Make Your Own Apple Cider

Yeast are microorganisms that will compete with others in what they do. The yeast make a marked difference in the flavor of the final beverage. This means that you have to sanitize EVERYTHING that will come into contact with the liquid (measuring cups, airlocks, stoppers, jugs, thermometers, etc.) You can use a solution that is marketed specifically for brewing, but boiling water will do too.

Here is a condensed version of an applice cider recipe:

1. Buy a jug of apple juice that doesn't have preservatives. Pasteurized is fine. I prefer Tree Top or Mott's brands, but anything without sorbate or benzoate that is 100% juice should work.
2. The yeast used will affect the taste, but just about any yeast will do. Champagne yeast (like Lalvin EC-1118) will give a champagne taste to the cider. People have used bread yeast, brewer's yeast, and even wild yeast, but that's a bit more complicated.
3. Make sure the location you use for fermenting has a cool ambient temperature and doesn't fluctuate much. Basements are good. 70 degrees Fahrenheit is optimal, plus or minus 10 degrees in order to not kill the yeast.
4. Empty about 3 ounces out of the apple juice container. Then pour another 3 ounces into a sanitized glass and add the yeast. 1 gram is enough for 1 gallon, 5 grams is good for 5 gallons. Stir in the yeast then pour it back into the apple juice container.
5. You need a way to let the CO2 out, but keep oxygen from coming back in. You can get a ral airlock for about $1.25. You can also use a deflated balloon with pinhole poked in it. A piece of tubing attached to the top of the jug and the other end underwater in a bowl will work.
6. Wait a few days until the yeast stop producing copious amounts of bubbles (if you're using the tube/water method). After 10 -15 days, your apfelwein should be nice and alcohol-rich (anywhere from 4 to 9% ABV depending on the yeast used.) Pour that stuff into glasses and drink! Careful though, it drinks really easily and WILL get you drunk.

It boils down into 3 things: Get apple juice, put yeast in, wait.

Enjoy!

Some Thoughts on Modern Work

The modern economic system has two kinds of people: Obedient workers and surplus individuals.
You could call the obedient workers "career driven" people, but I'd say that's a euphemism for the actual personality type we're dealing with.

The greatest skill asked today of people is to be obedient. If you can accept whatever dehumanization is asked of you, you will succeed in this society. You're expected to be able to jump through all the hoops, without getting stuck in any of them, and if you get stuck in any, you're moved from category 1 to category 2.

The problem is that as long as everyone continues obediently executing every single ritual and a surplus of people remains, more and more complex rituals will be introduced that are only meant to separate the most obedient from the rest of society. First you need a high school degree, then a bachelor's, now a master's, if you don't want to be at the bottom of the pyramid. Since there is still a surplus of people, we now have unpaid internships, to pick the most docile of the docile.

Employers increasingly ask for a "4 year college degree". This is no longer a form of selecting for any particular skills (hence why any 4 year degree will do), it's selecting for a personality type that can hand in assignments in time and ahead of deadlines, that is popular enough to work well in groups, memorize arbitrary factoids, fill in meaningless paperwork, and overall be as malleable as a piece of play-doh.

The most successful are privileged with an inhuman ability to be obedient, without ever becoming demoralized, and always able to give whatever is asked of them. This is how they manage to get the type of nice jobs they have.

I see dehumanization as anything that seeks to rid you of your identity as an actual human being. The prime aspect of modern Western jobs, as compared to those in primitive societies, is that the appearance of class is eradicated, and the job contract is depicted as a voluntary engagement between two mutually dependent parties.

"Why do you want to work as a greeter at Walmart?"
"Well, because I would like to develop my communication skills, and I like to work in a team."

This is a unique form of humiliation, as you do not just chain a man's body, but you chain his spirit.

In slavery and similar historical situations, there was at least an understanding that the relationship was not based on consensus, but upon power struggles. As an example, a peasant who escaped his servitude for a year had legally become a free man. Most peasants did not choose this option, because they generally had it pretty good.

