October Update
Welcome new readers. I work on many projects, predominantly via intermediateruby.com and my "main" website, josh.works. If you've signed up via either, you're getting this email.
Hi there,
My first child, Eden Ernst Thompson has made it into the world! She was born happy and healthy about a month ago, and we've all been adjusting to having a baby.
My wife is well.
At some point, I'm going to write up some thoughts, as there are some things that in hindsight were disproportionately useful, like:
- Hiring an amazing doula (Jessi!) via Queen City Birth Work. It cost $1300, and would be a screaming deal at twice the price. Absolutely gamechanging.
- We got a lactation consultant (Alecia!) via The Mama'hood. After we got home with Eden, we booked an at-home consult, and that was probably the most information-and-encouragement-dense hour we've had with someone around Eden's birth.
- If the mother is feeling ligament pain from being pregnant, find a chiropractor specialized in "The Webster Technique". My wife went from "crippling pain, cannot even walk" to "no pain, no mobility limitations" in a single visit.
- If you can have a kindly mother or mother-in-law plan on spending a month or so with you after giving birth, it makes a lot of things way easier. Kristi's mom has been with us since a few days before Eden was born, and is (unfortunately) going home in a few days. It's been really nice having her around.
- If you're the pregnant person or the partner, the one-stop shop for reading is The Birth Partner 5th Edition: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Partners, Doulas, and All Other Labor Companions.
If you are pregnant, and do the above things, all will go well. You've hired experts, who have done this kind of thing hundreds of times before, who will guide you through the process. Do what they tell you, don't do what they tell you not to do, and enjoy.
I've been busy. And tired. I've now had a persistent back injury for a year, and it's low-level painful most of the time I am awake. I'd say it's "surprisingly demoralizing", but it's not actually surprising.
Now imagine spending a year+ in this state. How do you think you'd feel?
Yep. That's how I feel. Some days I'm mostly pain-free, but most days I'm not, and the aggregate "drag" is profound. In 2019 I ran the Leadville marathon. I cannot run 100 yards right now. In 2020 I sent 5.13c and came veeeery close to bouldering V10. I feel like I can probably barely do 5.12.
Yep, I'm undoubtedly still depressed, more often than not.
It's helpful for me to understand causal relationships. I've not yet written a follow-up to https://josh.works/depression, but I will soon. This year has been a curb stomp.
I'm working on big projects. Starting to write more about them. I first needed to write myself a big disclaimer, so I wrote: https://josh.works/write-it-now
It's about how writing things at the right time can be more important than other common considerations, and if you wait to, say, edit the piece a bunch, or publish it later once you've given it a second pass, the moment has passed.
So, with that in mind, here's two other documents I've written, which support an ambitous project I am working on:
- Planned Unit Design Document
- Collateralizing Mortgages and Loans With the Present Value of Rent Flow
I'm hoping to improve some specific improvements to my neighborhood. Those improvements work to prevent some of the harms of the rapidly rising cost of housing in Golden, and Denver as a whole.
Beyond just harm reduction, these changes set the foundation for bringing in lots of beauty and "local innovation", and <insert words for things you care about here>.
This ties into reversing the effects of the complicated phenomina outlined in The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America.
Oh, and take a look at these two pictures:
The picture on the bottom is an example of the only modern form of architecture currently allowed in America. It's not only the only legal thing that can be built, it's highly subsidized. it's also quite expensive.
The top picture? It's illegal to build.
If you find that hard to believe, please suspend disbelief. If you understand why it's illegal, reply to this email and let me know how you think about it being illegal.
If you're surprised to hear that the top picture is illegal, please let me know! I'll address these comments next time around.
Until then,
-Josh