Books I read in 2024 ~

 As a manager I got feedback on my performance daily. It was always exciting to hear everyone else's opinion on how I handled something, expcially when they disagreed with me :-) Each year the person I reported to was required to give me a performance review, which early in my career tended to be "sign this, I have to turn it in today" but got better as I progressed. Toward the end of my career the annual performace review was drifting in to the new-and-improved "hey, did you click the link to acknowledge the performance review email the machine sent you?"

I was always given an opportunity to provide a self-assessment, and for a long time I had no idea what to put in it except that I thought I did great job! Over the years I would add the online courses I took and would list the books that I read through the year, and that seemed to satisfy whoever had the position above me at the time. So it became a habit to share things about what I've been reading at the end of the year.

For now I am continuing that habit in my "retirement". I'm including the fiction books that I read because my mother recently asked me "Do you even read fiction books anymore?" and I didn't have the heart to tell her that I read a little from them almost every night before I go to sleep.

So here's my list of the 19 or so books I've read in 2024:

- The Secret - A Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child
Jack Reacher is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. This book was a fun ride!
https://a.co/d/hYfCBMy

- Safe Enough by Lee Child
Fun set of short stories. All were good!
https://a.co/d/01mjyTK

- The Ruthless Elimination Of Hurry by John Mark Comer
Good read on ways to slow down and develop my relationship with Jesus.
https://a.co/d/c8Ddc7l

- 1434 by Gavin Menzies
Interesting premise that the Chinese actually gave Europe everything it needed to make the Renaissance happen as they taught the western barbarians the proper way to pay tribute to the Chinese emperer of the world. The author makes a lot of good points and is pretty convincing.
https://a.co/d/diIgxnM

- Doing Life With Your Adult Children by Jim Burns
Now that all four of my children are adults I wanted to check to see if there was something I needed to do differently. I think I'm right on track :-)
https://a.co/d/2sXvxCz

- Dopamine Nation by Anne Lembke
This one was a stretch for me. It talked about addictions and how different people get the dopamine hit that we've been trained to want/need/desire. While I didn't enjoy some of the things talked about I got a lot out of the book and it helped clarify a lot of what is driving people's behavior when it comes to their mobile devices. Good book!
https://a.co/d/f0Arp1D

- Star Trek - Lost To Eternity by Greg Cox
Hadn't read a Star Trek book in quite a while so I thought I'd give this one a try. Good book set in the original series timeframe. I enjoyed it!
https://a.co/d/aU8LClb

- Happier At Home by Gretchen Rubin
I've enjoyed watching Gretchen Rubin develop her media empire with one good book after another. This one had several ideas that I've tried. I love all the background info that she pulls in to explain her points.
https://a.co/d/dKkzmsq

- Death in the Sunshine by Steph Broadribb
Good mystery but tough read due to the shifting perspective from character to character. I got used to the shifting about halfway through the book then really enjoyed it.
https://a.co/d/6FySrxo

- Dream Town by David Baldacci
Another mystery set in the 1950s, this time in Hollywood. I love how Baldacci makes you feel like you're there, though it's weird to think that they smoked as much as he makes it seem.
https://a.co/d/6ubjH0L

- Gambling Man by David Baldacci
Fun mystery set in the 1950s. Good PI character. 2nd book in the series.
https://a.co/d/dbXakZZ

- The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel by Douglas Brunt
I've never had a vehicle with a diesel engine and have always wondered what the big deal about them was. This book was an eye-opener! I learned a lot and enjoyed the book even though I'm not a car guy. Good history!
https://a.co/d/ijoKkSY

- A Killer's Game by Isabella Maldonado
Fun ride through an interesting mystery.
https://a.co/d/d7CHqvF

- The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis
Another book I read to get a feel for Italy and Roma specifically in preparation for travel there. I enjoyed the book AND it helped me get a feel for the city of Rome.
https://a.co/d/9VXQnDj

- Hit Man by Lawrence Block
I was looking for a fun light read. I've read this before and enjoyed again!
https://a.co/d/guQAkOj

- Cold Tuscan Stone by David Wagner
I wanted to read a mystery set in Tuscany to get a feel for the area before travelling there. This book was a great way to get that experience. Good mystery, too.
https://a.co/d/98qcE82

- India Unbound by Das Gurcharon
I've been trying to learn more about India. This book shed a lot of light on things that I had no idea about. Long but good read!
https://a.co/d/gYYxnma

- The Burglar Who Met Frederick Brown by Lawrence Block
I wanted a mystery and have never gone wrong by reaching for a Lawrence Block book. Bernie Rhodenbar is a great character!
https://a.co/d/6DeE2C8

- Front Porch Tales by Philip Gulley
Good stories about different people and things in the author's life. Very heart-warming stuff!
https://a.co/d/130iPPV

And my list wouldn't be complete without recommending my own book:
- Things I've Never Done by David Holly
Something I put together to share myself with the world. Come in and know me better!
https://a.co/d/cnKfVJg

Enjoy!

+++

#books #2024

Christmas day during the Christmas season 2024 ~

 This marks my 60th Christmas - woohoo! I've enjoyed soooo many different things on Christmas days in the past - opening presents with my family, enjoying good food with laughter and joking, movies both at home and in the theater, sleeping, working, all sorts of things. Through it all I've quietly concluded that the presence of those that I love and trust in my life is the most precious gift that others have given me. 

God gave us a gift when his son was born to a virgin in Bethlehem. The birth had been predicted and proclaimed as a hoped-for event for centuries, but it was missed by so many that were looking for it. They were too busy living and commiserating about their circumstances that they didn't see the star, didn't notice the wise men, and didn't realize that the new star in the sky signified something important happening in the kingdom they were being held in (not the Roman empire). 

I hope that you take some time to reflect on what Jesus and his birth means in your life this Christmas. And that God blesses you greatly as you get more understanding of him in the coming year. 

Merry Christmas! 

Bonus material: 

What the Bible is all about by the Bible Project - https://youtu.be/7_CGP-12AE0?si=pPWV9eSyHhhUTSsu

What Christmas means to me - CS Lewis - https://youtu.be/zdnJQnnZtIQ?si=2ojrQ6Pi5wFJQ8Wa

#advent #christmas 

Peace during the Christmas season ~

Peace is another of those words associated with Christmas that means something different to almost everyone. Here are some things I think of when I hear or read the word "peace":

I long for peace on cold mornings when I hear the neighbor's dog bark rings clearly through the bare trees and crisp cold air during winter (stupid beagle). 

I long for peace as a turn something over and over in my mind every day until I'm just tired of thinking about it and wish it would stop haunting me. 

I feel peace as I enjoy the freedom that I've been experiencing lately. 

I wish peace for people that work in jobs with the public that seem to have little to no interest in helping people like me. 

I think of the song "Peace of Mind" by Boston. I've listened to that song since the 1980s and love to crank it up while I'm driving. I usually sing the lyrics to the song and thought I knew them, but I learned today that the words are a little different that what I've always thought they were. I've always thought the second line in chorus was something like "but I don't care whatever gets you high", but the actual line is "but I don't care if I get behind." Weird how that happens. 

And even though I feel kind of silly admitting that about the lyrics I still have my peace of mind :-) 

The Bible teaches that as an adult Jesus told his disciples "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives." (John 14:27 https://shorturl.at/chUQl) As a disciple this verse comforts me and helps me feel peace. Though I'm not very good at it I try to focus on this as some of the things in my life disturb my peace. His peace is so much better than mine!

Amidst all the hustle and bustle of the modern Christmas experience I hope you take some time to enjoy some good music, spend some time with friends and family, and contemplate what the birth of a baby they named Yeshua (or Jesus) over 2000 years ago means to you today. 

Bonus material: 

 Prince of Peace - Celtic Worship 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr2RG-xR2lA

Peace of Mind by Boston:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edwk-8KJ1Js

 

#advent #christmas

 

 

 

Faith thoughts ~

One of the interesting things that I hear some Christians say is that somebody didn't have enough faith to be healed, to get that job, to get something accomplished, not enough faith. But when I read the Bible and when I listen to the Bible I hear some interesting things about faith.



Jesus told his disciples that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can tell this mountain go and be thrown into the ocean and it will be done. A mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds.



So this isn't very much faith, but it packs a punch. Faith packs a punch. Faith is something that is small but grows into great big plants and other things. When Jesus would do a miracle more often than not, Jesus would do a miracle.



The stories say that he asked the person that he was healing. Do you want to be healed? Do you believe that I can do this? Do you believe this is possible? He didn't say you have to believe with your entire fiber of being.



He didn't say you have to be completely sold on this idea. Do you want to be healed? Do you believe this can happen? Even when you look at the story about the woman with the issue of bleeding, her faith was such that she Just wanted to touch the fringe of his outer cloak If I can just touch his cloak, I'll be healed. Not "if I can just get an hour of his time I'll be healed". Or "if I could just speak to him face to face I'll be healed". Just to touch the fringe of the outer garment.



One of the things that I learned in The Chosen, the series based on the gospel, is that Jewish people wear four tasseled fringes on their outer garment as prayer reminders. I'd kind of like to learn more about that, but I don't want to get bound up and all of a sudden have to wear tassels on my jackets and shirts.



But the way The Chosen depicted it they weren't very big. But they did add a splash of color to an otherwise boring coat.



