Charlie's Blog: 2026

4.26.2026

END DISTRACTED DRIVING

Arrive alive. Don't text and drive.
A SLOGAN AGAINST DISTRACTED DRIVING

Recently, my state enacted a law mandating hands free driving. It began with warning tickets but now will cost people fines and points off of their licenses. I wholeheartedly support this law and pray that the cops enforce it vigorously. I thought most people would share my opinion on this, but I was wrong. A glance through the combox comments on articles and videos announcing the new law shows a litany of idiots crying and whining about the "injustice" of the law. These fools believe they have a God given right to play on their phones behind the wheel and endanger everyone else on the road including themselves. It truly boggles the mind.

This country has a serious problem with smartphone addiction. Before my accident, I drove a truck for my day job. From that perch, I could see down into the interior of every vehicle that passed me on the left side. I calculated that every third driver had a phone in his or her hand texting and driving. I would blow the horn at these people, but it made no difference. They just keep tapping away at the screens at 70+ miles per hour.

I remember driving to work one day and glancing in the rear view mirror at the driver behind me on her iPhone. It was directly in front of her face. All I saw was that Apple logo and prayed that God would spare me my life. She never dropped the phone, and I was thankful to get away from her.

The idiot who hit me and put me in the hospital was almost certainly playing on his phone. I suspect he was in a rush to score some opioids from his drug contact that he was texting with on Facebook messenger. He used his Facebook page to declare me at fault despite the testimony of the two witnesses he almost killed before he hit me. I estimate he was flying along at 90 mph while texting and eating Chick-fil-A. A year or so later, he posted a meme on his Facebook account making fun of his distracted driving habit. Gentle Reader, these are the sorts of idiots who are sharing the road with you and your family members. Somehow, we are supposed to respect their "freedom."

You can Google the stats but distracted driving has been blamed for 8% of all traffic fatalities last year. I suspect the actual number is higher because people lie, and it is difficult to prove distracted driving especially when law enforcement doesn't care to investigate. Additionally, law enforcement are some of the worst offenders when it comes to distracted driving. I remember reading a story recently of a cop that ran over a woman on the beach and killed her while playing on his phone. His life is ruined.

I consider distracted driving to be worse than driving under the influence. The drunk driver still has his eyes on the road and is trying not to get caught. I don't know what it is going to take to make this country embrace common sense on this matter. We are at the point where stupidity has taken on deadly consequences. The smartphone needs to find a place alongside alcohol and tobacco as a dangerous thing. Until then, I do my part to raise awareness on this. My life has already been ruined by one of these idiots. I pray that the idiocy stops.

End Distracted Driving

4.19.2026

Q & A 2

I am a musician. My passion for music has obliterated everything in its path for my entire life.
BARRY MANILOW

I like the Q & A format because it allows me to write on things that aren't big enough for a dedicated blog post. Most of my posts come from asking myself a question which the post will answer. I just delete the question except here where I keep the questions. That is a small window into my creative process. Here is my second edition of Q & A.

Q: Do you think there will be a widespread return to dumbphones?

A: I have reluctantly had to admit that smartphones are here to stay. The real question is whether or not dumbphones are here to stay. The pressure to conform to the smartphone cult is immense, but I think dumbphone users like me represent a stubborn minority. We refuse to die.

Q: Is it still possible to buy quality?

A: I think it is possible to buy quality, but I think it is much harder today. The two things that kill quality today are debasement of the currency and women's addiction to fashion. Why make a quality product when the women will want it in a different color or flavor next season? This is how you get our current disposable culture.

You can find quality if you're willing to go to the thrift store and buy old stuff from better times. You can also buy quality if you invest the time and energy into researching the things you buy before you buy them.

Q: Should they completely privatize the post office?

A: I have always considered the US Postal Service to be a branch of the federal government like the park service, the FAA, and the FBI. The idea that the post office is a private enterprise is a fiction, and it needs to be dropped. Yes, the postal service operates at a loss on a yearly basis, but the American public has had no problem with this. They just get mad when the cost of stamps goes up.

There are some things I don't think can or should ever be privatized. Prisons would be one of those things. Roads and highways are another. I think they should drop the idea of privatizing the post office like they have done in Denmark. That looks like a disaster.

Q: What happened to Eddie Bauer and Harley-Davidson?

A: I identify those two brands as Baby Boomer brands. The Boomers are now dying off in what I call the "Boomer Bust." I expect to see many more brands go down as the demographics change. Red Lobster is one of those brands. I think steakhouses like Longhorn and Outback will also suffer because steak is mostly a boomer thing. Omaha Steaks has already been hit. Wine is getting hit hard as well. Gen Xers and Millennials prefer cheeseburgers, Mexican food, and beer. I don't think they will ever develop a taste for steak and lobster.

Q: What went wrong with Star Wars?

A: George Lucas is what went wrong with Star Wars. He had a good idea that was boosted by others until he decided that selling toys was better than making movies. From then on, he proceeded to immolate the franchise before selling it to Disney to finish it off. The amazing thing was that he had some good ideas in the first place.

Q: Which are better as pets--dogs or cats?

A: I don't own pets because I can't afford them. If I did own a pet, I prefer a cat because cats will poop in a box and bury it. Dogs don't do this. Cats have their issues, but I think they take less effort than dogs.

Q: Why have Nike's sales fallen while sales of New Balance have increased?

A: This question comes from this video from CNBC on YouTube:

Why New Balance sales are soaring while Nike falls

The talking head on the video totally blew her analysis on the reason for the decline of Nike and the resurgence of New Balance. You get a better idea from the comments section that tells the real story. I will give my two cents on the matter.

Gen X and Millennials got old. These were the folks who used to buy Nike products, but they are now middle aged. When you hit middle age, the "dad shoe" becomes more appealing than the LeBron James shoe. I was one of those Gen Xers.

I used to wear the Nike Air Pegasus shoe when I was pretending to be a runner. I hated those shoes because they were uncomfortable as hell, but I thought those were the shoes you had to wear to be a runner. I ended up donating my last pair to Goodwill unworn in a virtually brand new condition. I will never go back to Nike.

I started wearing New Balance on accident. The lady who managed my apartment complex had bought some New Balance shoes for her husband who complained that she had bought him the wrong size. The reality was they were not flashy enough for him. She gifted me the shoes, and I made a face when I saw them. They were uncool dad shoes that seemed more fitting for geriatrics. But I already had a brain injury by then and was pushing 50. I swallowed my pride and put them on. They were the most comfortable sneaker I had ever worn and were perfect for fitness walking. I regret that I had not discovered them sooner, and I consider it divine intervention. I have bought many pairs of that same exact shoe since that day and keep some on standby in my closet.

I doubt New Balance will ever eclipse Nike in sales. I just think you are seeing demographics in action. Old people want comfortable and non-flashy shoes. New Balance delivers on that desire. The younger folks will keep buying Nikes.

Q: What is your opinion of third orders?

A: I like to tell people that I am a third order Trappist. I like to go around keeping my mouth shut. Fortunately, I have this blog where I can say what I really think.

I think third orders serve to scratch the itch of spiritual pride that some laypeople have. Everybody wants to be a special snowflake and not just some layperson living an ordinary life. I discovered this impulse in myself when I had a desire to be involved with Opus Dei. Now, I see them as a cult that needs to be deactivated in the Catholic Church. One can only hope and pray that happens.

There is a third order Carmelite in my parish that is always recruiting for the third order. I have always declined the invitation. I am a nobody, and I intend to remain that way. It is all I can do to pray the Rosary each day, so I know I am not up to the demands of a religious order and the Divine Office.

