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One Step at a Time: The First Elephant Prosthetics - YouTube[^]
That doctor is AWESOME! 
What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?
The metaphorical solid rear-end expulsions have impacted the metaphorical motorized bladed rotating air movement mechanism.
Do questions with multiple question marks annoy you???
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I enjoy seeing a story that portrays the positive side of life in Amazing Thailand rather than the usual salacious trash 
While I get weak-kneed in the presence of elephants, melting into a sodden mass of gushing sentiment, the way they are broken (domesticated) is brutal, so I try (usually unsuccessfully) to steer visitors here (in the north) away from the so-called "elephant-training camps" and to ... the zoo, or to the rescue center in Lampang, or other places trying to help elephants, not exploit them: [^]
The current government has made progress in keeping elephants (used for tourist entertainment) off the streets, and off the beach. I have some disturbing memories from back in the days when I used to drive a car here of being stopped in traffic behind a large elephant with a red safety-reflector tied to his tail ... that I have not seen in the last few years, but, I'm on a bicycle these days, and not getting around the city like I used to.
cheers, Bill
«There is a spectrum, from "clearly desirable behaviour," to "possibly dodgy behavior that still makes some sense," to "clearly undesirable behavior." We try to make the latter into warnings or, better, errors. But stuff that is in the middle category you don’t want to restrict unless there is a clear way to work around it.» Eric Lippert, May 14, 2008
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We used to take every opportunity to interact with elephants, feeding, taking rides and safaris until we met this amazing couple Walking With Elephants[^] in the Okavango. We have not been on an elephant since and never will be!
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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You're right!
God is good.
All the time God is good.
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Requires Flash ... just say no!
#SupportHeForShe
Government can give you nothing but what it takes from somebody else. A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you've got, including your freedom.-Ezra Taft Benson
You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun
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I often hear advice like this:
Ultimately, you should do what you do because you love doing it, not for the money. Do something that you would love to do even for free.
For the longest time, I agreed with this. However, I was thinking... What's wrong with doing something for money? What if I want to get into a line of work to make money to support my family and live a proper lifestyle? This really is not "doing it for the money," it's doing it for a certain lifestyle, mainly for my family, which is partly dependent on money. I'm not talking about working just to buy a bunch of flashy stuff, I'm talking about working to keep the family is safe neighborhoods, to provide the proper upbringing for my children, etc... Yes, it is "for the money" because money is needed to do these things... So what is wrong with doing a profession for that?
Don't get me wrong, I feel like it is VERY important that one follows the right career path for him/her and absolutely loves what they do, but ultimately, I don't think I just speak for myself when I say that most of us indeed work for the money; society is built around this concept and money actually only a concept used to trade work for the work of others.
Now, if "doing it for the money" means "doing something you absolutely do not want to be doing just because it makes good money," well, yeah I'd agree that wouldn't be the best choice for someone. However, in the end, when I think of work, it almost always involves doing at least some things that you don't want... That's pretty much the definition of "work." You are spending your time doing something for someone else in return for money so that you can do things for yourself/family.
Thoughts? Comments?
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The bloke who started the boy band JLS (who I am site almost none on here approve of musically) did so to raise many to find his brother's research into multiple sclerosis, a condition his mother had suffered from since he was 12.
It was a pact they made as kids, one to become a scientist and find a cure, the other to become famous and raise the money.
Both followed it through, unfortunately earning the money turned out to be easier than finding the cure.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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Both?
You have to have money to live comfortably. So why not make money at something you love to do. I think they should go together.
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People say all kinds of stuff.
How about "money can't buy happiness"?
Sure, money can't buy actual happiness, because no one is selling it.
Money can buy a lot of things that makes you happy though. Like food, a house, medical treatment, a car, vacation, tv, computer...
Perhaps some poor people came up with these sayings to make them feel better about themselves.
Or maybe it was some rich people who have no idea of the value of money.
In any case, most people need some money to be happy.
Doing something you hate for the money is a bad situation, but probably a better situation than doing nothing and not having money (which is often the alternative).
"If I have to cry anyway, I'd rather cry in a Ferrari than in a [insert cheap car here]." 
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Money can't by happiness, but it makes misery easier to enjoy.
Money can't by happiness, but being poor can't even put a down-payment on it.
