Notices by Thor, the Norseman has moved! (thor@snabeltann.no), page 5

Kitten time!

TRAIN: I can only do this trick once, so watch me carefully.
TRAIN: *derails*

@konc In Norway, Mills is the shit: https://snabeltann.no/media/Erw05hZLHlS6V_11kwg

@konc Ah yes, exquisite store brand food. *makes French chef noises*

@konc Ah, that explains why you find the food so appealing. We like our own food a lot more than everyone else seems to like it, lol.

@konc Where are you from?

@konc I reckon you may already have surmised that the other cracker had cheese on it, but perhaps not the particular type: https://snabeltann.no/media/rjXejYTo3qDwoCJn_5w

@konc I buy the small containers because I don't eat an entire tin at a time, and they go bad very quickly once you open them.

@konc Mackerel in tomato sauce. https://snabeltann.no/media/v_Ez1xpT94mDWUrIMa4

Breakfast.

@simba To me, this is not absurd. This is a recurring pattern that needs further investigation.

@simba Why absurd? The supernatural (including a belief in destiny) has been popular with the powerful for all of recorded history. Chieftains and emperors had shamans, druids, priests and astrologers. Nazi brass liked the occult. The founding fathers of the United States were into freemasonry. It's attached to their ability to believe that the impossible is possible. That level of faith is what lets them take on seemingly insurmountable challenges with little fear.

The more time I spend with leader types, the more I understand why they are drawn to esoteric knowledge. In their superstitions, they find guidance and a deep sense of purpose. I haven't run into the really big fish yet. Being close friends with a head of state must be bizarre. They probably have beliefs that are completely bonkers. I've never met a leader type who isn't weird in some way.

CEOs are nuts. Steve Jobs was a nut. Elon Musk is a nut. One guy I used to work for was a nut. The guy I work for now is a nut. He genuinely believes in astrology.

These people virtually believe that they are guided and protected by higher powers. I'm starting to understand why chieftains and kings loved druids, shamans and priests so much, and why executives and politicians so often express an interest in the occult.

It's the nature of natural leaders to be prone to magical thinking.

Work day is over. I'm coding a backend and there is no frontend yet, so I'm writing tests for all the API endpoints. I used to hate the idea of test driven development because it wasn't my idea of fun, but with age and experience, this has ceased to be a hobby, and my code style has become more formal. I don't take shortcuts or leave loose ends anymore, and testing is a good way of ensuring that you're not taking shortcuts and that your loose ends are tied up neatly.

Walked down the main street in Oslo today. A shop was playing hip hop as muzak, and it was an explicit track. "Mothaf***a b**ch n**ga" galore as you take an afternoon stroll in a European city. Doubt they would've let the track play for long if it had been a Norwegian pop song using that kind of language. Everyone speaks fluent English, but American pop culture gets a free pass. "It's America. What can you do?"