Author Archives: Steve Mays

The Unconscious

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“My thesis then, is as follows: in addition to our immediate consciousness, which is of a thoroughly personal nature and which we believe to be the only empirical psyche (even if we tack on the personal unconscious as an appendix), there exists a second psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals. This collective unconscious does not develop individually but is inherited. It consists of pre-existent forms, the archetypes, which can only become conscious secondarily and which give definite form to certain psychic contents.”

— From a lecture titled The Concept of the Collective Unconscious delivered by Carl Jung on October 19, 1936, to the Abernethian Society at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London.

1968 Dodge 200

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Friend Paul’s latest pickup project. 1968 Dodge 200. That, friends and neighbors, is what a pickup bed is supposed to look like. Pretty sure my Jeep would ride comfortably.

And that grill. Minimalism before there was such a thing.


Looks like a previous owner added the SEAT-RT-LEFT under the speedometer. Will have to ask Paul. And this baby has not one, not two, but three fuel tanks. One behind the seat and one on each side of the bed behind a tiny vault door.
Just to the left of the seat is a handy lever for switching from one fuel tank to another. Long way between gas stations out West.

“Nothing You See is Real”

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Wikipedia: “Donald David Hoffman is an American cognitive psychologist and popular science author. He is a professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, with joint appointments in the Department of Philosophy, the Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science, and the School of Computer Science. Hoffman studies consciousness, visual perception and evolutionary psychology using mathematical models and psychophysical experiments.”

Based on years of meditation and lots of reading on the subject of consciousness, I actually get this.

Homeless Americans

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My friend John spotted this tiny home near the Walmart parking lot in Kennett, MO. Not sure if the owner qualifies as “homeless” but John is seeing more tents these days and tells of a homeless encampment nearby.


No shortage of stories on this problem but the most depressing thing about the following is it’s from 9 years ago.


Kennett is a small community in southern Missouri. A reminder that homeless is not just a problem in big cities like San Francisco and New York. The homeless are everywhere and they can’t be ignored (forever) and they are not going away.

Sticker burrs

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We have some wicked sticker burrs on the property and I got into a patch yesterday. Easier to toss the socks than try to pick these off. I’ve been wearing knee-hight rubber boots but found they didn’t always protect me from chiggers. Knew there had to be a better way and ordered these.

I’ll hose these down with permethrin and see if they’ll protect from chiggers, ticks and burrs. Stay tuned.