The only religious order that I have an affinity for are the Franciscans and the Poor Clares. I think this comes from watching Mother Angelica on EWTN and living a voluntary poverty lifestyle. I have never desired to be a Secular Franciscan. The appeal to me of the Franciscan orders is their desire to be humble and small. You can't be humbler or smaller than being a nobody.

Q: What is your opinion of spec ops?

A: I think these special operations units amount to ordinary men brainwashed into doing suicide missions. To achieve this brainwashing, these guys go through a process to weed out the quitters until they get a group of guys who would rather die than abandon the mission. Then, they sling them into those suicide missions. These men are not superhuman, but they are led to believe that they are. That hubris gets them killed sometimes. Other times, it makes them throw shade on each other as you witness Navy SEALS talk smack about other SEALS. Humility is not a hallmark of spec ops.

I came to this conclusion at the end of the 1990s watching some Navy SEALS lose the Eco-Challenge to some middle aged hippies from New Zealand. I had picked the SEALS to win the ultra endurance event and worried that the woman ultrarunner forced to compete with them would hamstring them. The opposite happened. She ended up dragging them through the event until they washed out in humiliation on the water.

Navy SEALS are not athletes in the same way that athletes are not special operators. If you put the SEALS in a game with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Lakers are going to win every time.  Likewise, if you send the Lakers into a war zone, they are going to come back dead.

I have always agreed with the Marine Corps mentality when it comes to spec ops. They hated spec ops because they considered it bad for morale. Witnessing the SEALS today with their books, movies, and podcasts only confirms what the USMC already knew. Unfortunately, the Pentagon forced the Marines to turn their Force Recon personnel into special operators to create a spec ops force known today as the MARSOC Raiders. I suspect the Marines would like to undo that, but they have to follow their orders.

Should spec ops exist? I can't answer that question. The simple fact is that we will always need men to go in harm's way. Would they still do it knowing they were just ordinary men likely to die? I can't answer that either.

Q: Why do people run marathons?

A: Less than 1% of the world's population has ever completed a marathon. This still puts the number of marathon finishers in the millions. The reason these people run marathons is because they want to feel they have achieved something special and rare. As I said, people want to feel that they are special snowflakes. A finisher's medal from a marathon scratches that itch.

I don't think running a marathon is that big of a deal. I think many others in that community agree with me which is how you got the Ironman Triathlon and the Badwater Ultramarathon. At some point, it changes from a sport to a stunt. I stick with walking. I am not a special snowflake.

Q: What do you think of Barry Manilow?

A: I won't get into the particulars of Barry Manilow's private life as I believe even celebrities are entitled to their privacy and should not be the subject of gossip, detraction, and calumny. I will stick to the music.

I think Barry Manilow is an awesome songwriter and performer who had a real ear for melody. For some reason, it became fashionable to hold Manilow in scorn and derision. This happened sometime in the 1980s, and I was one of those snarky types who loved to take a crap on Manilow.

My derision ended when I encountered a Manilow fan in high school. Mr. P. (name withheld) was the special education teacher, and I remember our journalism class going to his section of the campus to help his students with their volunteer labor for the school newspaper. While we were working there, Mr. P. was playing a vinyl record on an old record player. When I looked at the sleeve for the record, it was Barry Manilow.

"Barry Manilow?!" I exclaimed in my warm up to take a huge crap on it.

"Oh, yes! I just love Barry," Mr. P. said.

I felt bad, and I checked myself. Mr. P. is deceased now, but he was one of the finest human beings you could ever meet in life. There was no smartass snark or derision in this man. He was the real deal, and his love for Manilow came from a place of sincere appreciation for good music. I share that appreciation now.

That snarkiness and smartassery became a thing in the 80s, and I blame Chevy Chase and David Letterman for this. I don't really like their comedy where somebody has to be the butt of the humor. I think Jay Leno was better than David Letterman because he didn't do the snarkiness. I think the American public agreed which is why Leno consistently beat Letterman in the ratings. Leno could come back right now and be the king of late night all over again. But I digress. . .

I like Barry Manilow's music. I like disco music and the Bee Gees. I even like lounge music and Lawrence Welk. I don't care whether it is "cool." Cool is garbage to me. I love a good tune, and I think everyone else does, too. I think it is a tragedy to allow cynicism and fashion to keep you from experiencing good things in life.

Q: Do you think someone murdered Kurt Cobain?

A: No, I don't. I think Cobain suicided himself in accord with Occam's razor that holds that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. The guy was on a self-destructive path for a long time, and I think his atheism and nihilism undid him. The people with the murder conjectures want to rewrite Cobain's story much like others want to claim that Jim Morrison faked his death and is still alive somewhere. I am waiting for people to make the same claims about Cobain one day. It is all nonsense.

That's all for this second edition of Q & A. I am already working on the third edition.

4.12.2026

Stay In The Boat: The Siren Song Of Sedevacantism And The SSPX

For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say to you: Lo here is Christ, or there, do not believe him. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold I have told it to you, beforehand.
MATTHEW 24:21-25 DOUAY-RHEIMS

And when he entered into the boat, his disciples followed him: And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves, but he was asleep. And they came to him, and awaked him, saying: Lord, save us, we perish. And Jesus saith to them: Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then rising up he commanded the winds, and the sea, and there came a great calm.
MATTHEW 8:23-26 DOUAY-RHEIMS

I am off the Ann Barnhardt train. I have deleted her feeds from my Inoreader. My first deletion was her memes blog that began to resemble the Nazi trash you see on Gab. I recently downloaded her podcast but decided I didn't care to listen to her anymore. This stems from her Benevacantist errors that have blossomed into what I consider a variation of sedevacantism. I also include her compatriots Dr. Mazza and Non Veni Mark Docherty in my purge. They all suffer from the inability to admit they got it wrong. I don't suffer from that inability.

There are two ways you can fall out of a boat. You can fall out of the boat on the port side (the left) or the starboard side (the right.) Similarly, one can fall out of the Barque of Peter on both the left with modernism or the right with traditionalism. It doesn't matter which side you pick because they both end up with you outside of the boat and losing the faith. You must stay in the boat. No matter what confusion may come, STAY IN THE BOAT!

It is important to remember this elementary advice because confusion is going to come. Confusion comes from the Devil, and he is really good at stirring it up. The ultimate goal of the sinister forces is to make you abandon the faith, die in a state of mortal sin, and burn in Hell with them for eternity. The remedy for confusion is simplicity. When you don't know what is going on, stay in the boat. Your patience will do you better than resorting to your own "wisdom" on these things.

1. Vatican II and the modernist heretics

Modernism blossomed as a thing all the way back in the 19th century. The one thing you have to understand about the left wing heretics is that they never leave the Church unless they are thrown out. They already have churches to their liking that they can join, but this does not interest them whatsoever. Their aim is to stay as long as possible in the Catholic Church making a mess of things. This mess reached its apex with Vatican II.

Vatican II was originally supposed to be a condemnation of communism and a declaration of Mary as Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces. The modernists derailed that because they are fundamentally communists and push ecumenism at the cost of doctrine. Vatican II was ambiguous, and the modernists weaponized that ambiguity. The goal is to turn Roman Catholicism into something like the Lutheran or Anglican churches. When Pope Leo recently declared unity with the Anglicans and their new woman Archbishop of Canterbury, he wasn't wrong. The error is thinking he was speaking as a Catholic when he was actually speaking as a modernist.