Being made up by a rich person is on the right track - but only to distract the poor. Much like saying you'll get your reward in "the next world.".
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Ignore it, like all platitudes.
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You may find Abraham Maslow's classic "hierarchy of human needs [^] ... a diagram here:[^] ... paradigm a useful concept to organize your thoughts about the fact that people for whom basic survival is under threat (food, shelter, safety) money is a very different thing than it is for someone who, further "up" the hierarchy, has relative security around survival issues. Do keep in mind, though that Maslow did not see the "levels" as something one "moved through;" rather, he described them as operating simultaneously ... yet, there is still the implication that if you are under survival threat, you probably are not going to be considering how fulfilling your social life and leisure-hours are.
Perhaps consider that perceived "freedom" increases as one has fulfilled their needs at other levels in the hierarchy, but, also consider that fulfillment in the social sphere, in relationships, in intimacy, may require very different attributes and behavioral skills than those demanded by "how do I make the rent this month."
And, to what extent is "happiness" a matter of self-appraisal which, for most of us, has a lot to do with our habitual patterns of self-talk we use to construct our social self ? The degree to which any individual stakes their self-esteem on the external trappings of wealth, or the artifice with which they present their physical person/body ... do these vary greatly depending on the life-cycle ?
It is a very wonderful thing to get to the place where the work you do is the work you would choose to do based on your "heart's desires:" that's an ideal ... for many people, the ideal is not attainable, and they learn to live with compromise so the house mortgage can be paid, the kids sent to college, etc. imho, such happiness short-of-ideal should never be mocked, or considered less than ... another's.
Something I really like about Maslow's "hierarchy" is that it was, and is, a paradigm that leaves room for transcendental experience, and for "spiritual" meaning; in this way it was, for its time, one of the first challenges to the dry quantitative reductionist "science" of the behaviorist reward-punishment-reinforcement school that came to dominate American psychology in the 1950's and into the 1960's.
I believe that many of you here have shared the experience I've had where periods of very hard work that wasn't all that pleasant, or rewarding, were "grunted through" to get to the place where the work I really wanted to do was available to me, and I could do it, and get paid, well.
My failure success at this has enabled me to become a bum living in Thailand, answering questions on CodeProject, exploring the nooks and crannies of C#, pretending to be a 19th. century "man of letters" drinking deep from the cup the Muses offer, and coughing up novels, poems, stories
"I think to myself: what a wonderful world" Louis Armstrong [^].
«There is a spectrum, from "clearly desirable behaviour," to "possibly dodgy behavior that still makes some sense," to "clearly undesirable behavior." We try to make the latter into warnings or, better, errors. But stuff that is in the middle category you don’t want to restrict unless there is a clear way to work around it.» Eric Lippert, May 14, 2008
modified 6-Aug-16 8:24am.
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I have bookmarked this for many reasons.
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Hi Slacker007,
Watch for the jagged lip if you drink from the cracked cup offered by a crackpot teacher
Speaking of "teaching:" there was a mendicant person in northern India about 5000 years ago who is reported to have said to the inhabitants of a village he came to who asked him how they could recognize a "true teacher" when, they said, various teachers kept coming through, one saying this, another contradicting the teaching with different views. The mendicant, a former Prince, it is said, answered:
Quote: "It is no wonder that a man gets puzzled and confused when he hears teachings contradictory to each other, but I tell you this: don't accept a thing merely because it is handed down by tradition, don't accept a thing merely because many people repeat it, don't accept a thing merely on the authonty of the sage who teaches it, don't accept a thing merely because it is found in the so-called scriptures, don't accept a thing merely because probability is in its favour, don't accept a thing merely because you have imagined it, or that it is
inspired by some supernormal agency.
After examination, after testing it for yourseff, if you find it reasonable and is in conformity with your well being and the well being of others as well, then accept it and follow it."
cheers, Bill
«There is a spectrum, from "clearly desirable behaviour," to "possibly dodgy behavior that still makes some sense," to "clearly undesirable behavior." We try to make the latter into warnings or, better, errors. But stuff that is in the middle category you don’t want to restrict unless there is a clear way to work around it.» Eric Lippert, May 14, 2008
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Do they accept the mendicant's teachings. Since its existence contradicts itself, aside from a recursive explosion, will they not be even more confused?
| Ravings en masse^ |
|---|
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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W∴ Balboos wrote: Do they accept the mendicant's teachings. Since its existence contradicts itself, aside from a recursive explosion, will they not be even more confused?