Sometimes I think of faith like that. Faith adds a splash of color to an otherwise not real great situation and that color if you focus on it grows and dominates the entire thing.



You've got to have faith. To believe in God, you've got to have faith. Because we can't see him, smell him, touch him, or any of those physical things that we tend to want in order to prove something. In this day of spammers, scammers, and artificial intelligence beginning to be used for marketing, you've got to have a lot of faith in what you read and what you see in videos and pictures, because so much of it is fake and not real.



Even Peter, when he was confronted by Jesus on it, said, "I believe, help my unbelief!" That tells me that he didn't believe with his entire fiber, or he thought he did, but he still had doubts.



Just like us. And so for a fellow Christian to say that another Christian didn't have enough faith kind of makes me sad.





#faith #christian #jesus #church

Joy during the Christmas season ~

 Joy is a tough one for me. I feel joyful but don’t seem to be perceived as joyful.

I laugh heartily in private and with loved ones but tend to be reserved around others. But I don’t think laughter is a good measure of joy.

I smile plenty, but it tends to be a wry smile while going through something that requires patience on my part. The smile helps me feel better and hopefully puts others at ease. (Though I tend to feel like a shark or lately an orca when I smile :-)

Most of the Jewish people I’ve known have been sarcastic questioners of everything, including gifts from others. That’s just my experience, which is limited to a tight circle of space and time around my life. It’s almost as if their search for a Savior has become background noise and their focus is on the nation of Israel and on improving the lives of their families and children.

As I learn more and more about Christianity I am becoming more and more convinced that we have a wrong take on things. We live in time in a kingdom ruled by created beings that fell from the good graces of the Creator. That means that the birth of Jesus was a huge undercover operation that inserted him into this kingdom under cover of night. There were signs that it was happening - the prophecies, the stories, the star, the angels talking to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph. But after the covert insertion of Jesus into this world the angels burst forth in enemy territory to proclaim the arrival of their invading King.

It must have been amazing to the shepherds to have seen angels flying and singing! They had to look strange and different because they are not of this kingdom we live in. And we’ve always been told the angels sang their songs of joy to shepherds because Jesus came for everyone, but what if the angels sang their songs of joy heralding the arrival of their king out there because the rulers and princes of this world would have killed them if they did it in more populated areas? Hmmm

I feel joy when I think about the other kingdom that I am a part of. God’s kingdom. It’s hard to express it but it is a warm glow inside of me. Sure, this kingdom we are in now gets me down and drives a lot of my reactions but I feel joy knowing that I have a Savior that came and redeemed me so that I can be with him now and in his kingdom. And that I will be there after I leave this kingdom.

I hope that you feel that joy this Christmas season.

 

Bonus material:

Joy (What The World Calls Foolish)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9aJOCpRuxk

C S Lewis on Joy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7JAVvioOUU

Article: The Difference Between Joy and Happiness

https://www.verywellmind.com/joy-vs-happiness-8724682

 

#advent #christmas

Whose fault is that ~

One of the hardest phrases that I've had to deal with in seeking communication is, "And whose fault is that?" My mother always wanted to know who was at fault and always placed blame somewhere else.



There was always some outside influence or somebody that was out to get you. I grew up scared and fearful and careful to the point that I carry my wallet in my front pocket to this day. I've had that within my larger family.



I have a relative that when somebody would say they didn't know something their response when I was around was almost always "And whose fault is that?" Then they would explain that it was the fault of the person that didn't know the item.



This usually placed the person asking about something on the defensive because they didn't ask questions sooner or they didn't seek out the information. I got asked that, too, and I've been made to feel guilty because I didn't know something that nobody shared with me.



That's happened multiple times throughout my life, like changes of address, phone numbers, surgeries. names given to babies, all sorts of things. And it's always my fault that I didn't know because I didn't ask or I didn't stay close enough to pick it up in passing because nobody made the effort to let me know.



And that's the thing, as I hope to be included, I'm not. And I end up having to chase people for the information that I wish that I had. I've reached a point to where I don't chase people now. If you don't share it with me, I don't know it.



And then when you act like I should know it, I'm probably just going to look at you. Or you may have the "volatile when shaken" reaction because I'm surprised and hurt again to not have been included in something.



I don't know, I'm becoming more and more at peace with things and I like that. I just...hoped for something different.



But I accept the way things are. And whose fault is that? Mine.

Faith during the Christmas season ~

Faith is the evidence of things hoped for, the substance of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

For me faith can be a lot like trust. When I go to sit in a chair I trust that the chair will support me and that I will not fall in the floor when I put my full weight on it.

If a certain type of chair caves when I sit on it in the future I will probably not sit on that type of chair without hesitating. That doesn't mean I don't believe the chair exists or is really a chair, I just hesitate and shy away from it. But almost always I will try again.

God is like that for me. Over and over I've put my full trust in him and found that he supported me through everything. Not always in obvious ways. not always in the way that I wanted, but I always realize at some point that he did.

An example: I currently have a situation where I feel betrayed and I keep asking God why it happened. As I continue to react to my pain with sadness and anger I have starting shifting from asking "why" to thanking God for my freedom from the betrayer. And as I do this I have a sense that God is right there with me in the sadness and anger. I keep going back and then working through the process again, over and over, and with each iteration the cycle time gets shorter and shorter. That feeling comes from a place of faith.

I have faith that you will see things happening around you this Christmas season that will point you toward a renewed faith in God.

Bonus material:

Passion - O Come All Ye Faithful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wW4R4lfUQI

CS Lewis on faith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nh-_PEH25o#ddg-play

#advent #christmas

Hope during the Christmas season ~

Christmas season brings a lot of mixed feelings for me. My children are adults, some with their own children. I've reached the age where I no longer have to work at a job reporting to someone else. My daily, weekly, and monthly activities have changed to be more healthy and relaxed (most of the time). 

And yet I still enjoy the hope that the Christmas season brings. I still enjoy hearing the story of how God sent his son Jesus to be born. I believe in the salvation story taught in the Bible and have put my faith and trust in a God I can't see.

I watch as the Israeli people, with their 5000+ year history, fight to defend themselves still. 

And I marvel at the hope I see and read about. For all the dystopian programming the entertainment industry pushes in every channel of communication they invent people still yearn for the Savior we celebrate the birth of this season

My hope is that you will feel the hope the Israelites have felt for so long as they have waited for their Savior.

Bonus material:

- Prayers For This World by Pentatonix

https://youtu.be/qzav80_4kao?si=H2akivnB4vg3ebuJ

- Book- The Source by James Michener

Great story about Israel that spans the centuries. Long but good read!

https://a.co/d/7qEx3BZ

- Post: C S Lewis as atheist turned apostle

https://www.cslewis.com/c-s-lewis-as-atheist-turned-apostle/

#advent #christmas

Age of distraction ~

People act like this age of distraction is new and has reached a level that is unheard of. But I've seen some things over the course of my life. 

I remember driving down the road on the interstate in the city of Atlanta and I looked over to my side because something caught my eye and the guy driving the vehicle alone beside me had a full -size newspaper unfolded with two pages leaning on his steering wheel while he steered and read the newspaper.

I slowed down and let him get on by me.

On a band trip I ended up riding in the camper with the band director and the drum major and while we were driving at 75 miles per hour down the road. The drum major and the driver swapped positions behind the driver's wheel while still going down the interstate. We did not slow down. They had set cruise control and this was in traffic in the middle lane of a three -lane interstate road.

I've seen multiple people using their phones while driving. I've used my phone while driving but that's more recent than the newspaper and the camper hot swap.

And there's always the parent reaching around to chastise a child. Or reposition a baby bottle. Or hold something while they're driving because it's slipping from the position that they had it in in the packed backseat.

And even worse is when a driver and a passenger are both riding down the road with their arms out the window holding something on the roof of the vehicle while they drove slowly. Soon, we'll have Google Glass wannabes driving down the road with augmented reality hovering in front of their eyes and making them twitch and swerve when there's nothing there, just so they can get a better view of some icon hovering in their little artificial world.

The bug-eyed privileged among us will teach us how to keep our distance without having the COVID virus or whatever the next disaster is that they'll try to force us to do things with.

Be careful out there, distracted people are everywhere. And with the litigiousness of our society, it'll almost always be your fault when they get hurt. The lawyers will make sure of that.

Be careful.

Getting off the bus ~

I recently retired from a career with the federal government. I worked for over 35 years in the air traffic control system, starting as a controller and then working my way through staff positions, traffic management/efficiency, evaluations, program/project management and implementation, and management positions at facily, regional, and national levels both in and out of the operation. I even got to do some software development along the way and helped develop and implement a nationwide information management system as well as a few local software tools for my facility.

I don't share this to brag, I'm sharing my accomplishments. But I left my career quietly. No trumpets and fanfare, just a quiet exit. It was like I was getting off of a really loud and raucous bus.

It's been so relaxing to unwind and decompress. But I still get twinges of what feels like guilt for not making a bigger deal about the end of my career.

I had several of my "guys" that retired while I was responsible for them. Most of them left the same way, telling me that they did NOT want any celebrations or parties, they just wanted to fade into the woodwork. Most of the other people were bothered by this and tried to do things, but I reminded them of what the retiring people's wishes and we kept it low-key.

