Piranha

A sleepless night at Chaos Manor (read: rental housing), thanks to the construction crew leaving an air compressor powered on. The "piece of shit" kept starting up every 20 minutes or so to pressurize the tank. The air compressor was placed next to a wall in the attached two-bedroom unit at the back. The entire room acted as an amplifier, and my squalid room was the echo chamber. I finally had to trudge back there at who-knows-what-time and pull the plug on it. Sheesh! Otherwise, the entire project appears to have slowed down since the disagreement between the landlord and son. Concrete for the walkway, stairs, and driveway was supposed to be poured last weekend. And, the rerouting of the plumbing was supposed to have commenced earlier this week. Nada.

Needless to say, I was fatigued all day. I was supposed to file the paperwork for Small Claims Court this morning, but I just didn't feel like it. Instead, I opted for an expensive cup of coffee at the coffee shop in town. While I sat and composed the "blog" on the iPad® tablet computer, I managed to observe the myriad brainwashed sycophants of empire stumbling about and either clutching their "smartphones" or engaged in some kind of benign activity with the device. Seen from the viewpoint of a neutral observer, the bleak landscape was a picture of absolute absurdity. I have also noted that the most crowded retail spots are dedicated cellphone stores and kiosks. The entire fragile economy of empire appears to be tethered to "smartphones" and service subscriptions.

"Smartphones" and all of the other junk that we deem to be "necessities" are simply feeble distractions from the overarching issue of mortality. One of my goals in seeking freedom was to emancipate myself from stupidity and ignorance. In other words, I wanted to escape "bullshit." The preoccupation with "bullshit" is what preempts the contemplation of the issue of mortality or, specifically, the logistics of a true-to-self life-style that is devoid of fruitless endeavors. All of my current externally imposed distractions have caused me to deviate from a peaceful "animal" toward the artificial realm of materialism, the superficial boundaries of human "exceptionalism," narcissism, and the subliminal belief in immortality. The forced deviation has been devastating to both morale and well-being. It is the kind of life-style that causes people to lose track of the truth and pursue paths that ultimately lead to self-destruction. Collectively, such thinking can and will result in human extinction.

I yearn to return to the path of the peaceful "animal," a choice that allows me to appreciate every second of my life. That's the freedom which I discussed in the "blog" posting of yesterday, the kind of freedom that becomes more unattainable with each passing day as the proprietors of the "ownership society" steal the paltry assets from and evict the growing impoverished masses from all visible space. Other animals have already suffered that fate. Now, the chimpo sapiens are turning on each other much like rabid piranha fish.

The remainder of the day was mostly a lesson in disillusionment. Myriad people all resembling theatrical zombies. Myriad multi-tonnage motorized chairs (read: automobiles and trucks) clogging all venues and generating vast amounts of pollution. Then, the cheap "smartphone" automatically downloaded an alleged system update. The update was more bloatware that cannot be uninstalled, one of which was a new combination "smart" contacts and phone dialing "app." It's tied to Yahoo! ... yeah, more surveillance. That about sums it all up, eh?

Chaos Manor Mini-Update®
There has been no indication that Alan has secured the two-bedroom apartment in Kaimuki. Neither has he begun to pack for the mandated move in two weeks. As for the ol' lavahead, he's still planning to move out during the last week of the month.