Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll definitely check that out! I found that when searching for “philosophy,” I get a lot of history of philosophy, and the ones that do bring new discussions are not usually picking themes that in all that interested in.

I guess if the VPN speeds were fine, if there were drops in connection, and whether you can manually choose a location.

Have you used the cloud service for photo backup? I currently have an iPhone and it sounds neat to switch to bundling Proton and dropping the iCloud subscription.

I’d probably just use Proton’s mail app on mobile. It’s actually pretty snappy and intuitive, and it has always had the basic features I need.

Oh man, I have many many written down. I quickly found out that there are many schools of thought for approaching woodworking, so it’s helpful to think about what you want to make and what you like or dislike as you try different things. I decided I wanted to go the sharpening route, as opposed to continually buying electro-hardened blades, and I wanted to use as simple as tools as I can learn how. This ends up being axes, chisels, saws, and I did get a hand-crank grinder from 1910 for those heavy grinding situations.

I almost always have the Mortise and Tenon podcast on as I’m doing things. Joshua and Mike’s discussions really resonate with me and the philosophical elements really prompt some introspection. Joshua has two books that I’ll probably get soon. Otherwise, I bought Sharpen This and the Anarchists’ Toolkit; anything from Lost Art Press is probably worth the money.

As far as channels, Matt Estlea has many great videos for the essentials of sharpening and good form for chiseling and sawing. He also has other videos that I would consider “optional” but I did end up making his sharpening block stop, because it makes sharpening quicker. I may try to do free hand honing though, since the heavy cambre is difficult with a honing guide.

Paul Sellers has so many great videos. I especially loved him making a bench without having a bench. So many people show you how to make things already having many other tools and setups.

James Wright (Wood by Wright) has some really good videos and offers honest opinions. Beavercraft has some nice simple ones for getting started with carving. I haven’t explored one for tool restoration yet; if you have any that you suggest, I’d be happy to hear them. I eventually want to just make my own wooden planes.

That sounds like a unique experience. When I had a running coach for a short while, he said I should curl my toe down as I pull my leg back. The lack of exercising that bottom foot muscle often contributes to flat-footedness. This wasn’t probably an issue when people walked barefoot because we naturally dug into the earth for traction.

Do your feet ever get sore?

I can relate with the passion for learning. I think that is so invigorating. Since you like physics and reading, if you haven’t already, I would highly recommend Project Hail Mary and Artemis, each by Andy Weir. He is an astrophysicist, so his works occur how they would likely physically happen as we understand physics currently. Super neat but different plots for each.

Thank you. I wholeheartedly agree, learning to work with nature such as wood, instead of imposing our will on it definitely gives me perspective on considering our connection with nature. In the modern era, much of how we connect with nature is removed or sterilized.

I’m really glad to hear you sing. There are so many ways music and rhythm weave through our lives. I expect a follow up post if you Snow White like 20 birds onto your arms!

All spot-on advice above. I don’t work in IT but just wanted to add that I learned that the hard way, many managers are simply not good at their job and know they can pull a bait-and-switch with newer employees. It takes a little bit of experience to feel confident enough to say “That’s not what I agreed to.” In the nursing world they call that someone’s nursing voice.

What helped me and might help you is reassuring yourself that what you’re currently doing is not what was originally discussed, and you are looking for a role doing X. It’s nothing personal toward them, it’s simply “I am looking for this certain role and quality that is not available in this current role.” I personally hated confrontation, so sticking with objective aspects helped make that uncomfortable change.

There is a really cool motivational speaker that talked about how people have the idea that “success will lead to happiness,” but it’s actually the opposite, “happiness fuels success.” That doesn’t necessarily mean more money, but he said people that can find happiness around them instead of waiting for it are more fufilled. What I took away is that it’s good practice to dig deep and think about the good things in our lives instead of waiting for X to happen to be happy. It’s difficult to explain, but I think he means not to put the control of our fulfillment with an external factor (job, money, etc). I think where people get sucked in is a little success gives you that high for a while, until they need to find another success, and keep needing to fuel that happiness machine.

That must have been a cool experience. There was/is an r/iwantout that was nice to get some local experience of some expats. I’m sure every place has its pros and cons. Id love to visit more places and get a feel for the culture and lifestyles.

But I agree, making time for just doing something that give you that spark of joy is pretty important. It seems too easy to get sucked into the cycle of bills, life tasks, credit, etc. Does anyone think of that on their deathbed? From I gather, people think of the important people and experiences they have had.

Bill who? Well, good job Bill

…and he says, “I can bearly stand up!”

Sure, small groups of closed-minded people can easily become echo chambers. For everyone else, safe spaces can be a way to support thoughts or feelings that may not otherwise be expressed and discussed. I guess the question becomes “What percentage of safe spaces are made up of mostly close-minded people?” If you assume that most people are close-minded, then you are correct.

I would definitely have to say my wife. She inspires me to be a better person and my life has been exponentially better since I have known her. Don’t get me wrong, the relationship has been a LOT of work. But every ounce is worth it. And I would not have had the chance to be with her without my dad teaching me a solid work ethic. That with my patience/persistence/determination has gotten me to so many better spaces. I’ve definitely learned to highly value those good people around.

الحَمدُ لِلّه