Problem Solving 101

I slept horribly last night. I was awake from about 1:30-4. Needless to say I’m tired today.

When I lay in bed for hours on end unable to sleep my mind keeps me entertained. Often I’ll get the opportunity to look at something a different way as I turn it over in my mind.

I got thinking about how to solve problems. Which led me to think about the way people tend to continue to have the same problem and not come to a solution. I was thinking about how to explain to someone why they can’t find the solution to the problem and I hit on this explanation.

Imagine the problem is a room with a closed door. The person keeps pushing on the door in an attempt to open it aka solve their problem. They can keep pushing on that door and nothing will change. It is not until they pull on the door will it open and their problem will be resolved.

It really is a matter of trying something different. Looking at the problem in a new way that will aid in finding a solution. Repeating the same action over and over that has not worked in the past will not solve the problem.

Now if I could just remember this and get out of bed for a while just maybe I’d fall back to sleep sooner.

General Weirdness Abounds

I completely lost yesterday. Once upon a time I planned my blog posts and scheduled them ahead of time. I keep a running list of ideas in the notes section of my phone. I’d pick a topic, remove it from the list, pick a photo and write a post scheduled for the next day. It saved me so many times when days like yesterday happen.

My Fridays are always weird. I have a standing appointment with a friend. I have whatever else has to be done and the regular stuff. Add in that N is on vacation from remote school this week and has completely altered his schedule. He’s nocturnal this week. Everything is off. And I’m tired.

But then again everything has been off for over a year and I’m always tired. We are living in this pseudo world with pseudo news and pseudo facts. We watch pseudo history being made. It’s all very much theater.

One of my favorite shows when I was a kid was Lost In Space. Yes, I’m that old. Some of the shows I saw in reruns. I had a fascination with space and planets and new worlds. Every episode was pretty much the same with a new type of “alien” causing a problem and the Robinson’s winning in the end. And the mom was from “Lassie” another show I loved though definitely watched in reruns. I’m not that old.

Neither show was real. They were someone’s imagined idea of what real could look like. An imagined reality as entertainment.

Maricopa County is auditing their ballots. They started yesterday. Here is a link if you’d like to watch it live. New Hampshire is hiring auditors to audit Windham County’s ballots. What! New Hampshire wasn’t part of the original election fraud conspiracy theory. Well that’s weird.

So as I watch this 2021 new style theater I wonder what is real and what is someone’s imagined idea of real. Some of the actors are good and show up in multiple stories. Others seem to stay behind the scenes only making an occasional cameo. It’s all very weird. And I still wish I could have a collie like Lassie. Unfortunately in this version of the matrix I’m allergic to dogs.

WIP Wednesday On Thursday Because Wednesday Was A Complete Loss

A few more rows

I planned to post yesterday as I do almost everyday but I lost the day. Everything I had to do took well longer than expected. Then the financial advisor I inherited arrived at nearly lunch time for a long delayed visit that lasted almost 5 hours. The financial chat was brief, the catching up was long. I should know better than to delay her visits. They are pleasant but turn into a black hole of time.

I’ve knit a few rows each night and am making slow but steady progress with the shawl/scarf. I should be dedicating more than an hour each night. Maybe I’ll shoot for two.

How are your projects going?

Life Is Hard

Not for Myles though.

A Message From The Universe?

Truth

Happy Sunday! We have a sunny one out my window. I’m procrastinating a bit on my cleaning and taking a moment to think a bit in words.

I’ve been thinking a lot about truth. It’s kind of funny that when I looked up the definition of truth the word true was used in the definition on the first place I looked. It made me think of porn. It’s one of those words that is hard to define but you know it when you see it. I did find on Merriam-Webster the definition that I was looking for. Truth: The body of real things, events and facts-actuality.

I like to think of truth as something that just is. There is no wiggle room. For example if you hadn’t seen Myles and I told you he is a neutered miniature black poodle. I am speaking truth. I know him. I’ve seen him and touched him. We could argue over whether he is a miniature poodle. I have evidence based on his AKC papers but I don’t have a DNA test so I would concede that by outward appearances he is a miniature poodle. I would stand firmly on the fact that he is black. I know that is true, one just has to see him to know he is not another color. I could stand even firmer on the fact that he is neutered. You’d just have to look to see what he has and doesn’t have to know that is a fact. It is pure truth.

In my example I mentioned if you hadn’t seen Myles and then I said if you looked at him. Notice how truth is so much easier to believe when we see it with our own eyes. When we touch it with our own hands. When it is concrete.

