Mildly sore throat today, fell asleep without the CPAP on, and as a snoring result, my uvula is a bit swollen. Lovely sleepy time this morn.

I hope that the Mother got to talk with the Brother. I’ll know by this evening.

Happy 227th birthday, USA! Happy Saint Elizabeth of Portugal Day!

I heartily recommend reading the Declaration of Independence. It’s brief, and has a good vibe to it.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. –Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

If that’s not your thing, have a fart joke. (Personally, I like both!)

Classic Obstacles. (I will refrain from highlighting ones that apply to any places of work, current or former.)

When an enterprise refuses to start or run vigorously, the reason may be on this reminder list of common demons:

• Overemphasis on defense of position, class, or reputation.
• Too much love for the familiar or routine. Fear of discomfort
• Evaluating new information and ideas for form rather than content.
• Failure to create a climate of acceptance for new ideas.
• Inordinate concern with turf and title boundaries. Be interested in everything.
• Overspecialized education; insufficiently comprehensive view.
• Lack of deep dedication and commitment. Beware enthusiastic lip service.
• Unrealistic and incomplete job descriptions / titles; unclear lines of responsibility.
• Failure to provide responsible persons the authority they need to carry out their work.
• Failure to delegate authority in order to prevent work overload.
• Overdelegation authority; there must be a boss.
• Fear and avoidance of responsibility.
• Failure to personally follow through and support your ideas at all stages; including the dirty-hands work.
• Unneeded chain of command. Compartmentalization of people reduces accuracy and interrupts the flow of information.
• Permitting information bottlenecks to occur as a result of red tape and authorization procedures intended mostly to establish or maintain power.
• Bucking decisions up to the next level merely to cover ass.
• Failure to provide a (safe) means of criticizing superiors who may be wrong.
• Unwillingness to doubt conventional wisdom and respected sources.
• Accepting without question expert opinion (including yours) that “it can’t be done.”
• Succumbing to jealousies that divert and distort focus and energy.
• Overemphasis on competition both in and out of house.
• Overemphasis on cooperation both in and out of house.
• Fear of being seen as too aggressive.
• Fear of being seen as weak.
• Failure to address issues of low self-confidence and low self-esteem.
• Feeling apathetic and powerless.
• Fear of making mistakes or being thought a fool.
• Fear that your ideas will be stolen. Hiding can deflect needed information.
• Believing that you “can’t understand it.” If “they” can comprehend it, so can you. Don’t mistake jargon use and cliquishness for superior intelligence.
• Failure to define the problem and its territory clearly.
• Failure to do your homework.
• Narrowing and defining the problem too soon. Take time to mull it over.
• Not making time to think things out deeply.
• Believing that fantasizing and dreaming are a waste of time.
• Failure to fish or cut bait; also known as “time to shoot the engineer” effect. Endless modifying and talk can prevent action.
• Failure to distinguish between cause and effect.
• Failure to distinguish between opinion and fact.
• Failure to investigate the obvious.
• Failure to search for and identify patterns.
• Mistaking “should” for “can” or “will”. Beware unrealistic promises to and from.
• Inappropriate timing, especially in presenting ideas or products.
• Failure to develop the influence, PR, and money needed to boost your ideas.
• Failure to accept or nurture ideas that your work has inspired in others.
• Bumming out everyone including yourself, with depressing talk of failures and weaknesses. It helps to phrase your goals and requirements in positive language. “The assembly should be as light as possible” gets better results than “Excess weight should be avoided.”

one year ago waking up, local news, prior day’s ER visit, food quiz, fireworks color chemistry, fun tidbits, UA 2 credit

two years ago – Newt-ish picture from Joel, penury, Santa wondering, track list of the concert I went to in ’99,

three years ago – burning numb, blame missile, clean