I guess I saw that and wanted something similar, to just step from one existence into the promised existence without making a big deal of it. My wife and several others have thought it strange but have kept it low-key for me.

I do find it fascinating that only one of my managers texted me to congratulate me. The others were way too focused on getting better seats on the bus while it was moving. Or trying to tell the driver where to turn as soon as the bus got going again.

I feel so much more relaxed now. No threats from the union or other managers, no crises that make me think the world is going to end, just day-to-day living at my pace.

Thank you, God, for your blessings and fulfilled promises!

Early is on time ~

When I have an appointment or something happening at a specific time, I do my best to get there a few minutes early. For me, it's a sign of respect to get there early and be able to say hello or get in and sit quietly waiting and watching as people gather for whatever it is. It's also a time to keep things relaxed instead of being stressed and wound up tight as I rush to try to get there at the last minute.

I used to get there right at the last minute a lot. I prided myself on being able to time things so that I could overcome whatever obstacles jumped up unexpectedly and still get there just as something started. I was embarrassed a lot because I got there a couple of minutes late. I was very tense and the pressure that I put on myself was eventually too much.

As my kids went through high school they were in band. I think all of their band directors had a saying that being five minutes early is on time, and being on time is late.

This was especially true for high school kids, teenagers, because they would get there on time and then have to get their instruments out and have to talk and joke around and figure out where they needed to be and all that stuff.

So if everybody showed up at the appointed time, then 10 minutes later, practice still has not started. I know that some people will go ahead and schedule things with a buffer time, trying to allow for the people that show up late.

I stopped doing that because if you don't have enough respect for me to be on time, then I really don't want to wait for you.

Do your best to get there five minutes early so that you can show respect for the organizer and actually be comfortable as you ease your way into the event, whatever it might be.

Go for it!


#us

Love cicadas ~

I love hearing the sound of the cicadas. I've read the stories about how there's gonna be a bumper crop of millions of cicadas waking up and then I listened to them and feel like I'm participating in that news story.

I love how they sound! I love the constant ululating of the pitch that they are at - there's nothing else like it. I could record it but it just wouldn't be the same because it's so surrounding when you're sitting in the yard and just listening to it. I remember a few years ago my wife and I were sitting in the backyard having a fire and we could hear the cicadas in the evening as the sun was setting. The sound came in waves from across the field and then closer by in the field and then in the trees that were to our left and above us and then off to our right and it was just like a tidal wave of their sound. It was amazing and huge and so big that it was just weird to think about.

Bugs are funny like that because they're everywhere and they're in the middle of everything, but we really don't give them much credit. But they're amazing.



#personal #outdoors #bugs

The Bible Project ~

One of the online things that my wife and I are supporting is theBible project. They continue to develop videos and other things that promote learning about the Bible and understanding what the Bible says and means.

It's very interesting because they go through and they'll study a book of the Bible or a main passage from the Bible and they'll illustrate it with cartoonish animations and descriptions and it's amazing how they make it so clear.

They really fit well with what the Bible is saying, which means that they're following what God is telling them and what the Bible says, and they use very engaging lettering and graphics and animation that just bring the Bible almost to life.

It's one of those things because it's hard because the Bible is so old and the stories and the letters and the information given in it is just so ancient that it really doesn't seem like it applies to today.

But every time I read the Bible and every time I listen to a Bible project video, I realize how much it does apply to today. and the future and how it helps me in my everyday life. One of the specific video series that they've been doing lately is the Beatitudes from the New Testament where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount and talked about who among us would be blessed in the kingdom of heaven.

The upside-down kingdom of heaven. Everything he says in there is so backwards and doesn't fit how we in modern society think. But if you listen to their videos about it, you can gain so much insight.

It's almost as good as all the secular baloney about Zen, Buddhism, and all that. I listen to those videos too, and they're very engaging, but I prefer to worship the one true God instead of the group consciousness that everyone thinks they've created.

I recommend the Bible project for learning more about the Bible and learning more about life. You can check them out at
https://bibleproject.com

St Augustine grass ~

I grew up in central Florida. One of the things that my dad enjoyed doing in our yard was watering the grass. We had a yard filled with St. Augustine grass. It's a nice thick turf grass that sends out runners and takes over an area, but it needs a lot of sunlight. So in areas where there were trees or shade, it tended not to grow very well.

When I moved away from central Florida we moved to northern Georgia near Atlanta. Most people there grew fescue grass and really enjoyed their fescue grass and seeding and overseeding and aerating and fertilizing and messing with their tall fescue grass every year.

They would talk about how to have the best fescue grass yard and brag about how great they were doing. I just wanted St. Augustine grass. I read about Zoysia and I read about other kinds of grasses, but I wanted St. Augustine.

So one year when we went to my parents' house I dug up some plugs of St. Augustine grass from their yard. I grabbed some runners off of the edge where it was overgrowing onto the driveway I put it all in a plastic bag and brought it to Georgia. I planted the plugs and made sure roots on the runners were covered with red Georgia clay and a little bit of dirt and then I waited. I knew that it would take a while since I wasn't getting sod or anything but my hope was that it would take over the area between the sidewalk and our house and then it would take over as much of the backyard as it could.

I hoped it would take some of the front yard, but it had already established turf grass that I didn't think the St. Augustine could beat easily. I didn't really water it or fertilize it after I planted it, I just let it grow.

I'd treat it like all the rest of the grass and mow, and it spread. It spread to take over the area that I wanted it to take over. It spread throughout the backyard. When it hit the areas of the backyard that were shaded for the majority of the day, it stopped.

It did it just what I wanted it to do. This was funny to me because when I told someone that had a background in horticulture and experience in working with plants about what I was doing they said it would never work and that St. Augustine couldn't grow that far north. I just laughed and told them "Well, I've got a yard full of it in Georgia right now."

There are some issues with my St. Augustine grass. Each year when everybody's out buying pre-emergent weed killer and all the things that they talk about here in Georgia, I don't do that.

My wife says we need to spray the yard for weeds and I remind her that the weed killer that we have here in Georgia will kill St. Augustine grass. So we need to leave it alone.

There are weeds that come up in the St. Augustine grass, but St. Augustine is slower to get going in the spring than everything else. And so the weeds have a field day and then the heat comes and St. Augustine chokes them out and covers them up.

It's pretty funny. I always laugh when I walk on it in my bare feet and go, yeah, this stuff won't grow in Georgia.

Silly how I do things that people say can't be done. Over and over and over...


#grass #yard

Funeral thoughts ~

I recently went to the funeral of a friend that was held in a church in the middle of the city. The funeral was a good service, I really enjoyed the way the pastor and the music minister worked together as the three-piece band played old-time hymns like I'll Fly Away and Amazing Grace. The pastor would be humming and singing along with the music and then he'd break off and say a couple of things and then he'd go back into the song even as the music minister was singing also.

The husband of the lady that had passed away went to the microphone to say a couple of words. He was very fat, morbidly obese would be the medical term. Now this man had been in jail for as long as I knew about him and had gotten out in the past year or so and I had an odd thought as I watched him speak.

People make such a big deal about us needing to rehabilitate criminals while they're in jail rather than punish criminals while they're in jail. They talk about how we need to teach people to reach for different foods instead of the easy or the cheap foods that are available to them.

So how did this man get so fat while he was in jail? There's no way that he had packed on 200 plus pounds in less than a year after getting out of jail. And why didn't the penal system teach him and help him by correcting him to make choices on his food intake?

It just seems odd to me that amidst all the cries for more action and more money and more efforts, why didn't they do the right thing while they had him in there as a literally captive audience? It just raises questions for me.

Exactly what they asked for ~

I was a manager for the last half of my career. One of the funny things that happened as a manager was I was a support manager over two offices that supported our operational facility.

I had been an operations manager and a supervisor before that. And so I knew what was going on in the operation and I had suffered through many briefings from support managers and support staff on what they did and how they expected us to use them to help them.

Typically the presentations that the support offices gave had a lot of words and a lot of chapter and verse from the handbook and the different orders that drove how we were supposed to do things in our operation and in our facility.

While I was a support manager, the operations managers were younger than me and ready to change the world. And so when it came time to have a supervisor seminar, they demanded that my office's briefings not be just a bunch of words on a screen that somebody sits there and reads to them.

I looked around the room, and I said, are you sure you want that? Because that's typically the most informative way to get information to you guys that everybody understands. They responded that "We're tired of seeing the same thing, David, and we want something better."

One of the things that I found funny was they thought that they were demanding something from me that I couldn't provide. That I was not unwilling to provide. They were young and from other facilities and so they didn't understand that I was a revolutionary and this was what I lived for, to do things differently.

As a support manager I felt so bound by the way things had to always been and the way the orders were phrased and interpreted and I couldn't get around them. But I could provide a briefing that was a lot different than anything they had ever had.

So when the supervisor seminar came and I had a room full of supervisors and a couple of operations managers in the room. I started my presentation and told them who was in my office that I managed and then I showed them one slide with pictures on it. Each picture was an icon or small thumbnail of different aspects of what we did in our office. I proceeded to use a stick pointer to point to each picture and describe that activity that we did in our office and how it was supposed to be activated with us and what they could expect from us when they asked us to support them on that aspect of our duties. As I went through it everybody really enjoyed it. Everybody except the operations managers.

