Category: Misc

I am trying to improve my diet. I have heard that steel cut oats are good for you, so I am going to start eating more of them.

My local grocer, HEB, sells them in a cardboard can. They are good. However, the instructions are written in a small gold font on a black background, which makes them hard to read. I have no idea who decided on that color scheme. What makes it more irritating is that some things are printed in a white font, and those are easier to read, and (I would argue) not as important as the instructions.

1. Bring 3/4 cup of water to a boil.
2. Stir in 1/4 cup of oats.
3. Reduce heat to low, simmer uncovered for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring regularly.
4. Remove from heat, and allow to stand for 1 minute before serving.

 

Given the prevalence of low-contrast text on a lot of websites (and now products), I have to wonder how UI/UX people got to be so stupid. And unlike a browser, a can from a grocery store does not have a reader mode.

The Ecstasy of Saint Paul by Nicolas Poussin (1594 – 1665); image from Wikimedia, assumed allowed under Fair Use.

I have a few more thoughts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine: It proves that Putin is probably one of the stupidest people who has ever lived, and China should think long and hard about invading Taiwan.

Russia thought it had a good army. It did have a few conflicts that it seemed to win; granted, its enemies were worse than they were, and they usually did a lot of bombing and human rights violations (kind of like they are doing in Ukraine). But they seemed to think because they defeated weaker militaries in countries with a fraction of Russian’s population that they knew what they were doing. The Ukrainian military in 2014 was worse than Russia’s, with even older equipment, but they learned their lesson and have been preparing. A lot of people think Ukraine is more corrupt, yet somehow they are able to train and equip their soldiers. Meanwhile, Russia is sending obese and aging convicts to the front with toy rifles. If only the oligarchs could throw their misstresses’ fur coats at the Ukraine army, then this would be over very quickly.

If any leader should win a war, it is a former spy. Not because I think that spies are geniuses. Their job is to get an accurate assessment of a situation, particularly when other people are trying to mislead you. Perhaps Putin got so caught up in spreading lies in the West he forgot how to detect liars in Russia.

Aren’t spies supposed to know what the situation is on the ground? Putin was wrong about the readiness of the Russian and Ukrainian militaries, the sentiments of the peoples of Russia and Ukraine, and the response from the international community. In other words, just about everything.

The Russian gov had press releases ready to go before the invasion with dates two or three days later congratulating the Russian army for liberating Ukraine. There were screenshots of them posted to twitter. Now there are rumors that Putin is preparing to use nuclear weapons. There have been much longer wars throughout history, but from press releases to doomsday weapons in seven months is something.

Putin keeps saying Ukraine is part of Russia, but Ukrainians say they are a separate country, language and ethnicity. To non-Slavs, Slavs all look and sound alike. To them, they are all as different as night and day. Kind of like Scandinavians look to the rest of us. I have not met too many Ukrainians, but they were all insistent that Ukrainians are not Russian. But like I said, to me, as a non-Slav, they seem the same. Maybe Putin’s problem is he does not know any Slavic people. If you have any thoughts on how the President of Russia can get in contact with some Slavs, let me know. Either the few Ukrainians I have met were part of a conspiracy to fool little old me, or Putin knows less about Slavs than I do.

And let’s never forget: A lot of conservatives still think that Putin is the smart one and Biden is senile and doesn’t know what he is doing. They never look at evidence. Some pro-Russian supporters say that Russia is tricking Ukraine, and they will “release the kraken” soon. Why didn’t Russia start out that way? I hereby propose Dugin’s Law: If someone’s plans are going badly, and they or their supporters keep saying “Just wait” or they are playing Nth dimensional chess and you just can’t see it, they are idiots.

I think it’s funny that some pro-Russian people say that Ukraine is winning because of help from NATO; the implication is that getting help from NATO is unfair. Maybe Putin should have foreseen that; Trump tells us Putin is a really smart guy. If we are going to argue about that is fair, Ukrainians would say that the whole invasion is unfair. People forced to fight for their lives are not going to care about fairness.

