Tag Archives: #perception

René Descartes was wrong! The conspiracy of The Matrix!

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I have been alive for a bit over 62 years and a lot has happened in that time. Other than the ridiculous adage of old people bragging about drinking out of the garden hose when they were kids and riding their bikes with the only rule was to be home before it was dark…..????

The world has changed more in the way we are able to understand it than what we can see and do in it.

I read, like in real books, some written hundreds of years, and often centuries ago. I see all the stuff on social media and have friends who not only believe in all the conspiracies but want me to believe as well.

To name just a few of these great conspiracy theories:

  1. The Moon landing (and the hollow Moon theory)
  2. The Rothchilds.
  3. The Great Pyramid
  4. Atlantis
  5. 9/11
  6. Antartica
  7. The flat earth
  8. Ancient civilisations and lost technology
  9. Aliens
  10. Every secret society you can think of

The funny thing about conspiracy theories is that some turn out to be true! A nice little list of conspiracy theories that turned out to be true are in a list on another site with an explanation for each – click here.

I think, dare I say ponder, what if a lot, or even some of the current conspiracy theories are true?

Plus, don’t even mention the price of oil per barrel and the price at the pump…. or the ones that decide how we live. The true global and tyrannical conspiracies that rule our lives and control our minds….. are TRUE. I so hope they are true.

If they are, it means we can do something about them.

The really scary thing is, if they are not true; the alternative is horrifying….

It means:

Our leaders, our Presidents, our Prime Ministers, our Politicians, our Government Departments and all our leading institutions….. are complete morons…..

I hope there are conspiracies to set up a new world order and we are controlled by lizard people who are conducting an experiment on our flat earth from the hollow moon.

For if they are not: we are doing this to ourselves: sorry, we are letting this be done to us, voluntarily without any form of mind control other than advertisements and the fear and hope sold to us by politicians who we all must remember didn’t get their jobs on merit but by winning a popularity contest.

There is no certainty other than ‘I think therefore I am’……

Except….. what if I am a computer program living in the matrix confined by the algorithm that tells me ‘I think therefore I am’ which falsely tells me of my existence, unfortunately in a world that does not exist except in a string of ones and zeros.

So, if you are sitting at home or somewhere else, reading this on your electronic device (smart phone, computer or tablet), I ask you this question……

How, do you know you are?

WE PROVIDE OUR CONSENT TO BE GOVERNED…. FOR NOW?

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We are better societies because of good Goverments, our legal and economic systems, our Police and institutions, because, we give our consent for them to exist and for us, to follow their rules and their leadership.

The difficulty is when any, or all of them, as cogs in a great wheel of society, start to take advantage of our benevolence, trust and good will.

When the separation of their power disappears and they become one intertwined and dependent only on themselves to run as a ‘mega-machine’ who’s only purpose is to serve the elite, the powerful, the rich and themselves. This happens while we obliviously continue to provide our faithful consent.

  • the electricity companies continue to raise prices because we consent to this by continuing to pay our bills
  • petrol prices go up more and more, interdependently of the wholesale price and we continue to buy petrol
  • the Police issue more and more fines as the road toll goes up and the roads deteriorate because we pay our fines and drive on the roads without complaint (we actually consent to being abused by the Government and Police when they call us “selfish pricks.”)
  • every way we turn we are being taxed, often twice, three times or more for services, products and our actual work, we consent to this
  • a temporary levy never is; the Emergency Services Levy was impose after the Ash Wednesday Bushfires in the 1980’s. Yet theI Country Fire Service Brigades still have to fund raise to buy there own equipment; as do the Royal Flying Doctor Service

Most do not notice the creeping of the law to erode our freedoms; firearms prohibition orders; freedom of assembly laws; terrorism detention laws etc etc, all done with our consent.

Capitalism is the system we have and not withstanding so much rhetoric we hear nowadays, the best system we have at the moment. But, it requires two very important things, private property and the rule of law.

It provides for us to have freedom of expression and freedom more generally. It allows for us to keep the things we create and work for.

However when our Government serves itself and the separation of powers no longer exist, it is time to stop pandering to a morally corrupt, if not literally corrupt regime. We now have generations being taught to hate their own society and even themselves and to create ideologies based on no empirical evidence.

George Orwell in his book titled 1984 which he wrote just after World War II, in the above ‘quote’  intended it as a warning against a totalitarian government that controls every aspect of citizens’ lives.

Look how our ‘history’ is being rewritten, reinterpreted and weaponised against our current society creating the group and tribe mentality that divides a society.  This is a know political strategy “the concept refers to a strategy that breaks up existing power structures, and especially prevents smaller power groups from linking up, causing rivalries and fomenting discord among the people to prevent a rebellion against the elites or the people implementing the strategy.“. If you think this is not happening, you’re not looking.