We’ve talked about perspective and how we each have our own. Perspective is easy. It’s how we view something. It’s our own. To us it is truth and it is fact. But still it is our truth, based on our perspective. We can look at the same thing and see something completely different.

To continue with our example. I have been asked what kind of doodle is Myles? He does look like a doodle when he’s fluffy. Doodles are very popular and more common than poodles at this point so the assumption is reasonable. But it is not truth. It may look like truth from the perspective of the person asking the question but it is not based on the AKC papers evidence.

Sometimes truth is painful. To continue my example if I had Myles DNA tested and I learned he was not a miniature poodle but in fact a strange monkey who walks on four legs and barks I’d be surprised and disappointed. First I paid a poodle breeder for a poodle. I was scammed. Second I’d be disappointed because owning monkeys is illegal in my state so Myles would have to go. Needless to say I’m not having Myles DNA tested, just in case.

I guess what I’ve come to realize is even when truth is there to see and touch some people can’t get beyond their perspective. It’s a self preservation method. I guess that’s why people talk about their truth and your truth. But then I really wonder if it’s truth at all.

Saturday Sentence

That dang cabinet door doesn’t close tightly!

Today I have put myself on house arrest and an doing a half day of forced labor. I’ll do the other half tomorrow. The kitchen is clean enough. I do have to scrub the sink and stovetop but I’ll wait until after dinner for those. The floor will to be washed but that’s for when everything else in all the rest of the first floor is done.

As you can see by the toy below the blasted open cabinet door, Myles has been assisting. He drags his toys into whatever room I’m working in, leaves them on the floor and then goes for a nap on the couch. He won’t even help with the dusting.

Back to the grind. I hope you’re enjoying your Saturday.

Let’s have a Quiz!

How about a quiz for this fine Friday. If you’d like to answer on your blog leave a link in the comments otherwise feel free to leave your answers.

• It’s April 16 and it is snowing outside. How is the weather out your window?
• I’ve been thinking about my next knitting project. I’m feeling the need to knit a sweater. What do you feel like making?
• I’ve been lazy with my baking this week after baking bread every few days for a couple of weeks. Have you been baking? Bonus points if you share a tasty recipe.
• Lately I’ve been craving fruit so I bought bananas, grapes and clementines. What have you been craving? Do you give in to your cravings?
• I still haven’t deeply cleaned my living room. I’ll be starting in on it this weekend. Do you spring clean? Are you someone who does a small amount of cleaning every day or do you do a large amount at one time? I do a mix of both and I’m more likely to spring clean than fall clean.

The Control Group

Check out the Forsythia in full bloom!

A week or so ago The Husband planted spinach in the raised garden table in the yard. I decided to start a control group in the house to see which would sprout faster and grow quicker. Well contrary to what the photo shows my black thumb (because it sure isn’t green) killed off the first sprout. So this is the second sprout which is about a day behind the ones in the yard. I’m sure I’ll kill this one off long before it’s ready for serving.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

A few months back I took a detour with the blog here. I started talking about things I could see going on in the big world, not my tiny world that is usually showcased, that left me with questions. The reviews were mixed. A good number of those I considered friends left because they didn’t like what I said. Their choice, we still live in a free country as of this writing. The truths as I see them are more important to me. I will not entertain a lie just to retain a follower/friend, even if it is only I who view it as a lie.

Over time I’ve engaged with you about different big topics like coercive control, discernment, cognitive dissonance and influence just to name a few. I’ve really enjoyed the conversations we’ve had in the comments. I’ve learned that a number of us are seeing the same things and feeling similar feelings about those things. Perspective is a big topic and we have discussed that two or three times.

I’d like to go back and revisit something. Do you remember I talked about how we get our information? How if someone wants to control the narrative they can. Here is a link to what I wrote back in January. At that time I wanted you to see that just maybe the view you were being given wasn’t quite the reality. That reality didn’t fit their narrative.

Yesterday Project Veritas released videos of a CNN director. I found the conversation he had enlightening. Was he bragging? Was he truthful? I don’t have the answers to those questions but I do understand what he is saying. He is saying they made the choice to control the narrative to give a specific perspective to viewers. This is not reporting news. This is not how “the most trusted name in news” (their quote not mine) should behave. This is propaganda. This is a like kind contribution to the Democrat party.

Kindly remember before you ream me in the comments, these are my opinions. I don’t want any news organization favoring either political party. I want news to come from a fact based organization who lets me drawn my own conclusions.

Edited to add: A second video, part 2, has been added by Project Veritas. This one talks about “manipulating” to “change the world”. That sounds worse than part 1. News should never be used as way to manipulate people.