Things I am not concerned by:
1. Tax
2. Tariffs
3. Prices
4. Markets

I will work to better myself. I will save to better those who will survive me. I exist in the world that I experience. None of the above changes this.

First night of the season I expect the temp to dip below freezing. So, time to fire up my s9 garage warmer. A few sats to keep the chill off

Gn. One day closer to when I leave this suffering behind.

Kill all your heroes.

There are many people who I would otherwise respect, but who poison themselves with alcohol. It saddens me, and diminishes them.

I could almost make the same claim regarding sugar, but I won't. I doubt anyone actually believes consuming alcohol is really a net benefit, if they take the time to think it through.

I am lucky. I was able to stop, and I can't imagine the damage I may have caused if I hadn't. I am thankful for that.

I hope that as people re-examine health as part of time preference, they find better, less dangerous options.

Gm nostr.
This one's a tough one for me. Laying low.

Ok, I'm going to expand a little on what I've been posting lately.

Here's how I see it:
1) you can't trust anything you hear from outside your own circle of trust / area of influence. For most of us, this is a few friends, some family, and maybe a few dozen acres of geography, if that. Anything you don't observe yourself is only as trusted as the source (so Aunt Patty spewing whatever was on TV news - complete bullshit, and Aunt Patty probably shouldn't be in your circle of trust.)
2) Even if you hear something true, there is fuckall you can do about it. This where area of influence comes in hard and heavy. You might relay information, but that is not really useful outside of your CoT. You can send money, but better than fair chance, that money won't get to where you were hoping, or have the impact you were hoping it would, if the problem is even legit and the solution is money, both of which are often enough false. Unless the problem is directly affecting those in your CoT/AoI, chances are the best thing you can do to react is nothing at all.
3) So what CAN we do? Don't react, prepare. Assume all possibilities you hear (and even ones you imagine or dream) are true, and prepare for those. This isn't necessarily prepper shit, buying bottled water and tubs of shitty "food". This means preparing for a reality where you may need to harvest your own resources, purify water, hunt, etc. And if you stockpile, you may need to defend - so stockpiling may not be your best preparation. I think the best preparations are learning new skills, and doing the mental work necessary. Keeping your mind in a healthy state of readiness. Assess your threats and your ability to respond to those threats, and make adjustments where practical. Your threats could easily be from within your CoT/AoI, so you must assess those as well - and make adjustments.
4) Preparing isn't about reacting; it is about acting first, every day. If you live in a state of preparation and action, others will notice. You may gain their respect; or worse, their dependence. But you can mask some of your preparation, if you are careful.
5) Some things I did to prepare - bought, then learned how to ride, amotorcycle. I see mobility as an issue in most adverse circumstances. If I can commandeer any vehicle, from a quad or dirtbike to a dump truck or fishing boat, my mobility options increase. I should also learn how to properly ride a horse, although I've never been a fan of horses. Smaller motored vehicles take less gas and need less roads. Horses need neither, but do need to be fed. Or they can be food, I suppose. I also bought a diesel truck. Utility, power, and I bet I'll find diesel sources long after gas is gone. I also wanted to learn more about diesel engines, and keep up on manual transmissions, hadn't had one in a while.I bet anyone that saw me buy the bike and truck just thought mid-life crisis. This is the masking. Bitcoin is part of preparation, and so is gold, some cash, bullets. But more important than having them is knowing when and how to use them, and how to hide them. Nostr is also a preparation, because this is at its roots a communications system that can be implemented over any network. A relay can be on your phone. Your phone can be on wifi, which can be on a LAN, which can be expanded over satelite, radio, LoRa, whatever. There's also a ton of information here that could be valuable, even if it is historic rather than contemporary. I think Wiki projects are important, as would be any cataloguing of information, recipes, 3d prints, whatever.

Paranoid? Not at all. I don't believe anything bad will necessarily happen. The point of my preparation is just readiness, for whatever may happen, good or bad. Learn. Act. Conceal. Prepare. Frankie MacDonald and the Boy Scouts weren't wrong about being prepared.

Then you can laugh! Most of what you see is comedy, farce, manufactured drama, and complete horseshit. Laugh at it! This is how you remove its power over you. Don't take things so seriously, because you know that you have already prepared for far worse, and will likely experience far better. Yes, by preparing, you become free to enjoy the better outcomes, the good times, the relief.

There is no single thing that is more important than the mental and emotional fortitude and attitude of constant learning and assessment. Be ready for the worst, and hope for the best! If nothing happens, which often happens, at least you will have learned some things, done some things, and probably met some good people along the way. This is living your best life.

Learning things doesn't have to cost money, although I don't regret any money I've spent on learning things. It is all attitude and the desire to learn; if you want to know something, you will find a way to learn it eventually, even if it does end up costing you.

Do.