What does a Roman Catholic do when the Pope says and does things that contradict the dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church? Some opt to popesplain and argue that the Pope didn't say or do what he said and did. This violence to one's common sense is to maintain allegiance to the error of hyperpapalism which argues that the pope can never err on these things. Wanting to keep common sense and the hyperpapalist error, the sedevacantists argue that these popes are not valid popes. Somewhere, the Lord Jesus Christ let everything fall to pieces. God failed. You can see how this line of logic can lead someone to schism, heresy, and outright apostasy.

You will not find anything explicitly heretical in the documents of Vatican II. The errors come with how they are interpreted and applied. If you are familiar with how progressives have warped the US Constitution, you can see how easily modernists can do the same with church teachings. The key aim is to propagate the idea that church teachings are mutable. If they can be changed, they will be changed. This is the essence of the modernist heresy.

2. Sedevacantism

The sedes believe we haven't had a valid Pope since Pius XII. Those in the Benevacantist camp claim Benedict XVI as the last valid Pope. It doesn't matter where you draw the line because you end up in the same place. The original sedes already fight with each other, so it is no surprise that they will now add another camp to their numbers.

Once you go down the road of sedevacantism, you will lose the faith. You will doubt the validity of all the sacraments including ordinations. Inevitably, the Roman Catholic Church succumbs to the Gates of Hell with no way out. You are left with believing in a God that failed. It behooves a Catholic to ignore these schismatic heretics and keep the faith by staying in the boat. God can never fail and never will.

3. The SSPX

The SSPX and Marcel Lefebvre were the original schismatics. They make pains to say they are not sedevacantists except that is exactly what they are in practice. I think Archbishop Lefebvre was the good guy up to the moment he did the illicit consecrations and incurred an automatic excommunication. I won't get into the arguments about the "state of emergency" that the SSPX argue necessitated this disobedience. As I write this, the SSPX has doubled down with another threat to illicitly consecrate more bishops without papal mandate.

I think the SSPX will settle in a definitive way for all to see that they are schismatics. When they tell you to not go to any Masses except those at an SSPX chapel, they are schismatics. They even include the TLMs of the FSSP, the ICKSP, diocesan Latin Masses, and the rest. Essentially, if you are in communion with Rome and the Pope, this makes you a heretic in the eyes of the SSPX. I don't believe this.

I have never gone to any of the SSPX chapels for my obligation, and I don't listen to the apologists for the Society anymore. They are sedevacantists except in name in my opinion. I choose to err on the side of caution and refuse to cross the line into the territory of the RadTrads. Lefebvre should have been obedient and trusted God for the outcome.

Conclusion

I do believe the Roman Catholic Church is in crisis, but we have been here before. The answer remains the same. Stay in the boat. I am watching people jump out of the boat, and I know that this ends in the loss of the faith. It is sad to witness, but my only advice is to get deep into the history of the Church. As for tradition, I am on the side of those who cling to the timeless faith and love the Latin Mass. You can never go wrong promoting reverence for our Lord in the eucharist. I don't know what the future will bring, but I trust that God is still steering the ship. I oppose the modernist heretics, but I do this from the inside of the boat. God will bring a renewal in His good time. My job is to remain faithful to the Lord.

*****************

The Sedevacantist Dead End

From Hyperpapalism to Catholicism. Guest: Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

Lefebvre's biggest mistake: Disobeying the Pope w/ John Salza

Schismatics, the SSPX, and Sedes (John Salza) | Ep. 383

Tradition, Canonical Authority & the SSPX: A Conversation with a Canon Lawyer

Godsplaining Reacts: What's the deal with the SSPX? A Catholic priest explains

Apostasy: Rome or the SSPX? | FORWARD BOLDLY

4.05.2026

Things I Had To Let Go

Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.
UNKNOWN

As I have gotten older, I have learned to let go of some things that I saw were holding me back. You can call these ideas or prejudices or what have you. But like the monkey who has been trapped by the nut in the bottle, escape comes when you let it go. Holding on to the thing can only lead to your demise. Here are some of those things I had to let go.

1. One size fits all. (One size fits most.)

The first thing I let go was the idea of "one size fits all." This came when I had my watch dilemma. I always wore a Timex Ironman for everything until the thing was gummed up with so much grime that it was no longer functional. I made the switch to the Casio F91W which became my beater watch. It covered 80% of what I needed in a watch, but I bought a G-Shock as my fitness watch because it had a better light for walking at night and a countdown timer. I bought another metal bracelet style watch to be my dress watch. Today, I own four of these watches that I trade out depending upon my needs for that day. None of them are gummed up with grime.

The secret to my problem was "one size fits most." 80% is the most that you should ever expect from a solution. Beyond that 80% is the breeding ground for new problems. We live in the smartphone era where people carry around a one size fits all product in their pockets. These things are a camera, internet browser, music player, game machine, a telephone and a texting device. Naturally, all of that utility is lost when the device hits the concrete really hard or when the software becomes dated turning the device into a brick. This is why people are now slowly adding back old school dedicated devices they used before smartphones. One of the most popular is an old fashioned paper notebook.

2. All you can eat. (Pay as you go.)

The buffet restaurant is a popular thing because it promises satisfaction for one's gluttony. If you actually pay attention, the trick is getting people to pay more to eat the same amount or slightly more than they would have eaten at a regular restaurant. This now extends to something like the streaming subscription service which was how Netflix put Blockbuster out of business. For one monthly fee, you can have all you can watch. No one logs how much they are actually watching. They just want the option of unlimited choices. Unfortunately, the content is lousy, and you end up subscribing to additional services for their unlimited choices. The result is that people spend more on streaming today ($126 billion) than they did on Blockbuster ($5 billion.)

I had Netflix for awhile when you got DVDs in the mail. It beat having to return a movie to Blockbuster and pay those dreaded late fees. Then, I saw the dust covered Netflix video that had turned into a coaster on the coffee table that I was paying for each month. That was a very expensive coaster. The reality was that I was not very interested in the content offerings on Netflix, but I was still paying for the option to watch their unlimited crap. I returned that unwatched DVD and cancelled the service. This is because I found that it was cheaper for me to buy the DVDs of the movies I was actually watching than renting the lousy movies I could potentially watch. I pay as I go now. I think I buy one DVD per year because they only make one good movie per year now. Everything else is available for free on Tubi, Pluto, and YouTube.

Paying as you go requires a certain level of self-awareness which most people lack. When my wife convinced me to cut cable TV, she simply pointed out that I barely watched TV. I was paying for the option instead of what I was actually watching. Many other people figured it out, too.

Gluttony in all its forms is expensive and wasteful. The better way is to learn your limits and then pay only for what you consume instead of what you potentially can consume.

3. Buy it for life. (Buy it for a long time.)

There is a reddit forum called "Buy It For Life." Someone quipped that it should be called "Buy It For A Long Time." The reality is that virtually nothing you buy can be expected to last for your entire life. That is an unreasonable expectation, but I have found that you can buy stuff that lasts for a decade or longer. My 30 year old clock radio is one of those items. My 20 year old Walkman is another. I have lots of clothes that are now old enough to go to college. I can't say that I am not satisfied with those purchases.

With inflation, it has gotten harder to buy quality stuff as companies cheap out on what they are making. Yet, my current flip phone is now fixing to eclipse my previous flip phone in the longevity department. My phones have to be upgraded when the network upgrades. If it wasn't for that, I could keep a phone for decades with a few battery swaps. I can't say that I am not satisfied with those purchases.

