Reading List

Posting – Crushing It!

So only 3 plus years have gone by since I last posted on this site, so I would say that is the definition of crushing it. Life, right? I’ve had the best intentions of posting weekly, monthly, or at least once a year and then time just gets away.

A lot has happened in the last 3 years. We have one child in college now, one in high school, and one plotting to take over the world while in 3rd grade. Sarah’s real estate business is still growing and she has started building her own team. During the start of COVID-19, I got a wild notion that it would be a great time to go into business for myself full time, and we have been living the dream of getting Lab 20 Sports Cards off the ground.

Hopefully, this is a fresh start and I’ll continue with a weekly frequency of posting updates and can get into more details of some of our adventures. Until then here’s what I’ve been reading this week:

Till next time! Feel free to share with me any great books or articles that you’ve been reading as well.

What I’ve been reading this week

A long break from the blog, but here are some articles I’ve been reading this week:

Where did Gen X go?

In the late 1990s and early 2000’s, I couldn’t pick up a newspaper, magazine, or flip on a new cast and not hear something about the slacker generation know as Gen X. We came after those baby boomers and were going to be the end of the world with our laziness and video game playing. Well now, those members of Gen X have hit their mid 30’s to mid 50’s and amount to a large amount of the productive workforce today. Is it just me that see the coverage of Gen X has fallen off the map? There are always discussions about the Baby Boomers and how they are going to put a strain on healthcare or the new kids on the block, aka the Millennials and how they are soooo cool. After a little digging, I did find a Washington Post piece on how we are making our mark in the world. I guess when you are in the mortgage refinance and mini-van part of your life, it just isn’t as sexy to cover as much.

Thanks to all of you all that have been sharing articles with me. It makes my day when someone is thoughtful enough to send a good read over my way. Here are just a few:

Have a good week!

SWVA, Appalachia and Facts

Working on a longer post that still needs some development and more thoughts, but I wanted to share some of my weekly readings. I love politics, and Sarah makes fun of me all the time for watching Meet the Press. Many times I’ve seen talking politics on social media go wrong, and as a rule I try to keep my mouth shut (which I sometimes break), but saw this interesting article on Americans ignoring facts. I don’t see this as a left or right issue, just one when we get our mind set, it is very hard to keep an open mind:

As a rule, misinformed people do not change their minds once they have been presented with facts that challenge their beliefs. But beyond simply not changing their minds when they should, research shows that they are likely to become more attached to their mistaken beliefs. The factual information “backfires.” When people don’t agree with you, research suggests that bringing in facts to support your case might actually make them believe you less.

In other words, fighting the ill-informed with facts is like fighting a grease fire with water. It seems like it should work, but it’s actually going to make things worse.

Even more than politics, I love Southwest Virginia and the Appalachian region. So anytime I can read some article about the history of the region, economic development, or some hillbilly hit piece on how uneducated, impoverished or any other stereotypes “big city” journalists write, I must consume it. Here are a few from this week:

Also started The World Is Curved: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy by David M. Smick. Only made it to chapter 1 so far, but very interested to read after some time has played out since the book was written.

Oh in other news I saw a deer today

A post shared by Josh Sawyers (@jsawyers) on Mar 12, 2017 at 3:46pm PDT

Have a good week!

Frickin Laser Beams and Breaking the Law

I’ve been lazy this week and only posted once, so on this Friday’s installment of What I’ve Been Reading, I better bring it. I’m pulling out Lasers, Tim Tebow, and incriminating stories of my youth. To get started, let’s make sure everyone is awake with the perfect cup of coffee. It is good to know with my $24.99 Mr. Coffee maker I’ve been doing it wrong for all these years. No wonder I’ve never been a morning person.

How about a bird bath in Montana where the water is so toxic that they are thinking about protecting birds by installing lasers and propane canons? It seems that open pit former copper mines and birds don’t mix too well. Last year over 3000 Canadian geese died when they landed on this body of water during their migration. Pretty bad when a mini Star Wars missile defense system has to be installed because the water is so polluted.

Now on to a more positive note with a story about Tim Tebow, wait we’re going back to a negative note as ESPN blast him for trying to give baseball a go. I get it the odds are stacked against Tebow ever seeing the field in a Major league game, but when this is the message he is able to deliver I don’t know how any of this process can be called a failure:

Hometown gets some great coverage in this article from New Republic, and a good interview with the owners of my favorite brewery in town.

“St. Paul embraces new ideas,” Jennifer Bailey says. “We’re not just sitting back and saying ‘Well, we live or die with coal, and we’ll just turn into a ghost town.’ No, we’ll make a way.”

Virginia just made it legal for robots to make deliveries. This is where I incriminate myself, as I’ve been making deliveries with the Sear’s Catalog Omnibot as far back as 30 years ago. It started out with trips from my bedroom to the kitchen requesting soda and snacks to be placed on the Omnibot’s tray, and then returned to my room. There may have even been some trips made outside to other homes in Rolling Hills back in the 1980’s. If you have any old grainy VHS footage please destroy as I’m not sure what the statute of limitations is on illegal robot deliveries.

A little bonus for you since college football is only 174 days away now. Time to put everyone on notice in the SEC after almost 10 years reports are the Gators might have not one but 3 QB’s next season. You heard it here first Gators 38 – Vols 17, back to being Gatorbait in 2017.

What I’ve been reading this week

TGIF, and what a beautiful Friday it has been, mid 70’s on February 24th is a true gift. I rode the bike to the post office at lunchtime in shorts and flip flops. Can’t say I’ve done that often in Winter.

Some good reads from this week:

And a little string therapy to wrap up the week:

The Blog of Josh Sawyers

Reading List