“Knowledge is knowing that a dog will chase a tennis ball when you throw it. Wisdom is knowing not to throw a second ball until he brings back the first one.”
Those live in the living room, since that’s where the wiring is, in a tiny cabinet of their own. The modem and the drives continuously flash pointlessly, of course, so we’re thinking of festooning their housing with flashing Christmas lights – like a little hi-tech hearth.
What’s radically simpler this time is the power. I have been accumulating all sorts of multi-pronged outlets since before I could drive. I don’t need watts or amps, but I always need more outlets than are available. That need has transmuted over the years, too: On my desk right now there is a power strip charging seven USB devices and three camera batteries. We did everything here with power strips; greater flexibility and better line-protection – I hope.
Perhaps I am too much talking to myself, but I think rethinking is fundamental to the praxis of praxes: If you truly aim to get better at the things you do, you have to admit it when you have been wrong – and then re-do everything you did wrong.
That last bit is the hard part: It’s hard enough getting things almost right. What’s the benefit of undoing everything, then redoing it better?
My answer would be: In order to have done everything better.
I amaze Cathleen whenever there is massive work to be done, because I am unabashedly amazing at daunting tasks. But I astound her most, I think, when I scowl at some huge job I’ve just finished – then proceed to rebuild it all over somewhere else instead.
Everything gets a little better every time you think something all the way through – if you act on your thinking. We are long since done moving in, but I am only just now getting to the place where I’ve stopped rebuilding things.
In other news:
RedState.com: The FBI Just Admitted Something Terrifying and No One Seems to Be Noticing.