One of the things I have discovered by accident is that the cheaper products actually last longer. My Amana washing machine is still going five years later. It might finish out the decade. People who bought the pricey Samsung washing machines are not as happy. I can say the same thing for our decade old Magic Chef microwave. I have found that buying basic stuff is the key to buying it for a long time.

4. You get what you pay for. (You get what you research.)

Many people try to skip the research by paying a bunch of money for stuff thinking that quality automatically comes with a higher price tag. I have fallen into that trap a few times, and I have learned my lesson. Before you buy something, read the reviews first on the internet. Know what you are buying. I have found that quality stuff only costs a bit more than the cheap crap version.

5. New and improved. (Not always.)

Another trap people fall into is thinking that the newer version of a product is automatically better than the older version. The reality is that new and improved means they found a new way to make it cheaper by compromising on quality and covering it up with a slick package and marketing hype. iPhone devotees are discovering this now as the new and improved version is not worth the additional money they will have to spend on it. A few software upgrades can remedy this by making older devices slower forcing the upgrade. It makes me glad to own a flip phone.

6. Older is better. (Not always.)

When people get disgusted with new and improved, they go hard in the other direction by trying to replace everything with an older analog version. This would be replacing your laptop with a manual typewriter. The problem with this approach is that I have no way of publishing from the typewriter to this blog without having to type it over again on a computer. The reality is the typewriter thing has become a fetish for LARPers wanting to pretend they are Mickey Spillane or something.

Older is sometimes better like a physical book or a notebook. Other times, it isn't like with vinyl records or a paper map. It pays to know when an improvement is an improvement and when it isn't. I recommend reading the The Mid-Tech Manifesto to get an idea of how to navigate the old vs. new thing.

Conclusion

These are the things I had to let go. My life is better for letting them go. I will probably have to let go of some other things before I am done with this life. I will keep you posted when they happen.

3.29.2026

How We Got The Extreme Path Of Fitness

Whoever cultivates the golden mean avoids both the poverty of a hovel and the envy of a palace.
HORACE

The genesis of this post comes from the opening credits of Murder, She Wrote when Jessica Fletcher goes by riding her old school upright bicycle with the basket on the front. She is also seen jogging in old gray sweats. The show is from the 1980s and straddles the divide I see between fitness in the 1950s and the 1970s. This is when fitness evolved into the extreme path that I see today. This is in opposition to The Gentle Path I recommend. How did we get to the extreme path? And what has been the result of that extreme path?

1950s Fitness

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lady_on_a_bike_(Unsplash).jpg

Fitness in the 1950s was a basic affair. It was mostly people riding upright style bicycles as seen in the picture above with baskets, fenders, and a chain guard. Those bikes were utilitarian, practical, and comfortable. With a comfortable bicycle, you end up riding it more. It is a no-brainer. Similarly, people would go hiking or for long walks in the park. They built strength with mostly calisthenics in the style and philosophy of Jack LaLanne. Running was mostly for 2 miles or less to qualify for US Army fitness standards. People used canoes instead of kayaks. They gardened and did manual labor. Exercise and fitness were not taken as seriously as today.

The irony of those times was that the average fitness of the population was higher than today. The evidence for this were those US Army fitness standards that few recruits had trouble meeting in those days. Fast forward to our time, and you see those recruits struggling to meet the standards even after they have been dumbed down. How did we get here? I think we got here because fitness turned extreme.

1970s Fitness

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robin_Hood_10-speed_bike.jpg

I remember as a kid in middle school upgrading from my Huffy BMX bike to my old man's old school upright bike. It had the fenders, the chain guard, the 3 speed hub, and normal handlebars. I was too short for the thing at the time, but I still managed to ride it. It was embarrassing because it was an old man's bike. In hindsight, I realize that bike was simply awesome. I was too young and dumb to appreciate it at the time.

I got a department store 10 speed bike later, and it was cooler than the old man bike. I could count on my hands going numb and my shoulders aching as I rode hunched over the drop handlebars. My pants would get caught in the chain and the gear because it didn't have a guard on it. All of the dirt and mud would fly up on me from the lack of fenders. Riding the thing was miserable, but it was OK because I had a "real" bicycle. When I got a mountain bike in my 20s, it was no better than that 10 speed bike. Both bikes were uncomfortable and impractical. As a consequence, I rode them hardly at all and got rid of them.

The change in popular bikes is the best example I have of the change in the mindset of people from the 1950s to the 1970s. The 10 speed was sportier and more athletic. The average Joe could pretend to be a Tour de France rider. When the fantasy wore off, he was stuck with a bike unfit to ride on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the new mindset stuck. This was the extreme path of fitness.

The 1970s was when the bodybuilding craze got going along with the running boom. People like Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Lee entered the popular imagination and became fitness icons to a generation. Marathon training replaced walking. Bench pressing replaced push ups. And being lean took a backseat to getting ripped. For those willing to take this new extreme path, there were results. For everyone else, they threw in the towel and chose to watch the athletes on TV while eating chips on the couch.

The extreme path continued after the 1970s with the Ironman Triathlon, the ultramarathon, and CrossFit. The average fitness of people today in the USA is dismally low as the extremity of fitness has increased. Compare this to the average fitness of people in Denmark which is very high. People blame technology, but I think the cause is cultural. Denmark didn't embrace extreme fitness like the USA did. Those Danes still ride their upright bikes and do other sorts of common physical activities like the USA did in the 1950s.

When you take something that is fun and feels good and turn it into something like torture, people don't want to do it anymore. so they don't. It's popular to castigate these people as lazy fat asses, but that ignores the obvious cause of the fitness decline. People have lost the common sense that comes from moderation. Why must gain always come with pain?

The Way Back

I don't care to ride a bike now because of my brain injury. My balance is poor, and I would probably smash my head again. But if I did ride a bike again, it would be one of those old school upright bikes I mentioned. Comfort is key. The same is also true of a canoe versus a kayak. I remember wanting to get into sea kayaking at one time in my twenties. That was stupid. I would have flipped over in the water and drowned. But I could paddle a canoe.

I think the way back requires a change in the mindset of the general public. The extreme path appeals to a person's vanity. The gentle path requires humility. You have to desire modesty in your fitness. You have to actually want to enjoy your physical activities as opposed to punishing yourself.

One of the things that has helped me is to see the extreme fitness people as complete idiots.  I remember an iconic photo that I won't post here of a distance runner who had massive diarrhea during his race, but he completed the race with fecal matter covering his leg. For some people, they admired his dedication to completing the event. For me, I think it was utterly stupid.

One of the things I miss is seeing the senior citizens walking the mall. Many had scheduled walks early in the morning before the stores opened where these folks could get in their steps without battling the weather. I don't know if that exists now as malls have been overtaken by hood rats. But the mall walkers epitomized the gentle path I recommend.

The other thing I miss seeing is old school calisthenics like we did in PE class back in school. For some reason, people think they need heavy weights and a gym membership to build strength. With calisthenics, you can get strong at a price you can afford-->FREE! And they work. I've seen senior citizens go from being crippled to being mobile again with simple bodyweight exercises. Many of them are done while sitting in a chair.

The last thing I applaud is people doing manual labor like cleaning their homes, mowing their lawns, or tending their gardens without paying professionals to do this work for them. It has been lost on people that physical labor is good exercise. Instead, they pay someone to do their labor while they pay a gym to go be a gerbil on their wheels. This is crazy.

I think the gentle path has the added benefit of being something someone can actually stick to doing. I have walked more miles as a fitness walker than I ever ran as a jogger. The secret was that I enjoyed those walks. I don't recall ever enjoying a run. The only pleasure in running is stopping.