These younger managers thought I was being flippant and disrespectful and so when my manager called me into his office and talked to me and told me that I laughed and I said I gave them exactly what they asked for.

No words, just pictures. I literally drew them a picture and they still don't understand I don't know what else to do. My manager went back to them and chewed them out and said David drew you a picture he drew you a lot of pictures why don't you shut the hell up.

I hope they use that presentation in the future! It was such a great stroke of brilliance on my part :-) I did it for the other office that I managed at the time also and it was a completely different set of pictures and icons. I even had door prizes that I handed out, little doodads for everybody to take home with them. The supervisors loved it, the operations managers not so much.

That's the story of my career, over and over and over. I reached the people that actually did the work, and the people who just took credit for the work didn't understand and didn't like me LOL

July 4th and clothing ~

This past July 4th, our church had a big patriotic acknowledgment of the veterans that have served in our country. It was very nice, and I like when we do that, although sometimes it seems overdone. There was a lot of red, white, and blue worn in the congregation that morning.

A lot of people wearing flag symbols on their clothing, but one thing stood out that bothered me. Our pastor was wearing a flag shirt. It was like a Hawaiian shirt, button down, long untucked, short sleeve, and it had the American flag on it.

It was the American flag with the stars over his left upper part of his body and the stripes extending from the left lower part of his body and about the middle of his chest to the right part of his body.

It wasn't a patch, the shirt was the flag. Growing up on Air Force bases as my dad worked his way through the military I learned respect for the flag. Everybody had to pause in the morning and the evening when the flag was raised and lowered.

I said the Pledge of Allegiance at school every morning. We stood when the Star -Spangled Banner was played. And we didn't stand and keep doing things. We stood and watched reverently. As an adult, I got away from that a little bit, but then once I got involved in scouting for my boys, I got back into it.

Scouting teaches a lot about the American flag and respect for it. And teaches how to care for the flag, how to properly display the flag. and how to dispose of a flag properly you don't just throw it away there's a ceremony that you should have for a flag.

There are actually laws on how to display and use the American flag. In 4 US Code Section 7, Position and Manner of Display, the law actually outlines the use of the American flag. There's a lot of different things that it says in that.

Especially about making sure no other flag is displayed above it and that sort of thing. But, it doesn't say you can't wear a shirt that is a flag. It does say things about how the flag should be displayed.

But it bothered me that he was wearing a shirt that was the American flag. All I could think of is that he's probably going to throw that on the floor when he takes his shirt off later on in the day.

That's one of the things you're not supposed to do with the American flag. You're not supposed to change the American flag and you're not supposed to wear it and do the sorts of things that I see. Even pages on the internet, like National Flag Foundation stuff, says that American flag coffee cups, sweatshirts, and curtains are not patriotic and they refer back to the U .S. code. The flag should never be worn as apparel or used as bedding, curtains, or covering for a ceiling.

And so that's where I choke on what he was doing with that shirt. I don't understand why people have such a lack of respect other than they haven't been educated when I talk to my wife about it.

She said you should say something but I also reminded her that nobody really cares what I say and usually people react negatively when I give them feedback that involves a correction.

I'll probably send an email and just say, hey, you may want to review this page in the US code and let your conscience be your guide. We'll see.

Not an engineer ~

I was recently asked if I was an engineer. So my outfit when I drive for my wife has tended to be one of my button down shirts, like a blue one or blue stripes or the green or blue checks, but it's like I used to wear to work. And typically I wear khakis, although sometimes I wear jeans, and then I wear some form of tennis shoe, although I don't do the white tennis shoes anymore. When dressed like this in the past I've been called professor. I've had college students ask me if I could unlock the lab for them. I usually wear a baseball cap just to add to the image and the comfort.

Recently I was at dinner and I was in tavern-style place restaurant. It was an okay place. Friday night, early-ish, like five to six p.m.

A lot of older gentlemen with their wives were there. I also saw families out before they were going to go see a movie.

I had a glass of wine, some water, and hummus. The waitress really thought I was gonna have more.

But I spent most of my time writing on index cards. My thoughts and ideas and things were bubbling in my head while I was doing that I had my meditation going on in my ears so I could be progressing on my lessons while I waited for my wife to finish her assignment.

The waitress was nice and checked in often. She finally toward the end just before I left asked me are you an engineer. My index cards all have grids on them and she thought I was solving the puzzles of an engineer. I was solving puzzles but it was more emotional and taking notes and expressing gratitude and a couple of program ideas and stuff. But I think it's funny how in my age and outfit choices I get called engineer or professor and not "retiree" so far.

I've come a long way from what I used to be called in high school and college and even at work early in my career. Woohoo!

When The Air Hits Your Brain ~

I recently finished an audiobook called When the Air Hits Your Brain by Frank Vartosik, Jr., M .D. It took me a while to get through this audiobook just because I started it when I was running, and then when I stopped running, I set it aside and didn't really listen to audiobooks very much.

It was also a tough listen because doctors, as they're going through their medical school and their training and learning surgery and all that, go through a lot. And listening to what this guy went through to become a neurosurgeon along with the telling of the stories of the patients that he highlights along his path was tough.

Coming from a career in a very demanding field that's known as high stress, I listened to stories about how surgeons act and react and feel like I relate to it sometimes. You get to a certain point in your training and your experience where you just don't want to put up with an aptitude and the lack of knowledge in someone, and you just want to push them out of the way and do it or push them out of the way and get somebody in there that can help you.

This guy sounds like he kept his humanity a little bit more than some from what I've read and from the way shows depict surgeons. There's so many good doctors and surgeons out there that the bad ones always stand out and that's sad.

And there's so many stories on the human side of the suffering and the things that happen to someone that just don't make any sense and how a doctor and a surgeon step in and like magic these people are back to the way they were or at least back to a healthy place where they can live out their lives without the suffering associated with whatever disease or wrongness that was going on before.

I have a lot of respect for doctors they put up with. people like me and worse. I have a lot of respect for surgeons, although I've only had one surgery that was in a hospital. I've had a few outpatient surgeries to remove skin cancer.

Those people are always checking and monitoring and caring and hoping that things go right. They do things a certain way and whatever it is they do, they do it really well. If you want to learn more about what somebody you know might be going through as they go through medical school, be it general practitioner, surgeon, or even just as a REACH veterinary school because that's a whole world that a lot of people don't think about,

When the air hits your brain was a good listen via audiobook.

Check it out: https://a.co/d/9iw2XSJ

#book

Ease of lying ~

I had a friend recently exclaim how shocked he was at how easily people lie nowadays. His wife had been taken in by a scam and he was just shocked that these people that she got tangled up in lied so easily and roped her in.

I've noticed this coming. We had an exchange student from China and he would lie on any web-based form just to get access to the website. I even asked him, why do you lie that way? And he goes, it's what they require. And so I give them the information they want and they give me what I want.

I remember listening to an audio book about an American that drove through China and most of his stories involved Chinese people lying openly and easily to get him the rental car, get him able to drive wherever he wanted, get him supplies, and that sort of thing.

On the home front, we had been training for many years to have our children lie to get access to whatever web content they want while porn sites meet the requirements of the law and require somebody to be age 18.

I don't know of any teenage person that has honestly said, no, I'm not 18, I better not enter this. And even simple white lies that come up, people just let them roll off their tongue and then explain it away.

When I was raising my children, I told them, I can support you through almost anything but if you lie to me, I can't support you at all and I won't defend you.

our politicians lie as a matter of life we've elected a bunch of lawyers whose job it is to lie professionally and make it convincing and then make it legal no matter what it what it was that somebody did or said or stole we've reached a point not aware lies have become way too easy.

It makes me sad.


#personal

Like in some Psalms ~

Christians nowadays are taught that God is a God of love and just wants to be with us. And I accept that as what the Bible teaches. But there are other things in the Bible modern Christians seem to gloss over.

In many of the Psalms King David and others express anger at their enemies and ask God to do terrible things to them. They write prayers asking God to break arms, strike jaws, break teeth, and even to slay the Psalmists' enemies. Wow!

So I find it fascinating when I express anger and my wishes for bad things to be done to someone who has wronged me many times (my enemy) that the reaction is one of shock, outrage, and reminders that we are to "love our enemies".

And I do, even while I wish them the bad things I think up. Recently I saw an ad for an AirBnB/short term rental house near where I used to work. The house was owned by a guy I used to work with, a guy that repeatedly mistreated me and my people. I worked many extra evening shifts and missed many of my children's school shows and performances because this guy controlled the schedule and gave himself all day shifts over and over and over.

So when I told my wife about what I had seen I shared what I thought of him and what I would like to do to his property if I even rented it. I know that I will never rent his property and even if I did once I get it out of my head I wouldn't do that stuff because I'm a nice guy.

After her shock and head-shaking I of course prayed for the guy and left it with God. Just like David and the others did in the Psalms.

Pretty funny to me!


#personal

Youversion devotionals ~

My wife and I like to do devotionals together, but because we have different thoughts of what consistency is, we do them using the Youversion Bible app at https://www.bible.com/. This has been a good thing for us.

We have done devotionals together for several years now and have enjoyed the things that we have learned together. One of the things that I like, and that a lot of people apparently get off on, is the streak aspect of it.

As of this writing I have a streak of over 880 days straight of using the Bible app. That means I read or listened to the devotional read to me, and I read or listened to the Bible read to me for over 880 days in a row.

