I woke up this morning and went for a brisk walk, came back home, had some breakfast and then a shower. The weather is great and the temperature is getting warmer but given the El Niño coming in the New Zealand summer it’ll be interesting to see how crazy the weather will become. Last night I had a chat with mum about the backyard and getting a archgola put over the patio area which will provide some shelter particularly when drying clothes outside on an overcast day.
While chatting I talked about two other things I want to look at doing in the long term which is the replace the fence at the back with something tidier along with the fences on the side of the property. After replacing the fence I want to then replace the shed with one with a proper floor and is hooked up to the power so then I can move the chest freezer from the office outside along with enough space left over to have a clothes horse as well so that I can dry clothes in there with a dehumidifier.
I logged into my computer today and the tech team who manage the devices have rolled back the Chrome installation to Chrome 152 (looks like it is the long term branch) which should hopefully fix the issue with Salesforce. The strange part is that it only occurs when I’m either on a call or after a callout if I am logged out of Amazon Connect the issue doesn’t occur which makes me wonder whether there are multiple sources of the problem rather than just one thing that needs to be fixed.
Regarding the midterms in the United States, I am always reminded of the often repeated phrase ‘checks and balances’ by Americans as if the system had some sort of internal self correcting mechanism that doesn’t require human agency. I read an interesting article (link) and once again it is clear, at least to anyone with an IQ above room temperature, the promise of ‘checks and balances’ is dependent on having the right people in the right places and when push comes to shove they do their job even in the face of political pressure.
Long story short, the system is only as good as those involved in the system which means it comes down to humans doing the right thing when it counts. The whole system is based on people following the rules and the problem is when you delude yourself with the repetition of ‘checks and balances’ you’ve convinced yourself that some how the system has agency of its own and will repeal bad actors like an immune system dealing with an invasive germs, viruses, bacteria, and other threats. When you realise that isn’t the case then you suddenly recognise the fact that the constitution isn’t something special but rather a social contract that only works as long as everyone abides by it.
It reminds me of Max Stirner and the phrase “it’s all a spook” – these things we put up on pedestals only have meaning because we as a society give them meaning, we imbue them with meaning because the reality is that they don’t have meaning outside of what we humans give it. The moment you start attributing agency to an institution is the moment you absolve those involved within the institution of agency – “well, we don’t need to worry about the Republicans because there are checks and balances which will keep the Republic safe!”. This is where you get Americans convincing themselves they have the worlds most perfect most wonderful government ever with the repeating of ‘checks and balances’ with the expectation that “everything will work out in the end” like some sort of bedtime story book.
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