#ossasepia | 2020-05-09

http://logs.ossasepia.com/log/ossasepia/2020-05-09#1025805 << quite well for me, made some new contacts during the arenal trip, and another just recently when getting dinner with whaack

15:18

ossabot

Logged on 2020-05-09 01:15:29 jfw: lobbes & billymg, how's the de-hermitizing been going for you gents?

15:19

hey nice.

15:19

yeah, getting out of the US helped a lot in my case

15:20

ticos more interesting or receptive?

15:20

well the above mentioned contacts were all gringos actually

15:20

but i've made some good tico contacts as well

15:22

ah, did the change of scenery change your state of mind then or how did it help?

15:22

it's more that the atmosphere here is more friendly/open. you're not constantly worried that the person you're talking to might be stasi (exaggeration, i know, but people have lost careers in the US for having The Wrong Opinion)

15:22

the sort of "career" that one loses for having "The Wrong Opinion"... such loss.

15:23

jfw: yes, a bit of that as well

15:23

haha, in the land of diversity & tolerance for all? impossible!

15:23

diana_coman: lol

15:23

diana_coman: unfortunately this is most of the silicon valley fiat spigots

15:24

was just talking with former coworker this morning, realized we sorta think differently about the whole covid thing

15:24

nice though that i can now just say what i think, instead of pretending to agree with the party line

15:26

billymg: for sure.

15:26

billymg: I'm sure it is and I'm not even surprised; fwiw I have refused to even answer to/go to the interview request from google; and yeah, those former uni/classmates that I know currently working in silicon valley ...what can I say, it showed even ~20 years ago, there's a reason for it.

15:27

as one of them put it "it's a ridiculous amount of money" - and that's where he stopped with any thinking, even of the sort "how much of it is just ridiculous and how much of it is actual money"

15:29

diana_coman: well i was at least able to convert it into btc, property in another country. not sure how much longer that window will stay open though

15:31

diana_coman: but yeah, there were a few former coworkers who i knew had their heads on straight, but for whatever reason (mortgage, family), couldn't bring themselves to leave

15:31

I suppose he could have; I doubt he did or will, because it takes some sort of buy in to swallow up all the rest with it, what can I say; (and possibly more for him than for you given that it was more uphill for him to get there in the first place, in all likelihood)

15:33

lol, most ridiculous thing was when the ny office's men's bathroom started being stocked with tampons. it was not talked about. everyone just acted as if of course that's what you do

15:33

happened last summer after i had already transferred to the texas office. i came back for some even in nyc and thought i had accidentally walked into the wrong restroom

15:33

event*

15:34

ahaha, I can't imagine the thinking behind it.

15:35

as for reasons...those are easiest to find when one looks for them, there's always plenty.

15:37

diana_coman: > and possibly more for him than for you given that it was more uphill for him to get there in the first place, in all likelihood << didn't think about this angle but yes, likely true

15:38

jfw: dunno though, I didn't get the impression that your lack of enthusiasm for getting to know people in a new town had anything to do with the "stasi danger"; does it?

15:39

nah.

15:41

fear of either rejection or boredom more than fear of loss I think

15:47

thing is that ~all fears are in the end both bigger/worse than the reality (because they are not constrained by much, unlike poor reality) and limits that increasingly fence you in (~those walls meeting one another in the distance where the trap... remember?)

15:47

jfw: are you still thinking of visiting cr after the borders open again?

15:49

(can further add though perhaps that's just me - that I ~never met a fear that didn't only grow worse and bigger and nastier for *not* being confronted earlier; so kind of easier to kill earlier than later).

15:49

diana_coman: makes sense

15:52

(which the government here now says will be june 15th at the earliest)

15:52

billymg: thinking of, sure; will have to see where things stand though.

15:53

jfw: of course, makes sense. would be good to meet up for sure if you can

15:56

billymg: thanks. I'll at least be back in Panama at some point, even if it's just to visit & pack up - another thing to decide when the time comes.

16:00

from what it looks at least here (masks on planes/airports & quarantine at the very least), I don't see any plane travel happening in my near future, lolz.

16:00

come to think of it, maybe it's the best time to start riding a horse - perfect for social distancing and all that, will travel Europe on horseback!

16:03

there a good network of trails for that or would you end up doing some road sharing?

16:04

*

jfw is quite ignorant of modern equine logistics

16:04

well, for one thing crossing the channel is kind of ...sharing, lol; then in Europe itself, I'd say you could possibly go by bike nicely all the way to Eastern Europe (where roads are what they are even for cars, so what can one ask for anyway, otherwise, lol)

16:05

heh, here in the UK they are better re horses than on the continent, if anything; but yeah, it works along the lines of "cars will wait, problem?"

16:06

there you go! and yeah I assume you'd ferry or tunnel it across the channel

16:08

I'd guess there'd be worse from a bureaucratic point of view with all the certificates required, at that.

16:08

so I guess kid has a point ("farm ~= machinery; animals - stinky!"), lolz

16:10

I imagine horses don't need license plates at least!

16:11

and don't even have the trouble of left/right driver side!

16:12

maybe cruciform is actually more knowledgeable re horses in the UK at least.

16:12

although most everyone not-UK doesn't have that problem anymore either

16:14

jfw: that's precisely the point as far as I can tell - how can one give up a unique & special problem all of their own? (come to think of it, everyone loves their own most special problem - it's what makes them unique!!)

16:14

but in all fairness - former colonies still have it, too, heh.

16:14