Life

Three years ago, scientists identified the first strain of covid-19 in China. I remember hearing vague rumors of a new virus going around in China starting around late January 2020. It seemed bad, but there were other viruses like the avian flu and swine flu that also seemed like they were going to spread but never got going. It’s almost unbelievable how much change was wrought by one tiny virus. Just about everyone I know has had it.

The FTC has proposed a rule to ban non-compete agreements. This is great. A employer shouldn’t be able to prohibit people from pursuing their career wherever they want. Non-competes give employers way too much leverage over their employees. The evidence is clear that it suppresses wages and working conditions. Trade secrets and the like can still be protected. That’s company property and should not be abused by ex-employees. But, it’s un-American to deprive someone of their pursue Happiness and switch to any other job they might prefer for any reason.

I always wondered why when you use a card for a purchase you are asked on the screen “Debit or Credit?” Doesn’t the machine know? Isn’t it encoded in the card? This nifty article by Patrick McKenzie explains that and more about how ATMs work. It’s much more complex than I had thought but makes a lot of sense. Essentially debit and credit use two different networks for payment so the question is really about which network you want to use.

If all you read are the headlines, you would think that the world is going to Hell in a coal-fired hand basket driven by Vladimir Putin. However, there is some good news out there. Future Crunch has a great article pointing out some of the good stuff that is happening in the world. It’s a much needed jolt of positivity as we enter into the winter darkness. My Top 10 are 1, 11, 12, 39, 41, 49, 69, 70, 82 and 87.

I’m inconsistent at best about writing on this blog. The primary reason I persist in doing this is that the best way for me to learn something is to write about it. Even if you aren’t an expert (and I’m not on most of the topics that I’ve written about), it’s OK to write something and expand upon it as your interest and knowledge grow. The secondary reason is to have a journal of the stuff I’ve been interested in that is easy for me to refer to in the future.

Esquire had a piece about stoicism recently. The author does a nice job of relating how this philosophy focused on paying attention to the present has helped him. I don’t call it that, but I try to live my life along similar lines. I was very inspired by a quote I read in college by James FitzJames: Act for the best, hope for the best and take what comes. If death ends all…we cannot meet death better.