Cottage improvements Sunday, 15-Sep-24 19:44:38 CEST

Moved the hay shed Sunday, 29-Sep-24 21:50:25 CEST

Sunday, 22-Sep-24 20:35:59 CEST

Continued on the board project

This week, I continued working on the board project for the tiny house. We are starting up many different new projects at the same time.

Monday 16 September

Today, both DW and I worked from home. Merida stayed by my side pretty much the entire day. She even decided to sleep on my lap for some 40 minutes. That is absolutely unique. She can be in a peculiar mode where she is spinning and simultaneously wants to bite my hand. I held my hands away.

In the morning, it was drizzly weather. As the day progressed, it got sunnier. When we finished work today, we went outside and gave the sheep a new area to graze in. They are now along the border between the two northern neighbors. They can walk back to their rain roof, so they are fine. The northeast neighbor is about to install new fencing, but we talked to him, and he was okay with the temporary nets surrounding a part of his work area. Our temporary nets must be removed when he gets there with the net.

It was late when we were done with the fencing. We had delicious rest(s) for dinner.

Tuesday 17 September

I bike to work today. Neighbors are biking home from bringing their kids to school. One neighbor started a conversation when I met him. We were both biking: "Hey, Jens. Did you have a nice holiday?" There was time for "yes". It's funny that someone starts a conversation while meeting on a bike. It is a conversation that is over in two seconds.

Today, I brought two zucchini to work. They are huge. We will see if I can give them away. It is 16°C and not that windy. Earlier in the morning, it was cloudy. But now. I have the sun on my back. For as long as it lasts because I'm entering the forest.

6:35 PM. I'm on my way home. Today, I had a marvelously good day. The work went well. The temperature at my desk was just fine. The AC was not turned on today.

If I were Microsoft. I would detect the frustration level in the voice of people using the dictate function. If people start screaming into the microphone, repeating words and sentences repeatedly, perhaps there is something wrong with the speech recognition algorithm. It is funny. I can't use the F word about Microsoft dictate; it simply will not accept it.

I passed a couple with a dog at the beginning of the forest, and the dog was not on a leash. I saw the dog's eyes. It was a bulldog. I was the dog's victim. Luckily, when it happened, I was already biking at a sufficient speed. I pulled up my feet and put them on the frame. I cannot maneuver the pedals in that position, and since this is not an e-bike, I can only roll in this position. I rolled out as long as possible. The lady managed to say. He's doing nothing. The bulldog charged at me. He ran after me. She got the dog back before my rolling had come to a standstill. That's good.

She would not know what I would do to the dog if it attacked me. Well, I don't know either, but. It is not going to be elegant. Let's hope this never happens.

I find it funny that the lady shouted that the dog was not doing anything while growling loudly and running after me. Dutch people and dogs. Bulldogs. American Staffordshire Terriers and other fighter dogs. A typical Dutch person has to have one. It is a weapon in the hands of people who have no idea how to handle it.

Luckily, I'm still in good command of my balance while rolling with the bike. The interesting part starts when you stop rolling, and the dog is still after you. What are you going to do? Just think about that for a while.

E-bikers pass me swiftly.
I am sweaty.
The wind is roaring around my ears.
I am up against the wind.
I am alive.
The dictate function talks back when I'm insulting it.

Somehow, I managed to take no single photo today. That is unique for me.

Wednesday 18 September

Today, I worked from home, and DW had the day off. During lunch, we discussed what needs to be done from here on:

• We need to know when the foundation activities for the shed are starting.
• We need to call the plumber. We need to discuss building the shed and what needs to be done for plumbing, wastewater, electricity, etc.
• We will need to rent a digger. We will move plants we want to save, such as the trees, bushes, and shrubs, from where the shed will be built. I will need to take a couple of days off for that.
• I want to bring the tiller machine to a repair shop. We want to look at a possible electrical mover.
• We will go to look for curtain solutions.
• When is the DJ set? I need to prepare for the DJ party, so it is good to know when. It is on 7 October.
• We need to order the scaffold for the cottage in Sweden. When are we going to Sweden the next time? We need to talk to the scaffold people when we can, and we should order it to get the timing right for when we are there.

After lunch, we went to a garden and an animal shop. I tried to find fitting new wellingtons at the shop, but that didn't succeed. We bought food for Merida and handsome warm socks.

Then we went to the second-hand shop that DW and I liked much. It took longer time than I had anticipated in the shop. Unfortunately, we have not talked about the overall plan. My idea was that we could go to IKEA on Saturday and bring the tiller to a repair shop at the same time? I would need to empty the small trailer today because it was still filled with garbage. But we were standing in a second-hand shop, slowly looking at items. That got me stressed, and DW picked up my stress and was not pleased.

When we finished visiting the second-hand shop, we went home and did some grocery shopping. When we came home, I hooked the small trailer to the car, drove to the recycling center, and arrived 15 minutes before closing. I discarded the garbage.