I tend to do these devotionals daily just because that is the way I am. My wife tends to do them in spurts, which works, but makes it a little bit asynchronous. I've enjoyed the stuff that we've learned together.

We've gone through Acts and Romans and other New Testament books in the Bible. We've gone through Bible project devotions and right now we're going through a devotion based around The Chosen Season Four and the Bible project information accompanying those episodes.

Check it out at
https://www.bible.com



#bible #devotional

Shredding stuff ~

One of my jobs that I've taken on now that I am retired from federal service is to shred our old records from the basement. That's been going okay. I bought a good shredder last year and it handles almost everything that I throw at it.

But one of the interesting aspects of doing this is the memories that come up. As I shredded a pack of bills from 2010, I saw the electric bills that were $400 and $600 and one was $700 for a month. And that reminded me of when we had all four kids in the house and it was mid -summer and the air conditioner was going and all the lights and all the devices were going.

And how I got all hung up about turning lights off and put in motion sensors so that lights would turn off automatically because my wife and my children would leave lights on like the utility room lights and the garage lights would stay on all night.

The outdoor lights would stay on all night for no reason so I put motion sensors on them. It's so funny because my oldest son made a comment recently about, yeah, I bought LED lights and they cost 3 cents a year to run so I don't know why you were so hung up about electricity.

Part of me would love to show him that $700 electric bill and say, this is why. Other bills come up that I'm about to shred and I remember the angst over having to pay it or the money issues that we were having at the time because of other pressures that were on to pay for kids trips and activities and dinners out and church events and Cub Scout and Boy Scout stuff.

So many good memories tied to all these records.

Fun!


#personal #history

My spice blend ~

I've been using the same set of spices to put in my morning eggs for two or three years now. It's a tasty blend of spices that I put together over the years as I read about anti-inflammatory properties of each one and the health benefits of each one.

It's nothing fancy, just normal spices put together so that you can shake them out and make the eggs healthy and it tastes great. The spices that I use in about equal proportions are turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, garlic, paprika, black pepper, and I like to add the Complete Seasoning from Badia because it gives it a little extra zing.

Recently I've blended all of these into one bottle instead of pulling each spice off the rack and shaking it into my eggs. I kind of miss doing each individual spice but it is a lot easier just to shake it out of one bottle.

I used a large spice bottle that did have garlic in it before. Part of me would like to save our next Parmesan cheese container and put my blend in there but I'm concerned that the holes might be too big.

It's hard to tell but it's all part of my effort to make things a little bit easier and more efficient in the mornings. I like my little blend of spices.

It's fun, it's part of my effort to be healthier. I also use olive oil almost exclusively now. For a while I used coconut oil but I switched to olive oil and I really like it. The flavorful olive oil, not the plain boring tasting olive oil.

I hope I'm actually getting olive oil and not getting the fake stuff. Anyways, give those spices a try and blend them together. They taste great!



#food #spices

Not autistic ~

My mom told me in my 50s "you're probably somewhere on the spectrum". This was after watching several Oprah Winfrey shows about autism.

I've never been diagnosed with autism. I've never been told that I am neurodivergent, though I have been told that I'm thinking wrong many times.

I don't act like the autistic people that I've seen through my life. So, I took the comment as not valid, and yet it echoes in my head still. When I read articles about neurodivergent people being assets to companies and how they can increase productivity and be creative in ways that neurotypical people are not creative, I perk up and take notice, but I also wonder, what was she thinking?

And why would she say such a thing and put such a label on me? My mother has put other labels on me like "you have OCD" and "you're anal retentive". She said these things during a time when they were a very popular talk-show subjects. She watches a lot of video entertainment so probably picked up the ideas there.

The crowning comment is when my wife and I were helping her after a surgery and she said that she was "learning that people that look like you can do nice things". I had a beard and mustache and was growing my hair out long at the time.

She had commented several times in the weeks leading up to that that it would be nice if I would shave and why didn't I shave like other people do and people that shave look nice and clean. I haven't shaved my face in seven years. I keep the beard neatly trimmed and it's not unwieldy.

I explained to her multiple times that I don't like shaving because I don't like to cut myself. Almost every time that I shave my face I cut somewhere on my chin typically right on the middle of it and it hurts. Sometimes I'll cut myself in other parts of my face when I shave my face. I shave my neck on a regular basis usually twice a week and I don't cut my neck. It's not an issue down there.

As my mother gets older, she acts a lot more like her mother. That was something she asked me to warn her about if she ever started doing it, but I know that it would be hurtful for me to tell her that she was acting like her mother.

So I don't. And I take the hits and just keep rolling even though they continue to echo in my head.



#personal

Mental illness as a joke ~

So many people minimize the words associated with mental illness. They'll admit to "binging" on streaming shows one after another and losing a whole day doing it and laugh and say that's just the way it works now. Kind of like a bulemic person will binge on food and then "purge" by vomiting it out of their body.

They'll call somebody that's a little bit skinnier than what they like or appreciate "anorexic". The person's not anorexic at all but they are skinny.

They'll say that someone that someone who is careful and double-checks things has "OCD". Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental illness.

Marketers have ruined the word "mania" by saying, oh, shopping mania happening this weekend during the holiday. When you have a relative go through a manic session, you learn just how wrong it is to use that word that way.

Shows also poke fun at it and use it for comedy. From what I understand Big Bang Theory was based around a person who had autism. Maybe two or three of the people on their had autism and they were super smart but they had emotional issues and it was comedic relief to put them through a bunch of hoops and laugh about it.

I went through and got a mental health coach certificate. I learned a lot going through those lessons. One of the things that keeps popping up in the press and that they stressed in those mental health coach lessons I went through was that we have more mental health issues in our country than ever before. I wonder if it's because we joke about and minimize it so much?

I'm starting to understand why people longed for the days of simple shows like the Andy Griffith Show and Leave It to Beaver. Even if they were facades covering up terrible things in some cases, the shows were pleasing and typically stress-free. The extremism of today was not there.

Please be careful using words that are associated with mental health issues. They tend to hurt people when you use them in certain ways.



#personal

Cooking hamburgers ~

I remember learning how to cook hamburgers from my grandmother. This was my mother's mother, who we called "Grammy". She lived with us for many years after Granddaddy died. She didn't really want to live with us, but she didn't have any other good options.

So she moved in with us, and Mom and Dad welcomed her. She resented it and snuck around and read the mail and snooped on things and complained. Stuck her fork in the bowls and plates with the shared food in them so that Dad would get upset later.

He never said anything to her about it that I know of. Grammy and Mom always had the unspoken tension of who was in charge of the kitchen and who could do what. But I do remember Grammy teaching me how to cook hamburgers and how to check and make sure they were done.

It's a skill that I practiced over and over while I lived at home and after I moved out. It's a skill that I honed working at McDonald's for two and a half years and that I continued to do as an adult.

And now when I grill burgers, I'll sometimes think of her when I'm checking to see if they're done. She taught me to poke the spatula in the top of the burger and then press it like I was searing the burger.

And if the juices were still reddish, it wasn't quite done, but if the juices came through clear, that burger was done and ready to come off and be eaten.

Good guidance. Good memories.



#personal #food #history

Rebel upholder ~

I read the book The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin. I think I've talked about it before but it's a book where she talks about personality types and says personality type tests didn't quite do it for her But after she started observing behaviors and doing a bunch of surveys, she started to see patterns in tendencies that people have.

And she came up with four tendencies to explain how people tend to behave. They're not boxes, they're just a tendency that someone has. I find that a lot more appealing than other personality test type things.

I tend to react poorly when I'm put in a box and I tend not to fit in any box. When I take personality tests, I tend to be an introvert and tactical, but also strategic with extrovert tendencies and lots of different things.

The Enneagram test didn't do it for me. I remember taking one personality test a long time ago that told me that I needed to find a job where I worked in an ivory tower and didn't interact with hardly anybody. Which I enjoy, but I also enjoy being with people just on my own terms. And so, Gretchen Reuben's book laid out these four tendencies that people have. The main two that I focused on were Upholder and Rebel. 

And it's funny because the Upholder is where when I take her test or survey that's the main tendency that i have. I like to know the rules and then I like too abide by the rule. I tend to be on time to a fault and I tend to not understand why other people aren't on time.

If someone has an expectation of me I do my best to meet that expectation and I tend be successful at it.

But I also seem to have a lot of rebel tendencies. The way that manifests itself in my life is not liking when people tell me how to do things.

I'll uphold your objectives, I will even uphold you rules, but don't tell me how to do it. Don't try to micromanage me. Even with myself, which is comical because she talks about how rebels tend to rebel even against their own expectations.

And I find myself doing that over and over. So I come up with ways to put these two together and make them work for me. I've been pretty successful in my life. The phrase I use is "I have met all of my objectives" and that continues to happen.

They don't make much sense to anybody else, but man, I'm firing on all cylinders and nobody's telling me how to do it. Although I do watch a lot of videos and read a lotta things on the Internet to try and different ways of approaching things.

Since I started meditating with the Calm app and doing my lessons daily that's helped give me a firm point in the day to get away and focus on my growth and learning.