So how did we get in this situation? The reason, I would argue, is because we have lost our sense of class consciousness. Today, every mom and dad believes they're raising the next lawyer or doctor, because they were taught that they live in a meritocracy, and hence, if the child fails to become a lawyer or a doctor, the child has obviously failed. Worse off are the children born to lawyers and doctors that fail to live up to the expectation to become a lawyer/doctor, but they are generally too ashamed to even speak about their plight.

Part of the problem is the fact that parents believe that their child's intelligence entitles the child to move up the social ladder, whereas in reality it is obedience (more commonly referred to as discipline by the obedient) that allows the child to move up on the social ladder. No parent says "Well, my son will make a perfect med student, because he has no problem with being humiliated and constantly told what to do, every day of the week, with very little time off". No, they think their son will make a perfect med student, because he is intelligent. Hence they are met with disappointment.

It's inevitable that we have a sense of power struggle between different groups in society. There is no society that has successfully managed to make everyone equal. Even if we all earned an equal salary, people would still rather work as a college professor or a TV reporter than as a cubicle-slave. The problem emerges when people no longer recognize that they are part of a group, but instead believe themselves to have the ability to escape from one group into another.

We have to recognize as a society that social relationships are not based on consensus, but on power relationships that are difficult to change. This will at least allow us to maintain a sense of spiritual dignity.

What separates medieval labor from the modern work week is that medieval people chose their own pace of work. For the majority of medieval peasants, work for their lord constituted a minority of the time they spent working, and most work was autonomous. People grew their own crops, that they sold themselves, built their own homes, made their own clothing, etcetera. What this means is that workers had the ability to put their own creativity and personality into their labor.

Jacques Ellul wrote about this in the beginning of "The technological society". Because tools were made as one complete whole, medieval swords and ploughs had careful decorations, that differed from location to location, as they were the product of an artisan and his personal view on how such a tool should look.

Why this difference? When most labor is agricultural in nature, there simply isn't that much work to do. You can't make the plants grow faster through personal labor. Today on the other hand, we have the ability to... create jobs. Every politician promises us that he will create jobs, and hence, what happens in practice is that everyone is forced to take part in salaried labor, even when it represents a waste of their time.

What to do in Your Time Off

"I want to learn something new. But what?"

I'll open frankly: the universe is bigger than you can even imagine and there are an infinite number of different answers to your question. In the post to follow, I'll try to provide some answers. I will list out some of the more obvious things that you can do with little equipment, not that much money, and nobody else to do things with. But first, I want you to recognize this: this is, at most, an incomplete list. You will have different opportunities based on the environment you put yourself in. No matter what, your mileage will always vary. Regardless, there will always be new things to learn or do, you just have to get up and seek it. Let's begin, shall we?

First and foremost, you could learn to play an instrument. Knowing how to play at least one instrument can be one of the most rewarding hobbies a person can do. Not only will it teach you about music and music theory, but playing an instrument can be relaxing, fun, and intellectually stimulating. A secret: used instruments and garage sale equipment can be extremely inexpensive. Check your local listings.

Ideally, you would want a music instructor who will guide you through the basics and outline what you should practice. Unfortunately, instruction can be expensive and in some places, unavailable. Thankfully, there's plenty of resources online to self-teach yourself. There are numerous of Youtube videos and online tutorials out there for learning how to play instruments. I highly recommend that everybody at least tries to learn an instrument at least once. Or learn many, like this guy. The music you learn to play and the experiences gained from musicality will stay with you for the rest of your life.

Let's switch to a less common hobby. You could pick up lockpicking. As strange as it may seem, lockpicking has plenty of legal real-life applications as well and is a fun, calming hobby that plenty of people enjoy. There are very few feelings better than opening up a multi-tumbler lock. Just be sure to read your local laws on what you can and can not do.

Another great part about lockpicking: you can self-make your own equipment or buy it online for very little money. There's also plenty of tutorials and videos online. For example, here's a fantastic online video series by the controversial competitive lock-picker Schuyler Towne on learning how to lockpick. If you want to cut directly to the lockpicking and skip all the videos about locks and pick making, start here.

