ERE", I am doing Okay-Could Do Better. My personal spending in February was right around $1350, and that is with what I perceive to be a good deal of slack in my system. My tiny garret apartment (less than 500 sq. ft.) and my tiny Smart car, obviously represent two of my largest expense categories, and I think that both could be either eliminated or utilized more efficiently.

1) My youngest sister who is work-at-home-free-to-travel might stay/live/work in the 12 X 12 second floor room which is part of my mostly 3rd floor/attic apartment for part of the summer. I currently use it pretty much only for storage of a bunch of book I purchased in anticipation of re-booting my used/rare book business, and permaculture supplies tools.

2) If I decide to re-boot my book business small scale to start, I could organize the space, so that my sister and the books will both fit.

3) I could also re-boot my hydroponics systems with some DIY extensions and more solar power options in the second floor room and part of the 3rd floor.

4) I could convert my Smart Car into a Smart Car Camper, so that I can live out of it for some of the summer weekends I will need to be up north in conjunction with The Wilder Side project, perhaps culminating with my Eco-Sexual Wedding to Lake Huron. However, my current level of Vigor is not up to rough camping in National Forest in Smart Car Camper, so may not be practical.

5) There may be some form of gig work I could do with my Smart Car beyond the write-off I already get for 1099 math tutoring at the coffee shop cross town, and using it to haul used/rare books around if/when I reboot used/rare book business. The Wilder Side project-scape involves the acquisition of a flea market booth, so something associated with that market would be most coherent, maybe just the write-off associated with transporting myself and some goods.

My Gonzo Capitalism: The Wilder Side entry in Skillathon 2024 for March concerns creative effort to produce some original item(s) to sell at the associated flea market booth this summer. My youngest sister is really hustling and already wrote, illustrated, and published a very cool Zine. And she already made $115 towards our joint endeavor selling copies at an open mic night reading. She also designed the t-shirt which features a deer with antlers wearing a bathing dress and reading a book on the beach. My second sister is in charge of organizing some of the cool lost arts and crafts books remnant of our defunct business which she still has in storage towards the Wilder Side project. I could just bake some locavore oriented pies, or other street-legal cottage industry foodstuffs, but I want to contribute something intellectual property-ish also. I may also have to figure out some tech elements of live streaming for the more Performance Art aspects of the entire project-scape. In more general terms, I am also the sister in charge of at least making this a break-even adventure, so need to figure out how to best capture it with Excel.

On a somber final note, my current longest-ever streak of celibacy has now passed the Year marker. My ex-"husband" did send me a shirtless photo in which he looked pretty cute for an old guy, but I think maybe it was by accident/meant for somebody else he is currently pursuing, and I had already determined that knocking boots with him again was not a great idea due to too much baggage to keep it casual. It's looking like my plans for achieving Transcendent Eco-Sexual practice in July may be limited to the solo and/or only with the company of natural elements, if I don't get cracking on improving my Vigor. I just added "Find most inexpensive, trusted source for magnesium and berberine supplements" to my Projects list. The B12 gummies I already procured are clearly not enough. I also need to do something about the nummular eczema which is now spreading across my entire body. My primary care physician just noted that humans who already have auto-immune conditions are more likely to get even more auto-immune conditions. I suppose I should look forward to Rheumatic Arthritis and Alopecia in coming years. Then I can be simultaneously wheezing, sneezing, randomly shitting blood and mucus, swollen in all my joints, puffed up like a tick on prednisone, covered with large itchy patches, squinting with sticky red-rimmed eyes, and balding. Wish me luck on getting laid in that eventuality.