The last thing I want to include is a warning. The extreme path mindset creeps back in if you are not aware of it. I call this "Failed Runner Syndrome." This is when you compulsively log your steps on your fitness tracker and upload it to Strava. This is vanity. With it comes the compulsion to walk a certain number of steps each day and to increase those steps. It becomes a game of more more MORE. The secret to the gentle path of fitness is knowing when to quit. Those extremists didn't know when to quit.

Conclusion

I don't know of anyone who is pushing back on the extreme path of fitness culture. There are people who walk for fitness and do calisthenics, but they never speak out against the extremism. Maybe they don't want to be negative, but I think it would help if more people sounded off about this topic. It is always the folks on the extreme ends of a topic who speak with the loudest voices. I think those on the middle path of moderation need to speak up more in defense of common sense. 

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Fitness In The 1950s Was...Different

Get Physical in 1950s - Getting Ready Physically (1951) - CharlieDeanArchives / Archival Footage

1974: MUSCLE MANIA - Inside a '70s Gym | Open Door | Voice of the People | BBC Archive

The unexpected benefits of an upright Dutch bike

UPDATE #1: I saw this article recently and had to chuckle:

LA Marathon Runners Given Option to Receive Medals Before Finishing the Race: ‘If They’ve Had a Tough Day’

I thought about scouring the combox for the juicy comments, but they are redundant. This dumbing down of the marathon is a symptom of the extreme path of fitness. People want the trophy and the medal, but they don't want the suffering that goes with it. Most of the derisive comments are directed towards the "weakness" and "softness" of the people that just want the participation reward. I am actually on the side of those people who don't want to run a full marathon or even run at all. I think marathon running is utterly stupid. Go for a walk instead and forget about trying to get recognition for your efforts or pretend to be a competitive athlete. This is vanity.

Our culture has trained entire generations to do this stupid stuff. I suspect that most of these people will return to their couches regardless of what they did in the marathon. You are either a masochist or a slug. There is nothing in between those extremes.

The combox comments castigate the people that don't finish the entire distance, but I save my derision for the 90% of the participants who filled out the entry form and paid the fee who will take 3 to 5 hours to cover the distance. The reason they hand out the participation trophies is to get these slowpokes off of the race course. Otherwise, these idiots will just keep tying everything up in desperation to not be labelled as quitters. This is also why I am against fitness walkers participating in the local 5K to satisfy their failed runner syndrome. YOU ARE NOT AN ATHLETE! Get over it.

UPDATE #2: In 1960, President John F. Kennedy issued a warning to Americans:

“A single look at the packed parking lot of the average high school will tell us what has happened to the traditional hike to school that helped to build young bodies. The television set, the movies and the myriad conveniences and distractions of modern life all lure our young people away from the strenuous physical activity that is the basis of fitness in youth and in later life,” wrote Kennedy.

Inspired by a challenge from Teddy Roosevelt to his Marines to cover 50 miles in less than 20 hours over three days, JFK issued a similar challenge in 1963, and this became the genesis of the JFK 50 Miler. It was essentially a hike or march with a military bearing in mind. The president's brother Robert took up the challenge, did the 50 miles wearing Oxford dress shoes, and completed the challenge in 17 hours and 50 minutes.

The 50 miler began as a walking event. Somewhere, it morphed from being a hike in the spirit of fitness from the 1950s to a foot race in the extreme fitness spirit of the 1970s. Today, the JFK 50 Miler is a running event and not a walking event and is considered the oldest ultramarathon in America. The original aim of the event was lost.

There are some walkers who have taken back the original spirit of the 50 mile challenge with events that are aimed at walkers and not runners. These videos show the contrast between walking and running this distance.

Kennedy 50 Mile Walk - 2023

Either PR or ER

These two videos show the contrast that I am talking about. I find the walking version more pleasant and appealing.

UPDATE #3: I would be remiss if I didn't include this video of bodybuilders versus a construction worker on a strength test:

Construction Worker Vs Bodybuilders

Muscles for working beat steroid fueled muscles for aesthetics. How do you get those work muscles? You get them from old fashioned work. Physical labor is something else we lost since the 1950s. We need to bring that back, too.

UPDATE #4: This article is a great example of Failed Runner Syndrome:

Nike Pulls ‘Walkers Tolerated’ ad Amid Accusations of ‘Pace Shaming’ Ahead of Boston Marathon

As a fitness walker, I was not offended at all by this Nike ad. I think marathons are stupid, but I agree that they should be open to runners only. I am an elitist even if I am not elite.

3.22.2026

Clickbait Fatigue

 I came. I saw. You won't believe what happened next!
JULIUS CAESAR AS A CLICKBAITER

I am not into clickbait either as a writer or as a reader. I grew up reading the newspaper where the headline and first sentence of a news article got to the kernel of the story. If you wanted more details, you kept reading. You could break off at any point and still be reasonably informed. The strategy behind this structure was that they already had your attention because you were holding the paper in your hand. The next step was to deliver as quickly as possible on that purchase. If they didn't, you might switch to another newspaper.

Today, people don't buy newspapers. They read headlines and click on the ones that interest them. Or, they don't click at all. Website publishers are desperate for those clicks because they generate ad revenue. Everything is geared to get the reader to follow through on a click. If the vital information is already contained in the headline, the reader may opt to not click. So, we get the baited headline that stirs curiosity. The reader clicks through and often scrolls to the bottom of the article to satisfy the curiosity. The article goes unread, but it doesn't matter. The website got its click. For the rest of us, we are annoyed at the abuse of our attention.

This failure to deliver on the vital information extends to YouTube videos and is so bad that people in the combox timestamp when the YouTuber gets to the information that you want. I remember one video that never delivered on the clickbait. These people love to waste your time and attention.

The most annoying aspect is when the clickbait enters the real world of our conversations. This would be the friend that leaves a clickbait voice message or text message saying something just happened. Please call me, so I can waste a few hours of your life talking about what amounts to nothing. The other thing is when someone talks to you and asks you to play the guessing game in an annoying attempt to stoke your attention. I am so fatigued with this crap that I immediately ignore these people.

These folks don't see that the internet is socializing them to be this way. They spend too much time on social media such that it has warped their social skills in a negative way. My way is like a newspaper. I give you the headline. I deliver the details. I don't waste your time trying to milk your attention. Most people ignore me, and I am fine with that. I am not a whore for attention.

This, Gentle Reader, is just another data point in my argument for why you need to get offline and live like a real human being again. If you have noticed the erosion of social skills in the general population, you are most likely part of the problem. Get off your phone and come up for air.

3.15.2026

The Errors Of The Catholic Land Movement

New York is a rat race, and the rats are winning.
OLIVER DOUGLAS, Green Acres

I am not a fan of the old Green Acres TV show, but I do remember Oliver Douglas leaving his conventional life in the city for the more intentional life of being a farmer in the country. I think living more intentionally is laudable. People yearn for a simpler life, and life in the country promises that simplicity.

This return to an agrarian way of life has had many flavors. You have the Amish who live much like they did in previous centuries. You have right wing conservatives who homestead as a way of prepping for social collapse. You have hippies who took inspiration from The Whole Earth Catalog and Mother Earth News. I have seen agrarian movements among Protestants and the Orthodox. Then, there is the creature known as the Catholic Land Movement.