If you have access to a computer, you can learn programming. It's a large, fun skill that has an incredible number of uses. There's plenty of resources online for learning programming. Try an interactive tutorial. They're more exciting and helps you ease into the flow of things better. I gave you a link to a Javascript interactive tutorial. Don't be afraid to consider different programming languages and don't feel belittled. Learning a programming language is like learning a new spoken language, you have to start from the very basics, despite how simple they may seem. Here's a guide to learning how to go from knowing nothing about Java to making your own 3D renderer in Java.

You can also learn graphic design. With free tools like Paint.Net and GIMP, you can learn how to make visual products that look nice. You can teach yourself to make a well-designed logo, to choose a typeface accurate for any given situation, or design a handout for a public event. You can apply concepts like color theory and negative space to almost anything. There's a million practical uses for design, but it's also very, very difficult to master. Like with drawing, skill and mastery comes with years of practice.

Thankfully, you don't have to do it by yourself. Like any other digital skill, there's an incredible amount of resources online. Check out this guide from PSDTuts. There's also plenty of other websites out there that will offer free resources and tutorials. Look to them for inspiration. Don't be afraid to mimic other people's style as well, it's how a lot of beginning designers learn. Just don't directly copy them. Once you understand the basics of whatever tool you're using, the best way to get better is to simply practice. Challenge yourself with new tasks every day and set the bar higher and higher each time.

Similarly, you can pick up sketching and drawing. Frankly, learning to draw primarily comes from practice. Spend ten to twenty minutes every day sketching something new. Similarly, don't feel demotivated if you start off as a not-very-good artist. I assure you, with practice, you will definitely get better.

Want proof? Check out this conceptart.org thread. Check the date. Over the next sixty pages and seven years of drawing, you'll find the OP working a little bit every day and developing from a beginning hobby artist to an art teacher. Want to see some of his last posted works? Check here and here. That's what passion and practice gives you.

Let's say that drawing is too easy for you and you want to pick up something slightly more challenging. Try 3D modelling. It may seem daunting at first, but through the development of habits, 3D modelling can be not that difficult. Here's how: download Blender and follow this online book step-by-step. It's the best book I've found that goes into extreme detail on learning how to pick up 3D modelling. It has an amazing pace and is incredibly easy and fun to learn. There's obviously a million uses for 3D modelling, from making model architecture to product design to designing 3D assets for a game or film.

You could also improve your penmanship. Every day, spend a little bit of time and develop a unique style of handwriting. Write out the alphabet a few times and add nuances to your lettering to make them stand out. Here's a nice starter on practicing your abilities with a pen or pencil. Like with sketching and graphic design, don't be afraid to look at or copy parts of other people's styles. Seeing good handwriting and other people's handwriting can be a great place to find inspiration and motivation.

It's not a talent per se, but you could do the awesome thing and read. No library? Look at this, it's more books you can read in a lifetime all put in a single place for free. Try to at least spend a little bit of time reading every day and better yet, immerse yourself in the books you read. Be sure to go back and read classics that you were forced to read in school at your own pace. You'll might find the experience enlightening. Reading will help improve your openness to other ideas and are fantastic references and conversation makers. Reading will generate creativity, expand your knowledge and vocabulary, and improve your ability to write. Most importantly, it's fun.

Like reading, you could practice writing. Write more and with purpose. Expand your vocabulary by writing with a new, difficult word every single day and reusing it later on. Learn to convey ideas with short sentences but with beautiful prose. Learn to tell a story and learn to objectively state the facts. Maintain an unread blog. Keep a journal in your pocket all day. Write more!

I also highly recommend working out and getting fit. Not only is it physically beneficial in terms of losing (or gaining muscle) weight, but it's also emotionally and mentally rewarding as you feel better from it. You'll feel better, healthier, and more confident from it. You should be doing this already! If you're not, do whatever it takes to motivate yourself to get physically active. For example, try listening to music while working out. It'll make the time pass much quicker and make you less self-conscious if you're in a public place. Most importantly, don't push this off.

If you want some music to listen to, you could try to expand your music appreciation to the harder-to-pick-up genres. A lot of people say they like jazz or classical and can only cite pieces like Take Five by David Brubeck or Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata as examples. That's all great and fantastic, but there's a MASSIVE genre out there filled to the brim with fantastic music. Learning to love it will supply you with a near endless amount of music. All it takes is a little patience and a little know-how.

