Death came

ur next-door neighbour died this weekend. She was almost 80. We didn’t get along (almost nobody got along with her, both past and present), but at times like these we must all be human beings and compassionate towards grieving relatives. This was not shocking or surprising because this past year the ambulance came here a lot and there was gradual deterioration, often very loud screaming and doors being slammed.

My thoughts about this situation are very complicated. I don’t believe people suddenly become saints or impermissible to criticise because they die. But common sense or popular sayings urge us to keep quiet if we have nothing positive to say.

Rianne will pray for her. We hope her husband can cope.

“The researchers were particularly interested in three psychological needs identified by self-determination theory: relatedness, or having meaningful relationships; competence, or feeling capable and effective; and autonomy, meaning that our actions feel voluntarily chosen rather than forced on us.” -“Not Money or Pleasure: Scientists Say They’ve Found The True Key to Happiness” (5 September 2026)

n capitalism, people are meant to conflate accumulation of capital (or material assets) with “success” and that sort of success is interchangeable with happiness. But this is a gross oversimplification as pursuit of capital is not in its own right joyful or pleasant. Many people derive pleasure from social things because they are, after all, “social animals”.

Those who seek improvement in their lives by working hard to gain more money may find that it’s easier for them to purchase more things or better things. But at what cost?

Also, more personal belongings can one day became liabilities or burdens. This is why many people, especially late in their lives, give things away and move into smaller, simpler places/spaces.

4 hours ago by Sarah Rainsford:

rowing uncertainty and worries due to tensions with Russia are felt here, as our government openly encourages citizens to ‘stockpile’ food under the assumption of lack of power (to cook good). As if there is recognition of threats to the power grid, which is unlikely to happen due to bad weather but it likely to happen during conflict (as Russians and Ukrainians learned).

Stockpiling was not encouraged but discouraged during COVID-19 lockdowns (e.g. toilet paper).

Humans don’t have this

OME of the birds have begun moulting, as inevitably they will, and it is never pleasant to look at, even if it’s beneficial to animals especially in places that transition between seasons with sharp differences temperature- and precipitation-wise.

Bot (Bottle) seems to be the first with visible moulting this year. I’ve just given her as many seeds as she wanted (until she felt full and flew away). She is a mother now and winter this year might get very cold due to climate breakdown. The chicks must have grown by now (but unable to fly).

No animal can eat datacentres

ears ago we used to buy sacks of seed like these, but later we chose premium (vastly better) seeds at a local market. Months ago the government asked people to lessen or altogether stop the feeding of birds, saying there was no need during summer. This was immediately refuted by some NGOs. I had this theory about grain shortages leading to that advice. Are we prioritising humans over all other living beings?

It’s no secret the planet is overpopulated (by humans mostly).

Anyway, months ago I noticed that many stores no longer stocked large bags of seeds for birds. Last month not even the largest stores stocked them. Was this a business decision or something else?

I still have my sources for sacks of seeds, but they’re not cheap, even if they’re better and less “official”.

There are already press reports about how the oil shortages, the wars, and the drought lead to a grain shortage, potentially driving hunger/famine.

The demand grows, so do the prices. Poor countries are not prioritised for exports and the weather leads to crop (agra) failures.

And they tell us we need more energy-hungry datacentres that drive climate change!

Paying more for less.

ROWING up in the 90s (as I often put it), coffee jars were reasonably large and full to the rim (filled to the highest point). Not anymore. Many brands leave a lot of air in the product (it’s not for any taste-related purposes) and dosages went down gradually while prices rose.

Now, in the check-out tills, I’d see them selling sachets of coffee because the stuff got so expensive that they adopt the “microfinancing” approach or “one day at a time” mindset. What next, sachets of toothpaste and shampoo?

This is not the hallmark of a society moving in a good direction. They normalise poverty and brand that as “lifestyle” or “style” (sachets are, per weight, actually very expensive).

More disposable bits

offee sachets seem to have gained some traction in recent years. In the 90s you seldom saw those at shops, only at hotel rooms and maybe sometimes in some restaurants (rarely).

I recently got lots of them for a very good price and compared to instant coffee or blends or beans (I’d never bother with capsules; it’s a ripoff) they taste very nice and are very quick to prepare. They do, however, generate more waste.

I think those sachets are more about selling us a lot less for a vastly higher price.

It’s sort of like capsules, except the need for a proprietary machine.