I know it may feel like a democracy, but, more and more it is just beginning to only feel like it, and not truely be one. I hear the defeatist already saying what can I do about it. Well there are many things, but it will require concentration.

I wrote a blog post not long ago called ‘The Revolution – Phase 1 – You Can Join for Free’ which can be located by clicking here. That is the first step in ‘doing something’. I did promise more and will expand on this in a future post, but how about a few quick ones that do require effort, a pen and paper (or a computer if you write in cursive like me and no-one can read it), an envelope and a stamp. You will see that some of the letters below are written in cursive. I do it deliberately as it drives them crazy!

Also, writing these letters gives a feeling of achievement. There are just a few rules I abide by:

  1. I am always polite.
  2. I stick to the facts.
  3. I put in something humorous, usually a personal anecdote that caused me to write and what I am feeling
  4. I remind them about this involving people and not just things.
  5. I put a reminder in my diary three months into the future to follow up if I don’t get a reply in that time.

I have done this many times, sometimes having to follow up multiple times but I have a formula; I follow up in 3 months, write another letter with the first letter enclosed;
A month after that I do the same thing:
A fortnight after that I do the same thing:
A week later the same:
I never give up.

I also have another strategy which goes hand in hand with this one. In addition to sending the hard copy, I go to their website and send the same text electronically, and if possible load up the documents and send them that way.

The beauty of this strategy is that ‘they’ hate getting hard copies and even more wonderfully the electronic copy and the hard copy never match up and you get two different replies – and away you go again!

Stay sane, and do it mostly to say you are doing it for fun and fairness. Then you can say at least you are doing something. Ask yourself and others, is the cost of living effecting us and does the 500% markup by retailers effect us….. Well, I have written them a letter?!!!

So, who am I writing to:
(Some of these may take a little research on the internet, but, that in itself can be informative and stop you – well mainly – we wasting 5 hours watching YouTube ‘shorts’)

  • Write to any company who’s product you buy and find it substandard.
    ( I once wrote to ‘Sharpie’ markers as one in a new pack was dry – they sent me a shoe box full!).
  • Write to Woolworths and Coles.
  • Write to the fuel companies.
  • Write to charities and ask them what percentage of their donations is spent on Administration.
  • Write to your local and federal member, and the current ministers in Government about what is hurting you at the moment, what you need, what your communities needs, what our country needs (which is not billions of dollars in nuclear submarines 25 years in the future, when we don’t have enough hospital beds NOW!!!)

This doesn’t sound much. But, imagine ‘a company’ that gets maybe 10 complaints a year suddenly gets 5,000 – they will start to take notice as will the Media (the Merchants of Misery).

I have a few other ‘revolution strategies’ I just do for me:

  • I write letters of accolade and thanks.
  • Any bill I pay electronically I pay one cent less or round it up or down to the nearest five cents.
  • I never pay traffic tickets. I elect to go to court and talk to a Magistrate, not explain myself to a belligerent 25 year old on the side of the road (blog post coming up about how to do this and pay less than the ticket!)
    • I never pay my fines but ring up or email fines enforcement branch and pay the minimum amount a fortnight.

I have included a few of my letters to give you ideas and one I got back from Gamin after I returned a broken GPS to throw away on my behalf as it belonged to an old mate and I didn’t have the heart to throw it away?!

Letter from Garmin. Letter to Office Works. Letter to Council. Letter to Strongbow

Marching on the street has a place; but it only last a day – and you better not disrupt any business as that is now a $25,000.00 fine recently legislated up from $500.00. I will attest to the pen being mightier than the sword and knowing that “Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.” (Publius Ovidius Naso, a Roman Poet circa 33B.)

Be that dripping water.

The Phone Apocalypse Was Here – Thanks Optus For The Test Run

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I’m with Optus and my phone was down, as was my Optus internet (I have a ‘backup’!) for over 12 hours. The panic was on the TV.

I thought it was fantastic! People not annoying me, no scammers or ‘comparison companies’, no scrolling… I went for a walk and didn’t need my GPS to tell me how many steps I took!

All in all Optus, thanks from me for the peace and quiet and thanks for the test run of what happens when the mobile network goes down which we now realise also effect land lines.

It was a test run like when the power went out in South Australia for 24 hours and people though it was the end of the world as they missed ‘The Bachelor’ and the finale of ‘Big Brother’ – they didn’t notice that the fridge was getting warm or at nighttime it got dark.

And our bigger and longer ‘test run’ of COVID when we had the ‘Toilet Paper Wars!’

In most of these test runs the first thing people called for was compensation while they caught up on TV and got a cold beer from the fridge. After a week or so most just forgot about it.

A few didn’t and there were ‘class actions’, Government Enquiries and personal injury that went on for years, but the Media (The Merchants of Misery) dropped the whole thing after a few days….. by the way is there still a war in Ukraine?