As far as China goes, given that Russia was wrong about everything even though they have fought more conflicts than China has in the past 40 years, China should take a long, hard look at its miliary to make sure it can do whatever mission it is sent on.

Russia faced some outclassed opponents, but they have fought some actual land battles in the past few decades. When was the last time China tried a sustained conflict? I think that was the last time they invaded Vietnam in the late 1970s. I read somewhere China did not even give some of their soldiers guns, they just sent wave after wave of bodies against the Vietnamese. Vietnam had to ask to start peace negotiations because they were running out of bullets. China has had a few small skirmishes with India, but nothing major since then. Nothing as large as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Building a bunch of fake islands will not help China take over a real one filled with people who do not want to be part of mainland China. China should make sure their equipment works, their food is less than a decade old, and not send their elderly to an unwinnable war.

---

---

It is amazing to me that people who call Ukraine “the Ukraine” will call The Hague just “Hague”. I don’t know why there is a city with the definite article. Perhaps there were professional wrestlers in medieval Europe.

“Ladies and gentlemen, weighing in with a population of half a million, the International Court of Justice, and several multi-national corporations, give it up for….The Hague!!”

“We’re The Hague, and we’re gonna kick Rotter-god-dam’s ass!!”

Big Jim says: Do not conflate the way things actually are with the way you want things to be. Reality has better stamina and determination than you do.

Painting by 13th-14th century Italian painter Rinaldo da Taranto, image from Wikimedia, assumed allowed under public domain .

Here is the dividend income report for October, 2021.

The monthly dividend income came out to $465.25. The yearly income total for 2021 through the end of the month was $7376.87.

The income for October 2020 was $195.26, and the yearly income for 2020 through the end of October was $6854.28.

Once again, VPU was late. I am still considering getting another utility ETF.

I have started using Org Mode again. I have not gotten to listening to any conference calls, but that is coming up soon.

I recently found out about the Morningstar Wide Moat Index, which is pretty much what it sounds like. There is also an ETF for the index run by Van Eck. Per their site, “Moat investing is based on a simple concept: Invest in companies with sustainable competitive advantages trading at attractive valuations.” I think the term originated with Warren Buffett. Another good definition of a “wide moat” is high barriers to entry. (Also see other pages at this link and this link.)

One good way to find good stocks is to let someone else do the work. There are a few dividend achievers in the wide moat index. Granted, I will not just take their ideas without considering them. I don’t know what their methodology is. Morningstar has a PDF on their site with their rules on selection for the index, but they are not too helpful. They select companies based on “fair value” (which I could probably calculate myself) and with “an economic moat rating of wide by Morningstar’s Equity Research team”. How they come up with a rating of “wide” is not really explained. Sort of like the index used in a Vanguard fund that had “additional proprietary eligibility”.

I do question some of their selections. Wells Fargo was in the index until recently. Is cheating customers, getting dragged in front of Congress and replacing your CEO a wide moat? Another member is Boeing. Again, I don’t know what a “wide moat” would be in aviation, but I am guessing building planes that cannot stay in the sky is not it.

However, there are a few companies in the index that are also dividend achievers:

• BMY Bristol-Myers Squibb Co
• CHRW Ch Robinson Worldwide Inc
• CMCSA Comcast Corp
• EMR Emerson Electric Co
• GD General Dynamics Corp
• GILD Gilead Sciences Inc
• ICE Intercontinental Exchange Inc
• INTC Intel Corp
• K Kellogg Co
• KLAC Kla Corp
• KO Coca-Cola Co
• LMT Lockheed Martin Corp
• LRCX Lam Research Corp
• MAS Masco Corp
• MCD Mcdonald’s Corp
• MCHP Microchip Technology Inc
• MDT Medtronic Plc
• MO Altria Group Inc
• MRK Merck & Co Inc
• MSFT Microsoft Corp
• PFE Pfizer Inc
• PII Polaris Inc
• PM Philip Morris International Inc
• ROP Roper Technologies Inc
• RTX Raytheon Technologies Corp
• STZ Constellation Brands Inc
• WU Western Union Co

