Mindconnection eNL, 2021-03-07

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In this issue:
Good News | Product Highlight | Brainpower | Finances | Security | Health/Fitness | Factoid | Thought 4 the Day

1. The cancel culture movement, in which only irrational, delusional, ignorant, stupid people are allowed to speak publicly, has created a backlash among those who are rational, realistic, informed, and intelligent. And actually, we are the majority. We are the ones without whom this society would not function at all. And we've had enough of being trashed for the "crime" of expressing ourselves in a calm and intelligent manner or asking for some sanity.
    
2. The rapid pace of socialist attacks on our economy, education system, and society have roused millions of Americans from complacency. We are living through an amplified version of Obama's "Destroy America" policies, and those of us with measurable IQs are seeing the immediate consequences. In a practical sense, this means nothing because we do not have elections in this country (we have rigged farsical ones to justify the predetermined outcome). But it will spur more and more people to reject the anti-American legacy media, Facebook, and the other purveyors of disinformation, incivility, stupidity, and social unrest. And that will help restore the Rule of Law in our criminal-run country.
    
3. A judge in Mississippi ordered a new election after massive fraud was discovered. Read the full story here: https://www.theepochtimes.com/judge-orders-new-election-after-78-percent-mail-in-ballots-found-invalid-notary-arrested-for-voter-fraud_3720930.html . If the SCOTUS had an honorable man as the Chief Justice, this would have happened in 2020 and we would not now be staring into the abyss created by a mentally retarded socialist who has dementia. With the "proof in the pudding" ala Biden's vicious attacks on our liberty, national security, economy, and our culture, a re-do at this time would put Trump back in office and cause the Socialists to lose their House and Senate majorities. And perhaps this development in Mississippi will put enough of a dent in the election corruption machine that the Socialists are totally routed in 2022.
   
   The socialists/reactionaries/morons can do a lot of damage in the next two years, similar to how termites can do permanent structural damage to a home if left alone in the walls for two years. That does not mean it is hopeless. In the People's Republic of California, Comrade Newsom is already on his way out to to widespread disgust with the damage he has inflicted. If it can happen in a place that far gone, it can happen anywhere. Chins up!

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How much television is too much and how much reading is enough? That's a person choice, and the answer depends on how much better you want your brain to be. And generally, people do one or the other. It's worth noting that the ratio of television watchers to readers is growing. That means the percentage of smart people in the population is shrinking. Do your part to personally help it grow. Develop the reading habit.

If you already have this habit, then share your love of it with others and encourage them to switch from television watching to reading for just one month. If they do that, it's unlikely they will go back to watching television.

The typical DIY job is botched. Not because the person didn't care, but because the person didn't know. There are tools and techniques that you have to know about for the job to come out right. My recommendation is that you focus on the maintenance jobs and learn to do them very well before you tackle any projects that require skill. Here are some:

• Furnace filter changes. Check these each week.
• Light fixture / fan fixture cleaning and relamping. Make sure these are clean, inspect monthly.
• Cleaning the seals on the dishwasher. If you use a good detergent, this step won't be necessary. I recommend 7th Generation gel.
• Cleaning the filter in the dishwasher. Pull it out, clean it, clean where it goes, then put it back.
• The cleaning and filter checking recommended for your clothes washer.
• Clean the dryer vent filter before and after use. Every month or so, stick a vacuum nozzle in there too (clean upstream and downstream of the filter slot).
• Pull your refrigerator out, shut it off, and clean the condenser coils. If you set your refrigerator on a plastic desk mat, you will not mar your vinyl floor when you roll it back and forth.
• Prevent drain clogs by using hair catchers. But pull those out periodically; pour baking soda and then vinegar down the drain to clean it. Wait a half hour, then flush with a gallon of hot water.
• Keep faucet aerators clean. Unscrew the aerator, drop into a coffee mug 1/4 full of vinegar, and retrieve it 10 minutes later. Run faucet to push out residue before reinstalling aerator.
• Pour some vinegar into the toilet tank once a week. This helps keep the jets clean and prevent bowl stains, plus it reduces calcium buildup in the valve and around the flapper face.
• Check your toilet for IRS agents. Flush as needed.
• Pull the hair, fibers, etc., off your vacuum cleaner rollers. Take assemblies apart and clean them. You should do this quarterly, but more often if you keep finding huge amounts of hair.
• Flush your water heater per the recommended interval.
• Clean your air conditioner condenser coil. Ask your HVAC tech to show you how, most people do it incorrectly.

