Month: August 2019

We don’t need no stinking maps!

On By JohnIn education, lifeLeave a comment

It’s comforting to have a figurative road map to guide your way in life.

Perhaps it outlines certain things you must do. Maybe a list of things that indicate success and clearly guide the way to the next step. Achievements to be made. By when.

But do you want to grow?

To really grow?

Step outside of your comfort zone. Well-outside of it. Leave nothing behind to which you can cling assuring you of a safe place to return.

It’s entirely possible that you’ll find that you’ve stepped so far beyond your own comfort zone that no map or process in the world can guide you.

And that’s good. Excellent, actually.

You’ll be defining your own processes and maps to let other people find their way to you.

With certainty, this isn’t for everyone.

But for some, it’s necessary. It’s critical to their growth. And when those few grow, it will help society and culture to find their way.

Woodworking

On By JohnIn home improvementLeave a comment

I wouldn’t call myself a woodworker — I’m just a maker. Most of what I make, apart from some software concepts and a few computers, is from wood, yes, so I’m more of a wood-maker.

I do spend some time skimming through the assorted YouTube videos of people’s projects and often find some inspiration for my own projects.

One of the things upon which I depend, like many others, is mechanical fasteners to screw things together.

Drilling pilot-holes is better than simply forcing a screw into wood and risking a split or tear-out or absurd amounts of torque to drive a screw (and break its head off). And countersinking the screw-head is better than leaving it protruding from the surface or crushing a portion of the surface.

So, a pilot-hole and countersink. They often need to be done together.

It seems that often times, makers have separate bits to do each task. Drill one, swap the bit, drill another. Thankfully, the world has embraced keyless chucks — imagine how much of a pain in the ass it would be to simultaneously juggle bits, screws, a chuck key…

So, rather than juggle a pilot drill bit and a countersink bit, save a few bucks (and headaches) and make the small purchase to get a single bit that will both drill and a pilot-hole and countersink in one shot.

These are absolutely awesome.

And with the collar, I can set it to countersink the screw-heads to exactly the same depth every single time. There is a limitation, of course, I can’t use just one tool to do everything with screws. I use two drills: one for the countersink/pilot bit, and another for the actual T-25* bit to drive screws.

Kick your creations up a few notches.

While you’re at it, pick up a few self-centering drill bits as well.

You’re welcome.

—

* Phillips heads are so last-century.

Well, that’s disappointing…

On By JohnIn financeLeave a comment

If you’re in it for the Long-Game, then these drops — in the short-term — may be disappointing. But if you’re committed to a long-game, then play it.

Will it change again?

Yep.

By the way, if you have stock in only one or two of FB, AAPL, AMZN, NFLX, or GOOG (or FB or MSFT or any other tech) remember the very old adage: don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.

Diversify.

It may seem that I’m picking on Apple* here. I’m not. I’m just using it because it was the alphabetically first in my newsfeed.

Every stock has taken a hit.

And they will for the next few months at least. Disappointing, perhaps. But don’t let it discourage you when you consider, over the longer term, it has consistently shown an increase.

To summarize:

Don’t throw out the baskets you already have, but look at distributing your eggs amongst more than just a few baskets.

*Also, Apple seems to have accelerated their plans for rolling out the Apple Card. Will that change the date it’ll become available? No idea. But they certainly appear to have made efforts to increase its promotion over the past day.

Worth Giving a Try…

On By JohnIn healthLeave a comment

I’ve gone on a few times about some of the struggles with which I’ve contended around hearing. I’ll summarize the summaries:

Sound is a problem.

Too summarized?

Okay: sounds are familiar, but something’s not “right”.

I’ve recently started to wonder if part of the challenge is actually something of a hypersensitivity to sound. Apart from going through a period of deafness, so to speak, I wonder if that deafness was something of a neurological attenuation of sounds trying to bring them to appropriate levels for comprehension. Perhaps the initial concern that I’d made — that sounds felt effectively overdriven — may have been an accurate interpretation.

Now I find myself wondering if some mild-grade earplugs with a low NRR could be somewhat beneficial. I don’t need (nor want) a 32 dB NRR solution, which would be ideal for motorcycling or shooting sports. But it’s certainly worth giving something mild a go to see how it will impact my perception.

Permanent? I can also see that it would be as long-lived as my need for a cane has been. I found it inconvenient.