The patience comes from you. Take some time and patience and learn to love the musical nuances that defined genres like classical and jazz. Soon enough you'll be humming out motifs from Coltrane's Giant Steps or a Mahler symphony like the rest of us.

If you have some music theory knowledge, you can also try composing and making your own music. As it turns out, once you have the music theory basics covered (try this if you want to learn basic music theory and use this if you want to practice ear training to recognize pitches, keys, and chords), making "reasonable" electronic and pop music really isn't that difficult, but hard to perfect. It's also really fun and entertaining. This is a great starting point for the massive amount of resources like this also available online on learning how to make your own music (See a theme here? Lots of resources online. Just gotta learn to seek them out.)

If you need a DAW (a digital audio workstation), LMMS is free and not that hard to use. It shares similar functionality to the ever popular Fruity Loops/FL Studio DAW (which costs money, is professionally used, and is professionally laughed at) but lacking in some advanced features.

Let's keep up with the music theme. You can also improve your singing. You could get a vocal coach, or you could do the hard work and practice. The best thing you can do is both. But if you don't have the money, do the latter. Start here then practice. Practice! Belt it out to your favorite songs and don't care. Sing in the shower, sing in the car, sing whenever and wherever you can afford to have the people around you listening (so no singing during business meetings). When you're at home, sing while listening to a song and record yourself with a mic and a recording program like Audacity. Play it back with the original song and see how you do. Sure, you'll think you sound terrible at the beginning, but like with all things, you get better over time.

Another thing: you're probably not going to enjoy listening to your own voice. Don't. You're just not used to hearing yourself in recording compared to the sound bouncing around through your head. First of all, it's your own voice. It's not going to change. Learn to love what you've got. Some people are short. Most of them learn to embrace it and take it in stride. With practice, you can make slight changes to your tone and voicings that will improve your ability to not only sing, but will improve your ability to talk with people and give speeches emotively. Plus, there will be that day when your friends force you to sing some karaoke against your will and you'll have your months and years of practice ready to go. Show them what's up.

Another small thing you can learn is learning how to meditate. I'll re-post this because it covers the gist of it extensively. You might not see or feel instantaneous ephemeral benefits, but spending 10-20 minutes meditating every morning will dramatically improve your lifestyle.

You could do the obvious and pick up sports. Ask around in your local communities. There's almost definitely people out there who gather in local parks and facilities to play sports together at different levels. If you're not the interactive type, learn to swim. It's cheap, easy, fun, and doesn't require other people to enjoy. Learning to swim is one of the most important things you should do, even if you live in the middle of a desert. You simply don't know when you might be in a position where knowing how to swim could mean life or death. Plus, swimming is relaxing and not that hard on the muscles.

Here are some other physical activities you could pick up without relying on other people or a vast array of equipment: biking, hiking, rock climbing, martial arts, skating, surfing, skiing, and gymnastics. Having a good instructor could be extremely helpful though and is almost always preferable than not. I'll put a little bit more emphasis on biking because it's an incredibly useful skill to know how to do well. Biking is a cheap, ecologically friendly way of getting to local places quickly. Apply liberally.

You already mentioned learning a language. I'll be frank and tell you I'm terrible at learning languages. I'll tell you what I've heard from other people. First of all, the number one most recommended method of learning another language is the following: surround yourself with people who will speak the desired language often. Better yet, travel to it. Within weeks, you'll know the basics. Within months, you'll be practically fluent. Dead serious.

If you can't move yourself around, try this website. I've heard good things about it. You could also try classes. Generally, they have mixed results, but it forces you to practice in a friendly environment which is better than practicing by yourself with little to no motivation.

Oh, and there's dancing. I haven't put much effort into learning how to dance... but check this out.
There you have it, a not-so-short list on the things you can do in your free time. I might add a few things every now and then if it comes to memory.

You now have no excuse to be bored and let your ennui catch up to you. You don't have to master every single thing. If you enjoy it, pursue it. If you don't, move on to the next thing. Life is too short to not do what you enjoy. Have at it and never give up- never surrender!

How to Succeed in College

1st. You are capable. Let's get that straight, and don't give me or yourself any excuses. You are capable.

