Two years ago today I woke up, drove to the local airport, & flew a C172 by myself for the first time.
I chose to conquer my biggest fear. Not easy, & not very fun those first few months, but an unforgettable experience.
Step outside your comfort zone. You won't regret it.
I flew a lot, but didn't bother getting my private pilot's license. The idea of flying myself around sounds nice, but the reality is I'm not cut out for it.
And that's ok.
Maybe I'll get the itch again down the road. Until then, I'll leave flying to the professionals. 😅
It was a lot of fun entering a world I was completely unfamiliar with. I learned so much about flying and about myself. Really loved the experience!
I have so much more respect for professional pilots after my time spent as a student pilot. ✌️
"But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case it is unfit to exist."
It's from Spooner's No Treason essay.
BTW I have a friend who named his kid Lysander after Spooner. Based as fuck. 😂
I felt better in my 30s than I did in my 20s
I feel better in my 40s than I did in my 30s
I'm going to feel better in my 50s than I felt in my 40s
Feeling old is a state of mind
I was burned out for many years during the five I spent working at bitcoin startups. Took me a year to recover.
My wife spent 7 years in Bitcoin, and it took her even longer to recover.
You simultaneously know you're burnt out while being unable to imagine doing anything else with your time. The obsession is real. Your worst day in Bitcoin is better than your best day at some pointless office job.
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Purchasing a standing desk treadmill a year ago was a huge game changer.
I no longer sit for more than 1-2 hours at a time. My mobility, stamina, and overall well being has improved because of that.
20k+ steps per day seemed daunting. Now it's just normal, although a bit tiring on leg day. 😂
It isn't a replacement for going outside, but it's nice when you need to be on your computer.
I was burned out for many years during the five I spent working at bitcoin startups. Took me a year to recover.
My wife spent 7 years in Bitcoin, and it took her even longer to recover.
You simultaneously know you're burnt out while being unable to imagine doing anything else with your time. The obsession is real. Your worst day in Bitcoin is better than your best day at some pointless office job.
nostr:nevent1qqspu2epsdjknk7nqqpq9qslzlxn0k2ckmcucz8yut8yuqj78hkx69spz9mhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejj7q3qqny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysxpqqqqqqzflcadm
It was a better time when we had to go online.
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People really don't remember how bad things were before hardware wallets.
Lots of hypothetical attacks that require access to hardware, but it's still MUCH better than how things were.
We should keep improving, of course.
Making changes to an existing setup is scary, and isn't without risk. But better to set multisig up, play around with it for a few months, and then move your funds to multisig cold storage.
Takes time and effort!
It's probably not a coincidence that, prior to 1913 when the US Federal Reserve was founded, Olympic gold medals were made of solid gold.
They've been gold-plated silver since then.
If you're in Massachusetts just move to NH. It's the #1 freest state in the US, according to the Cato Institute.
The Free State Project has done wonders there, and will continue to do so.
Spend time on the ground floor of a startup, and you'll quickly learn how difficult they are.
Most weeks you'll wonder how you still have a fucking job.
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It took going to the conference in Nashville, but my daughters are officially dip buyers. Yesterday they both put a decent chunk of their cash savings from work into Bitcoin.
Meeting people, and seeing the things I've been going on about for 10+ years, really helped them understand the importance of Bitcoin.
I'm glad I never pushed them too hard. Bitcoin is complicated and it can take time to click. That's ok! They're young and I'm already stacking for them. 😄
At some point our children will need to understand. That's the reality all of us as parents face.
Don't force it. Give it time. Be the example they need. 🧡
I'm encouraging them to DCA.
They told me how much cash savings they have. I'd say yolo like 90% of it, keeping some for emergency cash, but they need to be comfortable with the swings. That comes with time.
Spend time on the ground floor of a startup, and you'll quickly learn how difficult they are.
Most weeks you'll wonder how you still have a fucking job.
nostr:nevent1qqsyyaz2xwl8ehtqnjukjcwf59egzfyjgxczacfcktlqvpzmke3c4ysppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qgsp4lsvwn3aw7zwh2f6tcl6249xa6cpj2x3yuu6azaysvncdqywxmgrqsqqqqqp4h9wlj
I once abandoned one on the side of the road.
