The Question of Coffee

Maybe free will is a relative concept. At least for me, I know that I make 'choices' in my mind. To have coffee or not to have coffee is a question, and when I get coffee a decision is made, at least based in relation to that question. Now in some larger sense, maybe there was no question of whether or not I would get coffee. First of all, that larger sense needs to have a framework too. Maybe it's "God" that knows whether I would get coffee, or maybe there's some set of equations that determine that. But the fact remains, that at least as far as my awareness goes, whether I get coffee or not was not initially determined.

If I didn't have the ability to question, or wonder about my future options, then I might not have any idea about choice, I would just do or not do whatever I was, or was not, going to do. But I do have that ability to question and since I don't know the future, when I act (or don't act), I am sometimes aware of the possibility that things could have gone a different way. And since I have a notion of identity and willing within this context I attribute those actions within the context of my identity, as they are my actions. 'Willing' in the sense that there seems to be a connection with me and what I do. It is not like my perceptions are the same as those I would be viewing on a very high quality television set. I get tired when I move, and I don't move because I don't want to get more tired, and the like. Hence, I 'choose' to do this or that. That doesn't mean that if the future is in some larger sense determined that my questions and choices don't have relevance from the standpoint of my concept of myself since I am not all knowing, especially as pertains to the future and  limited and uncertain knowledge of things in the past and present, and I have a concept of acting (or not acting) based on this limited knowledge. It doesn't mean that in a higher sense such actions are not determined, only that I don't know about that.

I decided to make coffee this morning, at least in part because I had a coffee machine, coffee, a mug, sugar, half n' half, a spoon, a place to drink it, time to drink it, and Bounty paper towels. The toweling is of the full size sheet kind, so it's not prone to rip apart when I use it as a coffee filter. I also have electricity, and water, and facilities to clean the previously used coffee machine (sink, soap, a brush...). Oh, and I like coffee, especially when I first get up. But it wasn't easy...

A Pleasant Evening Repast

I'd love to go to a train restaurant in a haunted hotel. Not a real haunted hotel, but certainly one with secret passages, some spooky noises and the like. After taking a peaceful afternoon nap, I'd get on the elevator and select the floor for the train station. Having reached that floor, I'd get out, enter the train station, and pick a train to get on. There would be trains heading to all parts of the world, even commuter trains. Then I'd pick a train to somewhere, get on it, head to the dining car, and have a nice meal as I watch the scenery go by. I might be prone to pick a train that takes me through the countryside of Transylvania.  Afterwards, I'd exit the train, go back to the elevator, and maybe head down to the haunted cocktail lounge on the lower level.

The Holiday Convenience Store Occurrence

I'm pretty hungover. I had a 6 pack and half a bottle of red wine. I often get my 6 pack, of magic hats, at the convenience store as I'm walking home in the evening. It costs 11 dolluhs, a pretty good deal around these parts. Wednesday night, when I went there last, as I was about to purchase it, the guy behind the counter, who is Indian, or Bangladeshi, or the like, I think, says that he wants to ask me something. He goes behind the Lotto display and comes back with a wrapped bottle. It was wrapped in silvery foil paper and tied with a bit of ribbon. So, he says to me I don't know what this is, what is it? I'm a bit bewildered, because it's clearly a bottle, but it's wrapped, so how would I know better than he? Nevertheless, I went along and as the bottle was tied around the neck, I moved the wrapping down a bit and could see that it was a bottle of wine. So, I said, proudly, "It's wine." So, then he says the supplier for the magic hats gave it to him, but he doesn't drink. He told her that (I think he said her) he didn't drink, and she said then to give it to a good customer. So, he asked if I would take it. I was rather flabbergasted, but I accepted it. I was also buying a Haagen Daz pop, so my bill was 14 dolluhs. I gave him a 20 and said he could keep the rest. He seemed happy about that.

The wine was Avalon cabernet 2010. It looks like it cost about 12 dolluhs from my web investigation. Just the kind of wine that I like, that is, red. So, that's what I drank last night. It was decent. I was thinking, that in a way I bought wine in a convenience store, which isn't proper round these parts, but I really didn't. He gave me a gift, and I gave him one too.

Where did Genes Come From?

So, I was wondering. Let's assume that evolution is a good theory in that it describes how lifeforms came to be what they are. That theory uses genes to propagate life. But how did the genes initially come to be? They couldn't have evolved in the same way because there were no genes to use to do so. Ok, let's say there were genes for the genes, some kind of meta-gene, but where did they come from? And so on, and so on. So, maybe this isn't a new thought, but it seems to me understanding how different lifeforms come to be requires not only evolution, but also how the underlying mechanism that evolution uses came to be. Therefore, the theory is not complete.