And now I'm on the way home. At the recycling center, I saw that someone had discarded a pillar drilling machine, a giant drill on a massive pillar. People are insane. They even discarded the wise. It was painted in green metallic. It was shining in the sun. It was precisely the type of drilling machine I wanted with a large, powerful 400-volt motor. Discarded metal scrap. I have no idea why. I have to try to forget.

We will check for curtains on Saturday. This Wednesday had a slow start, but now I got things working. The garbage is brought away. We made a list of things we need to be done.

In the evening, while doing the dishes, I listened to podcasts. I listened to the Five Minute News podcast with Anthony Davis on 14 September. He had an interview with Dan Partland, director of the movie Untruth.

The movie is a follow-up to the documentary Unfit. We have all seen all the scandals surrounding Donald Trump. At first, we are all more or less shocked about the scandals, but as time passes, we start to see the sameness (pattern) of the scandals. The pattern in the scandals is caused by Donald's Trumps malignant narcissism disorder. In this movie, Untruth, we are looking at the psychological underpinning that leads to finding this malignant narcissist to be an appealing political figure. An antique rule, "The Goldwater rule," prohibits professionals from discussing Trump's condition openly.

Why are people caught up in Trump's troll? The film's point is that authoritarianism is a latent trait in perhaps all of us. There is something attractive and appealing about a strong and confident leader who will not take no for an answer. He is saying he will do what you feel emotionally needs to be done. Trump has activated authoritarianism in a lot of people and made a strong bond with his audience, his followers. He can say the unsayable give voice to feelings that otherwise could not be ventilated. The problem is that even though the emotions might be right, the solutions are ill-considered.

He is proposing ill-considered ad-hoc solutions to problems to give emotional satisfaction.

Donald's policies are not producing much tangible result. However, it is not true that his supporters are not gaining anything from supporting Donald; on the contrary, they are given something much more important. They get pride, dignity, and status within the cult. That is more important to people than a job, healthcare, peace, clean air, clean water etc.

When looking at the history of ethno-nationalist movements, they usually do not promise people to gain any material condition. Instead, they are saying you will be lifted up because of your ethnicity, you do not need to do anything, we will not do anything for you, but all the rest will be shoved down. That will raise your status. Democracy is not really necessary to this crowd.

Dan Portland points out that Donald's cult is 60 million people. They voted for him a second time after knowing what was going on. We have to look at that as a psychological phenomenon. 60 million people cannot be written off as bad apples. There is something at work in the psychology of our society that makes our ground fertile for authoritarian strong men like Donald Trump.

The scholars in the film give a lot of insight into why people are drawn to authoritarians. We must realize that there have been guys like Trump throughout history. In the past, they were always relegated to the fringe. Quickly set aside, that was not how people wanted their leaders. We will be stuck with this psycho if we don't understand what changed.

Trump wants to be an oligarch, and he envies all the oligarchs around the world. He is desperate to be in that club. Dan asks what the malignant narcissist's ultimate high is? Then he answers the question: The ultimate high must be to convince millions of people that a lie is a truth and that his followers believe him and submit to his authority. He is out to dominate his followers and feels that everybody he dominates is stupid.

I tried to watch the film, but it is currently unavailable in Europe. Either that or I looked at the wrong places.

Dan is on to something, and I agree with what he is saying, but leaves us with a question. It is an important question, but I will not answer it today. Perhaps because I cannot answer it. I have some ideas, but I will keep ponder on it.

Thursday 19 September

Today, we went to our respective offices. It was a day full of office activities. I got ad-hoc questions and could not work as well on the large algorithm. I got good questions and could solve things, but I did not get any further in my effort. That was a little frustrating. The AC was turned off, and that was nice.

In the evening, I just sat scrolling through feeds.

Friday 20 September

8:45 AM. I'm a little late on my way to work. The idea of biking is not to get stressed, so I won't. Think about it like that. When I arrive later at the office. I'm leaving later, and that's it. Besides that, it's within the margin of natural fluctuations.

I was thinking about the interview with Dan Portland. It is a pity I couldn't watch the movie in Europe. But I think the interview gave me enough of things to ponder about. Dan Portland points out that status is essential for these 60 million people. People want to win something and are willing to do it while sacrificing morality in one form or another. That points us to the ideas of the Moloch Force. Dan Portland is pointing us in a direction, but it's not giving us the answer, At least not in the interview.

Perhaps there will be a third movie. And maybe it will be about the Moluch Force? Who knows? Dan is not connecting the dots here, and the people talking about Moluch Force aren't doing it either. I will attempt to connect the dots here.

I see that many Western societies are ingrained in a competitive culture. Nothing wrong with that; it has brought us many good things. It is when morality is set aside that things are getting grim. But what is at the heart of a competition culture? Is it the hierarchy of hierarchies? The ranking of rankings? You are ranked based on your willingness to buy Donald's cheap tchotchkes to get your status; as Dan said, it is more critical with status than material improvements for these people.

Everything is a competition in a competitive culture. Every competition ends in a ranking list or a hierarchy. We are not equal in this hierarchy. That's the point with the Moluch Force. You were born with the wrong skin color. Too bad. You have the wrong gender. Nothing to do about it. Want to look beautiful? Use AI. This is the world of the 60 million people that Dan Portland is talking about. Or, as Anthony Davis said. The turkeys are voting for Thanksgiving.