2nd. Get pissed. I mean it pissed off. You deserve better. That's right you. Time to get selfish. This is your life and it isn't going to get better unless you do something about it, and you are going to do something about it because you are worth it.

3rd. The race is with no one but yourself. It's long, and it isn't about anyone but you.

4th. Get up early in the morning. Don't stay up late. You need your rest and you need to attack the day. Go to bed like midnight. Straight up gremlins rules. You want to be rested and ready to go so be in bed by 11:30. No caffeine after 9:00 PM.

1. When your alarm goes off feet hit the floor. Immediately it's the best trick I ever learned. Alarm off. Feet hit floor. You are up.
2. Next thing you do is exercise. Cardio for 30 minutes. That's all you need. Walk around your dorm/apartment complex. Go to the track. Ride your bike. Just move. You want to move forward than you have got to move.
3. Eat a good breakfast. This is your fuel for the day. Your body is the most valuable thing you own. Put premium petrol in your body to fuel the day.
4. Success is about doing the small things consistently to improve. There is no other blueprint. People look at the big picture and then look at their life and that's where discouragement happens. Screw the big picture. Focus on the small things you can control and the big picture will come into focus. If you try to chase greatness you will never catch it because you aren't chasing the right thing. Chase effort. Effort leads to results, chase effort and greatness will start chasing you.
5. Focus on doing the small things and developing strong routines. Study, go to tutoring/study groups. This is about learning, and your mind needs nourishment.
6. Get pissed at video games. Get rid of steam, sell your xbox / console. Uninstall all that stuff. You know what you are missing? Nothing. You will be missing a time sinkhole of button mashing where buttons are pressed and nothing ever really is accomplished as there is another game and another game and another game. Your life and time are valuable, and only things that grow you as a person will hold your attention.
7. Eat lunch and keep hydrated, eat snacks like almonds and things for extra boost.
8. Chunk down large tasks into small manageable bites. You have to read 12 chapters. Set an hour for two chapters. Break for 10 minutes. Write down what you learned. Go into hour two the same way. Break things down into small chunks and smash them. Let that momentum build.
9. Be obsessed with doing the small things well and be passionate about challenges. No pressure, no diamonds. Embrace adversity and be passionate to show yourself that you are a baller and can get things done. Setbacks happen, but it isn't about the setback... it's how you respond to it. Do you tuck your tail between your legs? No you don't. You get after it harder.

Do all this. Build on it daily. Start small, chunk it down, and be excited about the opportunity and you will be doing amazing well.
You'll be getting good grades, being accomplished, and ruling the world in no time.

Goals, Jobs and Hobbies

Here's what I figured out:

(1) Decide what you want to do. It's 10,000 times easier to wake up and say "I'm going to this shitty job" if you know it's because you're doing doing it to save money for going back to school, or for getting your pilot's license.

If you know you want to do something difficult, look up what pathway other people have taken to get there and imitate, it's never too late!

• Doctors start volunteering in hospitals, do postbac programs, work in labs, and kiss babies in Africa to try and make themselves more appealing.
• Vets go volunteer in vet clinics and work at getting good grades.
• Physical therapists shadow other physical therapists.
• Programmers literally just start learning to program (I have a lot of friends that never went to school for this and yet now make bank, we're talking 100k+, for being software engineers. A lot of companies want talent, and not just the degree).
• A lot of pilots join the military to pick up a commercial license and hours without spending any money.
• My friends that are graphic or web designers market the heck out of themselves and do a lot of freelance work to try and make themselves both more experienced and appealing.
• My friends that have gone into the wine business, saved up enough money to buy some acres in the boonies, got some investors, and looked up everything they needed to know to make wine.
• As for my friends that are lawyers, well from what I can tell they've done anything and everything.
• Staff scientists all went back for their Ph.d.
• Reporters do a lot of shit work for small time newspapers trying to get their big break. I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.

(2) If you don't know WHAT you want to do, decide where you want to be. If your dream has always been to live in NYC, call around until you find a place to waiter or bartend and straight up move to NYC. If you've always wanted to live in Hawaii, feel free to save up enough money for a plane ticket, ask around until you find a couch to crash on, and move to Hawaii. (My friend who did this, now works for minimum wage at a boat rental place, lives on the beach, and loves her life. In the long run she's set to inherit the place too.) If your big dream is LA, do your research, find some shit roommates and a shit place and a shit job, and move to LA. You may not save any money but at least you'll be on your own!

