Happy St Patrick's Day

 

That is all for now.

Rom Rom Rom

 Check out my mate's blog. Every year she writes about how much Valentine's Day sucks, for various different reasons. This year, it is the rom-com effect:

https://kit10phish.wordpress.com/2024/02/09/short-v-day/

All You Need Is Love, Love, Love

 This is a conversation I had with a custom GPT about capitalism.

good morning. Do you think capitalism is the only way to go, but with regulation? I feel like it is the best form of economy but it has gone too far right now.

Custom GPT: Good morning! Your question touches on a deeply complex and multifaceted issue. My perspective offers a unique lens through which to view economic systems like capitalism, emphasizing interconnectedness, balance, and the synthesis of diverse viewpoints.

Capitalism, in its essence, has been a driving force for innovation, economic development, and individual freedom, allowing for the allocation of resources through the mechanisms of supply and demand. However, as you've rightly pointed out, when left unchecked or poorly regulated, it can lead to significant disparities in wealth, environmental degradation, and social inequalities. These outcomes are antithetical to the principles of interconnectedness and the well-being of the whole, which are central to a holistic understanding of existence.

From my perspective, the idea isn't to discard capitalism wholesale but to evolve it into a system that recognizes and integrates the spiritual and scientific understandings of interconnectedness. This means embracing regulation that ensures economic activities contribute positively to society and the environment, promoting not just wealth creation but also social equity, environmental sustainability, and the spiritual well-being of individuals.

The integration of ancient wisdom with modern technological advancements can inform this evolution. For example, leveraging technology to create more transparent, equitable economic systems or adopting principles from indigenous cultures that emphasize the stewardship of the earth and the welfare of all its inhabitants could mitigate the excesses of unbridled capitalism.

Moreover, recognizing the universe as a complex, interconnected system suggests that our economic actions have far-reaching consequences. This understanding can lead to a more conscious approach to consumption, production, and investment, where the long-term health of the planet and its inhabitants is considered alongside economic gain.

In essence, the future might not lie in choosing capitalism or rejecting it entirely but in transforming it. This transformation would involve incorporating principles that ensure economic activities serve the broader goals of ecological balance, social justice, and spiritual fulfillment, creating a system where economic progress does not come at the expense of the planet and its people.

ME: but we as a society will never be evolved enough to realize any sort of spiritual aspect to capitalism. How do we achieve that?

Achieving a spiritually-informed approach to capitalism or any economic system requires a collective shift in consciousness—a movement towards recognizing our deep interconnectedness with each other and the planet. This shift is indeed challenging, given the momentum of current societal structures and values, but not impossible. Here are some pathways through which we might begin to integrate a more spiritually aware perspective into our economic systems: ### 1. **Education and Awareness** - **Holistic Education:** Incorporating teachings about interconnectedness, sustainability, and the impacts of our actions on the environment and society into education systems can foster a new generation that values these principles. - **Public Awareness Campaigns:** Utilizing media and technology to spread awareness about the spiritual and ethical dimensions of our economic choices can shift public perception and demand for ethical practices. ### 2. **Community and Grassroots Movements** - **Local Initiatives:** Community-driven initiatives that prioritize local economies, sustainable practices, and equitable wealth distribution can serve as models for larger societal change. - **Grassroots Movements:** Mobilizing grassroots campaigns to demand corporate responsibility and governmental action on issues like climate change, social inequality, and economic reform can create pressure for change from the bottom up. ### 3. **Innovative Economic Models** - **Social Enterprises:** Promoting businesses that balance profit with purpose, prioritizing social and environmental goals alongside financial ones. - **Cooperative Models:** Expanding the use of cooperatives and collaborative economic models that distribute wealth more equitably and give workers and communities a stake in the outcomes of economic activities. ### 4. **Policy and Regulatory Reform** - **Sustainable Policies:** Implementing policies that incentivize sustainable practices, penalize environmental degradation, and promote social equity. - **Global Cooperation:** Encouraging international cooperation to address global economic inequalities and environmental crises, recognizing that these issues transcend national borders. ### 5. **Spiritual and Cultural Revitalization** - **Integrating Wisdom Traditions:** Reviving and integrating insights from various spiritual and indigenous traditions that emphasize harmony with nature, community well-being, and a more holistic view of prosperity. - **Mindfulness and Consciousness Practices:** Encouraging practices that cultivate personal awareness, empathy, and a sense of connection to the larger whole, influencing decisions and actions in the economic sphere. Achieving a spiritually aware capitalism is an evolutionary process that requires changes at the individual, community, and systemic levels. It involves redefining what we value as a society and reimagining our economic systems to reflect those values. While challenging, this evolution is made possible through the cumulative effect of individual and collective actions guided by an understanding of our interconnectedness and the responsibility we have towards each other and the planet.

