New Year, New Direction

For a while now I have been feeling in need of a change but I am unsure of what that change should be. I am bored, well not really bored, but no energy to do much, and no interest in doing much. Not really discontent, but not really motivated to do anything. I have lots I could do, but nothing I care about, or for that matter, nothing anyone else cares about much either. When I get sarcasm, I just stop. Oh well, she will just need to learn to live with unfinished projects.

So now I need a change, but the question is to what? The days get long sometimes when I do not have enough to do, yet do not want to do much. Such is retirement. I could change this blog into a rant or wail against selected "stupidities of man kind" or some such attention getting crier. There is no shortage of subjects: religion, environment, waste, ego spending, massive houses used as places to sleep while everybody works to pay for the house, money management, or the lack of such, dying jobs and career paths, shipping jobs offshore aka buying foreign goods, lack or economic choice of some products, politics, bad political decisions, bad decisions made for good reasons, decisions that make Alberta noncompetitive in the current market, but made for environmental reasons, bad faith decisions, stupid decisions to not support carbon capture efforts, even when some carbon capture is revenue generating, but not profitable enough to be self sustaining, and the list could go on.

I could dig out 20 to 40 year old slides and scan them, hang them on the web for all to see, but why?
I could make slides of most anything for the microscope and look at them, but why?
I could finish any number of started project, but she has not yet learned.
I could go to the garage and do something, but why?

One of those old philosophers, Epictetus in the Fragments is quoted as saying "never do anything without a reason" or something to that effect. "We should not lift a finger without reason," perhaps "without reason we should not lift a finger". I have no reason, beyond the need to do something. Is that sufficient reason? Perhaps it is.

There is a space between perception and analysis, a bigger space between analysis and decision, and a third space between decision and action, or so there should be according to some. This seems to be what many of the old masters of mediation suggest, and even the new masters, and that is also what a good few psychologists suggests. Perhaps I could pass my days in any of the many forms of meditation. But without any desire to....  

Will Trump become president? If he does, how will his presidency end? Natural term? resignation? impeachment? assassination? natural death or medical issue? Civil unrest? Civil War? Invasion of X or by Y? Nuclear war?... I will bet on impeachment and or medical issue. His ego would never let himself to admit into being wrong, and resigning. I doubt that he will make four years without some effort of relieving us of him, but the security will be tight.  He will infuriate the existing establishment and executive of Security Industry.  I could see him getting into serious difficulties and then fining a medical escape issue short of impeachment. Oh well, he will only likely upset NAFTA, softwood lumber, border security, free trade, auto industry, environment issues, drugs and health care, gyproc trade, beef, pork, food, housing, in Canada. It may be good for Canada also as we may need to start producing our own stuff in Canada in answer to the restrictions imposed.

Enough in the end we all just die anyway, just as the 110 billion who went before us.