(3) If you don't really care what or where you want to be, try to figure out some life goals you've always wanted to accomplish and you may bump into a job along the way. People that say military or peace corp hit the nail on the head for travelling.

• If you've always wanted to visit Africa, China, etc., the Peace Corp may not be such a bad route; and it gives you a job for two years.
• If you've always wanted to make a difference in your community, find a soup kitchen, a hospital, a school you can teach at, a museum to volunteer at, really anything that gets you out and involved in the community. Any one of these can transition into a job if you really throw your heart and soul into it or can introduce you to awesome people who can turn into great friends or boyfriends/ girlfriends.
• If you've wanted to run a marathon, join some running clubs and get out and run every day with a group of people.

(4) If you realize you don't really have any whats, wheres, or goals; pick a job that's easy to train for and find and move towards that.

• Physician Assistants programs are 2 years long and can equate to a 90k+ salary
• Nurses programs are 1 month for a CNA (25k - 35k/ year), 1 year for LPN (maybe 40k/ year), 2 years for an associate's degree, 4 years for a bachelors degree, 1 year for accelerated program (60k+/ year), 2-3 years for practitioners (90k+/ year) ***Link to CNA program: http://www.redcrossnca.org/index.php/news-and-publications/67-region-in-the-news/628-become-a-cna-through-your-red-cross.html
• Physical Therapist Assistant programs are 2 years long and can equate to 50k+/ year (plus they're really fun)
• Physical Therapist Aides do not need a program, and can be 25k+/ year (I highly recommend looking into this, its just a generally awesome job)
• Teaching can be done with no degree if you're jumping into Teach for America or tutoring, and can hook you up with anything from 30k/ year to 70k/ year (my friend does math for a private school and it does really well for him)
• Web designers can have no schooling, or a basic certificate, and can make 40k/ year and work from home
• Some accounting/ actuary jobs can be acquired with no degree, simply passing a test, and can be done for 40k - 90k+/ year
• Paralegal positions can be found with no degree/ training, simply calling up lawyers, and can do 40k - 90k+/ year (or you can get a certificate)
• Optometrists, Podiatrists and Dentists are all doctors, but don't take 7 years of school (4 years usually), some schools can be as much as 100k/ year, but the programs are only 4 years long (they don't require a residency like med) and graduates have little trouble paying it back
• Real Estate Sales Agents can be done with whatever requirements are in your state (sometimes 40 hours of edu), and can make 30k - infinity/ year
• EMT Basic training courses take about a month, and can net you 35k+/year ***Link for accelerated program: http://www.wildmed.com/wilderness-medical-courses/medical-professionals/advancedemtw-12-day-hybrid.php This gives you wilderness certification but it's only 12 days
• Police Officers do about 40k - 70k/ year, and training takes about 3 - 4 months from the time you start at the police academy, some offer on the job training
• Specialized coaching, in particular I'm thinking yoga instructors, can be done by apprenticing yourself to an older person and volunteering for a set amount of hours, and can make as much as you want/ year
• Patent Office Agents can make 90k/ year and the job is as simple to obtain as passing a test ***Link: http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/oed/exam/registration.jsp Note that the tests are often CRAZY hard, and a lot of times they hire Ph.ds
• Consultants can be anyone/ anything with any amount of experience, they just start. And a 2 year rotational program with a company like accenture or so could really help you get a lot of experience trying out different things until you figure out what you like
• Massage Therapists take 6 months of training and can make 20k/ year - infinity
• Hair stylists/ Salon folk take 1 month - 6 months of training in beauty school and make 30k/ year (although I don't really recommend this, I just had a friend who really likes nails...)
• Flight attendants can be anyone or anything, you just need to have a great personality, and they do about 35k/ year
• Secretaries/ Executive Assistants can be anyone or anything, and if you work for a really cool office, like at Universal Studios, you may actually enjoy it
• Dog walkers can be anyone or anything, and they can do $20/ dog/ hour
• Baby sitters/ Day care workers follow the same strategy, and they can do about 35k+/ year ***Link to au pair jobs, the right family can pay well: http://www.greataupair.com/
• Whatever you got your degree in. If you already have a job, get back into it!