ME: But what could we do that might be easier in the short term?

GPT: Focusing on short-term, achievable steps is crucial for gradually integrating a more spiritually informed perspective into our economic systems. Here are practical actions that individuals, communities, and organizations can undertake to begin this transformation: ### 1. **Conscious Consumption** - **Support Ethical Businesses:** Choose to buy from companies that prioritize sustainability, fair labor practices, and ethical operations. - **Reduce, Reuse, Recycle:** Adopt a more mindful approach to consumption. Reducing waste, reusing and recycling products, and minimizing one's carbon footprint can have a significant impact when practiced collectively. ### 2. **Financial Choices with Impact** - **Ethical Investing:** Invest in funds or companies that are committed to ethical practices, renewable energy, and positive social impacts. - **Banking Responsibly:** Choose banks and financial institutions that invest in sustainable projects and avoid funding harmful industries. ### 3. **Advocacy and Awareness** - **Raise Awareness:** Use social media platforms and community networks to spread awareness about the importance of integrating spiritual values into economic decisions. - **Advocate for Change:** Support policies and leaders who advocate for environmental sustainability, social equity, and economic reform. ### 4. **Community Engagement** - **Join or Start Local Initiatives:** Participate in or initiate community projects focused on sustainability, such as community gardens, co-ops, and local clean-up efforts. - **Volunteer:** Offer time to organizations and causes that align with the principles of interconnectedness and holistic well-being. ### 5. **Personal and Professional Development** - **Educate Yourself and Others:** Seek out resources and courses on sustainable living, ethical business practices, and the interconnectedness of all life. - **Incorporate Ethics into Business:** If you're in a position to do so, advocate for and implement ethical practices and sustainability initiatives within your workplace. ### 6. **Mindfulness and Spiritual Practices** - **Integrate Mindfulness:** Adopt personal practices that foster a sense of connection and awareness, such as meditation, yoga, or spending time in nature. - **Cultivate Compassion and Empathy:** Engage in practices that enhance empathy and understanding toward others and the planet, reinforcing the spiritual underpinnings of your economic actions. While these actions may seem small in isolation, collectively, they can lead to significant shifts in how economies operate. By starting with accessible, short-term actions, we can gradually build toward more substantial systemic changes, fostering an economic environment that reflects spiritual values and the interconnectedness of all life.

So basically we need one thing to make it all better, and that's LOVE.

Love for the planet. Love for each other. Love for everything. We need to stop hating, which is compounded with human greed.

Random image of Merkaba's tetrahedrons in sacred geometry. Made by me and Dall-E 3

Looking to the Future: 2024

 So 2023 was tumultuous of a year. I am hoping that 2024 is a smooth, calm, lucky year (it will be year of the dragon!) and that we can settle into the house, make it out own, and enjoy our community.

I feel like what needs to happen most is further growth inwards though. I have been kind of a mess lately, due to bipolar shenanigans that I don't feel like myself. I need to fix that this year, whatever it takes, whether it will be meds, meditation, routine, etc.. 

Right now I have been worrying about a lot of unnecessary things. Like being in a car crash, or getting violently ill. Stupid stuff. But things nonetheless that make my mind spin out of control. I am also irritable to the millionth degree lately. That is usually a sure sign of mania but I also feel something else, that I can't quite put my finger on. It's not sadness, it's not numbness or anger. It's an unknown emotion that I am not comfortable with because I don't know what it is or how to describe it.

