Hello Everyone!
Awakened by thunder, A rainy day rant, Afternoon gaming, A pleasant hike, Cacti flowers & So many blackberry blossoms!
I awoke before dawn to a massive thunderstorm raging outside and the dogs freaking out from all the noise. Usually the thunder is not super bad here (or seemingly all that close) but this morning it seemed like it was right on top of the site and the thunder was incredibly loud and made the entire cabin vibrate with every crashing boom!
The storm was a pretty intense one and although the dogs were freaking out I did my best to comfort them before falling back asleep (repeatedly) because I just did not have it in me to start my day quite yet. By the time that the sun came up over the horizon it was still raining but at least the worst part of the storm had blown over and although I wanted to continue sleeping I finally got up and began my day.
Usually the first thing that I do is let the dogs out and start some espresso brewing but this morning I did not even bother to make the espresso and just zoned out reading stuff online. It is worth noting that I still avoid the news until the afternoon and that has made a really big difference in how my days go so I am glad that I began doing that a few months ago.
Occasionally I do peak at the news slightly earlier in the day (around eleven or so) but at the most that occurs maybe once a week and 'peak' is assuredly the right word because that is about all I do on those occasions. It is not exactly that I 'cannot stomach' the news itself but as I have stated numerous times before I dislike/distrust the algorithms serving it up and of course all the folks spinning one narrative or another for who knows what reasons!
Not to draw too many parallels here but about a month or so ago I started periodically checking one of my traditional social media feeds again (after taking a very long break from it) and whoa have I gotten spoiled on Hive! I mean ninety-nine point nine percent of what I see on there is utter garbage and although it could be called 'shit posting' I think a more apt term might be: Diarrhea of the mind and mouth!
I mean it is a total low grade experience largely shaped by those algorithms serving up what passes as 'content' (and advertisements) in such a way to keep me scrolling for more... but meh I get a few pages in and am so underwhelmed by the experience that I realize that the 'more' I am scrolling for just cannot be found there. Which always results in me going 'yup that is why I left this trash behind' before going back to scrolling through content on Hive.
To be clear here I am not saying that the Hive content is always spectacular but most folks give it some (or their best) effort when making it and are actually authentic which sure is a big contrast to the vapid culture of the other more traditional social media sites. I know that it is impossible to convey what I really mean to someone who has not experienced it so suffice it to say that: Yes, there are way better options available and I will be sticking to said options!
It was an interesting experiment though and one that I am glad that I did because it sure was eye-opening comparing those two experiences and how each one leaves me feeling both during said experience and of course afterwards. Not to get too lost on this thread of thought but lets just say I never made a new post on that old site nor even felt remotely inspired to even when I saw something that landed in that point zero one percent of non-rubbish.
Meanwhile on Hive it is like I have to 'bat away' the damned inspiration and often avoid commenting on things because I just do not have the time to get into long engaging discussions filled with nuances, a desire for clarity and useful information... because if I do then I use all (or just too many of) my 'words per day' on that instead of in these entries!
Anyway, at this point my view with the social technologies is that 'folks are either going to catch on or not' and although it may seem like I am 'pitching' Hive a lot it is way more about me making note of it in my life and relaying my experiences than any horseshit like that. The only times that I do try to 'pitch' it is when I encounter folks wanting to somehow earn extra income which is pretty much how I first got turned onto it by a friend.
I know that probably sounds like a rather superficial reason but I just look at it like the folks interested in doing it for that reason are way more inclined to actually listen, ask questions and of course do their own research. Lets face it folks are absolutely saturated with 'get rich quick crypto schemes' (or what appear to be) and if folks that I personally know cannot take ten minutes to figure out how Hive (or even to put it simpler 'crypto and blockchain technology') has changed my life... well is it really worth my time then?
What I am getting at is that after like four years of the same activity on my part I am like: Yeah look for yourself because here is the unalterable record of said activity going back to my very first post. Plus the equally unalterable financial and social results written to an immutable, uncensorable, decentralized blockchain ran by a community not a company... and if you cannot see for yourself what is going on... then I just cannot help you with it further!
Not to muddy the waters here but it is like a bee trying to explain to a hornet why they might look similar at face value... but they are worlds apart in what they do and how they do it and while the hornet may love the honey... it is incapable of making any of its own... or learning how to!
The phrase 'do not waste your time talking to the people who do not listen' comes to mind and not to be harsh or anything but by and large most folks fall into that category for me personally at this stage of my life. To be clear there is nothing wrong with that given the direction my own life has taken and how most folks that I know just stayed on the same old trajectory where I first encountered them.
