Black Cat Blog

Thoughts, Stories, and Ideas

  • My Adult Moment

    What’s a moment when you realized you were officially an adult?

    I realized that I became an adult when I was handed my high school diploma and went to college. I was no longer beholden to a power structure. I felt some immense freedom but it took some time to get used to. At first I found myself asking other adults for permission. Getting out of that power structure wasn’t easy.

    To be honest though, I never made the transition to adulthood smoothly. I’ve been told nobody really does but I’ve struggled more than the average because I’m on the autistic spectrum. I’ve always been a late bloomer. But once you’re an adult the world becomes less patient with you. We may become adults but we don’t stop learning, hence we will continuously meet new situations and challenges. It’s is unreasonable to expect that, simply because someone had reached some arbitrary age, that they have everything figured out. That’s my 0.02 anyways.

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  • Shiny Object Syndrome

    I just read about this thing called shiny object syndrome in my business book. I begrudgingly admit that I have this. The phrase originated from how magpies tend to collect objects with sheen in their nests. When applied to business or real life, it means latching on to new ideas constantly because they seem like good ones. It’s a lack of clear focus and moving in 360 different directions at once. I realized this might be one of my shortcomings. Oh well, I’m grateful for the insight.

    I know that I want to teach technology to high schoolers and adults. I love technology when I can experiment with it. The segue into technology experimentation for a living is teaching where breaking and fixing systems is part of learning. This would be one way of turning my interest into a money earning one without it becoming something I hate. Plus no after hours emergencies or anything like that. Don’t get me wrong though as this kind of business has its challenges; albeit different but they are nonetheless there.

    I’ve had my idea validated that it seems to have something going for it and I can turn it into an opportunity. It is my belief that IT education has fallen short because it’s been designed to be a form of vendor indoctrination. Let’s go back to teaching people to become good IT generalists and not lock them into one way of doing things when there are many different ways of reaching a solution. We also need to teach the budding professional that Cisco products, for example, don’t belong at every business. This is why it’s so important to have good generalists.

    Good generalists understand the “reference” implementation of technology. This is the one which the standard is built around. Each vendor modifies this slightly to suit it’s marketing terminology but it’s more or less the same thing.

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  • This Is Embarrassing

    Daily writing prompt
    What’s a conspiracy theory you actually find believable?
    View all responses

    I actually believe that the COVID-19 virus might have come from a lab in Wuhan, China. This is my belief only and I have no “evidence” to back it up. This is merely my opinion and should not be taken as disinformation. Does that make me crazy? Well, perhaps a little bit but here me out as the US has a complex relationship with China. On one hand, we trade and import goods from China. On the other hand, China is nominally at some state of warfare readiness. I am all but certain that COVID-19 was engineered as a biological weapon. If it turns out this was the case, the weapon was very effective,

    We already know that China has a complex cyber warfare program going on as I write this. I need only look at my server logs to reveal the sheer number of Chinese IP addresses trying to attack my router. It got to the point where these attacks became so insidious, I had to do a geoblock of all Chinese IP addresses. Of course the Chinese government will not officially comment on this, but since these activities are ongoing, I can readily believe that a mistake in a Wuhan biological weapons laboratory was made that caused the release of COVID-19 upon the world.

    I am also vaguely curious about how quickly the Chinese Government built a hospital to deal with COVID-19. You know it was done in practically 7 days. I am furthermore believing that there had been a plan in place to build such a facility rapidly if needed. And it certainly was needed. So where does that leave us? Let’s stop warfare and encourage peace.

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  • Hate and Militia Group Uptick

    I read a rather disturbing story on Mother Jones called The Rapid Rise of Right-Wing Militias. I am not shocked so much as disturbed because history is again repeating itself; at least in the United States. There is a strong correlation between the waxing and waning of hate and militia groups. These groups grow in hard economic times and often fade into the background during times when people are better off. Often these groups engage in both hate and militant activities, not to mention they might mix in Christian Nationalism doctrine into their belief system.

    Arguably, the KKK, the first domestic terrorist organization, came about as a result of the extreme poverty and economic hardship that befell the antebellum southern states. It was a direct reaction out of anger. I believe basic human nature is to sometimes seek a scapegoat for one’s problems. Therefore it is easier to blame others for one’s own situation rather than look inwardly and see what needs to be done to improve things. While it is quite possible that a few of these groups will disband in better times, there are a few that continue on and even grow stronger with age.

    I am left asking the fundamental question about what these groups really offer and they offer camaraderie, mission, and a sense of purpose where members felt like there was none to be had. They blame people different than them for their lot in life. Hate only ends up bringing the person with the hatred further down. The psychology behind these kind of revolutionary groups is, in no small part, fascinating and perhaps a bit on the frightening side. The militia groups are a bunch of rag tag amateurs wielding military grade weapons without the training that military personnel get. It’s tantamount to shoot first, ask questions later.