 

Here is a table with the year-to-date amounts, the monthly amounts, and the three- and twelve-month moving averages for each October from 2011 through 2021:

Month	YTD	Amount	3MMA	12MMA
2021-10	$7376.87	$465.25	$838.41	$922.01
2020-10	$6854.28	$195.26	$745.73	$879.26
2019-10	$6777.52	$291.83	$822.53	$761.86
2018-10	$4606.91	$1130.39	$561.66	$583.77
2017-10	$5138.63	$341.83	$566.34	$556.11
2016-10	$4541.79	$281.09	$508.05	$496.43
2015-10	$4056.72	$312.23	$459.42	$438.15
2014-10	$3236.89	$243.87	$368.19	$340.32
2013-10	$2558.86	$184.81	$295.19	$291.08
2012-10	$2650.92	$225.14	$285.46	$284.35
2011-10	$2330.68	$208.90	$258.17	$238.44

Here are the securities and the income amounts for October, 2021:

• Vanguard Utilities ETF: $266.09
• Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF: $130.54
• Vanguard Total International Bond ETF: $8.39
• Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF: $37.36
• Gladstone Land: $22.87

 

Big Jim does not like the Gutenberg editor.

“The Immaculate Conception” by Anton Raphael Mengs (22 March 1728 – 29 June 1779), image from Museo Del Prado, assumed allowed under Public Domain.

I have been doing the idea list again, since about May. I really do not feel any different, or that my life is about to change.

Overall, it has been going well, but I have been losing some momentum in the past couple of weeks. Coming up with topics is still pretty hard. I kind of feel I am at the same place I was the last two times I tried it, it just took me longer to get here.

The main issue is topics for the idea list. JA never mentions that is the hardest part. In one post he does give tips (reading a lot, see here) and I have to admit I have not followed all of them.

Some of the idea lists that I come up with are kind of dumb, like I’m a bad comedy writer. But sometimes when I get to number 9 I come up with something interesting. (And when I do, I agonize over whether or not I can quit, or if I should do a tenth).

I make idea lists about why to do something, and sometimes why not to do something. Sometimes coming with reasons not to do something might be a good way to anticipate counterarguments to a suggestion at work, or a way to anticipate obstacles.
Sometimes I will see someone doing something, or who just looks interesting, or something that irritates me, and I will come up with ten or so ideas about that person’s history, or why they are doing whatever they are doing.

Sometimes I will combine things. Or I will get words from a passphrase generator, and come up with how they are related. That is not always very fruitful.

I try to keep a list of possible topics. I try to work on it once a week. Sometimes a possible topic will occur to me and I will write it down. It may be changing how I observe things, but I don’t feel like my list is on the cusp of a big change.

A couple of months back, I was thinking about giving up. I went to Whataburger for lunch, and I saw a car that had been painted over several times. In the layer under the top, someone spray-painted “Elvis” several times all over the car. The top layer was gold. And there was a mannequin in the backseat. I thought, “I can use this.”

If I lived in Florida, I could just follow Florida Man.

I know James wrote that his idea lists have gotten him invites to speak from companies, but I have found that sometimes people do not want suggestions. People do not want things to change. I work on a large Java app for a state government. The base application is about ten years old. Java has changed a lot in ten years. It is less verbose and less painful to work with. At least, that is what I have heard. Would re-writing the app be a pain? Yes, but then it is a pain to use. What does this have to do with idea list? Management is not open to the best solution (and I am not the only one who thinks starting over might be the best solution). But writing more, smaller apps, tools, and utilities to manage the main application they are okay with. The problem is this adds more complexity. They are okay with adding more apps and processes to what we do than actually change what we are doing. The sunk cost fallacy is a stronger force than compound interest.

While it is frustrating, on another level I can understand it. People generally do not like someone dropping out of the sky and giving unsolicited advice. It makes you look like a jerk, not an enlightened person.