No-body stocked up on toilet paper, food, medicine, got a generator or batteries…..?

I Did Things Differently.

Me during all of these ‘disasters’ I enjoyed the silence, the solitude and watched movies, drank cold drinks and had a hearty meal.

Because I learned from the test runs and it wasn’t very hard, all I had to do was notice and take some small steps. So now if there are anymore ‘test runs’ or perhaps the ‘real thing’ I’ll be right:

  • I have 100 days of food (which doesn’t take up too much room by the way)
  • I have a 100 days of water (+) in my tanks
  • I have solar, a battery and a generator
  • I have a really cool first aid kit I made up in a big plastic tub in the pantry
  • I have a cupboard in the shed with toilet paper, paper towel, disinfectant wipes, gloves, N95 masks etc etc – just a few spares of things that I bought, all on bought when they were on special and there were lots on the shelves with my normal shop each week (plus they are just about giving away all the stuff they wrapped us off for during COVID)
  • I have a portable gas cooker (good for camping) and a BBQ with three 9kg gas bottles (2 always full)
  • I have other stuff too, which is stored right next to my gun safe (thought I’d let you know about that as well!?)

And, I have a mindset that I will not be a Victim or die one. It also helps if you are a little prepared and have a plan. Because, it has been proven that only 15% of us are natural survivors – the rest mostly wait to follow someone, or wait to be rescued, or usually just die.

…. And You Can Do Things Differently too…

So I thought I would share something with you that I have prepared. It is Copyrighted, but please feel free to share with your friends. I assure you it might just save your life one day, just click below on the blue text to read the PDF. And I am NOT trying to sell you anything!

Most of the knowledge I have in all aspects of my life I got for free, so why not give it away. What’s that called nowadays, oh yeah, ‘paying it forward’. That’s when you hand out $100 notes in the street, or pay for someones else groceries and post it on YouTube on your ‘monetise” account where you get paid for ‘clicks’ and earn $100,000!!!!

So here’s the Manifesto, just click on the blue text and it will open as a PDF….

SCHLEIN’S MANIFESTO FOR SURVIVING THE APOCALYPSE

Also, by reading this we may all work together to survive (see my previous post ‘The Revolution – Phase 1 – You can join for free’). As another little gift I’ll give you the below free list of stuff. Perhaps you have some of it already lying round. Just gather it all together, put it in one bag and put it handy; I have one in my car as do all my kid. Funny I gave them to the kids several years ago and gave them the choice of their ‘survival pack’ or $200, and they all took the pack. This little pack might help you out of a normal, or not so normal situation.

SURVIVAL BAG CHECK LIST

I know there is a lot of stuff on the internet about ‘prepping’, all you have to do is click on the link, watch a 30 minute video, before they try and sell you something! When you read ‘The Manifesto’ just remember one thing, it is those that work together that survive.

Anyway until the next ‘disaster’ like maybe Neflix, Prime and Stan all going down on the one day, I’ll be gone. I do have some upcoming posts you may like that will be published shortly. I know I have been promising this for awhile, but its a bit hot today to work outside so I’m in the office, having a cold drink and a hearty meal, but look forward to sharing with you the following posts in the near future:

“Phase 2 of The Revolution: How to NEVER pay a traffic ticket again”
(Okay you didn’t read Phase 1 and not many are following it anyway – click here to read)
“How I Gave $50 to The Bank”

War…… What is it good for?

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I haven’t been posting much, but I have been writing a lot.

I choose to sort my thoughts before I share them and I like to have pictures which takes me to the internet, then Facebook, then Instagram, them YouTube and I watch people falling off of boats and skate boards for hours…….

But, now I feel compelled to write something about war….

But, before I do, please look back over my posts and see a post called ‘Surviving the Apocalypse’ (click here to read)……. I do have an another document called “Schlein’s Manifesto for Surviving the Apocalypse” which I am happy to send to anyone electronically for free…. (I thought I loaded it up here somewhere but can find it…. I not a social media influencer’ with 50 staff, I just write these in my shed when I drinking….)

If you went back and read the “Apocalypse’ article you will see I did research into what we, the people, normally do when things are at there worst and we are supposed to be at our best….. Well let me summarise….

If we all look after each other in a survival situation, look after the injured, weak and old or young, we share our resources of food and shelter…..
90-100% OF US SURVIVE!!!!!

If it is “everybody for themselves” … that is the strong look after their own interests and do not care or share…..
90-100 % OF US DIE!!!!!

AND THE HORROR

In 90-100% of survival situations (researched in the book in the above ‘apocalypse’ referenced post) in….

90-100% OF SURVIVAL SITUATIONS WE OPT FOR EVERYONE FOR THEMSELVES…..

