S2 E29 — Three Months That Changed the World

“Ripple Effects” dominated my 5:30 am only partially conscious brain.  Sipping my first cup of Folgers in my favorite dark blue mug which belonged to my mother-in-law, Emma the Baroness’ mother.  

The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “You are enacting patterns that served another situation and no longer apply to the current one. There’s nothing to work on here. As you get used to the way things are now, the unnecessary things will fall away naturally.” Scorpio

Hi and welcome to Thursday’s Episode 29 of the Second Season’s  My Pandemic Year’s Natural Experiment, on April 16th in the spring of 2020 here in California.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E28Hosting Norwegian Zooms While Trump Eliminated the Virus in April; S2 E27Why I Have to Keep Leo da V on a Leash and So Should You; S2 E26Rethinking the N-Word

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E29Day 29 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E28Day 28 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E27Day 27 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E26Day 26  of My 1-Year Experiment

Context

In an If-This, Then-That logic path, my thoughts trigger “assimilation” and “adaption” or “disruption” and “accommodation.” 

      • We’re witnessing the speed at which each part of specific supplier chains come unlinked. 
      • How will they reconnect, some no longer in the same chain, or any chain? 
      • And how the money in circulation slows. 
      • And how consumers representing the buying power of 66% of the US economy will lose confidence, save like never before and fear for their jobs while income streams dry up as their bills come due. 
      • Are we entering another Great Recession or another Depression? 

And I admit to mild anxiety about our nest egg and no matter how diverse our portfolio is, everything like before devalues together.

While flipping Apple News I came across a “Prepper” article reviewing a book published just as the COVID-19 pandemic broke, but not including it.  

The gist of it laid out how “the paranoid conspiracy believers” want to live through chaotic, disruptive times.  

Why?

Some brand reputation repair, maybe? Thriving while everyone else suffers, they’d  be able to show to their detractors they aren’t so weird,  just reasonably prepared.  Like, “Who’s laughing at us now?”

I guess their scenarios may be possible, even probable, since the virus won’t disappear for at least another 6 months.

Terry Gross interviewed Stephen King on her Fresh Air podcast to which I listened while walking about 3 miles around the lake. Yes, the reason was to promote his next book whose plot took place on a cruise ship in 2020. 

Oops.  

Given these changing times, and the date, who would believe the rest of the frightening story now, he asked Terry?

And that meant King had to reimagine the setting in 2019,  before the reality of hundreds of vacationers actually became horribly trapped.  If that, then it meant his publisher’s deadline accelerated.  

Meanwhile, I’m spending high amounts of energy and time with low return (ROE) by updating spreadsheet and contacts lists — getting to the “Ds” in alphabetical order.

Last night, one of my mentors left a message on my phone to kick around thoughts he’d been working in his head about mutually common interests.

Evidence

If all that, then what?  Any sage advice for a mildly anxious anticipator of vicious cycle ripple effects? So Zahnny, is your Holiday Tau describing a snake shedding its skin — unnecessary things naturally falling away?

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “You are enacting patterns that served another situation and no longer apply to the current one. There’s nothing to work on here. As you get used to the way things are now, the unnecessary things will fall away naturally.” Scorpio

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

So, shed my metaphorical skin and make room for doing more skill sharpening all in the name of efficiency?

“3”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “You may not do what you set out to do, but that is hardly the point. The more you try and accomplish, the better your skills get. Soon your ability will be so sharp that all connected work will be done in a fraction of the time.  Aries 

Now we’re talking Smithy.  I guess your Holiday Tau really describes the pattern of swirling clouds in my Folgers at 5:30 am. Now it’s up to me to assimilate?

“5”  Steve Smith, 30: You’ll have a heightened awareness of what arises from your subconscious, whether it be in the form of dreams, creativity or the assimilation of subtle clues you’ve picked up along the way.” Gemini

You mean trapped inside these four walls for ever more?  Okay, I’ll bite. What is really true here? What is really true here? What is really true here? How long will this pandemic last?

“5”  Steve Carell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: Consider what it means to feel trapped. If a person believes there is a lack of options, it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not; limits are in place. Ask the question and repeat: What is really true here?” Leo

Hey G&G are you two being diplomatic during a pandemic with a virus which appears to be spreading exponentially?  

“5”  Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61:Problems just get knottier when left to nature. The thinking — or more likely the unthinking — that created a tangle cannot also unravel it. You’ll employ your higher mind.” Virgo

Haha.  Don’t encourage me okay, Aoki? Am I interpreting your Holiday Tau as a sign that there’s a natural progression of interest — “The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”?

“4”  Steve Aoki, 41: The historic cases of subjects falling in love with their biographers are numerous — a natural progression, as there is nothing more seductive than interest. Use the concept to your advantage.” Sagittarius

Great, just great.  Something to look forward to in our imperfect place quarantined with imperfect people — not you Emma the Baroness — huh?  Like can you explain the last beat for me?  

“3”  Steve Nash, 45:Places aren’t perfect because people aren’t perfect. Wherever they go, they are there inside an imperfect vessel. While it’s futile to look for the ideal spot, today you’ll find one that’s much better than the last.  Aquarius

What’s Going On

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines grew from 1594 to 1628.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Long-Form

    • “The Fifth Risk,” by Michael Lewis  describes how the thinkers in federal departments were targeted by Trump’s administration, especially the scientists and researchers. “‘I was fucking nervous as shit, Bannon later told friends. I go, Holy fuck, this guy [Trump] doesn’t know anything. And he doesn’t give a shit.’ Even in normal times the people who take over the United States government can be surprisingly ignorant… The United States government might be the most complicated organization on the face of the earth. Its two million federal employees take orders from four thousand political appointees. How to stop a virus, how to take a census, how to determine if some foreign country is seeking to obtain a nuclear weapon or if North Korean missiles can reach Kansas City: these are enduring technical problems.”
    • “Chasing the Dime,” by Michael Connelly describes the inner workings of a (fictional) commercial research laboratory which fits the Paradoxy-Moron organization type. “(In the lab) is where you find time for more AE work. Analyze and evaluate. When the unknown or unexpected came up in the lab you stopped and went into AE mode. What do you see? What do you know? What does it mean? In the lab everything was clear … simple. Quantifiable. Scientific theory was tested and either proved or disproved. No gray areas. No shadows.”

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

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