gringo

How can you be counter-culture in the 2020s?

  • Get married.
  • Be careful who you have sex with.
  • Don't use social media.
  • Think long-term.
  • Reject woke/ESG theory.
  • Support capitalism – real capitalism, not crony capitalism.
  • Take care not to blindly overdose on medicine simply because you are told to. Avoid the jab.
  • Don't wear a mask, and avoid showing your papers.
  • Avoid swearing.
  • Don't watch the news.
  • Reject the notion that men and women – or any group – are, or should be, equal.
  • Eat meat, avoid processed bugsoy.
  • Use bitcoin.
  • Prepare for disaster, but be optimistic.
  • Work out, don't let yourself get fat and lazy.
  • Take responsibility for your own life. Avoid excuses.
  • Grow your own food.
  • Talk about the Uyghurs.
  • Self-host.

Wubwubwub. Feeling good. Matcha + decaf + super coffee was the perfect pre-workout – taken an hour before my workout. Had a good workout, respected my limits. Listening to DnB.

Still feeling clearheaded. Is prioritization the best use of my mind? Quite probably. Although, it can also be mental masturbation.

Blastin' Cheia de Manias.

Incredible how much my motivation has slumped this week.

It's either:

  • No longer being in SP / being in a quiet, natural place
  • No longer leading (or expecting to lead) my company's Brazilian operations
  • Something else – burnout?

In any case I feel withered away. Nothing seems fun or challenging anymore. I know that people won't blame me if our company fails or congratulate me if we succeed. I have a sinking feeling when I consider how I'm going to tell people the news. Networking feels pointless – who wants to meet with just another middle-manager/employee? I know that doing nothing isn't the answer. For goodness's sake, I've got a discussion tonight about having a raise.

A part of me – a bitter, petty, angry part of me – wants to refuse to support my cofounder coming back on to lead the country. A part of me wants to let him fail. So that everyone can see just how tricky it is to put someone who hasn't worked in the business for 6 months back on. So that none of the credit for my hard work is taken – after all if I don't work hard, no one can take that credit.

Only that... he's also one of my best friends, and I want him to do well.

Jesus fuck. Why have I been put in this situation?

At least I feel remarkably clear-headed. I can use this. I can prioritize.


I thought about leaving my wife today. So many other beautiful women out there. I could indeed find someone younger. Maybe someone who shared more of my views. Someone who had fewer self-destructive habits.

But the grass is always greener.

Just as I want a different kind of job. The grass is always greener.

2 approaches to taking action.

“Don't worry about the wall. Your only concern is one brick.” vs. “People who labor all their lives but have no purpose to direct every thought and impulse toward are wasting their time — even when hard at work.”

Then again – the first line could be interpreted to say “forget about the results, focus on the action.”

“The world shifts itself around your aim.” – Jordan Peterson.

The day was pretty good. I ended up eating churras about 4pm. Only had headache in the morning, seemed like standard fasting reaction.

Just took ivermectin. Am a little worried about the side effects. My friend who took it never took the jab. But it seems ok. I should prepare for some heart problems maybe and a headache. I hope I feel a lot better after all's said and done.


Luckily today I've got work to do. I can crack on, not worrying so much about fasting, and feel pretty good about it all.

It's 15 past midnight. B's mum is sick with most likely covid. We will get her meds in the morning.

I will test out ivermectin tomorrow. Seems like two 6mg caps make sense.

Skin problems warning: This drug may cause skin problems. These may be due to allergic and inflammatory reactions. The symptoms of these skin problems may look like the symptoms of your parasitic infection. Talk with your doctor if you have any severe itching, rash, or hives.

Eye problems warning: This drug may cause eye problems. These may be due to allergic and inflammatory reactions. The symptoms of these eye issues may look like the symptoms of your parasitic infection. Talk with your doctor if you have any issues with your eyes such as redness, pain, swelling, and vision changes.

Brain problems warning: This drug may cause serious and sometimes deadly brain problems in people with Loa loa infection. Before taking ivermectin, let your doctor know if you’ve recently visited West or Central Africa. If you take ivermectin and experience neck or back pain, unexplained sleepiness, red eyes, confusion, shortness of breath, or trouble standing or walking, call 911 right away or go to the nearest emergency room.

All looks alright.

I'll drink a fuck ton of water, fast for a lot of the day, see how I go.

I'm glad my wife is finally turning around on these vaccines. Too many people are having side effects.

And how about work?

Yeah. I hope tomorrow I wake up with more power. Lol.

Well I promised. Let's get going.

Reluctant as I may be, as much as I want to lie in bed all day, wank, go back to my old addictions (porn, gambling, smoking, drinking, sugar, gaming) and take up new ones (weed, microdosed mushies/lsd)... as much as I want to ruin my life and other's for the simple fact it doesn't always go the way I want... now is the time to push ahead. Not to prove anything to those who doubt me, but to prove to myself, I can be better than I am.


I have some extra time now that I didn't expect. And I have procrastinated long enough. Time to go through my list.