CLM adherents tend to be traditionalist Catholics favoring the Latin Mass and reverent forms of piety. They tend to have large families, and their desire to return to the land comes from a wish to spend more time with those families while also feeding them. What could be wrong with that? The problem is that many who obey the call to return to the land find the dream does not match the reality. They make critical errors that doom them to failure. These are the errors I see in the Catholic Land Movement.

1. G.K. Chesterton was a city slicker and a socialist.

When you listen to Catholic Land Movement speakers, you will hear G.K. Chesterton's name and quotations repeated. I think it is safe to say that Chesterton is the intellectual father of the CLM and Distributism. The problem with Chesterton is that he never actually practiced what he preached. He never farmed or milked a cow or even had children. Why does this matter? Men such as this are detached from the reality of what they are advocating. I am a big believer in empirical data which means getting your hands dirty with the actual doing of the thing and not merely the teaching of the thing. Those who actually have taken up the call to return to the land report a different experience after the shine of the fantasy has worn off.

It was Timothy Gordon who pointed out that Chesterton was a Fabian socialist and argues that Distributism is essentially a socialist system at its core. I agree with Gordon. On paper, Distributism sounds splendid with its advocacy of widespread property ownership. The problems come when trying to create that order of widespread property ownership. This is when Distributism becomes redistributism which is utterly socialist.

Why does this matter? Socialism is an unworkable fantasy. History is replete with what happens with socialism with the advocates excusing its failure by saying the socialism wasn't done the right way. From my perspective, Distributism is an attempt to do socialism the right way. I don't think such a right way can ever exist.

Because of Chesterton, the Catholic Land Movement amounts to a sales job for a load of shit. Don't listen to the salespeople. Listen to the people who have actually done it. These people find out why people left the farm for city life. City life is less work and smells better.

2. Meat, dairy, and eggs are bad for your health and wallet.

I went on a plant based diet back in 2012 and have remained on it to the present day. I am happy to report that you will not starve to death abstaining from meat, dairy, and eggs. Your health will improve, and your grocery bill will decrease. People who adhere to meat based eating will disagree, but these folks are not reading the information that made me switch to this way of eating. Like most idiots, they read the information that confirms and reaffirms their bias instead of looking at the empirical data. What does this have to do with the Catholic Land Movement?

Whenever I see anything involving a Catholic homesteader, it involves meat. CLM advocates love beef, pork, lamb, chicken, eggs, cheese, and on and on. After the Chestertonian propaganda at a CLM conference, the next most popular topic involves butchering meat. I think it is safe to say that CLM people are meatheads. That love of meat and animal products is the Achilles heel of their movement.

Raising livestock for food is labor intensive and expensive. You can neglect your vegetable garden in the winter, but your animals have to keep eating. To feed those animals, you have to either grow feed or buy feed for those animals. This amounts to buying groceries to feed to your groceries. I think this is just utterly stupid. I still can't wrap my brain around the economics of this. As vegan advocates point out, it is cheaper (and more ethical) to feed the grain to humans than to cattle for the sake of eating filet mignon. Whether you agree or disagree with those tree hugging hippie types, they make a valid point. Meat eats up resources and real estate. Feeding cows and pigs takes way more food than feeding your kids. The acreage needed for a vegetable garden to feed a family is small in comparison to the acreage needed to feed livestock.

What is the result of this meat focused agrarianism? This would be poor health and poverty. On a personal level, raising and eating meat is unsustainable. Whenever I see someone doing this sort of thing, I always want to see the numbers which would be the ledger book for their finances and the numbers for their blood work.

The bottom line is that meat is a luxury. In our current first world existence, this truth is anathema. Yet, historically, meat was consumed only on special occasions and not three times a day in the present world. The portions were also much smaller. Meat was not a staple. Grains and legumes were the staples and were the fuel for civilization. Wheat, rice, barley, oats, and potatoes are the fuel for humanity. When old farms had an animal, it usually had a plow behind it.

Now, I am a Roman Catholic, and people ask me why I follow a vegan diet thinking I have a religious reason for doing so. My diet is not tied to my religion, but it is not in conflict with it either. The fact is that vegetarianism has existed for centuries among monastic orders especially those following the Rule of Saint Benedict. This vegetarianism was mainly for mortification, but you can see how growing vegetables in gardens would serve as a more sustainable way of feeding monks and nuns than raising pigs and cows. This has been very successful for them. Unlike the failed Catholic Land Movement of Great Britain from a century ago, I think this monastic vegetarian model represents a more sustainable way to go for Catholics wanting to get back to the land.

Do I think Catholic homesteaders will abandon meat farming? Of course not. This usually comes after the bank forecloses on the land or someone has a coronary event. Either way, you end up in the same place. I prefer choices over consequences.

3. Mortgages and debt are homestead killers.

I am always amazed to hear homesteaders and CLM people who buy their property, supplies, and equipment with debt. That, Gentle Reader, is a recipe for disaster. Many of the farmers who went bust in the Great Depression did so as a consequence of being unable to repay their debts on homes, barns, tractors, land, and seed. This doesn't get discussed enough. If your homesteading dream requires financing, you need to let it go. You might tolerate a crop failure and bad weather, but the bank expects to get paid. It behooves you to own your stuff versus renting the money from the bank for that stuff.

4. Your adult children ain't staying to work the homestead.

Another factor that dooms the CLM is the lack of a retirement plan. Like it or not, people keep living long after their productivity has declined because of age, illness, and injury. The belief amongst trad Catholics is that their large number of children will stick around and provide the labor needed for their "golden" years. This is utterly laughable. It assumes two things. The first is that they will want to spend their years slaving away on the farm to keep feeding you. The second is that these adult children will not have their own large families to feed and support. There is a reason many left the farms for the factories and big city life. That reason has not changed.

This is also another reason to stick to backyard vegetable gardening. The garden is much kinder to the older person than working animals. Plus, you are more likely to live to be older eating plants instead of animals.

5. The Catholic Land Movement is more about the philosophy (and the fantasy) than the practicality of growing your own food.

The honest fact is that the hippie homesteaders do better than Catholic homesteaders when it comes to living off the land. Part of that comes from hippies being less meatcentric and more reality based in their strategies. Catholic Land Movement people strike me as LARPers living a fantasy on a crash course with reality. I have learned to not listen to these Chestertonians as they smoke their pipes and talk about living life in the "shire." If you want to know the real story, ask their wives and children who have to endure the fantasy they didn't choose.

Conclusion

I am 100% for living a more intentional and simpler lifestyle in conformity with your values. This is why I can agree with the desires of the Catholic Land Movement. I just disagree with the strategy. I believe in reality based strategies over fantasy based strategies. The Catholic Land Movement amounts to fighting a just war against a modern foe carrying a broadsword and dressed in a suit of armor. Until these LARPers get a clue, their movement is doomed.

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The Catholic Farm, in My Dreams and in Reality

Vegetarian sister

What Medieval Monks Ate: The Basic Monastic Diet and Special Treats

How Much to Plant for a Year’s Worth of Food

89 year old Nonno garden tour

Nonno's Epic Garden Tour 2025 | See What He's Growing!

Homegrown Revolution (Award winning short-film 2009)- The Urban Homestead, Dervaes

3.08.2026

Confessions Of A Twitter X Escapee

Here is Cardinal Sarah’s argument in a nutshell: Shut up. Seriously, just shut up.
ERIC SAMMONS

Eric Sammons is taking a break from his Twitter X addiction:

I took a break from 𝕏. Here’s what happened.