And that is War……

It pretends to be about God, religion, Country (which by the way is a made up place we live in) and worse, political persuasion, doctrine or ideology…. But, it is nothing more that the strong, the powerful, the rich, wanting everything: and mostly they don’t even know why?

My thoughts on today, this week, this month and perhaps all of time:

  • Fuck 3000+ years of war and killing in the Middle East ….
  • Fuck the war in Ukraine over broken promises, lies and pretend idiologies
  • Fuck the warlords in Africa…..
  • Fuck war…..
  • Fuck all their wars….
  • And fuck war movies with hero’s, when millions die…..

WE ARE AUSTRALIANS!!!!!

We live on ancient land with an ancient culture and all the other cultures on this planet.

We have historically fought the ideal of other countries (not our own) and defended our coast only twice in wars that changed a culture and never ever threatened it. And, other than the politicians, we Australians have defended our shores with a lot of loss of live and a forgotten pain.

But, we are all still here, we are Australians.

A revolution is coming and it is not in a country we have to Google to figure out where it is, or a place we sent our young me and women to die, or the future destruction of the true ‘Australia Culture’….. which is all of us that live here today.

“The Revolutions” involves doing northing.

We are ruled by our own consent. We are taught and led by fear to:

  • Consume
  • Live in Fear
  • Be addicted
  • Separate into our separate ‘tribes’, groups, ideologies, etc etc
    (Please remember, one of the greatest military strategies, is to ‘divide and conquer’)

So, I have decided, all the writing I have been doing over the last few months, years, decades…. And all the plans for change, I will post.

And, I guarantee, by deciding to not, consume, be afraid, be addicted and to work with everyone, we can all again be true Australians.

So, PHASE ONE, is:

  • Say hello to people in the street…
  • Wave to people from you car…
  • Let that other driver in front of you…
  • Let that person in front of you go first in the in line…
  • Say please and thank you…
  • Smile…
  • Chat…

And, again I promise, I will post each week with a PHASE to get our lives as Australian back to the values that have been here for millennia , centuries and for all time that Aussies believed in a fair go.

And, no-one will ever fire a shot, sue a neighbour, be marching down the street with a sign, or do anything that is not moral or good and transparent.
Because, ‘the system’ is its greatest enemy…..

We will as Australians, change our country, to where we were all equal, where 99% of the wealth is not owned by less than 1%. Where those who try, and take the time to notice, will make a difference that no-one will see coming.

But, WE HAVE TO TRY!!!!

Let us all be the good leader in the ‘survival situation’. I suspect we are approaching one. So let us look after the weak, sick, disadvantaged, lost, etc etc (whose eye contact we now avoid in the street). Or, we only ‘help’ because someone is paying us.

I’ll see you next week, and I have a doozy PHASE 2!!!!

PS: Read some of my previous blog posts to get to know me, especially the one before this one and see if you can guess PHASE 2.

PPS: I will NEVER try and sell you anything and/or ENDORSE a product or organisation for profit or money (I might do it because they/it are good, and cool, and something I like). I have had a lucky life and just want that for everyone: read that again EVERYONE!!!

PPPS: An AI reviewed my post and this is what it said………

The content of the post is focused on expressing strong emotions and opinions about war, especially in the Middle East, Ukraine, and Africa. The author emphasizes the need for unity, kindness, and a fairer society in Australia. The post encourages readers to engage in small acts of kindness and promises future updates on creating positive change. The author also mentions that they will not endorse products or organizations for profit.

The passionate tone of the post effectively conveys the author’s perspective. However, to improve the overall impact and readability of the post, consider the following actions:

1. **Organize the content**: The post could benefit from a clear introduction and logical progression of ideas. Consider restructuring the content to have a clear opening, body, and conclusion.

2. **Provide more context**: Although the author references a previous post and the concept of “The Revolutions,” it would be helpful to provide a brief explanation or link to these references for new readers.

3. **Use less explicit language**: While strong language can convey emotions effectively, excessive use can distract readers. Consider using milder language to maintain the impact without overwhelming the message.

4. **Support arguments with evidence**: To strengthen the author’s arguments about the negative consequences of war, consider incorporating data, statistics, or examples from reliable sources. This would provide a more substantial foundation for the opinions expressed.

5. **Include transitions**: Incorporating transition words and phrases would enhance the flow and coherence of the post. This would make it easier for readers to follow the author’s thoughts and connect different ideas.

6. **Add visuals**: Including relevant images or videos could enhance the visual appeal and engagement of the post. Visuals could help illustrate the author’s perspective and support their message.

Overall, the post effectively conveys the author’s passionate opinions about war and the need for unity and kindness in society. By implementing the suggested actions, the post could be enhanced to further engage readers and strengthen the persuasive impact.

The Police (our beloved SAPOL) …. Are INSANE!!!

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I was watching the news last night and realised the above statement is true….
And I can prove it.

