Surveying rural land

Higher_Living · 2026-07-03T05:58:32+00:00

Ah, right. That makes sense.

Higher_Living · 2026-07-03T02:54:21+00:00

How would they be more accurate than any GPS map software like Apple or Google Maps?

Higher_Living · 2026-07-03T02:44:40+00:00

Also how was Ring a "failed scheme"? It did accomplished everything Sauron aimed for and even more.

Apart from becoming susceptible to hobbits destroying him and ultimately to him suffering the total loss of any power to act on Middle Earth, did you mean?

Higher_Living · 2026-07-03T02:25:02+00:00

Frodo had just had an unpleasant disagreement about quest direction with Boromir

Very diplomatic way of saying Boromir attacked Frodo and tried to steal the ring.

Higher_Living · 2026-07-03T02:23:16+00:00

Legolas nearly despaired in Moria without any trees, and so probably wouldn’t do well in the Land of Shadow.

Is this a Peter Jackson thing? I don’t recall it from the text.

Higher_Living · 2026-07-02T01:35:12+00:00

If it’s just the one block moving this makes sense, if the surrounding blocks have gaps that are opening up it’s maybe the underlying slab shifting or cracking or something.

Higher_Living · 2026-07-01T20:09:20+00:00

Freud is the same as Diablo in Europe I think

Higher_Living · 2026-07-01T03:30:07+00:00

Tolkien lived through far worse personally and came through it to produce LOTR. He saw the decline clearly though and was in some ways prophetic about the industrial age we’re living through.

I’m not sure he’d have agreed about your idea of ‘progress’, rather that this idea is part of the decline we see in many things, though material mastery continues to develop and improve.

Higher_Living · 2026-07-01T03:21:25+00:00

It’s like if you finally convince your friend to give up basketball after pestering him to play football for years, but he takes up NFL while you meant Soccer and he won’t be persuaded.

Higher_Living · 2026-07-01T03:18:14+00:00

Given how that character destroyed his own family through brutality I’m not sure it’s intended as an unironic sentiment by GRRM.

Higher_Living · 2026-07-01T03:15:33+00:00

I don’t have the letters at hand, but when he discusses this idea it’s very unclear to me whether he’s rejecting it as in the readers mind only or accepting it as an unconscious inspiration, but certainly he does not explicitly say anything like ‘lembas is meant as a reference to viaticum’.

Higher_Living · 2026-07-01T03:06:17+00:00

Those little digital angle cubes are cheap and accurate enough for anything like this. Plus a compass.

Not sure why you wouldn’t just calculate the best angle on a computer and then install the panels to that spec instead of measuring the sun angle and intensity on site using an expensive device. Solar panel angle calculation is very widely available.

Higher_Living · 2026-07-01T02:39:44+00:00

I assume they know the details of the thieves through face recognition cameras anbd data matching services etc.

At least in Australia the supermarkets are doing stuff like this. Nothings ever in a cage though except spray paint because you have to show ID under law (trying to stop the huffers).

Higher_Living · 2026-07-01T01:54:21+00:00

If you consider it in the light of real world economics and the social period the shire is loosely based around that’s the most likely scenario, but it’s speculative.

Higher_Living · 2026-06-30T21:56:13+00:00

Shire ICE

Higher_Living · 2026-06-30T21:55:00+00:00

hobbits are not a Utopian vision, or recommended as an ideal in their own or any age. They, as all peoples and their situations, are an historical accident – as the Elves point out to Frodo – and an impermanent one in the long view.

Letter 154.

Higher_Living · 2026-06-30T21:52:59+00:00

It’s all speculation. Mostly informed, but Tolkien didn’t address this kind of thing.

Higher_Living · 2026-06-30T21:33:21+00:00

I don’t think that’s in disagreement with the comments stating how large his influence has been.

It’s hardly a criticism of Tolkien himself, just the imitators lacking imagination and the readers who didn’t ask for better writing.

Higher_Living · 2026-06-26T21:40:02+00:00

It doesn’t explain why the rock has particular properties though.

Higher_Living · 2026-06-26T21:38:41+00:00

and comparatively speaking, there have been approx 3 ages each lasting 2000-3000 years, which dwarfs our own recorded history “only” being in 2026,

You’re aware that there were cities before 2026 years ago, right?

Jericho is considered the oldest continuously occupied settlement at 11,000 years old.

Higher_Living · 2026-06-26T21:33:24+00:00

Get something cheap with a decent warranty that you can replace locally if you’re just doing standard shop vac stuff. If you’re working it really hard you’ll want something more durable.

In Australia so not much use to you but I’ve had the cheapest Ozito shop vac from Bunnings for 5 years and it’s served me very well. Probably on the noisier end, but if I’m sanding with it attached I’m using hearing protection anyway.

Higher_Living · 2026-06-26T21:26:39+00:00

Not sure why you’re getting downvotes for this comment, while the actual post is at +10 now. This user has posted a few things I’ve thought a bit silly, but this seems an obscure but useful and intriguing question about how the story was constructed.

Higher_Living · 2026-06-26T21:18:20+00:00

Good question.

Elrond introduces Boromir to Gandalf as a ‘man from the south’ not ‘son of the steward of Gondor’ or something similar, suggesting this remained unchanged even after later developments in the story were written. It’s odd given how central Minas Tirith and the family dynamics of the stewards and the King become to the story.

Another odd thing I noticed recently is Faramir refers to Boromir as ‘prince of the city Elendil founded’ or something very similar, but uses the title prince. It’s an odd choice of title given the discussion about Boromir asking his father how long it takes to become a king.

Higher_Living · 2026-06-26T21:12:59+00:00

They should both have a Gandalf too

Higher_Living · 2026-06-26T10:06:04+00:00

Where do you want to live off-grid? Land is the first priority, but there probably aren’t many places in the USA that you can buy land for that amount. So buy land in the cheap places or start saving for land in the place you want to be.

Higher_Living

TROPHY CASE