I tend to listen to a book of Proverbs every day. That book is the chapter that correlates with that day of the month. So if it's the 15th then I listen to Proverbs chapter 15 and I find that soaking myself slowly in Proverb's has those teaching oozing out in different ways.

But if you're looking for a different approach to personalities and trying to learn more about why you do the things you, do you ought to give Gretchen Rubin's book a tumble. Check it out at
https://a.co/d/0bh2Mamd

#book

Squirrel hunting ~

I remember going squirrel hunting with dad one time.

I was 13 years old. We got up early that morning. He made sure that we had water and the other stuff that we needed. We drove out into the big scrub in the Ocala National Forest. We parked somewhere and he fretted over somebody coming by and messing with the car then we got the shotgun. He had a bag that he slung over his shoulder. It was a macrame bag and it was pretty big and it was weird to see on him because he never carried any bag like that ever.

We got out in the woods and we found a place to stop and he said that I needed to watch for squirrels and when I saw one let him know. The sun was coming up and dew was all over the place. I remember hearing all the sounds of the birds greeting the morning.

And then we saw a squirrel making his way around scampering on branches. He had me position the 20-gauge shortgun on my shoulder, had me sight down the barrel, and as the squirrel was moving along and he said, watch for it and if you get a shot, take the shot. I didn't really know what that meant, so when I saw the squirrel and everything seemed to line up, I shot and I hit it. I watched the squirrel fall from the tree to the ground.

Dad had me put the gun down and then he ran over to where the squirrel had landed. It was still wiggling. And I watched my dad pick the squirrel up by the tail and swing its head against a tree several times so it would die.

I must have turned green or something because dad didn't have me shoot any more squirrels. He got several more and then I discovered that the bag was for him to put the squirrels in the bag to carry his kill.

We took them home and dad cleaned the squirrels. I wanted no part of that so I watched him start on one and gagged and went inside. Mom fixed the squirrel meat with a kind of crispy fried-chicken-like coating.

It wasn't the best meat, kind of tough and stringy, but it tasted okay. I kept thinking about how that squirrel looked when he stopped and he fell. and then watching my dad swing its head against a tree to kill it.

Dad never took me hunting again, and I've never been as an adult.

Using misdirection ~

I remember playing ping-pong in the garage with my younger brother when we were growing up. I had learned watching my dad and watching people at band camp. And even when I would see it occasionally on TV that if you wanted to fake somebody out you looked in one direction but you hit the ball in the other.

They would do that in football and baseball and basketball. So I figured out how to do that to my brother. And so I'd be looking at one corner and then I'd turn and use the paddle to hit the ball toward the other corner.

My brother was six years younger than me so it worked for a really long time. And as the oldest brother that was just such a thrill for me. It's a theme that's gone on throughout my life where I wish I could be a magician but I'm not very good at it.

But I like that misdirection so the people are all looking in one direction. And then I go in another and win. Over and over and over.

Church and the Three Musketeers ~

Sometimes I wish the church operated like the Three Musketeers more. Fiercly loyal to the king they would go to any lengths to root out and discover the cause of attacks on the king. They would support each other with understanding and defend each other to the death no matter how messed they were. The Musketeers are depicted as being sinful, sloppy until it came time to be shiny, quick with the sword as well as educated and ready to discuss topics far outside of their sphere of life. They were always training younger Musketeers and looking to recruit whoever they could.

So often in church today men don't feel welcome. We're made to sing songs about being a bride and how we long to be held by our Savior, a message that just doesn't resonate well with me in this age of wokeness and the rise of artificial support for confused individuals.

I know a man that is going through some marital issues that moved away from our church because he is living somewhere else. I've been told he feels like our church hasn't been there for him but the only reason I know about the marital issues is gossip and I don't want to provoke the guy to anger by reaching out to ask if the rumor is true.

I read a book called "Why Men Hate Going To Church" and so many of the points the author made fit our church I was surprised. I've made suggestions to try and change some of these things but because commercialized church tend to be marketed to the female consumer in the 20-40 year age range the suggestions aren't really received well.

Maybe I should start a group based on the Musketeers. Hold it around a campfire. Go on adventures in the community, though I don't know that "wenching" would go over well in a church setting.

We'll see...

Book - The Three Musketeers
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1257

Book - Why Men Hate Going to Church
https://a.co/d/08t89onA


#book

I love Herb Alpert music ~

Ever since I heard the opening fanfare of the first song on the album "Rise" I've enjoyed Herb Alpert's music. When I was a teenager and I was joining one of those record clubs (where they send you "free" records with your agreement to buy some at full price over the next year or two) I needed something to fill out my list of 10 free records. My mother suggested Herb Alpert saying that she always enjoyed listening to the Tijuana Brass songs on the radio. I chose the album "Rise" as my last record choice. When the records came I listened to it and was blown away!

After college I drifted away from listening to his music but enjoyed reading occassional articles about his releases and his continued influence in the music industry. I was shocked when I first learned that A&M Records was founded by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, but as I've gotten older I've learned that it was a great thing to be a producer that helps other artists do great things. And the whole time he kept putting out great music.

After listening to him on 8-track and cassette tape, CD, and mp3 I've gotten to where I really enjoy streaming his music. I've listened to the album "Rise" in the mornings as I get ready for the day for a while now and still enjoy every song.

Herb Alpert has put out over 45 "albums" and continues to make and produce great music. He is an artist that paints, sculpts, and creates in other mediums. He is a philanthropist and supports several different causes.

If you want to try some trumpet music that spans generations and has a great beat give him a try! Here are a couple of playlists and links:

https://herbalpert.com

A&M Records:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%26M_Records

YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA0C66DBC2E3D59D2

Spotify playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1E4wZVPum2gqrV

#music

Fully successful ~

I am a survivor.

My wife and I were at a church event this past weekend and during the lesson portion of it they talked about the scale of success that typically people find at church. It was a family ministry thing and so we were talking about caring for kids and being an inspiration for the kids and helping kids have that moment that helps them lock on to staying a Christian once they get past their teenage years or getting back involved in church once they cross from teenager to adult.

But the speaker said that there are three types of workers in family ministry especially working with children. There's the "survivor" who comes in and does what supposed to do and make sure everybody makes it home safe and that's fine.

Then there's the "succeed" who does the lesson with the kids and has the snack and keeps everything relatively in order and clean and has that moment with the kids where they have a chance to learn.

Then there's the "person of significance" who makes memories with the kids that they can lean on in the future when they start to drift away from church.

After the lesson and during a quick five-minute break I told my wife "I'm glad I'm a survivor." She got upset she and said I should try to be more than that and explained how being a survivor isn't enough. I told her that that is the very attitude that I have run into my entire life that I am tired of. I told her that's kind of like the whole apex predator thing where everybody gets hung up on the shark or the Tyrannosaurus Rex or the ultimate predator that can hunt and kill whatever. I said I'm an apex survivor - I've survived every day until today and it looks like I'm going to survive today too and I'm happy with that.

I'm thrilled to survive. But she continued she said no you should want to be more than that you should want to be significant and I explained to her that that's what echoes in my head is that I am NOT enough if I do What needs to be done in a way that is acceptable and satisfactory. That very attitude of "you didn't do enough" and "you should you should have different feelings and want to do more than enough to the point that you're significant."

It reminded me of when I was working and we had to rate our employees. I was a manager and we had a scale that we had to rate our employees on every year for their annual review of performance. The scale had four points from left to right left. The first was "needs improvement". The second notch was "fully successful". The third notch was "exceeds expectations" and the fourth notch was "significantly exceeds expectations". My employer spelled out what what each of those meant. Many of the managers that I worked with and that worked across the country rated their employees as a 4 if they just showed up for work on time and successfully completed a shift.

I was taught as an employee that I was fully successful and I was to sign the form and turn it in. I would be honest about my ratings and all the young bucks coming up were all hyped about getting the maximum raise that they could and they would get very upset with me when I would rate them a 2 .5 or even a 3.

I had one of my guys that was awesome and he exceeded expectations all the time and he got very upset when I rated him as a 3.0. exceeds expectations. He argued saying "No no I I deserve more than that" and I apologized and explained that I was rating him this way. When I told him where I needed him to improve and he actually got pissed off and went above my head two or three steps and everybody supported me. It was funny but also sad at the same time because I got my 2 .0 and I was happy. I was fully successful my entire career. That's a winning streak it. I'm not competing against anybody else. I've learned that I can't because nobody else is in my league and I'm fully successful I survived everything they could throw at me and I thrived to the point that I left on a high note on a positive with everything running the way it was supposed to. I wasn't chased out with pitchforks or under shadow of some accusations by an alien that I had discriminated against them.

And so I survived. My wife still wasn't satisfied and she thought that I should want more and I told her something that I've learned recently: I understand that you're saying that because you think you're helping me, but that does not help me. I do not accept it and I will move on now.

And I did.

Mistaken for others ~

I've been mistaken for other people most of my life. When I was growing up, people would say that I looked just like somebody else and then they'd compare the two of us. When they finally got us side by side, I didn't look anything like them.

As an adult, I changed my facial hair every couple of years. As a result, I got a lot of comments from people saying that I looked just like so-and-so or you look just like this guy I knew in high school or didn't I see you up in New York City or whatever.