A few years later I remembered that, at some point, I had stashed within the car a tiny encrypted USB drive. It contained a backup of my BIP38 encrypted private keys. 😧
Thankfully I had moved the funds not too long after the car was abandoned, though I doubt anyone could have gotten past two encryption layers. 😂
Let's talk drugs! I've heard a lot of mixed takes on marijuana and psilocybin, and wanted to share my own recent experiences. 😄
I never touched any drugs, besides alcohol/caffeine/sugar, until my 40s. I prefer to not be impaired or dependent, which is why I quit alcohol and caffeine a few years ago. Now that my kids are living on their own, and I'm retired, I find myself wanting to experience more things in life.
So I decided to try THC & psilocybin.
I can see why people are split on weed. Productivity can go way up or down, depending on the person, the mood, etc. I find it to be fun, but definitely not something I want to partake in regularly. I get way too retarded! 😂
I won't smoke or vape, so I stick with a tiny dose from a tincture. The high can last 6-8 hours in my system, which is a very long time for a small dose. Not something I want to deal with on the regular.
I'm very logical, almost to a fault. Psychedelics never sounded like a good idea, but I decided to try psilocybin recently. I was anxious about what would happen, but I put some music on, closed my eyes, and relaxed.🎶
With psilocybin, I feel like I'm tapping into a part of my brain that I rarely use. My logical thought process is still present, but my creative side takes control. I get deeply introspective. I start writing a lot.
I'm already a huge music lover, but my appreciation for it reached new heights. I experience seeing the sounds. I can fully appreciate the space between chaos and order where music lives. The more instruments the better, which is why I find orchestra music to be the absolute best with psilocybin.
It's an incredible experience that I walk away from knowing myself a little better. The writing is my favorite part, as I'm able to go back and reflect on my thoughts during the experience. To my surprise, it isn't a rambling mess! It's thoughtful, emotional, and honest. I'll even share with others who I directly write about. It's an extremely therapeutic process.
Again, I'm glad I never tried any of these mind altering substances until later in life. Being a fully developed human, and having a better understanding of myself, helps make these experiences stable and beneficial. In my youth, when my self control was worse, I could have ended up going down a dark path if I tried drugs. I'd likely be a very different person today.
I will always prefer to remain sober the overwhelming majority of the time, but I can see the pros & cons of altering your mind. Under the right circumstances, of course! 😄👍
The best tradition that started with Satoshi
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I have a feeling I'll be ghosting a lot of friends in the coming years.
Spending time around bitcoiners makes me question old friendships. I have friends I've known for 20+ years who haven't offered any real value in a long time.
That sounds awful to say, but they are so caught up in their dead end jobs and other bullshit. No care for anything else. They think the MSM and government are the best sources of truth. No interest in growing, or in self reflection.
Any attempt at deep, meaningful conversation basically turn into the "That's crazy. Catch the game last night?" meme. It's frustrating.
I'm still processing my feelings on this. I haven't had a close "crew" of buddies since high school. Even that was superficial. I've always been that guy people hang out with, but never a part of the "inner circle" or whatever.
I'm not saying this to garner empathy. I'm the complete opposite of depressed, and I don't stay up at night wishing I was one of the cool kids. I like having a close family, a wife that's my best friend, and a couple others I can talk to about anything and everything in a meaningful way.
I'm just wondering if it's time to drop some baggage.
Nostr is a great place for long-ish form writing. I love privacy, but I also love sharing the human experience. I spent the first 30 years of life keeping everything bottled up inside.
Never going back to that.
There is still a part of me from my youth that wants to have a bunch of friends. Be a part of a crew. But that's not really what adult me wants. I feel a little bit of that at bitcoin conferences, which is why I posted this right after Nashville.
Adult me is happy with the handful of friends I have now. The real friends I can talk to about anything.
The reality is it's best to move on from relationships that go nowhere, and feel draining.
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