So what about those projects? Here are some types you should not do unless you are specifically trained:

• Building envelope work such as window replacement, door replacement, siding, or roofing.
• Electrical work. Please, please do not do this without being qualified.
• Plumbing, aside from replacing toilet kits or faucets. But don't attempt either of these jobs unless you have local shutoff valves that work properly.
• Replacing linoleum, tile, carpet, or other flooring.
• Pouring a driveway or sidewalk.
• Building a porch or patio.
• Adding a room onto your home.
• Building a fence.

You may not have thought of these, but a person with intermediate skills can readily do them:

• Replacing / rekeying door locks.
• Replacing weather stripping on doors and windows (be sure to buy the correct adhesive).
• Installing cat doors (if you are comfortable with your jigsaw, else don't).
• Varnishing kitchen cabinets in place (be sure to wear the correct PPE and to ventilate).
• Painting a room (visit a paint center and look at the tools used for this work, then buy a book or watch some videos so you can avoid the common mistakes).
• Replacing the fill valve or drain valve on your dishwasher.

The maintenance, if done correctly, will allow you to avoid thousands of dollars of repair bills each decade and maybe thousands in a given year. Handling a few smaller jobs yourself saves money but also gives you a feeling of satisfaction. If you can do a bigger job, your cost savings may not be as valuable as your time savings.

A similar technique is used by morbidly obese people. One land whale positions himself in the middle of a grocery store aisle so it is impossible to pass him. This 300+ pound person then waddles at an excruciatingly slow pace. Being polite, you don't want to push or shout. So you move fairly close and gently say, "Excuse me, please." That's when the land whale stops and slowly turns, as if he must have a conversation with you about this. Now an accomplice comes at you from behind. With any luck, this will be a quick, slender accomplice who steals something from you and then runs the other way (if you are foolish enough to carry a wallet in your back pocket, that's what just went missing). A third accomplice blocks you from going after the thief, the same way the first one blocked your progress down the aisle and distracted you.

A more hazardous scenario is the accomplices also is a land whale and you are crushed between them. This second scenario is more likely in a very crowded place, for example in a line at the airport.

One reason so-called "body blocking" succeeds right now is because the victim doesn't expect it. The technique is unusual and the surprise factor is huge. The solution is to have a surprise of your own. Thwart their plan by using the same concept defensive driving courses teach. That is, don't let yourself get blocked in.

Before I go down a grocery store aisle, I assess it. Is there an extra wide person waddling down the middle? Is someone blocking it with a cart? Does anything or anyone pose a threat of blocking me in? If yes, I skip that aisle and come back later or I go around and get my item from the other side of the "road block".

With Covid-19, it might seem this technique is not being used because of the 2 meter distance rule. But as we sane people keep telling the gun ban nuts, criminals don't follow the rules. With Covid-19, people are wearing masks and behaving more fearfully. Even if your cry for help could be heard through your three-layer mask, nobody is going to come to your rescue. Now one thing I like about the grocery store is nearly every aisle is a weapons arsenal. That skinny kid running off with your wallet? Nail him in his back with that jar of spaghetti sauce just to your left. If you've got a decent pitching arm, you'll drop him. Two obese people try to play the crush game with you? Mightily smite the one on his collar bone with that jar of peanut butter, then turn and kneecap the other one with it. Or avoid this altogether by scoping things out and avoiding traps.

The photos tell you something important about my credibility.