I never got to see those people so I don't know how much I looked like them, but I got that a lot. One funny time when I was in an executive role at our regional office where I worked, these union thugs were in the lobby all having an impromptu meeting when I walked in going to work. At the time, I had on a goatee and glasses. One of them broke away from the crowd and came and shook my hand and said, hey, I hadn't seen you since so-and-so and isn't it great, you know, so-and-so did this and Moe did that and he was talking about New York union thugs and I just smiled and laughed and shook his hand and said, yeah, it is and then I kept walking.

He mistook me for some New York City union thug, which was hilarious. At work, I would get that comment of, well, you look just like so-and-so. Or better, the older guys would say, you remind me of so-and-so from 20 years ago.

Nowadays, I'm mistaken for other people in my life. Direct and indirect family, it's almost as if I'm considered one of them or even that person which can be detrimental to the unity in our family. My mother acts like I'm a lot like my grandfather who she did not like very much.

She even when I was growing up said that genetics must be real because I walk swinging my right foot just like my grandfather did. That being said she really doesn't share much with me and is acting as if I'm some sort of authority in her life that she has to rebel against.

That's led to some unfortunate things but that's life. I'm also compared to one of my cousins that I've seen only a handful of times in my life. He's pretty arrogant and so that comparison kind of bothers me.

And I believe that I'm actually thought of to be like a useless brother and a useless father of one of my family members. That comparison and connection has led to division and separation which is sad.

Recently, I've been learning to accept people as they are, to not have the expectations and not look for comparisons, but to accept and smile and love them. And that's what I'm endeavoring to do, even if they think that I'm somebody else.

Unpredictably consistent ~

I am one of the most consistent people that I know. When I can I find routines I stick to them.

When I was working shift work that was a challenge because my shifts were all over the place for the first half of my career and then the second half of my career they became a little more predictable but still shift work. So I would come up with ways to bring consistency to that inconsistent schedule. I picked days off that nobody else really wanted, Sunday/Monday. That way I could go to church consistently and I would have a day off that many people did not have where I could actually get things done and relax all on the same day.

My shift work was normally two or three evening shifts that started around one o 'clock and ended around 9 or 10 then two or three day shifts that started at 6 30 in the morning and ended around 2 30 in the afternoon. They would change from here to there. When I would get a 10 to 6 I would be thrilled because that meant I could sleep in a little bit and then miss all the traffic on the way home. My wife didn't really like the 10 to 6 but that was my favorite shift because I showed up and everything was already hopping, then I left while everything was so still rocking and rolling, but I had set things up so that they could survive and do their thing without me. It was a good shift.

If I could have worked straight ten to sixes I would have. But my consistency extends beyond just my shifts. When I'm confronted with wrong, I tend to get away from it. I tend to call it out also. I remember after my mother's knee surgery, her recovery went very poorly and at one point my wife and I were looking forward to just an afternoon break when my brother and his wife came down to see my mom.

When they got there, everybody said hello to mom. My wife and I got ready to walk out the door and my mom announced that we were having a meeting to discuss her future. Then she asked me for my advice.

Up until that point, she had not listened to my advice and said she felt like a teenager rebelling against an authority figure in me. All I was doing was trying to help. So she gave a preamble and then she said, "So what advice do you have for me, David?"

And I told her "I have none because you haven't listened to my advice up until this point. I'm not advising you to do anything." I said it in a very emotional way and it was not accepted very well.

I get that way at church when I'm confronted with things that I fully disagree with. I tend not to go along just to get along. And when people ignore me and treat me like I'm less than them, I respond in kind.

Unpredictable, because a lot of people don't expect that, but I was raised to be an adult and to make my own decisions, and I do. It's interesting to be unpredictably consistent. Most people don't expect somebody to actually do what they say they will do.

Most people don't even expect you to show up. More and more what I'm reading online from management gurus is most of being successful is just showing up, which I do very consistently. I can't help it if I'm rejected because other people are projecting images onto my canvas that are not me or they're looking at me and expecting something but they never express that expectation.

They just turn away when they don't get what they wanted or expected. But I continue to be me, unpredictably consistent.

Fear of pickpockets ~

When my wife and I went on a Mediterranean cruise I had some memories dredged up on the excursions.

My father had spent 20 years in the Air Force. During his time in the military he travelled to foreign countries and did lots of amazing things. And he experienced some of the bad things out there. He never said he had his pockets picked but as I got older he would always warn me about pick pockets.

As a teenager I got my driver's license at 16. This meant I carried my wallet with me every day in case I got to drive. Both my mother and my father repeatedly warned me about the dangers of pick-pockets and how carrying my wallet in my back pocket like so many people do was just an invitation to have my wallet stolen. They even encouraged me to carry my wallet in my front pants pocket so if someone tried to steal my wallet I'd feel them doing it!

All of this talk about pick-pockets instilled a deep fear of losing my wallet in me. To this day I carry a smaller wallet and keep it in my front pants pocket, though recently I've started wearing a fanny pack again and I tend to put my wallet in it.

Fast forward to our cruise. Each of our tour gudes warned that it was "pick pocket season" and they encouraged us to secure our wallets and passports from pick-pockets. They even strongly suggested that if we were carrying a backpack that we should carry it in front of our body so that no one could steal stuff out of the backpack without us seeing them trying.

While I'm glad that I am prepared for this sort of thing it still dredged up that old fear that my parents instilled in me.

Weird.

Augmented reality for years ~

I've augmented my reality for years. When I was younger I got a radio
from my grandmother. It was a white stand-up clock radio that was an
analog clock and you can set the alarm on it when I was restricted to
my bedroom in the fourth grade or fifth grade that's the radio that I
listened to Chicken-man and Paul Harvey on.

As I got older I'd buy boom boxes. I remember I bought this big silver
boom box that was awesome. I would listen to the radio on it and I'd
listen to my cassettes on it. When I got home from school I would put
it on the table and listen and actually fall asleep with my head on
the table.

Then came the Walkman radios with the headphones. I loved them but I
hated the spongy foam on my ears. I was so happy when they came with
those plastic stick in the ear so that they didn't fill the ear but
you could still hear the music really well headphones. Then came the
waterproof versions. I didn't use them very much because they were
always too expensive.

But I've augmented my reality with music and then as technology has
progressed with Bluetooth whisperings in my ear from podcasts and my
own little programs that quoted facts and jokes and weather
information randomly.

I'm concerned about visual augmentation because it could be very
distracting. But I'm also rather excited about it. The idea of being
able to go to the aquarium and have on a pair of AR glasses and see
the name and type of each fish and shark swimming in the water just
excites me to no end.

The possibilities of being able to see bubbles over cars as I drive
down the road giving me information about what they're about to do or
their speed or even the rating of the driver if we can get that far
without too much invasion of privacy are exciting.

Being able to drive by a business and see that a restaurant's busy and
the wait times two hours would be amazing.

I'm excited about what augmented reality is becoming but don't be
mistaken that it's new, it's not.

Four Tendencies ~

I listened to Gretchen Rubin's book, The Four Tendencies, again. In it she proposes that there are four tendencies and personalities that humans have that drive our decision -making in our actions. It's not quite the personality quizzes that pigeonhole everybody into boxes that tend to limit us, but they're just tendencies that we have.

I was reminded that I fit the upholder tendency really well. I have strong tendencies in that direction. I'm a rebel too, and that twists me up inside at times. But the chapter on upholders really resonated with me. (ooo, touchy feely words :-)

So many of the things that she said upholders tend to do or act like fit me to a T. Inner and outer expectations, love to do lists and checking things off, can come off as rigid or distant. React badly when situations change unexpectedly.

It's funny because there was this meme going around several times asking the question "what would your warning label be?" And my answer every time I see that is "Volatile when shaken". Because I don't like things being shaken up unless I'm the one shaking.

It was fun to listen to the book again. I got a lot more out of it this time. I'm hoping to learn more about myself and others and hopefully fit into the world a little bit better and understand people better.

Check it out at
https://www.amazon.com/Four-Tendencies-Indispensable-Personality-Profiles-ebook/dp/B01MU23P0N/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Q21IKVXC9JLQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7W6u-PZ6t69JymWKsydRDeRG2xV3pX_jnPncnx60AsqA36r2uTKClNhjLzi4Wux9r9viJj5om8mZu_Y_wfLK579ziKvppW9r7gUKCH3rXZjl2le0gQEOn6ZCRZn8WypqKIVaR4KEFvRco8eeN-ocCiJQqNiEmhQmK91U3lqdg7pu-34WLTVtEzFB5hGQrVjjYDbEp4ZoJoKXj_2X-kHP2xWU8u74n5GxsAo37dhEgSU.LJSd91Gyh5J-MvV_DpRhT6jbB8KqqOkvtwZjhELRJng&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+four+tendencies+by+gretchen+rubin+book&qid=1711630653&sprefix=four+tend%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-1

Load of wood from neighbor ~

I recently got a load of free wood from a neighbor. He took the tree down himslef and cut it into short lengths. My wife talked to him while she was walking the dog and told me he had said we could have as much of the wood as we wanted.

I didn't do anything about it until I finally met the guy. Super nice widower that moved down from the northeast to be close to his kids and grandkids, he's one of those guys that does all that outdoor stuff well. He told me to take as much as I liked.

I took the truck over there and loaded up the bed with a bunch of wood. I took a lot of the fire-ready pieces but also took a lot of the bigger unsplit pieces so I'd have some work to do myself.