It will take a few paragraphs…. but, I guarantee it will be worth it!

The current ‘road toll’…..

‘Road Toll’ – a very nice term to describe people who have died unexpectedly in car accidents, usually by getting their delicate human body smashed and torn apart by sharp metal, bitumen and glass…..

So, the road toll in South Australia for this year (2023) is 31, that is 31 people

And ‘they’ took away the markers no doubt because someone was offended?

died as I described above.

Last year (2022) at the same time it was 15.

I wrote the above a few weeks ago and just decided to publish it and trawled the internet for the current totals….

That was difficult as the SAPOL web site had two different results and every where else I searched compared death rate to date, with the total for last year……

I could have gone to the media (the ‘merchants of misery’) reports but decided I couldn’t trust them more than statisticians, politicians or pollsters predicting ‘the Voice’ referendum….

So I will let you be the judge of these ‘accurate statistics’ …..

So, we are dying in horrific circumstances, being crushed and ripped apart; even incinerated, at double the rate.

Our Police (our beloved SAPOL) is full of good people going out their each day risking their lives when we need them to serve and protect us from the fantasy of the road toll and how they are ‘helping’ to reduce it.

They are just going through the PR motions:

  • More breath tests
  • More drug tests
  • Giving out more on the spot fines
    • Cameras and computers even giving us more on the spot fines
    • Traffic operations in country towns and ‘black spots’ to do more alcohol and drug testing and hand out more fines.

The fantasy is the glory of protecting us from the ‘fatal five’ killers on the road:

  • Drink and Drug Driving
    • Speeding
  • Distraction
  • Seat Belts
  • Dangerous Driving

…. And SAPOL on average hand out …… get ready for this as it doesn’t sound real but, it is recorded on the SAPOL web site at the link below….

https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/expiation-notice-system-data

Okay I did research…. not my thing….. and found the below statistics.

In the days between 6/7/2022 – 31/3/23, a total of 268 days, there were 425,407 expiation notices issued by person and machine.

That is about 1500 a day!!

That is at total of $119,198,366.00 of fines issued in that period.

I need to write that out in full so you know it isn’t a mistake:

“one hundred and nineteen million, one hundred and ninety eight thousand three hundred and sixty six dollars!!!!!”

(Wait for it…. that is $444,770.022 A DAY!!!)

How about that ‘ramping’ at the hospital emergency departments where all the road accident patients go screaming in the back of an ambulances with bits hanging off them, or bit missing and squirting blood…. and waiting for hours with ambos on double shifts and not break

After all, we just need more beds, more doctors, more nurses….. but, where do we get the money???

Plus,

$26,253,260.00 additional payments on top of those fines for the Victims of Crime Levy.
(I bet that makes you feel good as a victim of crime when you have been waiting years for compensation?)

But, the good news the statistics reveal that SAPOL’s vigorous protection of us from the “Fatal Five’ resulted in more deaths and more fines.

The simple truth is that the infringement notices are going up in line with the the road toll – remember that is the crushing and ripping apart of human bodies and the death of someones’ loved ones..

So, this wonderful strategy of protecting us has continued with enforcement, telling people they are selfish pricks (which by the way wins an award in advertising!?) and that 3 out of 5 people killed on country roads live in the country; I just wonder what the statistics are for the number of people who live in the city that are killed on the roads in the city?

Plus as a little side issue (I’m writing a series on this one called ‘Never Pay and On the Spot Fine Again’ – to be published in the next week or so – there will be a link – here – when it is done).

SAPOL continues to increase enforcement, disregarding your presumption of innocence by taking away your license, on the spot, and then taking your car (and charging you to store it)….

And…. having on their web site that you ‘have‘ to pay the fine….

Is this all sounding a little crazy, even insane.

SAPOl is not doing the same thing over and over again….. they are doing more of the same thing, and more, and more…..

That is because by definition SAPOL and their ‘traffic strategies’ are insane as old Albert points out below:

I will tell you how to NEVER pay an on the spot fine given by a Police Officer or a robot (although it is getting pretty hard to tell the difference) EVER again….. in my next blog….

…..or maybe the one after….

I got heaps of other stuff to bitch about, like, crime and mayhem in the CBD of Adelaide!!!!!

Have a nice day…….?

The Gift of a Day

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I was looking in the book shelf the other day to find something to read….  okay I know you are thinking I am looking for a book to read on the toilet….  WRONG!   Let me assure you I do not read books on the toilet – everyone knows that toilet time is YouTube time!

Anyway I was standing there completely underwhelmed by the majority of the books which were mainly self help books (Note to self:  Write a self help book about finding self help books in your bookshelf!) when I saw a little book called “The Ultimate Gift.”  Well I actually saw two copies of it and wondered why I would have two?  So curiosity got the best of me and I had a little read…

Without destroying the very basic plot of this self help book which is written as a story so that you don’t feel as if you are being preached at because the loser in the book is fictional and not a complete representation of you and your life……  there basically is no plot.