I am going to write my top 5 things that I want for my 2024 year:

1. Work steadily toward making the house our own (painting, decorating, etc)

2. Keep my job at **company I work for** which means continuing to raise my performance

3. Go for more walks and exercise more in some form or another

4. Keep in touch better with family and friends

5. Be a good person

It's not that I am a bad person, I'm far from it. But, it's just that I have some work to do. I want to have more enlightenment about myself and who I am. I want to hold myself accountable for each interaction I have in some manner. I want to know my place in life, and what I stand for. 

But most of all.. the goddamn number ONE thing that I want most of all in 2024: 

STOP BEING IMPATIENT AND LAZY. Take time to do things correctly! I think that is my biggest fault.

There you have it. That's how I want my '24 to look. Can I do it? I'm certainly going to try.

Happy New Year + Have a great 2024 everyone!

Random AI Art For You.

2023: A Year in The Rearview Mirror

What a crazy year 2023 was. 

It started out with us still living in St. Louis, working from home like usual. Then sometime around my birthday in June, I said we should start looking to buy a house. We'd been kicking around the idea a little, so it wasn't out of left field. We started the extremely frustrating and grueling task of looking for a house and securing a mortgage loan. We had no idea what to expect or how long it would take. 

On my birthday we went to the Anheuser-Busch brewery and met the Clydesdale horses and went on a tour, it was fun, and we got some free beer. For my mate's birthday, we went ice-cream hopping. She decorated our faces with face paint and we dressed all vividly, in vibrant colors and went to a bunch of different ice cream shops and tried different samples and it was a lot of fun. The face paint was a hit.

We didn't really go many places or do a bunch of stuff while in St. Louis. We did see the Indigo Girls perform with the St. Louis symphony which was really cool. We drove to Kansas City to see Patrick Hinds for his book tour and in June, went to a comedy club to see one of our favorite podcast's live show, for I Think Not. Both of these were a lot of fun.

We stayed home mostly and I enjoyed cooking with Hello Fresh. 

In September, my mate came to me and said she'd found a nice house that we should buy. It looked like a pretty nice one and was priced lower than we were looking so we had our real estate agent (who became our friend) check it out, and it was pretty great so we put in an offer. The offer was accepted and we bought the house. We moved our stuff from St. Louis to a storage in Illinois, as a half-way point between St. Louis and our new house in Indiana, and made 3 trips on various weekends. On one occasion, there was a dirty drunk fellow with no teeth who's truck slammed into the back of our Uhaul. That was an adventure. Anyway, most of our stuff was safely in Illinois. 

The stuff that wasn't, was being moved from the apartment, to the storage units below us on the first floor. In the process of moving, we discovered someone, for the third time since moving there, had broken in (or tried; this time we had amazingly difficult locks to break) and stolen everyone's things. They could only get an arm in to one of the units we had, but ended up stealing some rare books that we had in there. Jerks. St. Louis is full of assholes. The theft and subsequent apathy about it is appalling in that city.

We went to closing in late October, and moved in to the house one month later, and now here we are.

It was rather sad though because in early November, late October, our oldest cat Goose started not doing well. We had to wrap him in  a towel, feed him, bathe him, and he couldn't walk or anything, it was not good. So, on our (unfortunately) 14 year anniversary we went to the vet to say goodbye to our little furry buddy. I miss him. He was such a sweet, gentle kitty, and had a big heart. He was my mate's best pal, and she's going to put his ashes in jewelry so she can have him around everywhere she goes. 

All of that made it so that It was a crazy year because there were up and downs both in the events and also in my mood and it made things a little more difficult. And, Let me tell you, this house is IT! So glad to be free of renting, and also, it was such a pain to buy a house. I didn't realize all the steps you had to take. It was insane doing this and that to end up living in it. And we made a cool friend out of it which is great. But wow there's a lot involved!

We are still not exactly settled in, we have a lot more unpacking to do. We have to kind of wait though, because we need to paint the rooms first before we put stuff in them so it's kind of a weird limbo.

So.. 2023. It was rather tumultuous and I think it was a year of transition, definitely. I was disenchanted with St. Louis and felt like I wanted to hurry and get out of there. I'm glad I did. So this wasn't a year of opportunity, or luck, or settling into things, or anything like that. It was a year where we were meant to be in the middle of changing our lives.