You'll have to have a conversation with the sage within yourself to answer those questions, or to realize that asking them was never necessary.
And, for said wandering mendicant ? Well, who knows; he had a student named Malunkyapatta who kept trying to get him to answer questions like those; the dialogue between them where he dances nimbly around Malunkypuatta's entreaties while subtly pointing to the more profound direct experience of "truth" always available is a great read, even for a mind as clouded as mine.
«There is a spectrum, from "clearly desirable behaviour," to "possibly dodgy behavior that still makes some sense," to "clearly undesirable behavior." We try to make the latter into warnings or, better, errors. But stuff that is in the middle category you don’t want to restrict unless there is a clear way to work around it.» Eric Lippert, May 14, 2008
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What we are 'allowed' to do often influences our choices of what we 'choose' to do.
If you live in a society with a liberal social services policy, you may 'choose' to do something that is personally rewarding, but does not actually provide enough income or resources to live off of - so, you rely on social services to fill the gap.
Or, perhaps, you have a congenital condition that limit what you are able to do, and, perchance, limits your ability to earn a living wage; again, social services may fill the gap.
If you don't have social services, your 'choose' list may be much more limited.
Personal examples of people I've known:
Someone chose to be a published poet, and, as I've been told, it was good. However, his sales and speaking fees did not provide a living income, therefore social services filled the gap.
My younger brother was born with a nerve condition that affected his eyesight; he was able to get employment as a hardware clerk where he could use public, subsidized transportation. As long as he lived with my parents, even as an adult, he could survive. After they passed, and the house was sold, he moved to a rural community and earned money cutting/selling firewood. He relied on a disability pension due to his eyesight to fill the gap.
My mother encouraged me to be a teacher; instead I chose computers. I was able to find employment in a field I enjoyed that also provided a living wage. I chose my path and I've no regrets.
A former colleague was pressured into becoming an engineer because her father was one, and her three older siblings didn't go into engineering. She didn't want to be an engineer, but family pressure affected her choices.
Do what you want if it is legal, moral, you enjoy it and you can provide for yourself. Don't rely on the social safety net - that is putting your welfare squarely in the hands of the masses.
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You make good points. And I've always thought though the phrase went "Don't do it solely for the money", which means your primary objective should be something else, like what you said: to provide for your family, a livable lifestyle, etc.
#SupportHeForShe
Government can give you nothing but what it takes from somebody else. A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you've got, including your freedom.-Ezra Taft Benson
You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun
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No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
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How fortunate we are to have you here with us to explain God and money using very tired cliches ! 
«There is a spectrum, from "clearly desirable behaviour," to "possibly dodgy behavior that still makes some sense," to "clearly undesirable behavior." We try to make the latter into warnings or, better, errors. But stuff that is in the middle category you don’t want to restrict unless there is a clear way to work around it.» Eric Lippert, May 14, 2008
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Mike Rowe (of Dirty Jobs) has an excellent video about "following your passion": Don't Follow Your Passion - YouTube[^]
I also remember an article from the early 80s where the writer said that it is important to distinguish between what you think you want and what you really want. His example was that he thought he wanted to be a college president. He worked hard and achieved that goal. And hated every second of his achievement. Being honest with yourself can be really brutal.
I've also learned that you can become passionate about some things, while tolerating other aspects of that thing. Many software engineers are passionate about software, but not so much about bureaucracy. You live with one to enjoy the other and ultimately enjoy the fruits of your labor.
I will add that working with developers that have no passion for the craft can be very tedious, so say the least.
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A professional is, by definition, someone who does it for the money. On one hand, a person who chooses a career he will be happy in without examining the prospects of making a living in that career is being short-sighted. On the other hand, a person who chooses a career that he hates only because it has good prospects will be unhappy; it is very difficult to work 40 hours a week at something that you hate.
The early twenties are a time when it is permissible to make mistakes; if you discover that your chosen career is not to your liking, you can usually change careers with no serious penalty. However, you should be settled in a career by the time you reach 30.
(This does not mean that changing careers later on is impossible; it just means that it comes with much greater costs)
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.
--Winston Churchill
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