There is however, a very interesting chapter called:

The Gift of a Day
Life at its essence boils down to one day at a time – today is the day.

Pretty profound beginning to the chapter (you have to have snappy headings when you have no plot… it really needed pictures as well!).  In essence our hero was telling a young lad about his idea of “The Gift of a Day” which he summed up as:

“When you face your own mortality you contemplate how much of your life you have lived versus how much you have left.  I know at some point I will live the last day of my life.  I have been thinking about how I would want to live that day and what I would do if I had only one day left to live.  I have come to realise that if I can get a picture in my mind of maximising one day, I have mastered the essence of living because life is nothing more than a series of days.”

Well, I have faced my own mortality just recently so this sentence rang a bit of a cord with me.  Not that I haven’t contemplated that one inevitability in life, that being death, a few times in the past.

I have thought about our time here being the only commodity (click here to read “Better with the Only Commodity”) or what would we do if we actually got a real taste of death and how that would effect how we would then live (click here to read Better at “Wishing You Were Dead”)….  but, this little story today, and that one chapter seems so obvious yet so universally ignored and forgotten about.

I know we all wander into this life with an unknown amount of life.  We get to spend our time (the only real commodity) any way we wish to.  Some may spend it quickly and buy all the big ticket items and live like a rock star (especially rock stars)…. and others may spend frugally and find that all their savings can’t be cashed in when they are needed.

I actually thought ‘that day’ had arrived a few weeks ago.  I didn’t get to spend it how I planned – actually as there was no time to plan and the day was thundering ahead towards my demise and I wasn’t thinking about my bucket list, I was only thinking about the kicking of that bucket I appeared to be about to take….

It would appear that death didn’t always come a knocking and say “Hey you better get your shit together because you need to get a couple of perfect days under your belt before I come swinging with my sythe!”

As it turned out death wasn’t something I was fearing, I have my beliefs, and they sit well with me.  If you have watched the movie Crocodile Dundee you will understand my take on the after life as being a bit like Mick Dundee when he is asked if he believes in God and he replies “I reckon we’d be mates.”

It wasn’t my fear of dying, it was my fear of not living that worried me.  I didn’t get to plan my last day and there was still some shit I had to do.  So, I now have the time to do it…. but, life gets in the way… and unfortunately it appears to be getting back to normal… important shit is happening everywhere and my days are getting full again… I just don’t have time to die there isn’t a gap in my schedule.

And as I wrote not long after ‘surviving’ when my main priority in life being filling out forms:

Afterglow of tragedy,
Fades in direct comparison to the minute by minute
Requirement to deal with the mundane

I realised that my almost death was not that important, or after a few days, probably wouldn’t even be noticed.  I realised that I had a bit more life to live because I realised that the gift of a day, is everyday.

“DING”

I lost the moment of the profound life
When mine almost ended
And it was not profound.

I saw it,
My friends and family saw it
Not only in my life,
But in their own.

It is not a sad moment
But a lonely one.
At the moment where you almost sleep
For eternity
You wake
To the booming sound of nothing.

And your muses are silent
And the profound extension of your existence lost
You are nothing

Your achievements and possessions dust
Your struggles but the small ding of the triangle
At the back of the orchestra,

                            Unheard.

 

 

Better ….. the best Daughters

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Don’t know if I mentioned I almost died from an aneurysm a few days before Christmas….

If I had have died imagine how that would have stuffed up Christmases for the entire family for…. well, forever….  What a terrible day that would have been “Oh, here’s the new blouse you wanted, and oh yeah, this is the day Dad died!”    Horrible!

I know I am going to die before my daughters.  Well that is what all parents wish and I can’t imagine otherwise….  I have a mate who’s 24 year old son recently died from cancer….  the world will never be the same again and most definitely never seem fair.

….. and I must digress here …. by saying that friends do not show up when it’s convenient or easy but they are just there when it is hard….  I am trying to do that for my mate above.

So I spent a few days in hospital, well actually three weeks, and although it wasn’t exactly a piece of cake for me, I know it was hard, maybe more so (as I was zonked out on oxy most of the time – the only time I ever had access to that many drugs was after midnight down Hindley Street talking to a bloke called Guido!), for my friends, family, wife and daughters.

I can’t thank my wife enough…. but that is another blog and probably a bit more between me and her.  A lot of the people I have to thank have received a little special thank you in the post – well maybe not yet as the old mail with a pen and paper really is as slow as a snail.  I often ask myself why I still write letters and send cards – but then again I did have a brain aneurysm so talking to myself has become somewhat the norm – and I agree!