Sammons learned a few things with this break, but he is not about to break up with the platform. His issues mirror my own struggles with the platform:

Post Twitter Homesick Blues

That post from 2015 ranks as the most popular item on this blog. If I had known it would become so popular, I would have put more effort into what I wrote on it. I remember writing it originally in frustration over my addiction, and I was just ranting. But I touched a nerve back then that persists today.

I am happy to say that people are now fully aware of the hazards and harmful effects of social media (the crack) and the smartphone (the crack pipe.) Entire countries are moving or contemplating a move to ban kids from social media. On an individual level, people are trying to break free from the social media addiction. That takes me back to Mr. Sammons.

Sammons recognizes the problem, but he is not going to do anything to fix the problem. He is at the stage that I call "bargaining." This is where you think a strategy of habit modification will allow you to harness the benefits of social media without the downsides. THIS NEVER WORKS. It didn't work for me when I tried it. It doesn't work for anyone else either.

Delete your social media accounts. Trade out your smartphone for a dumbphone. This works. The problem with Mr. Sammons is that he feels the need to self-promote his content on Twitter X and respond to the events of the day. He has the same problem as a friend of mine who wants to go back to using a flip phone, but his job won't allow it. Personally, I don't buy this excuse.

The real issue people need to address is FOMO. They can't disconnect from the online world. The sad thing is that these idiots have disconnected from the real world. Just the other day, I watched a man crossing the street in my town at great peril to himself as he had his face buried in his smartphone. He couldn't even put the thing down long enough to not risk getting creamed by a potential distracted driver playing on their phone behind the wheel. This is the insanity of our world now.

The online world of social media is not the real world. It is an alternative existence that has similar effects to a mind altering drug. And it has real world consequences such as the tweet posted in a heated moment that costs you your reputation and career. It had real world consequences for me as a distracted driver put me in the hospital. I am still angry over that.

I love the internet, and I wondered why I have a positive experience with the internet now. I think Cal Newport nailed it with his distinction between the social internet and social media. The social internet is what existed before Facebook. This would be blogs and personal websites. This blog is part of that social internet. I have never wanted to be free of this blog. It has been a big part of my life for the last 20+ years. Publishing on a weekly basis has helped calm down my worst impulses as it gives me time to think carefully about what I am writing and posting. This doesn't happen on social media.

Cal Newport has never had a social media account. Yet, he has reached his audience using the old fashioned social internet. I suspect Mr. Sammons knows about Cal Newport because he mentioned "deep work" which is a Cal Newport book and concept. I recommend that Sammons find a way to engage without using social media. If a comp sci prof can do it, why can't a Catholic writer and editor?

Another issue is the definition of social media. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are definitely social media. Blogs, YouTube, Spotify, and reddit are not. What makes a platform social media is the engagement and the manipulation. YouTube is simply television. Spotify is the radio. Reddit is the old internet messageboard from the 1990s. Blogs and websites are the newspapers and magazines of this generation. Social media has no analog to older media. It isn't a movie theater but a gambling casino. The fact that these social media companies consulted with folks from Vegas to make their platforms more addictive is very telling.

I found Eric Sammons's article through an old but true method--the email newsletter. I didn't find it on Twitter X. Email, RSS, and Google News are how I find my content. I don't miss anything that is happening in the world. I don't have FOMO. The truth is that I usually know the news first and with more details than anyone using social media. What I do miss is a controversy on Twitter X that amounts to nothing. The social media platforms create the news now. Many news stories you read on websites amounts to copying and pasting social media shitposting. Our current president is a shitposter-in-chief. This is what passes for discourse in our age now.

I don't know if the world will reject social media and smartphones on a large scale. But no one who uses these things can deny that they are worse off for it. People still smoke, so I don't expect this widespread addiction to end anytime soon. I do expect to see more people escaping this addiction. I hope Mr. Sammons can turn his break into a breakup.

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Back to textbooks: Denmark rolls back digital learning

Cal Newport

On Social Media and Its Discontents

Digital Minimalism

Dumbphones

3.01.2026

The Gomer Pyle Rule

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
GOMER PYLE

I am not a fan of the Gomer Pyle TV show. I loved watching Andy Griffith, but that did not carry over to Gomer's spin off show. I find Gomer Pyle to be annoying and like nails on a chalkboard. I don't see the humor in his idiocy, and I felt great sympathy for Sergeant Carter for having to deal with this dumbass. But Gomer did have one stroke of genius. This was the Gomer Pyle Rule.

Basically, people have one chance to screw you. When you trust people, you are gambling on their character. You are not always going to win on this. Some people have to screw you like the proverbial scorpion on the frog's back. It is their nature. The best you can do is minimize the harm by not giving them a second chance. Even an idiot like Gomer Pyle knew not to do this.

What people fail to recognize is that you have to work to not get fooled the first time. For some reason, bad people think they are owed that first chance. It is like a "freebie" they deserve. I know people like this who just go around screwing people who don't know any better. When you question them on their integrity, they get very defensive. But they are going to screw you. They can't not screw you.

So much of what our society is today is adhering to the Gomer Pyle Rule. Those reviews on Amazon and other places can make you or break you. The sad thing is that many crooks have taken to buying the brands and reputations of other companies, products, and services in order to get around the Gomer Pyle Rule. Private equity firms are notorious for this sort of thing.

On a personal level, I have learned to cut people out of my life in accordance with the Gomer Pyle Rule. Some people have screwed me. Others never got the chance to screw me. Every single one of those people believe themselves to be innocent, trustworthy, and above reproach. This is because the biggest fool they deceive are themselves.

As for your own reputation, you are at the mercy of any fool with a mouth or a keyboard. I have learned to let it roll off me like water off a duck's back. I find that my detractors are people I refuse to let screw me or others. If they talked bad about Jesus, you're not escaping the same treatment.

As for forgiveness, I forgive everyone because I wish to be forgiven. That doesn't require me to be stupid. There is no virtue in allowing yourself to be deceived. I definitely believe in being as wise as a serpent, and the first step in that is adhering to the Gomer Pyle Rule. Gomer Pyle was an idiot, but he was no fool. He learned from his mistakes. You should, too.

2.22.2026

Q & A

It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers. 
JAMES THURBER

Here is a Q & A post with various questions that I have gathered from many sources. I give my best answers.

Q: Should I dumb down my smartphone?

A: I would tell everyone that you are better off with a dumbphone, and you should get rid of your smartphone. Unfortunately, some people have jobs that require the digital leash of a smartphone. I would strongly consider quitting that job. If you can't quit that job, you should make them pay for the phone and the phone bill. I would keep a private phone that was a dumbphone.

If you have a smartphone, you need to dumb it down. The best way to do this is by getting rid of your social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, etc.) and deleting the apps for the social media. Social media is the number one distracting element on a smartphone. Most workplaces require email access, but I don't know of anyone who is addicted to their email account. You should only have apps on the phone required for the job.

If you make the switch to a dumbphone or a dumbed down smartphone, you will immediately become the most productive employee in your workplace. You will be the only one not wasting time on smartphone distractions. It might even catch on, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Q: Should I cut the cord on cable and switch to streaming?

A: You should cut the cord on both cable and paid streaming services. They are both expensive wastes of time and money. But if you have to choose, I think cable is the better deal as these streaming services are as expensive as cable now. The streaming services also have ads just like cable. And they have the nasty habit of ending a program you like before you have watched it all. We are at the stage where subscribers to streaming are expressing buyer's remorse and yearning for the return to cable and Blockbuster video.