Just look at the democratic process. Donald can mobilize his followers. Because, after all, an election is a competition. They know the drill. After the election, democracy will end as described in Project 2025. But who cares? They have their status in the overall ranking. I am not sure that I managed to formulate this idea sufficiently. Somehow, I am missing the oomph to the explanation. However, I will leave it at this for now.

I arrived at work 15 minutes past 9:00 AM. On the way home, it was sunny, and the wind was still.

It's actually funny. 200 meters from the office, we got a field with cows. It looks so peaceful. With the cows graze. Grazing. It looks so peaceful with the cows grazing in the field.

It is sunny. Nice weather. I just said it and had the BBQ smell in my nose.

Something exploded. Oh dear. It was behind me. I didn't see it. So, happy New Year! It could have been a tire of a bus that had exploded, but I doubt it. I'm not going back to check it. Leave it behind.

I am entering the beginning of the forest, where I have had two dog incidents. Biking under the motorway. In a tunnel. What will meet me here except for giant hogweed? Nothing met me. I was biking alone today. My bike has a ticking sound. At first, this was my reason for hating this bike. The brand is Gazelle Chamonix. No battery in my bike.

I biked along the canal today on the east side. The canal is vast here. I usually bike next to the. Golf Resort. You have the Five Bridges spot on the canal's other side. I can see a bridge from the other side. I took a photo of the bridge on the other side. But I don't think it's too easy to see. If you want to see it in the photo, you must click on the image to zoom in.

Now, I'm switching to a new path to the green cathedral. The canopies of the trees are very dense and high. I love it here; it's peaceful.

Work went well today. I finished an episode of my algorithm. I even started on the next episode. I cleared many misunderstandings in the algorithm. I think working on the algorithm from here on will be easier. Essentially, I have to clean up next week and then release this version of the program.

Saturday 21 September

Today, we decided to go and look for curtain solutions. We no longer planned to go to the repair shop with the tiller machine. That is for next Wednesday.

 

Already on the way to Ikea, we started discussing what we wanted. It turned out to be that we had different visions about curtains. DW's vision regarding what to buy was further developed than mine. We just had to make the final decisions. On the other hand, I had various challenges for which I liked to see solutions. Already, this difference gave us a somewhat tenser feeling.

When we arrived at Ikea, we noticed that they had several curtain systems that met the flexibility criteria, but we did not find them attractive from an aesthetic point of view. The system I liked the best was on display in the shop. It had aluminum extrusions with hooks traveling in the rods with wheels. The baskets just had plastic shuttles. They did not work as smoothly as the wheeled shuttles.

The other systems at Ikea were clunky. I was in for a highly smooth opening and closing experience, which was not displayed in the shop. It is challenging to buy something if you cannot see how it works. I understand it is hard to have stuff in the shop that is opened and closed two thousand times per day when the lifespan of that thing is 10 thousand movements. I did not sign up for Ikea Engineering; that is their problem.

I suggested to DW that we go to a traditional curtain shop. We were in Amsterdam, we went to the Amsterdam Arena shopping mall. Parked on the roof. You arrive at the building from the top floors, looking down in the hall. There were balloons on the first floor. Looked nice. From the roof, you have a grand view of this city area.

The salesperson was good. He showed us all sorts of solutions. We talked about our challenges. So, what are our challenges? Well, I designed the house and did not add 20 centimeters to the hallways for curtains. Of course, we can do a traditional curtain solution, but missing 20 centimeters is quite some narrowing of the hallway. I was not prepared for that.

We have different situations on the first floor and also on the ground floor. Was it essential to have one solution on the different floors? What should we do with windows you can open?

There were so many options, and yet questions remained. It was a little overwhelming, really. In all this, I was trying to categorize to find the benefits of different solutions. Pros and cons. Asking relevant questions. It was not so easy.

Eventually, we found a solution. We will install horizontal plissé pleated curtains. We will look into that further. On the ground floor, we are considering lamella curtains.

After some rest, we went to town again. This time, we went to an Asian shop to buy jasmine-green tea. They also had many beautiful porcelain things.

I was tired when we came home. That did not help much because we had to move the sheep fence. The neighbors wanted to continue their fence project tomorrow. Later the same evening, we were given a short, spontaneous fireworks show. I shot a photo through the living room window. It isn't easy to take fireworks photos, but this photo was successful.

Sunday 22 September

Hello. Today, we had a day at home. DW worked in the front garden. I repotted our in-house plants. Started working on the boards for the tiny house. Then we had lunch. And then we had a bike tour. We went along the canal to the green cathedral and biked to the farm shop. And now I'm standing here working on the boards again.

I finished the boards on the left side of the wheelhouse. A little piece is missing from the corner. When the corner is finished, I will do the wheelhouse.

Here ends this week's blog. I am glad I continued on the board's project. It is nice that we have things to do on a list. I like it like that.