Winter Solstice, Conjunction, and Chores

 "It is a universal law - have no illusion - that every creature alive is attached to nothing so much as its own self-interest" - Epictetus

 

The sad ending of the crew of Submarine 361

 "Putting off things is the biggest waste of life:  It snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future.  The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow, and loses today.  you are arranging what lies in Fortune's control, and abandoning what lies in yours.  What are you looking at?  To what goal are you straining?  The whole future lies in uncertainty:  Live immediately" - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

On April 25, 2003, Chinese fishermen sighted a periscope drifting and bobbing in the water off the coast of northeastern China, near Taiwan.  The fishermen reported the unusual finding, and the Chinese Navy was dispatched to investigate.  They found a submarine filled with dead men.

Some thoughts on the Covid vaccine - Updated

 "Know you not, that a good man does nothing for appearance sake, but for the sake of doing it right?" - Epictetus

The Simpsons

"What concerns me is not the way things are, but the way people think they are" - Epictetus

Announcement

 

 Dear faithful readers,

I am considering something that I've avoided for a long time, and this is a direct result of some decisions that Google has recently made regarding the back-end of their blogging platform, Blogger.

In the past, I've had a fairly good idea of what visitors were interested in, and tried to tilt my content somewhat - within my own interests - toward readers.  Recently Google made some major changes to the Blogger interface, and it reduced my ability to see what subjects readers are interested in.  

For example: I could get a lot of information on where readers arrived from, which pages got read, and what readers searched for using the search tool at the top of the blog.  That information is now very limited and nearly worthless.  

It may be that Google is nudging people toward installing Google Analytics, to get better data, and more information on you readers.  I don't know the answer to that.  I have a deep mistrust of Silicon Valley and don't like the idea of deep-monitoring people's behavior or reading habits - nor of sharing that information with unknown parties.

Nevertheless, since they have sharply curtailed my ability to better serve readers - again, within my own knowledge and interests - I am considering installing Google Analytics, to get a better idea of what reader's interests are.  

I do not intend to allow ads or try to make money from this - I do it to try and inform and educate readers about the handful of things that I sorta understand.  Google Analytics is designed more with retailing in mind, so I don't know if it will be useful to a lowly blogger.  Anyway my mind is not yet made up on this.

Let me know what you think and I will make a decision and let ya know.

This time of year

 "Life is neither good nor evil, but only a place for good and evil" - Marcus Aurelius

The Pogues

 "The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane" - Marcus Aurelius

A very appropriate quote for the times...

A couple of years ago, I requested this album for Christmas and received it. 

Random thoughts and doings between Thanksgiving and Christmas

 "Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than his own soul." - Marcus Aurelius

Great 80's Music

 

 "Do the things external which fall upon you distract you?  Give yourself time to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled around" - Marcus Aurelius

 

Microwave oven - replace or repair?

 "Live out your life in truth and justice, tolerant of those who are neither true nor just" - Marcus Aurelius