{"id":28651,"date":"2022-11-17T20:20:53","date_gmt":"2022-11-18T01:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/?p=28651"},"modified":"2022-11-18T08:46:50","modified_gmt":"2022-11-18T13:46:50","slug":"thoughts-large-80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/2022\/11\/thoughts-large-80\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts @ Large: 80"},"content":{"rendered":"

Doing a little tidy-up of items that don’t merit a whole post but might warrant a scintilla of scrutiny, a crumb of contemplation, a mote of mentation…<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udca1 Over 300 people in the past 100 years have died electively<\/a> by a process one could call suicide by mountain<\/em>.\u00a0 I am referring to the (mostly<\/a>) men who have perished trying to scale Mount Everest — all avoidable deaths.\u00a0 Our spectacle-obsessed culture encourages, even celebrates, risky adventures that often end in healthy people dying.\u00a0 (Don’t even talk to me about the stupidity of air shows<\/a>.)\u00a0 At the same time, our culture thwarts the desires of old, worn-out people to choose death rather than spend their last months in an Everest-scale descent through “long-term care.”\u00a0 I guess their struggles just aren’t gutsy enough.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\uddd1\ufe0f I know, it’s a bad idea to start Thoughts @ Large <\/em>with a negative item, since it sets a tone that is hard to dispel later.\u00a0 So let’s do something lighter next!<\/p>\n

\ufe0f\u2708\ufe0f If you did a search for Allegiant emergency landing<\/em>, what do you think might pop up?\u00a0 How about these headlines:\u00a0 2011<\/a>: Orlando-bound Allegiant Air flight forced to land in Pittsburgh.\u00a0 2015<\/a>: Allegiant flight makes emergency landing in St. Pete.\u00a0 2016<\/a>: Allegiant Air flight headed to Pittsburgh makes emergency landing due to turbulence.\u00a0 2018<\/a>: Allegiant flight makes emergency landing in Cedar Rapids.\u00a0 2018<\/a>: Allegiant flight performs emergency landing at McGhee Tyson Airport.\u00a0 2020<\/a>: Passenger says Allegiant plane\u2019s NC emergency landing was \u2018a little scary.\u2019\u00a0 2021<\/a>: Flight 1313 makes emergency landing in Lexington.\u00a0 2021<\/a>: Allegiant airplane blows out tire after rough landing at Logan.\u00a0 2021<\/a>: Allegiant flight from Sanford lands safely following \u2018mechanical issue\u2019 shortly after takeoff.\u00a0 2021<\/a>: Bird strike forces emergency landing of Allegiant flight in St. Pete.<\/p>\n

That was just the first page of the Allegiant emergency landing<\/em> search results.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc4e By the way, we are not flying Allegiant to visit New York City after the holidays.\u00a0 This will be our first foray post-pandemic, and we don’t want to spoil it with little annoyances like emergency landings.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd20 After weeks of observation, I have developed what I call the “Positive Wordle Theory.”\u00a0 If there is a choice between a few Wordle answers, then the more likely answer is the one with the more positive emotional connotation.\u00a0 This means, pick BRIDE instead of BRINE, CHARM instead of CHART, MEDAL instead of PEDAL.\u00a0 There is a bias.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd66\u00a0 I’m the kind of guy who, after buying a new salad dressing and deciding I really don’t like it, will homeopathically add a little of it to every salad I make from then on until the bottle is empty, rather than throw the stuff out.\u00a0 Be glad you’re not married to me.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf27\ufe0f\u00a0 The 1966 Beatles song Rain<\/em> is one of my all-time favorites.\u00a0 I love Ringo’s drumming (this video<\/a> is fun) and the electro-twangy guitar.\u00a0 It’s also a great listen while taking your car through the car-wash.\u00a0 But the point of this item is my mondegreen<\/a> (misheard lyrics) in Rain<\/em>‘s refrain.\u00a0 Where John sings, Ra-ain \/ I don’t mind \/ Shi-ine \/ the weather’s fine,<\/span><\/em> I\u00a0always heard the last line as the worthless clime<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/em>Which I thought made perfect sense for a song that celebrates rain!<\/p>\n

\u262f\ufe0f\u00a0 There is no such thing as unconditional trust in another being, mortal or otherwise.\u00a0 We decide who we trust, and why, and that makes it conditional.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udca9 One of the more regrettable articles I got sucked into reading recently is this one<\/a>, on the features and drawbacks of oil diffusers, titled — for the sole benefit of search engines — Your Diffuser May Be Harming You<\/em>.\u00a0 How so, you ask?\u00a0 The authors of the article, who of course have no vested interest other than selling their own diffuser<\/em>, present an overview of alternate oil diffuser technologies.\u00a0 The potential harm to you, they claim, consists of “diffusing harmful chemicals that are in our everyday tap water.”\u00a0 God help us, I suppose, if we had to breathe the stuff that we already drink.<\/p>\n

Strange how people who use oil diffusers do not grasp that they deposit tiny oil droplets on one’s walls, floors and furnishings, and that<\/em> is how your diffuser may be harming you.<\/p>\n

\u2699\ufe0f From the Only-Half-the-Battle Department:\u00a0 It is easier to improve yourself than to improve other people’s perceptions of you afterward.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude01 I just finished reading, back to back but on unrelated whims<\/a>, the autobiographies of the comic-actor\/musician Harpo Marx<\/a> and the comedian\/actor\/musician Steve Martin<\/a>.\u00a0 Harpo’s is the far better read, as it mostly consists of warm and entertaining accounts of his youth, his family and his renowned circle of friends, with amusing details of his career.<\/p>\n

The difference in the tone and tenor of Martin’s bio could not be more pronounced — in his stand-up years, Martin was detached from his family, and from himself.\u00a0 He observes that his is “not an autobiography but a biography, because I am writing about someone I used to know.”\u00a0 His recollections feel familiar but emotionally hollow.<\/p>\n

Steve aimed to be funny; Harpo wanted to make life fun.\u00a0 Both succeeded.<\/p>\n

\u23f1\ufe0f Routine<\/em> is great in the right settings.\u00a0 In the military, it helps ensure a fast, predictable response to a superior’s command, or in football to a play called at the line.\u00a0 Adherence to routine reduces manufacturing defects, piano-playing flubs and errors of unfamiliarity.\u00a0 Routine offers a sense of security in an uncertain world, like armor that deflects worry.<\/p>\n

But all armor is brittle, suitable only for the attacks for which it is designed.\u00a0 Resilience <\/em>is more powerful than armor.\u00a0 Resilience comes from experience, from being vulnerable, from withstanding numerous minor (and hopefully few major) assaults on our beings and\u00a0 learning\/evolving survival skills.<\/p>\n

We err when we protect our children with the armor of routine<\/em> but spare them experiences that would build their resilience<\/em>.\u00a0 The ultimate balancing act for a parent.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udee0\ufe0f\u00a0 People have their favorite tools for certain tasks.\u00a0 I have a set of language-helper tools that I often use when writing this blog, and I thought I would share them here:<\/p>\n