    As always, education, sympathy, and empathy are the best ways to fight these groups. Hate is won over by kindness every single time. Showing kindness is the quickest way to melt away hate. I am reminded of this very awesome video that shows even the indoctrinated can recover. The video was taken at a pride event which featured a man in a wheel chair offering hugs and apologies for his behavior. I was so struck by the genuineness of it, that of course I could instantly accept him. Kindness wins the day.

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  • A Good Zen Quote

    This quote is especially thought provoking to me, especially as someone who has anger issues and a diagnosed mental illness. But I am non-violent. Anyhow, I’ve made many decisions in the past based on anger and they have always been ones I have regretted.

    An action committed in anger is an action doomed to failure.

    Genghis Khan

    I’ve left jobs because I was angry at coworkers or management only to find a new, and sadly, worse job. I’ve lost friends over anger. I’ve lost opportunities too. Thankfully, I have never lost my freedom. I am learning to deprogram the anger through therapy. Although the process is long and hard.

    While Genghis was a master military strategist and student of Sun Tzu, he knew very much that he was anger prone. He learned to step away from making any decisions when emotionally charged. These are lessons I want to learn myself. I am angry at my present employer and co-workers and found a new job.

    This time around I am going to a company that is a known quantity for me so I am hopeful that history will not repeat. I’m ultimately leaving for all of the right reasons however.

    While anger can be a motivator, it should never be the primary reason for a decision. Hell it should never be a reason for a decision that must necessarily be made in a neutral frame of mind.

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  • Zen Quotations

    Normally I am very much a fan of Zen and its quotations but I really and truly hate this one:

    Pain doesn’t last. And when it’s gone, we have something to show for it. Growth.

    — Kamal Ravikant

    Pain does not necessarily equal growth. As we are learning in more present times, pain can actually lead to psychological trauma and mental illness. I am more of a fan of having one move outside of their comfort zone. That is what actually makes someone grow. Taking risks equals growth. Pain often causes setbacks that take years to recover from. That is, if the person can ever recover from.

    Ravikant missed the mark here. Pain can lead to psychological trauma which not only impedes growth but can actually prevent growth or cause major regressions in a person. This is why I do not generally like organized religions of any sort. In the end, organized religions are a facility of human beings. Human beings are very much error prone and religions reflect this tendency. I do generally like Zen because it is far less egregious than most other religions and it is not saddled by dogma. And this is one man’s belief.

    Kamal Ravikant could be mistaking pain for discomfort here but I do not think so. Generally, I believe he thinks pain is growth, much in the way our millionaire and billionaire classes preach that pressure turns coal into diamonds. By the way, I hate the sayings that come from the wealthy as well because they are more propaganda than practical.

    Growth comes from learning from one’s mistakes, engaging in lifelong learning, and seeking new opportunities to safely expand horizons. While some pain does teach us important life’s lessons, repeated pain equals trauma.

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  • A Book I Have Read The Most

    Daily writing prompt
    Which book have you read more than any other?
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    This is a fun one because the book I read the most is The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl. Before I launch into my reasons and an analysis of the text, a little about Roald Dahl. Dahl could nominally be considered one of the “OG” subversives. And the cool thing is that he was able to bump right up against the line, cross it, and come back without anyone in power being the wiser. Dahl was smarter than they are/were. May you rest in peace and in power, sir!

    As a child I loved this The Fantastic Mr. Fox it’s an exciting page turner full of adventure and almost heart-stopping moments. The read was genuinely exciting to me. Reading it as an adult, I see a totally different perspective which makes the book equally as exciting. Roald Dahl was truly before his time.

    When the Foxs’ home was destroyed, Bryce, Bunson, and Bean, the wealthy farmers, they were forced underground. In return for being forced underground, they built secret tunnels to the farms so they could steal the farmers’ produce. Mr. Fox completely justified this by hollowing out a community – think communism and socialism here – dining room. A crew would then steal from the evil wealthy farmer an amount of food to live on. Mr. Fox saw no qualms about stealing nee reclaiming resources necessary for life.

    Roald Dahl placed his extremely left political views into Mr. Fox. Mr. Fox ensured that vegetables would be made for the rabbits and animals that are not carnivores. In effect, the subtext suggests that everyone should be taken care of without artificial means testing. When I read this book, I am in awe of the message he’s sending and that he was able to do it in a highly conservative time where anyone needing assistance was seen as “less than human.”

