Going outside

No, they get stronger as they modernize.

Just wait until they figure out how to get on the wifi.

Thank you for the kind words.

500 Michigans?? That’s quite a bit longer!

Personal issues got in the way.

Well sure. I started a mobile auto repair business. That’s a field that is rife with incompetents, junkies, and straight up scammers. It’s the Wild West as far as businesses go.

Unlike most of the mobile guys in town, I went all in on the professional front. Had a webpage, business cards, uniforms, took CC on the spot or online, emailed pdfs of estimates, diagnostics, and invoices, etc.

By the time I wrapped it up, I had a huge roster of clients. Years later I still get calls. I did it simply by being honest and trying to make sure my customers interests were also my interests.

I turned down work if it was outside of my abilities, I never upsold, if I broke something I paid for it out of pocket, and tried my very hardest to not recommend any repair without solid diagnostics first.

Had I wanted to keep going, I could have easily hired a crew and expanded. Once your name gets out, there’s more work than one person can shake a stick at. And expanding means transitioning from laborer to manager. Then it’s on to franchising.

When you get an LLC, the banks will throw money at you. Even without collateral. What ever you are being offered in personal loans now, times it by 10. Show a years worth of growth and reasonable fiscal management and they’ll give you a key to the vault. No joke.

So, yes, if you have a skill, you can do honest business and turn very little into a lot.

No. Don’t.

Escape the hell that is forcing you to labor.

Uh, it’s very interesting if you’re into allegorical reinterpretations of universal deism and some esoteric rituals. But, yeah, the dinners are pretty much the highlight.

Fuck 'em, that’s what I learned.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

I saw it in the theater as a teenager. I thought it was hilarious. Saw it again 15 years later and was like “this is trash, how did I like this?” Last rewatch I was like “the camp is actually brilliant.”

“There was such a potential for all of us to live brilliant, flourishing, fulfilling lives.”

No there wasn’t. That’s just part of the illusion they sell you. The entire thing is just a shakey extension into the sky built upon a foundation it continues to havest from to give the impression of growth. It was only great for a few of us and it could never last.

I do agree with your sentiment and feel like if humans weren’t the way we are we could still build a global paradise.

But that’s not the way humans operate.