Maybe I should spend more time on actual issues in my life. Unless that leads to frustration.

I took a creative writing course when I was at WIU. She once mentioned that in one of her classes, she had to make links between different topics in her life. If she had learned something in a physics class, and she was in love with “someone” (her word, not mine), she had to think of a way they related to one another.

Another issue is that I think in order to have new ideas, you need to expose yourself to new things. But I want more control over my life, and the way I see it, that means more discipline, more routine.

Big Jim’s idea machine might be running out of steam.

Painting of the Nativity by Guido of Siena (13th Century), assumed allowed under Fair Use.

I am adding an item to my list of “Signs That Someone is an Asshole“: Bringing a dog into a store.

I have been seeing more people bringing dogs into stores and even restaurants. I always thought that was a violation of health codes. I have blogged about this before. Airlines are cracking down on “emotional support animals“.

Most of the times that I have seen people bring dogs into businesses, they have been women. Usually low class women. Low class, high crass and total trash. Sometimes they are older women who wear too much makeup, tight pants that might have looked okay on them decades ago, or leopard print. Sometimes all three. Call it the trash-fecta.

If they are younger, usually they are fat, with blue hair and tattoos. Three bad things that do not add up to a good thing.

I don’t think any of these people are actually suffering from PTSD. Like I wrote before, some people are allergic to dogs. If you really cannot leave home without your dog, solve your problems on your own. Or stay home.

Big Jim is against class discrimination, unless you act like trash, or put people at risk.

“Female Nude with a Dog (Portrait of Leotine Renaude)” by Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) , at Musee d’Orsay, assumed allowed under Fair Use.

I realized I should probably start supporting some of the free stuff that I use. So here is a list of organizations that I will start donating some money to. I might do one of these a month.

1. AdoptOpenJDK –
2. CFI Austin –
3. Freedom From Religion Foundation –
4. Maraposa Sangha –
5. Poetry In Translation –
6. RationalWiki –
7. Science Friday –
8. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign –
9. Wikipedia –

Big Jim like helping others who help others.

“The Adoration of the Shepherds” by El Greco (1541 – 7 April 1614), at El Greco’s site, assumed allowed under Fair Use. According to Wikimedia, there are other paintings by El Greco about this topic.

Recently I went to a Meetup group called Just This: Zen Writing. It took place at the Austin Zen Center.

There was a few minutes of meditation, then there was a prompt, then we all wrote something based on the prompt, then we took turns reading out loud what we wrote and commenting on each others’ writing.

The prompt was from the Diamond Sutra:

All conditioned dharmas
Are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, or shadows;
Like drops of dew, or like flashes of lightning;
Thusly should they be contemplated.

The leader played a few minutes of some monks chanting the Diamond Sutra.

One thing I found interesting is that a few people wrote quite a bit, but a couple of people only wrote a few sentences.

Here is what I wrote:

Chanting, marching, motion.

Driving. Highways. Night. Sunrise.

Things are more fleeting for me that they really are. I speed by, they remain in place. Someone may see me speed by in a second. We exist only for a second to each other. The motionless destination gets closer, yet too slow for me.

Mountains, rivers, oceans sometimes visible for a few seconds before obscured by trees and distance, or the setting of the sun. Horses and trains in Alabama are replaced by horses and trains in Illinois. Georgia pines blend into Arkansas pines. Trucks and truck stops, unique yet interchangeable across state lines and times of day.

Machines, cars, tractors arise and pass away as do deer, horses and hills. Crossing Maryland for 12 minutes, crossing Tennessee for eight hours. Engines drone as sun shines and rain falls. People live and die, birds land and rise. North, south, east, west. Job, school, family, wandering, reunion, escape, new life. Everything arises in the horizon in front of me and passes away in the horizon behind. And to them you are someone roaring by to be seen same time next year, or never again.

Big Jim prefers Theravadan suttas, but he went with the program.

“Dame Autumn has a mournful face” by John Atkinson Grimshaw (6 September 1836 – 13 October 1893),  assumed allowed under Fair Use.