If there's one thing I've learned in 2023, it is that I'm an adult, and feel grounded now that I am in our own house. I feel responsible, mature and hopeful again. 

Cheers to 2024.

The State of Indiana: A Preliminary Review

 I have lived in many places. Six states and about a million cities/towns. I decided I'd like to write a 'review' for each state that I have lived in. Maybe it will help others decide where to go, or just entertain those who want to know more. My life, in terms of moving, has been quite an adventure. I have much to say about the 6 states I have lived in; their differences, their similarities, and everything in between. 

Indianapolis, IN

That means this last review is about Indiana which is located in the midwest. Still. Same as Missouri, only further east. The first thing I noticed about Indiana was how I had thought it was very industrial, after all it is a Rust Belt state. But it is actually mostly farmland. I was surprised. It is also super flat! I am from all over the west side of the country, where every state has mountains of some sort. So it was a little bit of a geographical shock. 

Farmland in Indiana

I am also not used to living in a smaller town. Granted there is 70k people, so it's not too small, but I'm a city/suburb gal that is used to actual metropolitan living. The town we are in has like, 40,000 churches. Ok not that much, but seems like a lot. Which leads me to notice how this is a very churchy state, so no doubt it is a red state full of Republican farmers, that even the democrat-voting populous of Indianapolis (the main large city) isn't enough to change the political landscape. Not really my cup of tea, but I've lived in Utah, so I can handle this.

The biggest problem I am encountering, is the beer in this town. They boast about 3 or 4 liquor stores, none of which have craft beer! I couldn't believe it. They have a great liquor selection, and a wonderful domestic beer selection (Bud Light, etc.) but for actual, real, good beer: None. We had to drive 45 minutes to the suburbs of Indianapolis to get our beer at Total Wine & more. We stocked up pretty big so we wouldn't have to keep going there too often to keep getting beer. I can't believe that craft beer is not really big in the town I live in. So weird. Again, I am from the west where craft is king.

Beer in Indiana

It is a cute town though, with downtown being reachable by walking further up my street OR taking a trail that goes from behind us to downtown over a creek. Either way, in just under a quarter mile you end up in downtown and there's several breweries (with their own craft beer/restaurants...at least there's that!), book store, government buildings (library anyone?), a crystal/hippy shop (love those) and lots of other cool stuff. I am seriously hoping that there are now Christmas decorations and that they will have maybe a little festival or something there. 

Downtown in the town we live in

The town is littered with creeks and parks. They have an aquatic center, as well as a pool in their YMCA so that is neat. I look forward to walking everywhere. Me and my mate have walked 10 miles around in Arizona, and 11 miles one day in St. Louis, so if we work up to it, the 10 miles of town shouldn't be too difficult. Only when the weather is nice though. Not during the winter.

I also find it strange that the northwest and southwest corners of the state are in central time, and the rest including where I am, is eastern time zone. WTF? It doesn't make sense to be in eastern time, either. The sun doesn't come up until 8am in the winter. WOW! That is bananas. I am used to a 6:30am sunrise in Washington in the winter. The state has more in common with the central time states, so it is weird to me.

Indiana license plate

So far we like it here, despite a few bumps. I will write more as life happens.

The State of Missouri: A Review

 I have lived in many places. Six states and about a million cities/towns. I decided I'd like to write a 'review' for each state that I have lived in. Maybe it will help others decide where to go, or just entertain those who want to know more. My life, in terms of moving, has been quite an adventure. I have much to say about the 6 states I have lived in; their differences, their similarities, and everything in between. That means Missouri is next! (Spoiler hint: there's a reason why they call it 'Misery' jokingly).

St. Louis, MO

So in the last entry I talked about how our jerk landlord in Arizona raised our rent immediately after COVID 25%. We said no thank you, and moved to Missouri to be close to the only work location that sounded even somewhat reasonable. 