Work – urgent

  • Complete timeline of marketing plan

    • Essential: No
    • Promised: No
  • Add latest [bank] charges to finance export, check for prices we're paying

    • Essential: No
    • Promised: Yes
  • Answer L's questions

    • Essential: ?
    • Promised: Yes
  • Get trades on U markets for P

    • Essential: No
    • Promised: Yes
  • Investigate banned users that were actually verified

    • Essential: No
    • Promised: Yes
  • Refund [bank] payments

    • Essential: Yes
    • Promised: Yes
  • Review client with no info on A

    • Essential: No
    • Promised: Yes
  • Start settling routine

    • Essential: No
    • Promised: Yes

Work – longterm

  • Add [country] user experiences to Riley's product board

    • Essential: No
    • Promised: Yes
  • Organise outstanding tasks

    • Essential: Yes
    • Promised: No
  • Review & supply my input to C L process

    • Essential: No
    • Promised: Yes
  • Review list of op. ef ideas found during campaign

    • Essential: Yes
    • Promised: No

Personal – urgent

  • Mould-treat bathroom countertops, toilet frames, shower walls
    • Essential: Yes
    • Promised: Yes

2 urgents: – Refund [bank] payments – Mould-treat bathroom countertops, toilet frames, shower walls


But honestly even those can wait.


I don't want to waste my time looking through YouTube videos. I want to produce before I consume. But hey. I am allowed to have bad days.

Let's watch the latest Coffeezilla videos.

Time to get the momentum going. I am probably just demotivated because of my lack of responsibility. Not getting the role I want in my business. Shall I mope about it? Absolutely not. I will spend some time writing about it – 10 minutes max – and then I will proceed to get my work done.

Start.

I can't really believe it. It sucks. I really thought as my cofounder stepped down, that opened up the door for me to take his place. I never even considered the exec team would want to bring back my other co-founder, who had already left the business – or rather, the local business, for the global business. I never even considered it! After all, he's got plenty on his plate – he works for us only part time, and has gotten stuck into his new, global role.

Yet there is something the exec team don't see in me. It seems a little easy (and unfair) to go for a reason like our age difference (we're both in our 20s, but he's 5 years older than me.) I think they just have seen me fuck up – or appear to fuck up – too many times. They see me as a liability. Unable to carry out their strategy. Immature.

I truly don't get how all my practical knowledge didn't make up for that though. I mean – I'm the one who brought the whole team together in the first place. I'm the one who came here, saw the opportunity, and proposed the idea. I moved here, learned the language – to a good level – and I put in an equal amount of investment, both time and money, into the business.

It was both of our first businesses – yes, he had a degree, and he was better at communication than me, so he was the right fit to manage our operation initially. But damn, I was sure I would be the first pick this time around.

It feels so retarded. Maybe I'm just being cocky, but come on! I live here! I've worked in this biz for the last 6 months! I stepped up to every challenge I could.

It's so ashaming, feels like such a snub.

I really thought it would change after I talked to the CEO too. I was feeling, surely this is a misunderstanding, surely they'd change tack after I remind them of why I'm a good fit. But nope – either because they wanted to stick with their previous option (consistency / confirmation bias), or because they really see my leadership abilities as weak.

I really don't know what the fuck to do. This is a massive ego hit. I'm beginning to doubt if I am actually useful to the business. I guess I'll find out tomorrow when I ask for a raise. Be stoic – prepare for the worst, prepare to be laughed at, prepare to be told I'm cheeky, young, lucky, naive, and greedy.

Well – time to finish complaining. Yes the situation sucks. Yes I feel shortchanged. Yes I feel thwarted. But we'll see.

Shiße. Found out Apetor is dead today. His last video, and a tribute a fan made. Damn that's sad.

What did I even want to do today? Shit.

At least I completed a workout and took modafinil early. Time to get some water and turn the lights on.


I've been getting so easily distracted. Even right now just trying to select some music.

Nice new ATD song drop today – If I Were the Devil.

I wished to get up early today, so that I would have time to work.

That plan hasn't worked 100%, as it's now fairly late in the day – 2pm almost – and I haven't started.

But at least it's Saturday, and I still have some modafinil in my veins, in my brain, and I have everything I need to be productive – except possibly a little pain in my gums and post-workout joint pain.

“at least it's Saturday” – in the sense that no one expects me to get anything done by a particular time today.


Let's take a look at what I want to do. Unless there's anything I'd like to get out first?

A feeling of sadness/failure? Indeed – I didn't get the position I wanted in my business. My ego is bruised and I feel sad I won't get the networking/educational opportunities.

Post-workout sadness too maybe? Wanting to sleep? I also had sex in the shower, so maybe there's a bit of post-nut and post-hot-water sleepiness.

Is it worth having a power nap maybe? 30 minute thing.

Yeah let's do that. Close the windows in the bed, shut the doors, elevate my legs. 30 mins. Or maybe just 20. Breathe slowly and get mentally settled.

Oh – 5 minute journal too!

A lot of shit happened recently. Possible promotion. Giant customer surge. Voluntarily did a tantric massage. Fixed my teeth. Most likely going on Accutane. Can't wait to write about it.