Two Methods for Frying an Egg

There are 2 methods of frying an egg that are worthy of note. The first I learned from Jacques Pepin's TV show. When frying an egg put a little water in the pan and cover it. The steam will cook the film of whites that covers the yolk so there will be no need to flip the egg to make it over easy. The cooking is very uniform and gives a very smooth appearance to the pseudo-over easy fried egg. Given this option, providing one has a cover to the pan, and access to water, I don't see why one would use the over easy approach. Secondly, if one is fortunate enough to have fried some bacon in the pan, then fry the egg in the bacon fat. The key here is to "baste" the egg, particularly the yolk, almost continuously with the bacon fat. I tilt the pan to make the bacon fat pool on one side, then use a spoon to collect it and baste the yolk. This is a very nice option, especially if the pan doesn't have a cover.

I have 2 pans. When I make bacon I use the larger pan as  the bacon strips are too long to fit in the smaller pan. The larger pan doesn't have a cover so I can't use the former method. When I don't make bacon I use the smaller pan and use the former method. Both methods are good, but the resulting egg using the bacon fat method is tastier, of course.

200 Years Isn't Such a Long Time

I'm about 50 years old. So, I have a sense of the duration of 50 years. I can imagine twice that, so I think I have a sense of the duration of 100 years. When I was little, I didn't have a sense of time on this scale because I lacked the experience of it. I used to think that 100 years was an unfathomably long time. Now I don't. I used to think that things were so different 100 years ago because it was a long time ago. Now I realize that it's not because 100 years is a long time, but that the pace of change is fast (and also probably accelerating).

I also think I have a sense of a time span of  200 or 300 hundred years, which takes us back to colonial times. It's only about 5 times my age and I know what 10 years is like compared to 50. Let me tell you young folks, it's not that long ago. I think my maximum grasp of a time interval is about 2000 years, if I really concentrate. Let me tell you, it's not so long ago. Now billions of years, that's a pretty long time, but from my previous reasoning, if I was a 100 million years old, I might not think it's that long a time. If I could just get a grasp of that amount of time it might let me in on what's going on with time itself, which I wouldn't mind at all. Cause it seems to me sometimes that I've given time too much credit.

Technology

What is technology, I wonder? In a way science is the opposite of technology. Science tries to pick apart things, or even use technology to understand them. Technology is a way of putting things together, whether they're understood or not, for some use. I find technology alienating, and science the opposite, so I find using technology in science disturbing.

Nobody really knows how the world works, and nobody really knows how a piece of technology works (ex-computer). A piece of technology is a part of the world, yet fashioned in some way that makes it different from the world. Squirrels have no technology, nor do penguins, and beavers may have a little, but not much. The technology of other animals is hidden in their genetic code. Our technology is hidden in the mall.

And to those who believe nothing can be shown to be true unless it can be established using the scientific method: What is the empirical basis for such a belief?

If There was No Aging

If there was no aging, then how would the evolutionary selection process work? The fitness of an individual would still depend on the same factors, but there would be more non-reproductive age individuals within the population. These non-reproductive age people, would have some selectable advantage if they were older, but perhaps, that advantage would dwindle as their age continued to increase. So, the evolutionary pressure for those people to survive would become less as they past a certain age. Especially with humans, there are means by which important knowledge and skills are transferred from generation to generation through various forms of technology and the like (language, books, apprenticeship). Maybe if there was no technology, people would live longer.

Shackburger

I finally had the shackburger at Shake Shack, a double actually. It was very good. My only complaint, a not insignificant one: No Onion!

Suzannianism

Suzannianism is an ancient Jewish sect which has as one it's core beliefs that there are no inanimate objects, that all things are part of the living, and that all things can be named, as one would name the kind of thing that most people recognize as alive. This can be viewed as an extension of life after death, in the sense that dead things, being inanimate, are also alive. Perhaps the best example of this is the extent that this is done, by members of the sect, in the case of cars. Somewhat apocryphal is the legend that, long before Abraham, his ancestors came to this planet from the planet Suzannia, where such was common practice. One wonders if the planet had many cars, and if there was a time before cars, say in the case where horse driven carriages were used, and if the spirit of the horse came to inhabit the carriage.

Packing Up Leftovers at a Restaurant

Sometimes, when I have chicken wings, the sauce has some kick to it, and sometimes it has less, even though I ask for the same thing at the same place. I don't subscribe to the old adage that more sauce equals hotter. It usually just means more vinegary.

In general, I prefer to pack the leftovers from my meal myself. Because whoever packs them doesn't pack everything. They make some kind of judgement about what I really want and what I don't want. Often leaving extra sauce that might take a few seconds to put in the box. When you want something done right, do it yourself. Who better knows what you want than yourself? Maybe they're afraid that if they give you the box you'll load it with other things, like ketchup, mustard, salt shakers, knives and forks. I suppose some people would do that, and I guess I get it. Don't make it too easy for them.

On the other hand, there's this one bartender that does a great job packing the leftovers. She puts little tops on the plastic cups for the leftover jalapenos, crushed red pepper, and the like, so they don't spill. So, there's an exception to every rule, as she does a better job than I would do.