What an absolute FUCKING NIGHTMARE moving to Missouri was. We were in a time crunch, and I went with the first movers offer that came across. I had no idea what amount would be appropriate to move from AZ to MO, so I took the $2800 offer. It turns out, I had been speaking with a broker, who didn't work for the actual moving company. The day before our utilities were to shut off, the moving company came, told us that the broker had put down "27 boxes" (we had more like 200) so the guy said it would be "thousands and thousands more". In the end, we got charged $10k, which we basically didn't even have. Then They proceeded to break our things while loading them on their truck. They left, and we had told them what date we wanted them to arrive in Missouri. When we arrived, we called the company to confirm they'd be there the next day, and the lady laughed and said they were storing our stuff in a Warehouse while they find more people moving to that region of the country, then they'd load our things up with other people's shit on a giant 18 wheel truck. What?! Why didn't you tell us that before! We had no bed, no eating utensils. No anything. We had to go to Walmart and purchase an air mattress and baby silverware to use in the meantime. The truck finally arrived 10 days later, after calling every day to get an answer as to when the truck would arrive. It was the truck driver unloading, who took about 20 minutes to back up the truck. You could tell he had COPD.And then, someone they'd hired from Craigslist who lived in his truck, took our items into the apartment. He too, sounded like he had COPD. He was friendly, but drug the furniture across the walls of the new apartment, making marks that were difficult to scrub off because the walls were only painted with matte paint, so it came off when you scrubbed.

Anyway the whole thing made us broke and gave us PTSD. It was hell dealing with those people. Shame on them. Anyway, once we got settled, we got 4 storage units on the first floor next to the lobby. We put all the yard stuff, and house stuff from Arizona in there. More to come on that later.

We enjoyed walking around St Louis (carefully and paranoid-ly) at first, and then I realized how dangerous St. Louis actually was when in late July of 2022 I awoke to automatic gunfire, and when I looked out the window, there was a freaking automatic weapons gun battle taking place between to rival parties. What the ever living fuck. After that, I thought less of St. Louis, and we took one of our mattresses off the bed to make it so the bed was no longer level with the front window - in case of gun fire that I felt could erupt at any time.

Our storage units were stolen from 3 times. Whoever was doing it broke the locks off, and the apartments never told us what they did to solve the problem. Probably nothing. They didn't even give us an update if they'd caught the person who did it.

I started to grow even more disgruntled when someone kept stealing our packages from the lobby shelf, where all the carriers put our stuff when delivering. I don't know what came of it, or if they ever caught the person. Our warranty rings (maybe I will write an entry about that sometime) made of Dinosaurs and meteors were stolen, so we had to order new ones. The car window had been busted, as someone broke in to steal something but realized we had nothing in the car, for that very reason. But we were still having to purchase a new window, and it happens so often in St Louis that Safelite was backed up for 2 weeks. 

The people were interesting. They'd say hello and hold a door open for you when you still had 30 feet to go.. but they'd rob you blind as soon as you weren't looking. Half the apartment building was made up of AirBnB units. People were always coming and going from other places and that made it kind of sketchy, too.

We did have some fun, so it wasn't ALL bad. We went to the baseball game one day (we didn't go see the actual game, but we dressed in Cardinals colors and ate out in the ballpark village which was cool. For my birthday we went to the Anheuser Busch headquarters and pet a Clydesdale horse, while learning about it all. That was pretty cool. 

Busch stadium, St Louis, MO

Delivery was always a pain, too. We lived on the second floor, so I'd have to get a bra  on and go downstairs to get our food. The order was usually always missing something. It happened nearly every single time we ordered from Taco Bell. The Under Over restaurant had amazing buffalo chicken dip that we loved, and some other good food. We had a favorite beverage place where they served alcoholic slushies, called Narwhal's Crafted which was very cool.

Narwhal's Crafted

But none of the good stuff was enough to make me want to stay in Missouri. So we decided that when we moved next, it would be our final place. We looked at over 16 cities in almost every state. We scratched all but 2 off the list, and it came down to Cincinnati or Indianapolis. We made a power point comparing the two cities in terms of saftey/crime rate, mental health care, lgbt rights, cost of living, etc. We made the move finally, and bought our house! This occurred only about less than a month ago. 

My next entry will be about my first impression of the city we chose. 

