Life Between 0 and 1

A lot has changed since January 2020 for basically the entire world and everyone has written about it all over the Internet. I’m not doing that because I don’t need to, well, sort of. Having these large gaps between writing is a regular thing for me and it’s something I’ve done a lot of over the last decade or so. The difference is that there just hasn’t been proof of it as I’ve never stayed with a single location for it to manifest itself so clearly. Putting some thought into it the last several weeks I am no closer to a conclusion now than I was when I first started thinking about it. I get all into what I’m doing because it’s something new, something that’s different from the regular pattern, just to have it soon become part of the regular patter and the urge just slowly goes away. I envy those that have the passion and drive to take what’s in their heads and let if flow out onto their screens for others to read every day or multiple times per day.

One of the few posts I made a while back was getting laid off from my job in late 2018 and not finding something new for over 4 months. That job served me well, for just under two years, but it was time for me to move on despite a raging pandemic in the country. I was fed up with being belittled and condescended for work wasn’t done in a timely manner because of people completely outside of my control. So F them and I said “I’m out.” I had been working remotely since March 2020 and there was talk as we rolled into 2021 that we were potentially going back into the office in some capacity, which I opposed completely. I had demonstrated fully for almost twelve months that I did not need to be in person to do my job effectively and in fact, did my job better being remote than being in the office as I had two extra hours to work without impact to my work-life balance. I started looking casually for a new position a few weeks into 2021. That proved to be a quick process as I found a permanently remote position for a company based in Texas doing pretty much what I was already doing for a better rate and a more mature management structure and team. I gave my two weeks and that was that.

As the old job wound down and the new job ramped up, the news of the third stimulus check broke and people were happy. More money from the government most thought. Those of us that actually put some logic into these sort of things, like me, are a bit more concerned about how this is going to play out over the next 5-10 years when all of this “printed” money is going to have to be paid back. Most don’t remember (I was too young, but I asked my parents) this perfect storm of too much money and that pesky thing called inflation happened in the mid to late 70’s and something had to be done. The Fed has two choices: 1) raise interest rates or 2) slowly remove money from circulation. The country screamed “hell no” in unison on the raising of interest rates because, that would cost people more money to borrow money they didn’t have previously. The Fed started taking money out of circulation which didn’t require any approvals. That had the SAME effect on the economy, but indirectly, as interest rates naturally went up anyway because less supply means more demand. Ask a boomer how much their mortgage interest rate was in the 1980’s and most of them would probably say 15% or higher. That’s insane to say now, but it was considered acceptable as it was a means to an end and of course kicked off the Reagonomics, a concept of trickle down that never really trickled down where richer get richer and everyone else gets screwed.

I’ve since received my stimulus from the government. It’s safely tucked away in a savings account, doing nothing, except stimulating my eyeballs every time I open my bank app or log on to pay my monthly bills. See, I didn’t need the money, but I’m going to hold onto it anyway because I’ve been paying taxes my entire working life and part of that stimulus was supported by my hard work. It’s supported by a lot of people’s hard work actually. Yes, there are people who will be taking advantage of the system, its a given and inevitable in any society but the overall majority of people are inherently good. I’ll eventually use the money though more than likely to remodel a bathroom that I’ve been piece parting for the last few years as things slowly break on me. It needs an overhaul and I’ve not had a large enough lump of money to just get it all done in one shot. I’ll be stimulating the handy man down the street as he rebuilds my bathroom after I tear the hell out of it.

Originally most of the content I had written was a tie raid on all the nasty crap that’s been going on the last few weeks now that people are getting vaccinated and getting back into the world. I deleted all of that after writing as it was just too depressing and I felt less heavy after unloading it even if it wasn’t ever published. Some people are just ugly to the ones around them for no good reason, its just that simple and needs no further explanation. For all of our sakes I’m hoping we all get back to some sort of “normal” sooner rather than later. I get my second shot on April 9th and 2 weeks after that I’m getting back to the gym knowing I’ll have some protection. I’ll still be wearing a mask. I’m not going to be “that” guy.