Now Archive: November 2024

  • 3rd Nov 2024
    •  • 
  • 4 min read

_This is my Now page and here’s what’s up for me these days as of November 3rd, 2024. For my current Now page, go here.

  1. Revisiting Plan C = With the US election upcoming, it seems wise to be ready for things to get severely weird for a while. When I say Plan C, I’m talking about being so resilient in the face of uncertainty that even catastrophic events need not feel threatening. I’m not a Prepper, but I’m also not unprepared for supply chain interruptions, and I like to have backups to the backups of critical items and processes. Hopefully the electoral process leads to a smooth transition of power, and whether it does or not, I’m using this time to revisit my catastrophic plan. It was a pandemic last time I did, so time for an update.
  2. Trying to buy a property in Panama = I recently found out about a fantastic ecovillage project in Panama called Veritas Village. Denise and I love this area, and are seriously considering getting in on the ground floor of this community by buying a small lot and having a fully resilient and energy independent home built there. It’s a bit of financial juggle for a self-employed, non-Panamanian like myself to navigate. I used to work for a mortgage company, but they do financing very differently in Panama. As this is an ideal place that I could really see us living long-term, I’m giving it my best!
  3. Transitioning computers = Sadly, M1 MacBook Air is crashing daily now. It’s been a surprisingly good computer for the last 4 years, but I run’em hard and I run’em hot. Getting more than 3 years out of an Air is actually really good for me. It’s helped to have my Linux MiniPC and NAS sharing my computational load, that’s bought me some time. But now it’s cooked and I know the signs. Fortunately, the new M4s come out this month, and I’ll likely be picking up a “Pro-Pro” this time, that is a MacBook Pro with an M4 Pro chip. Then begins the loathsome journey of getting everything up and running. I’m looking at Thanksgiving weekend to provide the needed downtime for this.
  4. SOP Frenzy = As a continuing element of my Business Blast from last month, I’m on a tear creating Standard Operating Procedures these days. Basically, I’m documenting all current business & financial processes so that they are clear and (potentially) automatable. While it is definitely work to do this, so far this is working wonders for my speed and scalability. I’ve been using Obsidian daily for 2 years now, and am so glad to have this right tool for the job. By the end of this month, I expect the frenzy to subside into trusted system maintenance.
  5. Thinking ERG = Last month, in an effort to better value long-term outcomes to make better decisions today, I created a new way of thinking about value. It’s essentially global energy production divided by global human population, mapped out over time. I wrote up a blog post to go here last month, but keep tweaking the explanation and refining the calculator. I should have it solid this month. It’s pretty fascinating stuff! Astonishingly constant over hundreds of years of past data, and quite revealing of the next hundred years. More to come on that soon…

Thanks for checking in. Want to let me know what you’re up to? Got suggestions on what I might want to tackle in the future? Let me know here.