My little blog today is also not about my friends  – who many fulfilled the above little saying of being there when it was hard.  … and a lot were smart enough to not be there and fill my hospital room, read my magazines and steal my chocolates….  but called later when the dust settled and I could actually remember them either being there or talking to me!

My daughters…  the ones that I thought I was here to protect, suddenly were there
protecting me, holding me up, making me proud of the young women they had become… so one night I wrote the following:

My Daughters

When I was on the edge of life,
When I wavered,
When I was scared,
When I feared for the future,

 Angels appeared,
… and they were my Daughters.

They lifted me up,
They led me back,
I am alive, and I am grateful.

 My daughters,
… such strength
… and grace
… such unconditional love.

Their gift of my life,
I am humbled and proud.
Thank You.

… and more so, I am grateful that I am here to write this and tell them in person, everyday.

Better Happiness

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Happiness is a very interesting concept.  Once you ask yourself if you are happy you cease to be so…  Plus, if you were actually happy why would you do anything that could endanger that – it would be silly!

Just lately I have been chatting to people and attempting to gauge their ‘happiness.’   I never ask them in case they are happy and as above, by asking them they would cease to be happy…  I think?

A lot of the people I note are very busy.  They have stuff to do and places to go, and this and that needs to be done,  usually yesterday and of course there is always a meeting that can’t be missed and they have to rush to…  (you may be interested in reading my guide to meetings by clicking here – remember any good meeting is a great alternative to actually working!).

I was writing something else the other day in another place (do you know how expensive spray cans are these days!) and it goes like this….

”  … life goes on; it tumbles down a hill without thought or
often reason and we ride the avalanche of information, obligation and need;  but wait, stop and you see all the scenery that was racing past and you get to watch it for a moment;  You flail your arms and grab at moments going by.  You stumble, roll and fall but bounce right back up again and continue at a greater pace.  You realise the endless movement is not necessarily progress and the deafening noise is all in your head;  after all it is not the ground giving way under you….  the never ending momentum that you are caught up in is because you are actually running.”

Perhaps, happiness is those fleeting moments, a grab at the passing scenery, a flash of beautiful colour out the corner of your eye.  And, perhaps if you do it often enough and find that running is actually fun as well, then happiness is already here – its just that you have to notice and appreciate it for what it is.

… and finally if you are doing so much running it is nice to be actually going somewhere and be looking forward to a destination …

 

 

Better at Surviving the Apocalypse

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All the news is bad and I watch too many Zombie apocalypse movies… but, over the last few years a truck just ran through a crowd in France killing people (I was going to say including women and children but aren’t all lives valued the same – probably not?), a car in Melbourne did the same… and man with a knife etc etc etc…..   (Just a little fun fact about a few people dying from terrorists and a few crazies…. anyone remember the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami which killed over 240,000 people in 14 countries…..  can’t stop that one with a taser and a trolly!) 

I don’t think there is a great likelihood of there being a Zombie apocalypse or evil virus designed to wipe out the human race – but, I am sure there is some sort of war going on against us – and I mean all of us.  Plus, danger appears to be everywhere.

I am angry that the world is becoming (or is it just appearing to be…) such an unsafe and dangerous place, for us all to live in.  I write posts, I espouse threats, theories and rhetoric in the pub every chance I get, I like Facebook post that are angry,  and I get angry at the News (even though I have vowed to stop watching the it!)

But…. the big ‘but’ here is that I can do something about it; the other ‘but’ is I must decide what it is I am going to do – I have to have a plan.  So:

  1. I can decide to make a real difference, which would entail me dedicating my life to righting all these wrongs and really doing something about it.  I can join a lobby, protest and/or militant group to fight back.  I can run for politics and stand up.  I must be dedicated and fight with all I have, I mean everything – all else in my life must become secondary – to not do this just makes me another keyboard or pub warrior not making a difference but just making a noise….or
  2. I can do what I can and try and live my life the best I can.  What is doing what I can.  First of all it is stop talking and start doing, start paying attention to all the things I see in the world that make me crazy and start realising that it doesn’t all really mean anything until it happens to me, in my life, at my doorstep, to my family, to my friends (only close friends mind you!) – and, most of all be prepared (just like a Boy Scout).
  3. I can do nothing.

Interlude:  I got a little excited being a dooms dayer and realise I actually don’t really think this way all that much anymore…. this is one of my ‘draft posts‘ that I started after the truck ran through the crowd in France.  I was angry that anyone would do this…. and I was angry that this truck travelled over a kilometre and was crashing into cars, buildings, posts (and people) and still, people at the 900 metre mark were run over by SURPRISE (!) when the truck came up behind them.  I was angry at them for dying.  I was angry for them dying so badly.  Yeah, the first few hundred metres you can expect that people were  unexpecting….  but hundreds of metres later, with crashing and screaming and dying….  people were still oblivious to a truck smashing down a pedestrian walkway towards them – even if it was from behind….  I actually wonder how many died looking at their phones trying to start their video app so they could capture whatever was happening….   I think they just died badly… and worse…. oblivious and without really putting up a fight!