    To this day I still read the book about once a year and pick up on something I missed. That is the depth of Dahl’s writing. The same can be said for his other books like Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and The Great Glass Elevator. In the latter, Roald Dahl rather openly criticized the United States’ Government which was tantamount to heresy at the time it was published. Yet the criticism was so implicit, few picked up on it. They assumed it to be just like a comic strip. But in reality, it was a very harsh criticism of the US Military Industrial Complex.

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  • Erasing A Trend

    Daily writing prompt
    If you could erase one trend from history, what would it be?
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    This is another good daily writing prompt. One historical trend that would be great to erase from the past and prevent in the future is the human tendency to gravitate towards anger and hatred in poor economic times. Members of the poor and working class turn on each other in economic recessions, depressions, “dark ages”, etc. The rising levels of hatred seem to be in direct proportions to economic and financial stressors. These stressors rise exponentially when access to a reliable and safe income dry up.

    A large part of this problem seems to be the insatiable greed of the wealthy. Let’s look at Elon Musk, history’s first trillionaire. That’s more money than most people could spend in a lifetime. One does not obtain that amount of money through honest and ethical business practices. This man has hurt an untold and unknown number of people to obtain this vast sum of money. But we can surmise that the people he has hurt have been the working class. In a bitter sense of irony, rather than getting angry at Musk, the working class turn on each other; fighting for scraps like stray dogs in the street. But that’s a topic for another day.

    This has been a historical trend throughout times. Since Trump was dubiously re-elected to the presidency we are seeing it play out. Rent, food, clothing, gasoline, and the cost of basic needs have risen exponentially while wages have fallen. The only answers to problems like these are more regulation and not less. I guess that’s another historical trend to erase. Humans born into inter-generational wealth, when left to their own devices, will not generally do the right thing automatically. This is why we need regulation.

    But the trend of cyclical economic depression giving rise to hatred, racism, and domestic terrorism needs to come to an end because it does no good whatsoever. The working class needs to band together and not be so divided. These divisions have existed for centuries however. It is what has enabled this trend.

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  • What Shapes Us

    Daily writing prompt
    Do you think we’re shaped more by our experiences or by who we are?
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    It is my belief that we are shaped by our experiences rather than who we are. Our experiences are actually what define us and answer the question of who we are. Or maybe, and more perfectly said, our experiences mostly define who we are and shape us. Speaking from personal experience, I can definitively say my experiences, both positive and negative, have shaped me.

    One summer I rode a bicycle 300 miles, when I lived in Arizona I learned to ride a motorcycle, and when I graduated from college I backpacked through the Sierras in California and the Northern Presidentials in New Hampshire. These experiences helped to define me as comfortable and happy in the mountains and loving riding anything with two wheels on them. I met people and built long lasting friendships; had experiences with extreme beauty and got to do some activities many dream about.

    I went to Alaska and Hawaii. I spent New Years 2010 in Tokyo with a very good friend. Those were the good times. The bad times with mental and physical health issues served to remind me of my humanity and the short time that we live on this planet called earth. In getting sick and struggling, I learned humility, kindness, empathy, and sympathy for others. I learned the value of elevating others around me.

    It is our experiences that profoundly shape us and define us. It is also the choices we make as a result of these experiences. Do we choose to learn from them or do we dig in our heels and continue to repeat mistakes we have made? There are truly many variables here. I am reminded of a friend who is a recovering addict. I love his two life’s mantras and I feel it best to conclude this posting with them.

    If you are going through hell, keep going, and do not stop. What has a beginning also has an end.

    Adapt, improvise, and overcome.

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  • Technology Here To Stay

    Daily writing prompt
    What’s a piece of technology you’re convinced will exist in 20 years?
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    I am convinced that the Internet, TCP/IP Networks, and computers are here to to stay and they will be around in 20 years. The Internet has changed lives and mostly for the better. We have unprecedented access to information and ideas. Granted a lot of it is mis and disinformation so extra care has to be taken to sift out the wheat from the chaff and we have to use some critical thinking skills. That much said, the Internet has helped to discover hobbies that I would otherwise have not discovered nor really taken an interest in like ham radio.

    The Internet is modern equivalent of the movable type printing press. Those that choose to be luddites risk being left behind. We are also living in particularly interesting times with regards to the Internet. The Internet itself is starting to again resemble its early days of introduction to the consumer and business marketplaces. Corporate control is starting to wane in favor of people creating their own home labs, hosting their own services, and leaving the cloud and corporate offerings behind.

    I have moved all of my stuff out of the cloud, including email. I host everything out of my own home on a business class desktop with good quality hardware that I own. I make regular backups like the olden days of computing. And I am free from the perennial subscription models to boot.

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