I used to have a broader desire to get folks to consider homesteading, off-grid living and all the various things that more or less fit under those umbrellas as far as lifestyle choices go... but by and large these days I just worry about myself, what I am doing and do not make all that much noise one way or another along the way to nudge folks towards a 'better' (yeah that is subjective) direction.
When it comes right down to it I am incredibly proud of the folks that have made adjustments to their lives in a way that makes their life less environmentally impactful and more fulfilling so kudos to the minority of folks for achieving that. Many of them started getting serious about the homesteading around the same time that I did and having watched their progress it is just amazing to see and gives me a little hope to boot!
Sure the pressures of the last few years have made many folks re-examine their life (I know that I have) and along the way they have had to come to some stark realizations and one of them is that the time to 'get ready' is quite some time back... but hey, better late than never! Which in short has brought on this whole new wave of over-eager folks scrambling to cover all their bases in a meaningful way in a very brief period of time.
While I commend them for their newfound lifestyle choices and their activities it also comes at a time when there are rampant shortages, an unreliable supply-chain, crazy inflation and a fitful economy that has spent the last few years on life support... so yeah in part their actions are not helping with say the availability of goods but overall at least they are trying!
The more important thing in my mind though is that someone like me who has spent an incredible amount of years working towards my goals and living this kind of lifestyle... is not in a damn hurry nor even all that ruffled by the times that are currently freaking most folks out to the nth degree... so yeah my gut reaction to all the late comers is that they are more a liability to themselves than anything else.
I mean if you are saying 'the shit is going to hit the fan' you have absolutely failed to notice that it already has. Which to be fair here, I totally get because 'peace of mind and comfort' sort of demand it but refusing to acknowledge something does not make it untrue.
What I am getting at is that folks get so hung up on waiting for some 'grand cue' that will give them permission to change their lifestyle that they somehow miss all the other cues that could have been followed or just examined. Cues which would have lead them to not needing to retain that delusional 'peace of mind and comfort' that I spoke of previously and take action before there is a demand to do so by a crisis or several of them.
I mean come on, having true peace of mind and comfort is frigging invaluable before during and after any damned crisis and if other folks life choices do not accommodate them that... then I dunno what I can really say (let alone convey) to them when it comes to the present we are in nor the future we are rapidly sliding towards.
I am not talking about living some unrealistic 'positive' life here or any of that overrated jazz but am saying that simply being realistic and pragmatic will go along way towards attaining said peace of mind. In other words the 'time to panic' was so damn long ago for me personally that I can only vaguely recall it nudging me in the right direction before I listened to it and let go of all that panic horseshit entirely.
Basically all these folks doing a mad dash to 'prepare for the end of the world' ultimately clashes with my own personal desire to just take care of what needs done today and continuing to prepare for a better (not a worse) tomorrow.
Alright, it is now not all that long before sunset so I better get back to working on this before it grows too much later. From glancing over the last few paragraphs I can see that I got off on quite the tangent this morning but it looks like I wrapped it up so I will not be diving back into that train of thought for now.
The day was an odd one to say the least because it kept raining into the early afternoon and just when it was about to clear up my buddy messaged me about gaming together some... so shirking my responsibilities (not that I really had any today) I enjoyed an afternoon gaming with them. Suffice it to say that our little practice sessions before the online ladder starts are going well!
Later in the day I went on a nice hike and could not help but notice that currently everything's leaves have grown back in fully (not just with baby leaves) and wow is it looking incredibly lush around here. I swear staring at nothing but the green of slash pines (a tree I am in no way fond of) gets pretty old during the winter and seeing all this new growth makes it all seem like an entirely different place.
While I was hiking I checked in on those prickly pear cacti that I transplanted a while back and they are not only looking good but a few of them have what looks like the beginnings of flowers on them. I think that they are still too small to produce any fruit but I have seen a few growing here around the same size produce a single fruit so who knows.
Anyway, I also got a better look at some of those brier (blackberry) patches and their flowers and now even more patches of them have bloomed out and the pollinators are going crazy in those areas which is always a pleasant sight. I am unsure if it is them or this other white flower (on those unknown small trees) but something is super fragrant and had everywhere that I was walking smelling frigging awesome.
Okay, I think I am going to wrap this up and get on with the editing. I hope that everyone is doing well and has a nice day/night.
https://peakd.com/c/hive-114308/created
I totally agree with you about the other social media site, it is pure crap. You get more rain than we do.