(5) If you're happy working at the grocery store, don't want to go back to school, and have no whats/ wheres/ goals, start trying out new hobbies. Here's my list of things I think are just awesome:

• Learn to sail
• Learn to rock climb
• Hiking
• Swing Dance/ Salsa Dance/ Belly Dance/ all that crazy stuff
• Skiing/ Snowboarding
• Adult gymnastics - if you're a dude, you'd be surprised at how easy it is to learn a backflip. If you're a girl, it's just fun.
• Yoga
• Get a puppy/ kitten/ hamster/fish, it has made my life a lot cuter.
• Start investing/ following the stock market
• Build Robots
• Learn how to make a website
• Pick up decorating, why not
• Join a running club
• Join a book club
• Go hang out at a local bar
• Learn how to work on cars/ motorcycles
• Learn to fly planes
• Learn to fly helicopters
• Bowling
• Learn how to ride a motorcycle
• Take up glass blowing
• Take up painting
• Take to the googles and find something cool, hell breed Axolotls, garden, climb trees. Whatever makes you really happy so you can go to work reminding yourself that fun will happen as SOON as you get home.

The best way to cope is to find the things that make you happy and just keep pushing. Hang in there buddy!

Here's a few other fun things:

• Ski lift operator, pay is so low it's irrelevant but you get free lift tickets, I met a guy that did this full time and just alternated continents when the weather got better
• Working for a cruise ship, keep in mind you'll get treated a lot better as the piano player than you will as a waiter: http://www.carnival.com/cms/fun/fun_jobs/fun_jobs.aspx
• Working for a resort (as something awesome like an archery instructor, I've heard it's not as much fun for a waitstaff person) http://www.clubmedjobs.com/metiers.php3?id_rubrique=304
• Forest Ranger, I don't know the requirements, but my friends that work at Yosemite National Park love it http://www.fs.fed.us/fsjobs/
• Fire fighter - 35k/ year (I don't know the exact training requirements, I think it's 6 months - a year)
• Zoo keeper - 25k/ year, takes either extensive volunteering at a zoo, or a college degree and internships. Most aquariums and zoos will let you volunteer at no cost
• Museum science 25k/ year - 100k+/ year if you're a director, most museums in your area will let you volunteer to get started. Degree requirements are different depending on if you're a curator/ archeologist/ simply work on exhibits
• Working for a radio, 10+/ hour, warning to get started in this expect an awful job with a shift at 2 am, and there's no clearer way to get in than to be willing to travel anywhere in the country to take the job
• Animal trainer - 10+/hour - 100k/ year. Because you really CAN become a dolphin trainer... http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/training/animal-training-careers.htm
• Working for the circus, sometimes as low as $200/ month; but you'd be in the circus so who cares - http://www.ringling.com/ContentPage.aspx?id=45822&section=45823
• Biomedical technician/ Engineer - 10/ hour - 55k+/ year entry level, 70k/ year - 100k+/ year with experience. My friend started volunteering in a lab cleaning test tubes, got a full time position and the company paid for him to go back for his bachelors. He hopped biotech company to biotech company and now works as an engineer for a pharma company making 170k/ year

How to Get Rid of Things and Declutter

Are you sufferuing from an excess of stuff? Not sure where to start when getting rid of things? Here are some questions to ask yourself when it comes to getting rid of stuff and decluttering your life:

Clothes

• Does it fit?
• Do I wear it? Be honest.
• Will I ever wear it? If your answer to the above was no why would it ever become yes for this one?

Shoes

The same logic as for clothes can be used here. Fit? Do I? Will I?

• The activity that these shoes are meant for: Will I be doing this inside a reasonable time horizon that I should keep these shoes?
• If yes to above: Do I already have a pair that can do this? No need for two pairs when one will do. 

Stuff from your past

Odds are you have miscellaneous stuff you've accumulated over time, from jobs, hobbies, relationships, etc.