Where cable shines is sports. No one watches sports on a recorded basis but live as it happens. Streaming has the advantage of convenience as you can watch programming when you want on your schedule. This is not true for sports. Consequently, you should decide which is cheaper for watching those sports. I don't watch sports at all, so I don't care to do the deep research on this topic.

OAB TV is an option, but the broadcasters are too busy immolating themselves with a push for ATSC 3.0 and schemes for charging people for the content they now watch for free. Basically, they want to turn broadcast TV into cable TV. I won't pay for that.

Q: Are you a Luddite?

A: No, I am not a Luddite. I am someone who is not a technophile which is someone who believes that all tech is good and demands your submission to the constant cycle of upgrades. The reality is that tech has turned into a scam that doesn't improve your life but drains more money from your wallet. Believe it or not, you don't have to put up with this crap. I know I don't. This is when I get called a Luddite. It is better to be a Luddite than a sucker.

Q: What do you do with a bad pope?

A: You can pray for his repentance. You can call him out in person or in the media. Other than that, you can do nothing. This rankles many people especially those Catholics who converted from a background in Protestantism. The reality is that the Roman Catholic Church is not a democracy. Conversely, most democracies have the same deficiency of having bad leaders. It is my belief that God allows bad leaders in both the Church and the political realm as a chastisement. We endure these bad leaders and offer it up. In season and out of season, we are called to be faithful to the Lord.

Q: What do you think of Substack?

A: I don't care to publish on Substack at this time as this blog fulfills all of my publishing needs. I do read various Substacks through my email account, but I pay for none of the content there. If it is free, it is for me. If I have to pay, no way, Jose!

If I published on Substack, I know I would make little to nothing. I would have to offer my content for free, but I already do that here on this blog. But I will keep a note for future consideration if Google ever pulls the plug on this platform.

Q: Why did men stop wearing hats?

A: I don't think men actually stopped wearing hats. I think they stopped wearing certain styles of hats such as those with wide brims and high crowns. This would be the fedora and the cowboy hat. Men still wear baseball caps and watch caps. I think the reason for this shift is the automobile. These brimmed high crown hats obstruct your vision a bit and get crushed into the roof of the vehicle. With a baseball cap or a watch cap, this isn't an issue. I usually remove my cap and put it under my leg when I don't wear it in a vehicle. Boonie hats are also good in this situation because they can be rolled up, folded, or what have you. Basically, any hat that can be crushed and permanently disfigured is going to suffer a loss of popularity. Men care more for practicality than fashion.

Q: Why did Columbo always wear that raincoat?

A: Despite living in sunny Southern California, Lt. Columbo knew that weathermen sucked at weather forecasting, so he always came prepared for the rain. I made that up because I am never prepared for the rain because of the horrible forecasts I get now. I just keep an umbrella handy at all times.

Q: Should parents buy smartphones for their kids?

A: Absolutely not. Parents who get smartphones for their kids are idiots. Many of the pathologies you see with kids today stem from the overuse of tech. Then, there is the smut you can see on these phones. Since the parents have the same tech, they should know better and are without excuse. Smart parents get their kids dumbphones that can only talk and text. When parents do the smart thing, they will get kids with unpolluted minds, valuable social skills, improved grades at school, and greater physical fitness. I am an adult with a flip phone, and I live just fine without a smartphone. I have resisted that tech for over a decade now, and I am better off for it.

Q: Who was better--Roth or Hagar?

A: Sammy Hagar was the better singer, but David Lee Roth was the better showman. I prefer the Roth fronted version of Van Halen, and I think the reason they rocked so hard was because Roth's limited vocal range put a restriction on Eddie Van Halen's songwriting. He needed that restriction. With Hagar, Eddie turned Van Halen into a pop band. This sold way more albums, but I think they lost the loyal fan base. I believe that the soul of creativity comes from limitation.

Q: What do you think of Thorogood work boots?

A: They might be the best work boots ever made, but I will never know because I can't afford them. I am happy with my Georgia Giants until they become unaffordable, or they cheap out on the quality to an intolerable level.

Q: Why are Yeti products so expensive?

A: I think this quotation from Inc. nails it:

“People are really passionate about their hobbies — whether it’s college kids who use our coolers for tailgating or hunters and fishers. All of those groups are willing to pay extra money for products that will last,” Roy Seiders says. “They wouldn’t be caught dead with cheap gear because they identify with quality brands. It can be hard to gain the trust of consumers, but once you do, it becomes very powerful.” 

Yeti is a lifestyle brand. Their customers are idiots and suckers. Yeti did for coolers and other products what Apple did for tech. You build a cult of dupes and drain them dry of every last penny. People aren't paying for the product. They are paying for the logo and the name. The expense of the product only enhances the value of that branding.

How YETI Was Invented

Guys with a YETI

$40 YETI Bucket vs Generic Bucket

YETI vs Coleman Cooler

YETI Guys vs. Normal Guys

Are YETI products over rated?

Q: Is writing a hobby?

A: That depends on if you are any good at it. For me, it is not a hobby because I am actually good at writing. A hobby for me would be making music or painting pictures because I am not good at that stuff.

I define a hobby as the serious pursuit of a worthless activity. If you're not good at something, this makes it a worthless activity. I still do worthless activities like playing the kazoo, but I don't do them seriously. That determination is usually financial. If I bought a keyboard, that might be serious.

Q: How much traffic do you get on the blog?

A: Once upon a time, I could have told you. Now, I suspect the traffic is all coming from AI spambots. A better measure of traffic would be an active combox except I don't use comboxes anymore because I can't manage them. The traffic number of actual human readers is now a mystery. The upside is that not knowing keeps me humble.

Q: What would you do if you won the lottery?

A: I would do what I do now. It wouldn't change my life at all. I can't think of a time in my life when it would have changed my life. This is because I don't think this world has anything to offer.

I think buying a lottery ticket is great entertainment. You get to fantasize about what it would be like to win. I have run that thought experiment many times in my head over the years, and I keep coming back to not caring about it at all. There's nothing I care to buy or own. If I was homeless and destitute, I would just want the life I already have now.

I would not turn down those lottery winnings. I am not that crazy or stupid. I just wouldn't spend it. I would just invest that money and keep shopping at Goodwill.

Q: Is there anything you regret not doing when you were younger now that you are old and busted up?

A: This question comes from the recently deceased Charlie Munger who said that if there was anything you want to do in life you better do it before you hit your nineties. For him, it was catching some particular fish on a deep sea fishing trip. I prefer to skip the seasickness.

The other inspiration for this question came from this Joshua Becker blog post:

That Thing You’ve Always Wanted to Do

Becker wrote about wanting to do a repeat on running a marathon. I think running marathons is stupid. That whole post is one big exercise in the vanity of carpe diem. I've had adventures in my youth, and they were enough to make me not want to have any more of them. The truth is that most of my regrets come from things I did in my youth and not the things undone.

I did have one minor regret that I don't have anymore. I used to regret not playing high school football. Now, I want to ban high school football which I call "Concussion Ball." 

I never ran a marathon, hiked the Appalachian trail, scaled Everest, or did any of the bucket list items that I clearly will never do now that I am old and busted up. The truth is that I never cared to do those things. I would rather go for a walk and look at birds from the back step of the house. I think you have to be old and busted up to appreciate those things. Those other vanity things amount to enduring misery for the sake of bragging rights which is the obsession of office workers with impostor syndrome.

I don't have impostor syndrome because I worked a blue collar job. I have endured a lifetime of misery and danger to know who I am. I don't need to run a marathon.

That's it for this edition of Q & A. Stay tuned for future editions.