Contagion

Can you say, "Furlough Day"? Need I say more? My Palm® TX was divested via the Goodwill drop at Kahala Mall. I will not be replacing the device. In fact, none of my useless possessions will be replaced (only with the possible exception of my computer).

I restored my monk haircut at the Institute of Hair Design prior to working out at the gym. I completed my workout an hour earlier than usual. I was famished, so I walked to Longs® to purchase something to eat. I ended up with a couple of Tiger's Milk® bars at a cost of 80 cents each.

I returned to the gym and hung out for a while. Out of curiosity, I weighed myself on the balance scale in the men's locker room. Whoa! I am down to 138 pounds. To say that I am emaciated would be an understatement. Holy mackerel!

The Tiger's Milk® bars filled me up temporarily because each bar is 240 calories. The reason? The first item under "Ingredients" was high fructose corn syrup. Fortunately, the bar was also saturated with vitamins and protein.

I have not had much of an appetite lately, and not because of any physiological problems. I just cannot seem to find anything worthy of eating. Look at all the crap that is available. Hardly any of it qualifies as food. I could resort to eating more fruits and vegetables, but I would have consume a huge quantity to equal modest caloric count.

The food shortage problems appears to be afflicting most of the masses. However, the latter group tends to eat whatever is available just to stave off hunger pains. "Whatever is available" is normally a variety of junk foods, high in fat and sugar, or made with bleached flour (which almost instantly turns to glucose upon consumption). I also discovered that white rice is just about as bad as white bread. So, in place of real food, most people simply consume empty calories.

As I have discussed previously in both the old journal and the "blog," most of the food options available to us are poisonous. My appetite is hardly piqued by the thought of ingesting poison. And, I am not too keen about eating huge quantities of granola daily because of the lack of alternatives.

On a side note, the Telegraph UK headline claimed, "Millionaire gives away fortune which made him miserable." Say what? Here's an excerpt:

However, for many years he [Karl Rabeder] said he was simply not "brave" enough to give up all the trappings of his comfortable existence.

The tipping point came while he was on a three-week holiday with his wife to islands of Hawaii.

"It was the biggest shock in my life, when I realised how horrible, soulless and without feeling the five star lifestyle is," he said. "In those three weeks, we spent all the money you could possibly spend. But in all that time, we had the feeling we hadn't met a single real person – that we were all just actors. The staff played the role of being friendly and the guests played the role of being important and nobody was real."

Frankly, isn't that the way life is everywhere, whether one has lots of dough or not?

Left Behind

The library has outlived its usefulness. No, I am not making an obtuse reference to "furlough days." What I mean is that the books in the library represent the sum of human knowledge, and human knowledge is really just a function of the flawed construct of human civilization. I am seeking universal truths, not blather. I came to the latter realization while I was reading Jim Marrs' book, "Above Top Secret: Uncover the Mysteries of the Digital Age." Heck, there's a lot of crap that we humans know absolutely nothing about. And, frankly, I am beginning to wonder whether some of those "crackpot" ideas may have some merit. After all, if something does not pass the "litmus test" against accumulated, albeit flawed, human knowledge, then it is considered "crackpot." However, that has nothing to do with the truth. Incidentally, Marrs' book is based on the Above Top Secret site.

The idea of returning to wage slavery still seems deplorable to me. Unfortunately, because of Ben "Handjob" Bernanke's zero percent interest rate policy (ZIRP), I am going through my savings a lot faster than expected. I have calculated that I can earn close to $20,000 per year and not pay any income taxes (except for Social Security and Medicare deductions). The real problem, of course, is wage slavery itself. At this exact moment, I cannot even imagine myself shackled in wage slavery. I would rather use every dime of my savings and end up homeless first.

My experience in wage slavery was not optimal. I had attempted to maintain a low profile and remain "under the radar." However, I had to deal with a number of sociopaths and psychopaths who wanted to bring me down along with them. I left the scene with a bad taste in my mouth. The sad part is that I need some kind of income while I am still tethered to the dreadful "condotel" unit. It alone is draining me financially. As a result, I am malnourished and living on the edge.

With moms now turning 88 years of age, there are other considerations that need to be addressed. Anything could happen at this point in time, and the options are not very good. I am certain the moms' longevity is due to a healthy diet. Moms' belief in passing through Armageddon, thanks to ridiculous church doctrines, is also a factor. Moms, like all of the other members of the cult, have placed great faith in a faulty interpretation of mythical beliefs.