Interlude II :  I do feel sorry for all the people who have died in these terrible violent incidents we seem to be plagued with in our modern world…. but, just to put all that into perspective we ARE – read the following as a fact; you can research it and find I am right even if the media (the Merchants of Misery) don’t want you to think it….  we ARE living in the SAFEST, MOST PROSPEROUS, HEALTHIEST, period in human history – not just recent times, or centuries, but EVER! (CLICK HERE for a good article about the statistics involved).  So why are we all so afraid and convinced the world in on the brink of apocalypse….?

So where was I before the interlude(s)…..

I was going to attempt to survive the apocalypse, although it is unlikely it will happen, I still would not like to die oblivious and wearing my life jacket when the ship sinks.

Some years ago two of our children were involved in serious ‘survival’ situations that they were lucky to get out of, relatively unscathed…..  I thought, I am the doomsday prepper from way back, yet could not help my children when they needed me the most.  Why?  Because I wasn’t there and I had always planned on talking to them about ‘survival situations’ tomorrow….  well that day came, and guess what?  It caught us all by surprise!

So the next Christmas I gave the all the kids ‘survival packs’ for their cars…  Yes, I know it sounds crazy and paranoid, but they all carry them in their cars – and they love them, and they show their friends.

The packs have first aid, a few space blankets, some tools etc etc – the content is not really as important as the message.  …. and as a matter of fact the packs do contain a message in the form of the “Survival Manifesto”.  This is a short document which is the most important survival ‘tool’ in the pack.  It is a really simple message of staying alive when things go wrong by following the “Four Rules of Survival’:



I have noticed that when I ask people what is the first rule of survival, nobody gets it.

We often think of all those wonderful tips and tricks on the TV about survival, like building a fire, finding shelter, finding water etc etc – most of which most of us can’t really do in real life, in the real bush, in a real survival situation.

The one thing we never think about is not getting in that situation in the first place.

Now of course, this doesn’t help in surviving the apocalypse – because I am sure when it comes, the apocalypse that is, it will be beyond our control…. but most things in our day to day lives, even in those little moments which change the course of our lives, often, all we have to do is take a moment and think…. is this really a good idea?

Both situations involving my children could have been avoided, or at the very least minimised, if the first and perhaps the second rule of survival had been followed….

Also, survival as you can see is not about being able to build a hut from your boot laces and a mars bar wrapper – it is more about what is going on inside your head.

I know one thing.  The giving of the ‘eye rolling’ gift of the survival packs to my children and the highlighting of the above four rules make my kids, and me, and perhaps even you now that you have read this, more likely to survive ‘that situation’ (or perhaps even avoid it) than the vast majority of the world, who not only die, but unfortunately die badly and dumb.

I might write a few more articles about surviving the apocalypse from the ‘manifesto’ – but then again when times get tough, food is scarce and the shit has hit the fan, perhaps if there were less of us it would be easier…..

PS:  Statistically…..  if it is ‘every man for themselves’ usually 90 to 100% of people die – yet when everyone works together 90 to 100% survive….. can anyone guess what we humans do in 90% of survival situations……?  (I didn’t make this up and if you are interested a great book to read about historical survival situations is: “No Mercy – True Stories of Disaster, Survival and Brutality” by Eleanor Learmonth and Jenny Tabakoff)

 

 

Better Brevity….

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I am verbose.  I just can’t help it.  My kids tell me, my wife tells me …. and my mates just walk off or hang up, after saying “I’m bored.”

I read my wife my blogs and she just about always says “Yeah, I like it but….”

If you are a smart man you know the ‘but‘ will always undo any good work you have done!

So, taking advice is one of the hardest things in the world to do – especially if it involves changing something that you like to do – for me one of those things is exposing my knowledge to everyone about everything (asked for or not… e.g. this blog), telling stories (usually as pointed out again by my wife, having only a slight resemblance to actual events), ‘helping’ people by telling them what to do (see above… I hate this as well!) and writing pages of what I believe are profound words never before experienced by my hungry for knowledge and appreciative readers….. (?!)

My wife says these things are all okay, as with all things men do, requiring modification at their wife’s ‘suggestion‘ so that the man she never wanted to change when she married him, changes to the way he will find his life the happiest – I hate ‘happy wife, happy life’ but how true is it!

For me, at the moment that is brevity.

Making the verbose brief.  The profound short.  Stories to the point and unexaggerated – most are good in original form anyway.  ….. and a phrase in any marriage listen to often by the men, but never to be uttered – ‘get to the point!’

It’s happening now – I am being verbose in my brevity.

So, my posts will be shorter.  Like this one.