Do Crime!

Category: Ramblings

  • Go Fast, Get Hurt

    The above has become part of our family motto. The whole thing? Go Fast. Do Crime. Get Hurt.

    Do Crime, and Go Fast, Get Hurt, were both two things I said on different occasions to my wife. The “Do Crime?” we were planting seeds for food plants in an abandoned field as a condemned school. Go Fast, Get Hurt, that was said recently to her at her first Crossfit competition.

    I think it sums up my view of the world pretty well. Do things that help people, even if it isn’t legal, and if you’re doing something, it’s worth getting hurt doing it, if it’s not, then it’s not worth doing.

    That said, I’m burned out. Mentally hurt I suppose. I need to slow down on all of the things going on in my life. I don’t feel like I’m catching up, in fact, I feel like I’m slowly getting sucked down deeper. Swimming in a riptide I suppose.

    I’ll get through it though.

  • We were the one thing in the galaxy God didn’t have his eyes on

    Have you ever felt nostalgic for a moment that didn’t happen? Or picture something in your head that you wished was a real memory, and not your imagination?

    I’m listening to “All Hail West Texas” today, by the Mountain Goats, and the song “Jenny” has me feeling nostalgic for a moment that I never experienced.

    I just have a vision of driving across the El Paso desert at sunrise on a motorcycle. One of those old school ones that have a side car.

    That’s the image in conjures, and the feeling of freedom, and the crushing vastness of the desert bathed in a warm orange glow.

  • We are plain, quiet folk and have no use for adventures.

    I’ve been doing a bit of reading the last few days, about stoicism, Thoreau, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien.

    A lot of the essay’s focus on stoicism, of course, as well as the notion of the “hedonistic treadmill,” and the concept of travel.

    I think about the concept of traveling a lot. It seems to be the buzzword, “hobby” of this generation. The ideal that you’re not fully living your life, if you aren’t going somewhere new, often.

    I have mixed feelings on travel, and I say this as someone who has been to 48 states, and 6 countries, and has lived in 3 different states. While the idea of a getaway is nice, I feel like so many people are getting wrapped up in this belief that as their world crumbles around them, getting away can refresh their mind and soul. But, the old saying “wherever you go, there you are” seems to hold true.

    Traveling doesn’t make you better, or fix your problems. It just let’s you step away for a moment, let’s those issues build up, because you stepped away, and didn’t resolve them.

    Face your problems, don’t travel thinking it’ll get better. Your messy home is still there, your love of self-induced drama, the bills you can’t pay because you live your life on credit card financing.

  • It’s the little things

    Sometimes it really is the little things that make your day better.

    My job is mostly in an office setting, calling clients and setting appointments, as well as chasing them for past due payments.

    Every now and then I get to go out and do some field work (when it’s scheduled, it’s great, when it’s because a technician calls out last minute, it’s such a drag,) but today, I got to do my favorite activity, which is rebuild equipment.

    Specifically, I got to rebuild a diaphragm pump attached to a honda 120cc OHV motor. I’ve never done this before, and it took about an hour and a half, but it was great fun. Only busted one knuckle.

    So the key take away from today: Look for the little things that bring you joy.

  • We’re doing the wrong hard things.

    I feel like over the last few years, creeping into our zeitgeist has been this notion of us need to “do hard things.”

    I’m sure part of it came from the book “The Comfort Crisis,” which came out in 2021. There’s some points in the book that I agree with, actually quite a lot of points.

    The issue I have, is that the hard things they talk about in the book are the wrong ones. Sure, take a cold shower, or ice plunge, or do a million burpees in the sauna.

    But can you call your local representative? Can you coherently talk on the phone? Can you do anything other than melt into entropy at the end of your work day?

    Maybe instead of the ice bath, talk a public speaking course. Afraid of heights? Go rock climbing. Volunteer for a local organization. Coach little league. Pick up trash.

    The comfort crisis isn’t just sitting in climate control all day, it’s also about putting off the uncomfortable little things in your day. Do those, then take the plunge.

    Do hard things. Volunteer. Donate. Smash your phone with a hammer. Maybe you are physically exhausted at the end of your day, and you do want to watch Netflix. Instead of doomscrolling while watching, learn to sew and fix your ripped clothes. Don’t throw them out. Compost instead of putting everything in the trash. Learn to reduce your consumption, don’t just lean on reuse and recycle.

    Do crime. Throw round up on a golf course green.