There are only a handful of years left before I have to make major decisions about my future path. Moms is essentially the only family that I have left. So, once moms is gone, I am on my own. I have my bro and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins, but I have already severed my ties with all of them. There's no turning back. That's essentially why I have been going through the "disconnect." I don't want any unfinished business lingering on.

The whole purpose of the "blog" was to document the steps that I would be taking in the future, hence the subtitle, "The Exodus Files." Instead, I have been procrastinating. Time obviously waits for no one. Thus, if I keep fooling around, then I will be left behind.

Disconnection Ad Nauseam

"Good news is coming your way - It will be here any day." -- Panda Express® fortune cookie

Another visit to Hawai'i Kai went well, with lunch courtesy Panda Express®. Later moms served pumpkin pie with Foremost® coffee ice cream for dessert. I was completely stuffed. Moms turns 88 years of age this month, if you can believe it. Fortunately, moms has been blessed with good health so far.

I terminated my Hawai'ian Air (i.e., Hawai'ian Miles frequent flyer) account. I only mention the benign fact because I had to contact the Call Center in order to accomplish the task. I had no use for the account since my accumulated miles somehow disappeared. I have tried to eliminate my AOL® Instant Messenger (AIM) account, but there's just no way to do so on-line. From what I am to understand, I must submit a written request. In the interim, I have removed all references to AIM.

While social networking is now the big craze, I have moved in the opposite direction. I want nothing to do with social networking sites or any kind of social networking wizardry. I am "disconnecting," as it were. The reality of the situation is that I do not "fit in" with society in general. I am an outsider, an outcast. My motivation is not rooted in an overt contrarian doctrine per se. I simply do not "fit in."

On a side note, I discovered that the audio quality in Ubuntu Linux "Karmic Koala" leaves a lot to be desired. While the sound level is much more audible than in "Hardy Heron," the sound itself is distorted. Is the problem originating with Alsa or Pulse Audio? Who knows?

Voice in the Wind

I was amazed to see how few people were out and about this afternoon, obviously thanks to the Superbowl®. Even the hottie gym trainer departed the gym earlier than usual. Thus, I enjoyed a leisurely day. I even stopped off at Kahala Mall rather than return directly to Slob Manor (read: rental housing). I sat on one of the concrete benches in front of the desolate office building next to the mall and ate my bento that I purchased at Foodland in Ala Moana Center. And, I spent a little time at Barnes & Noble®.

Back at Slob Manor, I cleared all of the on-board memory in my Palm® TX and boxed it up. The useless device is now ready for divestiture. I also shredded several years of archived tax paperwork because I was tired of storing the crap. Hopefully, I will find the incentive to expeditiously divest more useless crap.

Later, I pondered the complete removal of the old journal that is hosted on the Tripod site. I also considered the consolidation of the myriad HTML files into large image-free ones as an alternative. Alas, that's just too much work for the ol' lavahead. I once thought that the journal would always be valuable to me. Now, I don't even care if it just disappeared. I won't ever read it again. The "blog" is equally useless, but I continue to add to it daily for no particular reason.

Hegemon Redux

My entire upper body has been aching for over a week now. I am having a difficult time in facilitating my modest weight workouts at the gym. Old age is beginning to take its toll. I have pledged to soldier on regardless of the pain.

I am still in shock over Rob's demise over two years ago. According to Joanne, the only reason that any of us know about what happened is because James ran into Internet Jon about a year ago. Even Rob's funeral was not publicized. Only immediate family were invited. Rob apparently passed on in solitude, asphyxiated by his own phlegm due to pneumonia. What a sad way to go. I surmise that he lost the will to live a long time ago.

I have also solved the SD® Card problem with Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" (see "blog" of January 22nd). I had to check the option to "Never prompt or start programs on media insertion" in the Gnome® Nautilus media preferences. Seems that, even though I uninstalled the default applications for certain types of media, the file manager attempts to poll for some application to open. Never a dull moment when the computer is involved.

I mentioned Iran yesterday because there has been a somber thought recurring in my ruminations as of late. I am beginning to suspect that the moneychangers and powers-that-be have started "pulling the strings" on the empire's leaders to provoke large regional conflagrations in Central Asia (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran), North Africa (Somalia and Yemen), the Middle East (Palestine and Lebanon), and Asia (North Korea and Taiwan). The plan appears to be one which will ignite a non-nuclear world war which will eventually involve both China and Russia by proxy. The most recent events (including the sale of arms to Taiwan, the new sanctions imposed on Iran, and the placement of anti-missile shields in the Middle East) are clearly pointing in that direction.

What we can assume is that the global economic crisis is probably out of control and on the verge of being non-containable. With an imminent collapse of Western civilization as we know it, there can be only one remedial recourse: world war. The latter option is the "last resort" to redistribute wealth by force.