• Do I ever use this stuff?
• Will I ever use this stuff?
• Is it worth whatever the mental tax is for storing this stuff? That's your call.
• Is there real meaning or memory assigned to it? Nostalgia is personal, but be realistic. I address this in more detail below.

Electronics

As far as cables, connectors, adaptors and other electronic stuff, I did my best to compare storing them in a small container versus the cost of buying one should I need it. I'll caveat this with that knowledge that there's a flea market a mile down the road where, on any given weekend, I can get just about any cable or adaproe I need for a few dollars. I'll also caveat this with the fact that many time I've needed a cable, adaptor or plug and I had it on hand because of my box of goodies.

I wouldn't keep a Radio Shack's worth of stuff, but having a good variet of connectors, cables, adaptors, and cords can come in handy.

Broken Crap

Get rid of. "I'll fix it someday" is a slippery slope. You might fix it. Then what? Use it? Sell it? The easiest resolution is to get it gone.

Sentimentals

I really don't have a good strategy for you to determine what to keep and what to trash. Sentimental stuff is out of reach of rationality; it's too personal. For me, if it holds good memories, I like keeping it.

Stuff you've had for such a long time that if you got rid of it then the time you spent moving it around would be a waste

Just get rid of it. Sunk costs are no reason to hang on to something.

Books

I got rid of all but a few favorites. Donate the rest to a library or other worthy organization.

Summary

Once you start the high of getting rid of stuff you don't need, the high will take over and many of your apprehensions will disappear.

One more thought. The actual process of getting the stuff: I rarely bothered trying to sell stuff. Some textbooks I went through Amazon and undersold the lowest price just to get it to move fast. Clothes and small crap to Goodwill. Big crap I used Craigslist free section. People will come haul away anything as long as they don't have to pay for it!

Developing Personal Strength

Is hard the only option? Or the best option? Maybe we think of hard as the best way because we are afraid of what may come, so we strategize in terms of armor -- putting shields over our bodies, walls in front of our hearts, and rigid structures around our thinking. But it may just turn out that by hardening ourselves we are already losing the liberty that we hope to preserve.

What about responsive, and adaptable, and relaxed?

The teeth are hard, and their hardness is useful; but the teeth chip and crack and eventually fall out. The tongue is soft, and because of that it lasts a long time. (I'm not just talking about our physical makeup here, I'm pointing at alternative approaches.) A boulder is ancient, and strong, but when water flows onto it the boulder wears down and can eventually be penetrated or split.

Rather than thinking of hardening, I like to think of a strength that is able to move and respond. When someone is strong enough, they don't have to resist the situations that arise. So I like to think in terms of healthy discipline: keeping the body and mind and emotions in wholesome states.

Part of this, especially for men but including all people, is the importance of getting out of the comfort zone and challenging ourselves. The mind, the emotional heart, and the body all become more healthy with appropriate challenges. We should "put ourselves on the line" more often, by trying difficult things. But these difficult things should be wholesome, things that increase our integrity rather than things that separate or hurt us or each other.

Physically, being exposed to the elements more frequently is usually a good and healthy tactic. It should be done within the bounds of what the body can deal with; so that means that the kind and duration of activity will be different for everyone. Everyone has a different constitution — some people are naturally tougher, some are naturally more sensitive; both of these can be beneficial qualities, they are just different.

Mentally, learning to live with all different kinds of people, and engage with all different kinds of thinking, develops an adaptability with society. We can become tougher in terms of our ability to thrive in all kinds of communities, not requiring one narrow way of life for our survival or comfort.
Emotionally, the discipline of offering your heart can likewise bring about a greater strength in terms of relating to others in the real world. When you can offer kindness or love without being attached to the response you get, then you have a very strong and noble foundation. When you can express yourself sincerely (whether it's anger, or joy, or fear, or compassion), then you will have a greater balance in all kinds of situations. It's those of us who have to hide behind a frozen self-image who are the most threatened by the changes that always come in life.

So if you want to be strong, you should be yourself. Learn from people and use what you find useful, but don't be a copy — be an original, following your own nature and your own physical constitution, and your own situation. If you follow your own situation, you will have the power of the world at your fingertips.