It was nice doing some manual work like that. I didn't break anything on the truck and I didn't hurt myself. It was a good workout, to the point that I was sore for a couple of days afterwards. And I stacked the wood in the back corner so it can "season" before I try to split any.

Every time I hear or think the word "season" in association with firewood I wonder what they put on it, salt and pepper or what? LOL

Anyways, it's nice to have a nice neighbor. Hopefully I can be nice too...

Growing sprouts ~

A little while back I started seeing a couple of videos on YouTube about growing sprouts and a jar. I thought it was a silly idea but I gave it a try with some broccoli seeds that I had.

I had grown the broccoli seeds or other broccoli seeds in a little pan of dirt and harvested the sprouts from that after about 10 days and that was fun. I added to my morning eggs but just throwing them in a jar and rinsing them twice a day just didn't sound like it would work.

The first try failed. I used broccoli seeds that were supposed to go in the dirt. Apparently there are differences between dirt seeds and sprouting seeds. I still haven't figured out exactly what the differences are but I'm learning.

I bought some alfalfa sprouting seeds off of Amazon and tried them. I put two teaspoons or tablespoons in a mason jar and did the little straining thing and kept them upside down so they would drain after I rinsed them.

I had way too many sprouts in that jar. They tasted good but the last bits were slimy and not good. I cut it back to one tablespoon in a mason jar and that actually did a lot better. After a few rounds of doing that I ordered some broccoli sprouting seeds and the first batch of that was very small.

Apparently I need two tablespoons of broccoli seeds where one tablespoon of alfalfa seeds worked just fine. So now I'm at a point where I have three jars going and I ate sprouts in my eggs this morning.

My goal with this is to have nutrient rich foods added into my diet with very little work. I could buy them but it's satisfying to actually grow some for myself and it fits with what I'm trying to learn because I've tried to grow vegetables on the deck for two or three years.

I get a few but it's just not enough to sustain. So far my conclusion is that I need a lot more going to sustain even just one person let alone two people having a salad a couple of times a week. I had a friend at work that started a whole business based on growing lettuce using hydroponics and then keeping fish in the water so that they would poop and add to the nutrients in the water to help the lettuce grow.

He and his family built an entire building and set up a whole hydroponic system and he did that going into retirement. It was always fun to think about but I don't know that I could ever scale up to that level.

But I am thinking about scaling up my hydroponics to where I'm doing it outside on the deck using rain gutters or something else. It's a fun little project and it gives me something to work on and think about and then eat.

Professor of life ~

The other day a passerby referred to me as "professor". I was sitting outside of a hospital enjoying the the warm spring sunshine on a clear, cool, low pollen day. While sitting out there I was listening to a summary about a book and was using pen and index cards to draw the words of the main points of the book as I listened. I was dressed in blue jeans and a button-down Oxford-style green-checked shirt with another pen and a voice recorder in my shirt pocket. I had a bottle of green tea beside me on the rock wall I was sitting on.

I liked the moniker "professor". Even though the guy that called me that was just passing by and looked like a male nurse on a short break from duties in the hospital showing that he was paying attention as he strolled purposefully on the sidewalk it still felt good.

Who knows? I may put it on my business card or resume and that say that I am a professor of life as I learn more and more.

Creating stories ~

Growing up there was always a question about what somebody's story was. My parents would comment on people and say "what a shame". They would wonder out loud why somebody would act the way that they did.

They would come up with explanations and more questions. When we were driving somewhere and somebody pulled out in front of my dad, he would say bad words and call them an idiot. In a nice way, but still.

As I was growing up I asked questions and got answers. A lot of times the answer was I don't know and then maybe it's this that or the other. Or they would tell the history of the person and explain that that's just the way they were.

After learning all of that growing up as an adult I would tell myself stories about the people around me. I would pick up little clues here and there and then expand on them in my head. If somebody was mean to me, I would explain it away because they didn't know any better or they had a rough life or whatever.

If somebody cut me off in traffic, they were in a hurry or they were stupid or worse. Because I was surrounded by the victim mentality, it was easy to think of myself as a victim also. Those stories were lots of fun because it was always my fault because I wasn't strong enough or fast enough or good enough or rich enough or whatever.

I had to work shift work and so I couldn't do this that and the other for my kids so that made me a bad father. I had to fight against those urges and tendencies. That fight typically came out as anger and frustration.

Because I would explain what was driving my decisions and nobody would understand. Including my family. They didn't know about the stories in my head. And about what I had convinced myself was probably true.

In the past few years I've slowed down and Started to unlearn some of those things. I Still battle the stories. But I tend to say "no we don't know that" and do my best to put it aside until I have more facts or observations. Approaching a situation openly and with curiousity is a challenge, but I'm learning to do that more and more. I don't like being taken advantage of and so it's hard for me to lower down my defenses.

But I'm working on it.

Rubberband Man ~

One of my favorite songs of all time is Rubber Band Man by The Spinners. I remember hearing it and thinking it was so cool and I never could hear it enough because it was on the radio and after it was played it wasn't a hot hit so you didn't hear it again for quite some time. But I remember enjoying it every time it came on.

I never did buy the CD because I couldn't find it and I had other interests that I wanted the CDs more. But when streaming services started playing songs and I was looking for something different to listen to I could added that to the mix and it was awesome.

Now I have that song in my mix of jams and convertible-top-down music. It's always fun when that song comes on because I enjoy the beat and I enjoy the funny story in the song. I have yet to hear a remix or a use of that song in a modern song.

There's probably some out there but it's probably not anything that I would run across and what I listen to normally. If you want to listen to The Spinners version check it out on YouTube at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSMVflSBKx8

A simple timer ~

When we bought our stove we were so excited because it was a convection oven and a glass top and it had all the digital stuff and it did not connect to the network or internet. We didn't really see a need to pay extra money for that and that's worked out well.

One thing we didn't check was the timer on it. It's got a way to program it to come on at a certain time and end at a certain time. You can set it up to do different things but the timer on it when the time runs out only rings once and then it just stops.

You don't know if it's ever gone off if he weren't in the room with it. That's led to several burnt pizzas and biscuits and dishes that would have been better if they hadn't been cooked so long. I finally gave in and found a digital timer battery operated to add to our stove setup.

It has a strong magnet on the back so it'll stick to the metal and we keep it right there on the face of the stove ready to go at any time. When we set it it counts down and when it gets to zero it does not stop buzzing and beeping until we go and turn it off which is what we need.

I like to using my watch or my phone as a timer and that worked just fine but if there was something cooking and Sue or my wife was the one who needed to get it out that didn't work so well. Or if I had to leave before whatever was cooking was done that didn't work so well.

My wife actually likes this timer and is excited that it does not stop because that way she doesn't forget to pull stuff out of the oven. I'm excited because it's a simple solution that works. Woohoo!

Installed serpentine belt ~

I have a truck. It's a 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 that I bought a couple of years ago. It's the first truck I've ever owned and it's a lot of fun!

When I bought the truck I knew that I would have some issues with it because it was 15+ years old. It had almost 200,000 on it when I bought but had a new engine with less than 30,000 miles on it that had been recently installed.

I love driving the truck because it's big and makes me feel like I can do real stuff. I used it to tow my son's car to his place 6 hours away, which was awesome. In the past this would have been a big production or even an impossibility, but since I owned a truck it was as simple as renting the dolly from a U-Haul place, getting the car's front end on the dolly, and dragging it down the road. It was exciting!

I understood when I bought the truck that I would be learning new things with it. We've picniced in the bed of the truck, laid under the stars in the field in the bed of the truck, carried people's stuff from here to there in it, and all of that.

I also knew I'd have to learn to do some basic maintenance on it. In the past I've always shied away from working on cars because with a full-time shift work job, a wife, and four kids I would start and then not be able to finish it. We didn't have an extra vehicle just sitting around so when one broke down it had to be fixed quickly and correctly, which for me meant paying someone to do the work. I also tended to break things when I got frustrated so when I did try to repair a car it cost me more money to fix what I broke in addition to the original repair that was needed.

The kids are grown and we have an extra vehicle now. I also have much more time on my hands and can actually start and finish a project without having to lay it aside for very long once I start.

Recently my wife got in the truck to go to some friends' place for dinner. After I started the truck it sounded weird, and felt different when I started backing down the driveway. Power steering wasn't working and it just sounded and felt wrong. As I slowly backed up I noticed a long black belt laying on the ground in front of the truck. My first thought was that someone had stolen a part off the bottom of the truck and the belt had come off.

But that was not the case. The serpentine belt that transferred all the spinning to the different parts under the hood had come off. It's a "serpentine belt" and runs from the engine crankshaft to the air conditioner, alternator, water cooler, and other parts. It's all at the front of the engine.

I talked with a friend about it. He said this was normal and it was probably the tension pulley, a one-bolt job. I had no idea what that meant so I read more on the Internet and learned how to put a new belt on. It seemed pretty straight-forward so I decided to take the challenge and do it myself.

I bought the new belt and got to work. I had to jury-rig the ratchet with a length of PVC pipe to get enough leverage on the tension pulley to clamp it down in a postion where I could get the belt over the last pulley, but I figured it out. When I started the motor and everything worked it was so satisfying to see the belt doing it's thing!

I know it's a minor repair but for me this was a major accomplishment. Woohoo!