Although I have previously thought of wars as a crude form of eugenics, the real purpose is always a matter of realigning power and wealth. The war plan must be carefully implemented because the "nuclear option" must be avoided at all cost. That is why Pakistan is being diverted into the "war on terror" scheme. That keeps Pakistan at bay from India, its archenemy. All of the targets are non-nuclear powers (except Pakistan). Thus, as long as there is no direct threat to either China or Russia, there will be no nuclear war.

Is the problem directly related to energy resources (i.e., Peak Oil)? I am sure that hegemony over energy resources is a major consideration. However, the contagion of economic collapse appears to have taken precedence. There seems to be a kind of urgency in the air. Is the situation really out of control? You be the judge.

Update: The SD® Card reader is once again not functioning with Ubuntu "Karmic Koala." Looks like my Palm® TX is on its way out. I no longer have any use for it since I cannot transfer files to it through the SD® Card. What a joke!

Even More Computer Woes

Another visit to Hawai'i Kai was augmented by a fine lunch. Moms served Keoki's® Pork Laulau, fresh ahi sashimi, homemade potato salad, fresh vegetables, and rice. I was completely stuffed, but I could not resist Foremost® coffee ice cream for dessert. Incidentally, I should mention that anyone preparing Keoki's® Laulau in a microwave oven should remove the Ti leaf wrapping first. Otherwise, the laulau will retain a horrid taste.

I neglected to mention that I happened to peruse a large picture book of Iran at the library earlier this week. I was, of course, amazed at my own ignorance when I discovered that Iran looked nothing like I imagined. Naturally, my imagination is the result of the brainwashing by the so-called "mainstream media." My short friendship with the former friend (i.e., Persian hottie) also piqued my interest in Iran. And, now that Iran is back in the cross-hairs of the powers-that-be, I am more inclined to revisit my curiosity.

Later, I observed that Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" was aggressively parking my hard drive heads again, this time every two or three seconds. Remember when I had the same problem with "Hardy Heron"? After some research, I discovered the possible fix:

Set "ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE=true" in /etc/default/acpi-support

So far, the problem appears to be solved. How much more of my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer hard drive's lifetime have I compromised?

Ad Hominem (Reprise)

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day, another ride on the bus. Reggie, the questionable derelict, was on the bus this morning. He sat on the long bench seat way in the back of the bus. I joined him there. He elicited a variety of choking sounds and "old man" noises until he alighted at Kahala Mall. I almost burst out laughing. Why was he making "old man" noises? The clown is only in his mid-thirties, for goodness sakes.

I ran into Joanne, a former Asylum faculty member, again at the bus stop next to Foodland on Beretania Street. I had alighted there to purchase a cup of coffee. I ended up chatting with Joanne on the next bus to town. She gave me an update about Wayne, Judith, and James, also former Asylum faculty. I asked her if she had heard from Rob, the former IT guy at the Asylum. Sad news. Rob passed on about two years ago. I knew that Rob required several prescription medication. Just before he lost his health benefits, he purchased a large stock of medication. I seriously doubt that he had enough of a stockpile to last two years. So, I assumed that Rob's demise was somehow related to an inability to secure his medication. However, according to Joanne, he had succumbed to pneumonia. I spent much of the day thinking about Rob. He was but a handful of years older than I am. Although Rob was a strange guy, he was a good man. He lived a modest and humble life. And, he was a computer nerd.

I was able to complete the urban nomad itinerary, unlike yesterday. Believe or not, there's another "furlough day" at the library next week. Why not just have a "furlough week" already? After my workout at the gym, I ran into Glenn (not to be confused with Pseudo-professor Glenn) at the bus stop. As you may recall, Glenn was a former student at the Asylum. He now works at the Diploma Mill and is taking classes there as well. He mentioned a multitude of changes that have been implemented at the Diploma Mill. Many of the losers whom I had to deal with during my last days are gone. Linda, the fat-ass Vice President of Human Resources is gone (i.e., asked to resign). Les, the fat-ass Vice President of Academic Affairs has been moved to a "pre-retirement" position (i.e., a place to just sit and collect a paycheck). Maybe there is something called "karma," eh? Glenn mentioned many other personnel changes which he clarified as "cleaning up." He urged me to think about returning to the dump.

