Finally got the oil changed in my minivan, it’s been past due, maybe 10,000 miles since my last change. Thankfully there’s a place down the street from my house and I was able to go after dropping the elder princess off at daycare. The little princess took a nap during the driving so I focused on comforting her at the mechanic. There was an ordeal where I pulled up and they have a sorry we’re closed sign and the “open” sign turned off, so I left. My queen offered to call, so I did and they were open. All that took about 10 minutes, which is significant when the baby only has an hour wake window. Here’s some podcast.
I live in the American south and no cap places shut down over the thought of snow. Daycare was closed and I had to spend a lot of time with my kid. We got to build a snowman for the first time which was nice, but we’re wrecking. It was below freezing for over a day. I ran out of sliced bread, next time they call for snow I’m running out to buy a dozen loaves of bread.
Meditations 13
“Not to spurn a friend’s criticism” Spurn rejecting with disdain, or a strong rejection. They are your friends for a reason, unless they shouldn’t be, when they criticize remember that they want what’s best for you. If they don’t want what’s best for you, then drop that sack of potatoes. It’s hard to realize when in that situation, criticism could have been a constant in your relationship to where it seems like a normal thing you’ve always done when in reality there are people that see the success of others, thinking they deserve more, then sabotage what they can.
“Even if it may be an unreasonable complaint, try to restore his usual feelings.” An unreasonable complaint would likely come from them not being able to understand the emperor’s situation, so they offer advice that doesn’t exactly fit the bill. Trying to restore their usual feelings is remembering they want what’s best, so look at the complaint from whatever angles you can trying to distill the essence of what they see, then attempt to fix it with your own judgement.
“Speak of one’s teachers with wholehearted gratitude.” You wouldn’t have the perspective on life you do without your teachers, they helped make you, be grateful for any advantage they’ve given. I said before if someone doesn’t explain a concept you’ve never encountered, there is so much information in the world that your brain won’t bother recognizing the foreign. Learning new things is hard, it makes you feel inadequate and that the new information isn’t necessary. You’ve gotten this far without it. Listen to the King, we’ve only just begun.
He mentions Domitius and Athenodotus, Domitius is likely Quintus Junius Rusticus Domitius and I couldn’t find anything on the name Athenodotus. They were both teachers of the Roman emperor and philosophers in their own right.
“A genuine love for children.” Through Shakespeare, the Bible, and elsewhere we’ve discussed how everything we do is for the children. Do your best to give them more. And the person who yells at kids playing or wants to “educate” them with adult ideas before they’re ready to grow up, that person should not be trusted.
This week in history: January 26 1942 the first American expeditionary force arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Setting sail from Brooklyn, NY into the European theater of war, this officially marked the beginning of American involvement in World War 2. The first troops were part of the 34th Infantry Division, also known as the “Red Bull” Division, a national guard unit consisting of troops from Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Until then German U-boats were operating with impunity off the Atlantic coast of the United States.
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