life maintenance

Life maintenance is a catch-all term I use for the day-to-day tasks required to simply make it through the day in a reasonably comfortable manner. This is most assuredly a first-world problem sort of term since what I consider to be life maintenance is what much of the world might view as survival. I'm talking about cooking, eating, hygiene chores (shower, shave, laundry, dishes, etc), grocery shopping, and those sorts of routine tasks you do on a regular basis that are important but not necessarily interesting. (Yes, if you're really into what you eat, then food is important, but if it is simply a means to an end for sustenance, then it becomes a maintenance task.) While I view many of these as a minor annoyance, I have no doubt that many people would be thrilled to have these sorts of tasks as easily as accessible as I have them. Even less frequent but still ostensibly routine things like seeing the doctor or dentist fall under the category of life maintenance. I would argue that very few people are eager to go to the dentist, but most would recognize the importance of going and why it is something worth putting up with.

Life maintenance feels like a waste of time while it most certainly is not a waste of time. If I don't eat and bathe, then I'm probably going to run into some problems. It's not that I don't understand why these things are important, it's that they feel inefficient, as if there ought to be some way to speed things up. And this is part of what I have tried by living relatively simply. I don't spend much time cooking (and thus have minimal dishes to wash) by having simple or small meals. Not owning a car certainly cuts many life (and auto) maintenance tasks from my to-do list. And it's not like I suck at these things either. While I am no master chef, I am certainly capable of looking after myself and am reasonably sure that I do so at an above-average level, though I guess the average depends on the pool of people being considered. Regardless, it's not like I have some deep inability to operate a vacuum or washing machine or shave competently. To borrow a quote from Office Space, "It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that I don't care" and that best captures the essence of the problem. Well, assuming there's a problem. It's as if my approach is fundamentally wrong. All of these tasks have the potential to be fun and even challenging with the right outlook. And yet there are so many more interesting things to do.

tuesdays in turkmenistan: not a sham

My entry from last week was strange and rambling and did not end well. It simply ran out of steam and I had no further energy to invest in the increasingly nonsensical train wreck. Today (or the night before), I finish it off. I mentioned two ideas right near the end of last week's entry. First, the Dunning-Kruger effect. In short, it is the general tendency for unskilled individuals to overestimate their actual abilities. In very brusque terms, they are too stupid to realize that they are stupid. Conversely, there is also the opposite tendency whereby skilled individuals tend to underestimate their abilities and accomplishments. That phenomenon goes by the name of Impostor Syndrome. This feeling often plagues me at work (and in general) despite my awareness of this phenomenon. However, I am not a sham and I do in fact know what I'm doing (most of the time).

Last week, I held a review and training session with the other engineers I am responsible for. It was just an hour, but I wanted to cover some recent things that had either come up in other locations or general information it was important for them to possess. It went really well. It felt productive and useful and that I was imparting useful knowledge on them. I will be doing a follow-up later this week to address some of the points they raised that we did not have time for, but the asked good questions that led me to believe they were both paying attention and understood why the material was important. And while this did not dawn on me then and there as I have been aware of this for a while, it was a reassurance that I am some sort of expert on what I do. Now, what I do is perhaps a bit ambiguous as well, but that's not really the point. Also, perhaps I am not an "expert-expert" (especially not at using quotations correctly), but I do know what I'm talking about and I am able to help train and develop younger engineers. It's an almost strange thing for me to admit that experience counts for something. Not actually strange, but almost. I have long recognized the value of experience and the expertise to be gained from a lifetime in a specific field. However, I also believe that enough intellect and passion and verve and a little charm can also allow someone to carry the day. Perhaps on the edge of ideas that is more often true. The edge where new ideas and created and explored and tested and where experience can even hinder one's ability to try something that many might regard as impossible or never-been-done. In those areas, where no one was direct experience, it is the verve and risk-taking and intellect that need to lead the way. However, most of the world is not in that place. That place is the frontier and it is an exciting place and where new ideas come from. Most of the world is fixed in the interior and looking to grind out tried and true solutions to problems that are just as tried and true. Keep in mind that this is not anything against new ideas and risk taking. It is only an observation that the newest of the new is but a small (albeit very important) part of the world.

In this way, I am most certainly not a sham. Getting back to that review session, it was a reminder that while I will never have all the answers, I know a good portion of them in the field I am currently in. I know what I'm doing. This guy, not so much.

the undercurrent

There was an undercurrent to my last post which was stated indirectly, but is important to understanding (and accepting!) that life is statistical in nature. The undercurrent is that there is no God. Within the context of the life is statistical concept, the belief in some guiding and influential higher power is inherently incompatible with the idea that life is statistical in nature. To believe in God is to believe that there is directed purpose for everything or at least some things. People can certainly take that position if they would like, but it will be one I cannot join them in. And depending on the level of fervor, it may be one I will work against them for holding.

still in service

While there is perhaps not a relevant xkcd for everything, their random button took me to their strip on graphing calculator prices. Yes, they still cost $100-150, but just how many do you plan on buying? Fifteen years later and my TI-85 is still in service which should make it the longest-serving electronic device I own.

A-10 Thunderbolt II - aka: Warthog

I'm never quite sure where my link clicking will take me, but the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, often called by its nickname "Warthog" is always interesting to read about. While I understand the principle's of flight well enough, there is a certain peculiarity about seeing something that looks like this fly so capably. Tactically speaking, it was made for close air support, but from an engineering perspective, the entire plane is built to carry a really big Gatling gun. How big? This big. Aside from the almost absurdly large Gatling gun, the A-10 can carry a few other armaments as well. Not scheduled for replacement until at least 2028, the A-10 will make it to 50+ years of service before slowly flying off into the sunset.