A few weeks ago, I ran into a guy who used to ride the express bus to Hawai'i Kai along with me and Mark. He also works for the Diploma Mill. He briefly mentioned a variety of changes including the consolidation of many departments into just five remaining ones. He also urged me to consider a return to the dump. Can you imagine my triumphant return to the Diploma Mill? The bus heading back to Slob Manor (read: rental housing) was crowded. An older Asian babe, whom I have seen many times on the bus over the years, sat next to me on the big bench seat at the rear. A few minutes later, she initiated a conversation. So, I chatted with her for the duration of the ride. Her name is Kathy. She lives with her parents just a couple of blocks away from moms' part of the 'hood. She also has a twenty-year-old son. I surmised that she's in her forties. I also silently recollected that Kathy had platinum blond hair for a while. She's been unemployed for over a year, and is now going through job training. I told her that I have been on a long vacation myself. Anyway, that was quite an interesting day of socializing considering that I am a hermit.

Well, Apple® has been in the news again, but I really don't care. I have had little regard for Apple® products ever since the dreadful incident at the Apple® Store in Kahala Mall (see "blog" of September 24, 2007). Oddly, I was once an iBook owner, and I even went through the historic transition to OS X. The brand itself has become extremely elitist in the last few years. Sorry, no thanks. I'll stick with Linux.

Furlough Furor

After taking the roundabout way to town via Ala Moana Center, I discovered that the library was closed for another "furlough day." Mind you, "furlough day" is supposed to occur every other week. However, for some strange reason, there are two consecutive weeks of "furlough days." So, I was standing there at the entrance with my cup of ABC Store coffee in hand like a moron. To say that I was perturbed would be an understatement.

With nothing else to do, I decided to pay Mark a visit at the law library. Just as I passed through a metal detector at the entrance, I ran into Mark in the hallway. He gave me a brief tour of the library and also showed me his office.

I rode the bus back to Ala Moana Center at 11am. I purchased yet another cup of coffee from the ABC Store. Then, I sat outside on one of the benches in the area that the homeless usually loiter. I ate my pathetic lunch and sipped my coffee. No doubt, I was looked upon as a homeless guy by the people who walked by. Who cares?

I rode the bus back to town. After performing my usual workout at the gym over an hour earlier than usual, I checked my mail at the Post Office before returning to Slob Manor (read: rental housing) on an extremely crowded bus.

I received all of my tax documentation, so I can finally begin the malignant task of filing my tax returns. I am expecting to owe nothing this year. And, I was able to complete the net worth balance sheet (not available) as well. I decided to leave the depreciation of my Nissan® Frontier truck in the analysis. On paper, my situation looks relatively unchanged from last year. Quite amusing.

I happened to stop by my local bank to check on CD interest rates. The interest rate for three-month CDs was about three times higher than my current money market fund rate. I am not going to transfer the money to my local bank, however. That's a lot of trouble to earn $3 per month as opposed to $1 per month in interest.

The annual meeting for "condotel" owners took place this evening. Obviously, I did not attend the ceremony. If I had been present, I probably would not have been able to contain myself from expressing extremely negative opinions about the current negative equity, negative income situation. Sheesh!

Rainy Day Tidbits

I ran into Joanne, a former Asylum faculty member, at the bus stop on Beretania Street next to Foodland this morning. She's currently working at Remington College, along with Mike and Ryan (both former Asylum people as well). Ryan apparently got a divorce from his wife and returned from the mainland. Joanne urged me to apply for a position there. Had I not stopped off to purchase a cup of coffee, I would not have run into her.

By the time I arrived in town, a downpour was ensuing. The library was packed with people, a good percentage of which were the homeless and the a few fringe derelicts. Naturally, I am always lumped in with the former group. The rain continued for several hours. When it finally stopped, I made my way to the gym. Later, when I exited the gym, I noticed that the sky had cleared up considerably. Sadly, I had to return to Slob Manor (read: rental housing).

Speaking of derelicts, I neglected to mention that Reggie, the questionable derelict, boarded the same bus that I was riding a few days ago. I had not seen him around for several weeks. He's apparently still mesmerized by the same benign routine, somewhat similar to the urban nomad itinerary.

Edge of Poverty

My life savings only earned $87 last month, of which my paltry $29,000 IRA bond fund earned $86 of that total. The other $420,000 earned approximately one dollar. What does that mean? Well, just like anyone else who has money saved in non-equity accounts, I am essentially loaning money for free. Yes, that's what I said. The banks, however, are still charging between five percent and 30 percent interest per annum for loans and credit cards. What does that tell you?

My visit with moms in Hawai'i Kai followed the usual routine, with lunch courtesy Panda Express® My Panda Express® fortune cookie yielded nothing worthy of mention. The only interesting event was the pruchase of a new toothbrush at Longs®. My old one was moldy.