Under Pressure

Isn't that the title of a song?

For some reason I am feeling under pressure this Sunday to get my Substack post over and done. And that shouldn’t be the feeling that this activity generates. I actually do enjoy writing it, and so why the pressure? Because I have set myself specific days on which to post rather than doing it as I have the rest of my life pretty much as I feel like it. I managed to become self-employed for the second half of my career, and I absolutely prefer that to punching a clock, so to speak. As most people know, though, being self-employed means doing everything yourself. Of course I could farm out stuff if I were so inclined, but I prefer not to pay someone else to do something of which I am capable. For instance, keeping track of my finances and doing my own taxes are fun for me. And I have enjoyed cutting the grass and minimal other yard chores. Keeping house, on the other hand, not so much. But muddling through on that front has served me well so far. Let’s continue to take it one day at a time.

And speaking of that, we do not have very many days left to save democracy. Reading the book about how the internet can be hacked has left me gobsmacked to say the least. I am so trusting and open about stuff that learning about the nefarious skullduggery rampant in the cyber world is enough to make me stay offline forever. But of course, I am now writing and posting online. Before sitting down to do this, however, I enjoyed my “real” Sunday newspaper and found the following headline which dovetailed exactly with the portion of the Scott Shapiro book I had been reading at 4 a.m.— “Microsoft says state-backed Russian hackers accessed emails of senior leadership team” — OMG. I hope they have all read the book about Fancy Bear and its predecessor Cozy Bear. And I hope the incorrectly named “Russia Hoax” touted by the deranged would-be dictator can once and for all be put to rest.

Speaking of hacking, I have begun to wonder about all the land records that are now available online. Even most of the towns here have uploaded all that information (although one particularly affluent group seems to be avoiding it). It is astounding how much personal information is readily available to anyone who knows how and where to look. [In the beginning of the digital age, some places uploaded mortgage documents which included social security numbers, etc. I think that has been addressed, but some of the older records probably still exist.] Anyway, I had actually started looking into the newest Speaker of the House’s footprint in his home state and found what I considered to be quite interesting stuff. And that was just in the real estate area. Let’s not go down those other rather disgusting rabbit holes the press has printed. I ended up deciding I would rather focus on my paying work in title searching, and leave the muck-raking to the investigative journalists. Although I must admit, having searched for a number of years in New York State, I am tempted to spend a few hours on the upstate sycophant who has managed to suck her way up to such prominence. Could be an interesting dive next time I’m snowed in.

So now I can go back to my chair and listen to a podcast as I continue knitting the scarf I am making for a Substack friend. I’ve been trying to figure out how I will get it to her especially in light of the horror of cybersecurity hacks. We’ll figure it out I’m sure once it’s ready to ship. There must be a way to exchange information off-line, although reading about all the phone bugs is another nightmare. But not to worry today!