January 4th 2008
Good Morning
Just as soon as I felt better from the nasty old gout, I went ahead and strained my back cutting a huge load of Piñon and Cedar firewood, but damn, it feels good. Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful sunny and warm day, so we jumped on the chance to replenish our dwindling firewood supply. So I'll take some more aspirin and be happy with the dull ache in my lower back. At a time when we have four to six inches of thick wet snow on the ground, we managed to get back in the forest, drive up to a large standing dead Piñon tree, get the little Jonsereds chainsaw started, block the tree up without hitting any rocks hiding under the snow, and load the truck with dry wood. Going for firewood is a major undertaking every time. First I had to convince my brother that we could make it into the deep woods in the first place, then I had to get Brittany's boyfriend Desi moving, which wasn't a problem. Brittany and Desi wanted to help since they helped put us in the firewood situation we were in. Nevertheless, I still had to get everyone moving, as well as load up the saw which I had in the house by the wood heater for the last couple of days, because Jiminy Crickets, it has been colder than an Eskimo's nose these last few weeks here. We've seen consistent sub-zero temperatures every night. This morning is relatively warm though, possibly due to the warm weather yesterday or I don't know... a weather front, I don't pay much attention to meteorology. As far as I can recall this is all new stuff. But some of my memory and focus issues are rooted in psychedelic research at a young age. Smiles. I'm good with that too. I love who I became, and what I have accomplished.
Hell of a long introductory paragraph this morning, I don't know what that was about, maybe because I woke extra early and started typing for the newsletter instead of reading and writing on the forums like I have been lately. Speaking of forums, I can see that many of you signed up to experiment with the two new on-line and live versions of Brian's Morning Newsletter. The set up at Google Groups really only has the ability to redistribute the BMN going for it at this point. I've received questions about this so I'll answer the first one right away. Will you all still receive the BMN directly from me? Yes, if that's what you want. But give the Mind Touch Deki Wiki pages a chance. I know this is a mouth-full. Adam will introduce you to the new stuff this morning. We believe you'll like what these new virtual servers can do for us as a group. Absolutely, it will take getting used to. I made a few notes there last night after I posted yesterday's newsletter. I saw that Jonathan signed up and posted a test page or two. Deki Wiki is multi-faceted and many layers deep. It may be called Brian's Morning Newsletter, but the way it is laid out each user has his own pages to post anything from pictures and text to music, really you name it. So far I haven't seen anything it won't do. My inability to work out how to do what I want to do seems to be the main limitation. The important thing for me is it does what I need it to do for now. I'll learn as I go. In the meantime, it works like a standard BBS (bulletin Board Service) or forum, if you'd rather call it that.
I do think it is time for the newsletter to evolve. I am more than happy to let it go where it may. My only concern is that whatever direction the BMN heads, it absolutely needs to remain easy to use. I can't afford to lose the rhythm of my morning ritual. This means I will not be changing anything for those who like it the way it is. The changes will only affect those who take advantage of Wiki pages and Google Groups ability to distribute your letters and replies directly to others who sign in to Brian's Morning Newsletter at Google Groups and or Wiki Deki. The rest will continue to receive the BMN directly from me. What I like and you may too, is that these new web servers have the ability to send out email as if I did it. This means you still get the message but on a continual basis, updated when other users add comments or their own updates, without the middle man, yours truly.
Amazing days ahead. The world is rapidly becoming seriously overpopulated. Perhaps humanity will find a way to survive with dwindling resources. I guess we don't have any choice except to find out for ourselves. When we were growing up things happened slowly. I think those days are over. Everything humans do nowadays will have more immediate effects on the environment and other people. On all the forums, Conservatives and Liberals constantly argue about this. When I step back from these arguments ,I see clearly that liberals think the sky is falling and resources are being depleted at an alarming rate because of overpopulation. On the other side, the conservatives say the more the merrier. More people means more consumers to sell products to. More people means more variety and lower prices.
Remember I said I can fall either way.
I am not putting all my eggs in either basket. I prefer the proactive approach. Since I don't have the head for business, I prefer to look at this current state of the world from a poor man's perspective. What can I, as one person unsupported by any corporate sponsors, do? I hate it when all the newsletters I belong to ask for money. When the idiots from Moveon.org asked me for money so many times last year that they finally stooped to insults, I wrote them a letter asking them to remove my name from their list and suggested they figure out how to conserve what they already had instead of making people feel bad because we don't have excess cash. Coincidentally, I'm sure Moveon.org inadvertently put me back on their stupid mailing list in time to start hitting me up for cash again near the end of the year. I guess just about every group thinks the end of the year is a good time to plead for cash. Sigh. Sorry for your bad luck. In case you didn't notice the economy is going to $#|+. A loaf of bread cost $5.00 and we still make $8.75 per hour as a minimum wage. Blame the rising cost of grain on fuel made from soybeans and corn if it makes you feel better.
Me, I am doing something about it.
There it is.
Sincerely,
Brian Rodgers