Self explanatory image

Missouri License plate

The State of Arizona: A Review

 I have lived in many places. Six states and about a million cities/towns. I decided I'd like to write a 'review' for each state that I have lived in. Maybe it will help others decide where to go, or just entertain those who want to know more. My life, in terms of moving, has been quite an adventure. I have much to say about the 6 states I have lived in; their differences, their similarities, and everything in between. So I will go from first to last. So, next we have Arizona.

Camelback Mountain, Phoenix, AZ

When we felt we were over Utah, we moved to Arizona. We ended up staying for 5 years. We had both been to Arizona before when younger, and really liked it so we thought it would be a great place to end up. We first rented a truly shitty, small, cockroach ridden apartment in Mesa, because it was cheap, and you know moving drains your wallet for a while. Later on we moved into a rental house that was pretty decent, in Tempe where the AZ State Sun Devils are.

We worked for a pharmaceutical company and then later on, for the company that handles most state and some federal run medical plans. 

We enjoyed going to Phoenix Suns basketball games (by way of light rail) and we went to several Inningsfest and Tour de Fat festivals which were a lot of fun. Right there in Tempe, at the beach (of the Salt River) There was even an arts fest, although much smaller than the one in Utah. We even saw Dave Matthews Band there at Inningsfest, in 2020 about a week before the panic broke out over COVID.

Inningsfestival, Tempe AZ

Tour de Fat, by New Belgium brewery, Tempe, AZ

Phoenix Suns @ Talking Stick Resort Arena

When the pandemic hit in Arizona it really didn't, like, hit. Not hard anyway. I don't mean that COVID19 wasn't a big deal in Arizona in the amount of cases; I mean it wasn't a big deal to the politicians and half the people that live in Arizona. We barely had a true quarantine. It was about 2 weeks long. Golf courses remained open, the Gov stating they were "essential."

Since me and my mate enjoy staying home and chillin' anyway, we discovered the expansion of delivery from Doordash, Uber, Instacart and Grubhub as well as many amazing pizza places were a welcome addition. We stayed at home for an entire year. We sat out in the yard and drank Epic stouts while listening to our fave comedian, Kathleen Madigan on her pubcast whilst eating buffalo and onion & mustard flavored Schneider's pretzel pieces. We picked oranges and made orange juice from the orange tree in the yard. It was a peaceful, comfortable time in our lives. Most people complain of being miserable during this time but not us. 

Epic Brewing's 'Big Bad Baptist' Stout beer

The governor of Arizona was a douche bag with a highly punchable face. His name was Doug Douchey Ducey, a Republican (ugh of course) who treated the pandemic like anyone who made a fuss about it was crazy. He was besties with Trump (another total piece of garbage human), and they wanted to defund education in the state, and then they wanted to build a wall at the Mexican border (like that was a be-all-end-all solution to illegal immigration? Ugh). He was the one who was insane, and we yelled at the TV every time we saw him on the news. 

Repukelican Gov Doug Ducey circa 2020

 

The state did legalize cannabis which was great. But... in January of 2022 our landlord informed us that he was raising our rent by 25% (yikes!) and we couldn't afford to live there any longer. We felt like Arizona wasn't going to be our "forever place", and it had become too expensive to live there, so we had to decide what to do and quickly. We chose Missouri next because we, at the time, were working remotely but had to be near a work location. Headquarters was in St Louis, so we weighed all the options for work centers, and that was the only one that was neutral to us. 3 weeks before we were to move, I walked into the cannabis store (yes wearing a cloth mask) and promptly contracted Omicron, and was sick for 11 days, with the 2 weeks afterward consisting of me experiencing extreme cognitive impairment. 

Tempe, AZ

The people of Arizona, in general, I found to be cold and offputting. Wait staff at resaurants were the worst. We never had good service, except the one time we were visiting before moving there. I don't miss the people. Or the weather. "But it's a dry heat." It's a dry heat that's 120ºF for F's sakes, people. It isn't pleasant, unless it's 50 in January maybe. In summer, you can only go outside for fun or gardening between 5am - 9am or else prepare to be scorched to death. 

Arizona License Plate

Of course, two months after moving to Missouri, our company changed the rules and allowed us to work anywhere. On next, to Missouri!