Statistics on 60th birthday, when these photos were taken:

• Height: 6'0"

• Wingspan: 6'1"

• Weight: 148lbs

• Bodyfat: Unknown, but well below what the Tanita scale says is 5%.

• Waist: 29

• Chest: 48

• Arms: 15

• Quads: 20

• Max bench press: Unknown, but I do three sets of 12 reps with 150 lbs to warm up on chest day

• Training days per week: 6

• Type of training: Split routine, heavy on supersets

• Meals per day: 7 on training days, 6 on rest day

• Percent of diet that is processed food: 0

• Amount of meat, wheat, corn, or soy eaten annually: 0

• Number of eggs eaten per day: Between 8 and 10

• Cholesterol: In normal range, on low side

• Last illness: 1971

• Last workout missed: Spring of 1977

"I realize there is no such thing as 'toned'. You are either physically fit or you are not. The problem is so many things come up and I can't find a way to avoid missing workouts. And sometimes, I just don't feel like doing them. What do you suggest? Is it really true you have not missed a workout since 1977? I suppose if you worked long hours, that wouldn't be possible."

Here is my answer:

Congratulations on understanding that you need a complete program, not some wimpy check-off-the-box make-believe workout routine.

I have not been blessed with an easy schedule. On the contrary, I have worked long hours most of my adult life. In my 20s, I usually worked 12 hours/day, 6 days per week. The pace slackened in my late-30s for a few years, but it's been pretty much 60 to 65 hours per week since then (sometimes more). Neither this nor anything else has caused me to miss a workout. Yes, that includes injuries (I work around them), travel (I plan ahead), and sickness (I don't have it).

Many people rely on will power. This guarantees failure, because you are making the decision each time, which radically increases the number of times "no" is possible. Each of us has a limited amount of will power. Once you use it up, you have to wait a long time for that battery to recharge. If you are tapping your willpower all day long and then find you don't have enough of it left to stick to your program, then you need to remove will power from the equation.

Make the decision once. Then schedule your training sessions. One reason early in the morning is a good time is nothing is likely to "come up" or detract you. Having your own equipment at home, even if it's just a set of bands, makes this easy. If you have to go to a gym, you have one more barrier and much more rigmarole between you and success.

If you have a job, do you need to decide each morning to go to work? No, you decided when you took that job that you would show up. Apply this mentality to your training schedule.

This willpower thing also applies to food choices. I don't skip meals, they are scheduled and I eat on schedule. I have all meals prepared or at least planned ahead of time. Portions and contents are already set, so no need to exert will power to "resist" overeating or eating something that will make me fat, stupid, lazy, or sick. I have no processed grains in my house, because I never buy them. No meat, wheat, corn, or soy to "resist" because they aren't there. Over 50 years ago, I made the decision to take "you are what you eat" to heart and let it guide me in my food choices. I don't have to make that decision several times each day. That's about 120,000 bad decisions I could not have possibly made because I removed the repetition from my life. Am I ever tempted? No, especially after so many decades of success (all due to making a single decision, not 120,000 of them).

Sticking to my training program for the past 44 years seems easy from my perspective today. That's because I made the decision once and didn't put myself in the position of having to fight for it with that puny weapon we call willpower. Peer pressure, criticism, naysayers, time pressure, family responsibilities, relocations (I have lived in 14 different states and twice in three of them), and travel have all been no problem. In most cases, I did not have to choose between two important things; I simply made things work and did both.

It does not take special genes, special circumstances, or extreme willpower to stick to a nutrition and training plan. It takes only the decision that you will do it and the promise to yourself you won't ever second-guess that decision. The second-guessing is what causes people to skip workouts, skip meals,  or replace nutritious food with manufactured garbage.

• The best workouts are short and intense.
• A good diet contains far more flavors and satisfaction than the typical American diet.

Not bad for someone who failed miserably as Attorney General and then came in dead last in her own party's primary.

"I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks." If this is you, those paychecks are in jeopardy and probably much smaller than they should be. Find something you love, and do it with all your heart. That is the way to be happy. Not slogging through a job you don't enjoy.