The Daily - Sunday, September 16, 2018

Writing Challenge- Day #18

FLORENCE UPDATE

Florence passed quietly over the city in the middle of the night. It is still raining today and will continue to do so through Wednesday. Winds have died down to a constant breeze.

TODAY'S NOTES

Today is Independence Day in my native Mexico. This normally is a day of celebration throughout the country, a great excuse to party and be happy. And yet, throughout the last 208 years, Mexico has struggled to free itself from a seemingly endless chain of dictators. Mexico declared its independence from Spain in 1810. A century later, in 1910, the country endured a bloody revolution that was supposed to benefit the masses. Instead, corruption ate through the country so that an elite class, many of them politicians,became the modern version of a dictator. At the same time, the country has been under the dictatorship of its neighbor to the north, being forced to endure whatever the USA wished to impose on them. Political dictatorship, economical dictatorship, cultural dictatorship — Mexico has seen them all, continues to see them all, strives still to free itself from it all. I miss much of Mexico, especially the people. I do not miss the corruption, the immoral inequality between the few ultra-rich and the many poor; sadly, the same is happening in the USA. It all boils down to greed. When those in power are not satisfied with "enough" and instead they want it all, and they want it all for themselves, all the time, for all times. Historically, this is how civilizations begin to crumble. 

HEALTH & FITNESS

Another wet jog this morning to log 2.83 miles in 53 minutes. I chose Podrunner's "135 BPM - Amplifier" track and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. It was wet, with steady rain all through the jog. I have now removed the NHS Couch-to-5K tracks from my phone. It is obvious I now need to work on improving performance and not simply getting to run 30 minutes at a time.

As planned, I opted to use the Saucony shoes with the improved insoles. It was a great choice. The shoes, insoles and socks got thoroughly soaked. The better insoles made a huge difference in the comfort of these shoes. I enjoyed the run and got back home pain free. Although my shoes were soaked, they only felt slightly heavier than heavier than normal. That was a very pleasant surprise.

Today's run was the second in a row in the rain. With the dampness from the rain and the heat of running (and having a raincoat) my old problem of hives came back both days. In the past I would have opted for anti-histamines and scratched the heck out of every bump on me. For the last two days I simply took a cool shower and did some deep breathing. It only took a few minutes for the intense itching to pass and the hives to begin receding. This condition is called cholinergic urticaria, or heat hives. According to something I read today, I may benefit from using cotton instead of polyester shirts. There is also a suggestion of using a vinegar solution to calm the itching down. Further reading indicates Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is helpful. I definitely will try it.

GOALS, DREAMS, HABITS, RITUALS

Current list of streaks:

• Writing: day 18
• Blood Pressure Readings: 5 days in a row. Apparently I missed a reading on 9/11/18. Today's readings are a tad higher than they have been (130/80). Worked on it a little through meditation and got it down to 116/67. 
• Logging to SparkPeople: 8 days in a row (began entering food and activity data)
• Intermittent Fasting: 1 day (I did great last night and fasted for over 13 hours)
• Daily Exercise Routine: 0 
• Cardio: Jogged 2.09 miles
• Strength Training: Nope
• Stretching: Yes
• Meditation: Yes, 30 minutes overall in 10-minute intervals.
  
  (In order to count this one, I am making it a bit challenging. A day will only count if it contains at least 30 minutes of cardio, at least 30 minutes of strength training, at least 10 minutes of stretching, at least six hours of sleep, and at least 10 minutes of meditation.)
• Meditation: 5 days (all-time = 40): morning meditation was challenging again today. I chose a five minute meditation and my mind was all over the place. I am going to do at least one more meditative period today.
• Number of tabs open: 1 day (down to two tabs open for more than a few minutes. All other tabs either closed or stored in "Read Later" (see "Personal Growth " below).

PERSONAL GROWTH

I am all into challenges. One of the most challenging thing I face everyday is the number of tabs I have open in my browser. I often have dozens of tabs open at once. Some are open permanently (for example, Gmail) and others stay up for months before I get back to them. My challenge for the next 30 days is to keep the least number of tabs open at any one time. This is in line with being a minimalist. Of course, there is always the worry of forgetting what tabs were open during some research. With help with that, I installed the "Read Later" extension in Chrome. Instead of  10-12 tabs, I managed to keep one to two tabs open. I kept Gmail going, and I kept Blogger open to add items to this post. My computer seems much happier this way. And I am managing to get a lot more done without so many distractions. A win-win situation.

INTERESTING QUOTE

"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

TIPS & TRICKS

If you enjoy Starbuck's then you may appreciate the "17 Ways to Save Money at Starbucks" from The Spruce Eats website.

PODCASTS / VIDEOS

I recently came across this video explaining how an old time management system can be adapted to adult, modern life, for increased productivity and improved life joy. I am seriously considering doing something like this for my time management.

WEEKLY SUMMARY

This has been an amazing week. There are many things I am thankful for as we wrap up the week. Top things to be grateful for:

• Hurricane Florence was only a minor inconvenience for us. Although the wind and rain were worrisome, we were fortunate not to sustain any damage. Many people in North Carolina and some in South Carolina were not as fortunate. My heart goes out to them.
• I was able to accomplish some major cleaning and purging around the house. My bedroom closet is hard to recognize. There is much more to be done, but the progress is something to be grateful for.
• I have been able to jog every morning, and have remained pain free. My blood pressure seems to be stable. I feel well. Life is good.
• I have gotten into some great habits, especially making a daily to do list and sticking with it. The list is nothing fancy but it has been working well for getting much done; at the top of the list are items (rituals) I want to follow and the rest are items I need or want to accomplish. As a past user of DayTimers, I am delighted with the success. Getting back to a normal routine will be interesting and a true test of this system.

The Daily - Saturday, September 15, 2018

Writing Challenge- Day #17

FLORENCE UPDATE

Florence is down to a Tropical Storm or Tropical Depression, depends on when the measurements are taken. Regardless, we were very fortunate and suffered no damage. Many others are not so fortunate, even some losing their lives to the storm. We are still experiencing very windy conditions and some heavy rain. The center of the storm is scheduled to go over our home about 2 AM tomorrow with sustained winds of 40 miles per hour. It is not over for us, but it is getting close. The storm path just changed and now the storm center will go 20 miles south of our home; I am not sure if that is good or bad in terms of weather conditions; my guess is that the difference will be insignificant. More on that tomorrow.

HEALTH & FITNESS

I enjoyed a great 2.09 mile jog this morning right after sunrise. It was interesting to jog in tropical storm conditions; it felt much like jogging on the beach when you are running into the wind. I jogged to Podrunner's "138 BPM - Driven" track. It was an amazing experience. I used a slightly older pair of Saucony running shoes that I bought at a significant discount many months ago. I figured I would be OK if they were ruined in the storm. They have not been the most comfortable running shoes. As I removed the insoles to let them dry I discovered why they were not very comfortable. The insoles were extremely thin and probably offered little or no cushioning. Once the shoes were dry I replaced the original insoles with some sports insoles. If it continues to rain (as it is forecasted to) then I will use these same shoes with the new insoles for tomorrow's jog. Otherwise I will switch to an older pair of ASICS that I have not used in a while.

My knees have been pain free despite jogging every morning. That is a huge relief. I have been building up speed and feel terrific. Jogging is definitely my cardio of choice. I recognize, however, that I need to mix things up. I intend to add biking to my routines as soon as I feel it is safe to do so; I think my weight may be too much for my inexpensive bike.

GOALS, DREAMS, HABITS, RITUALS

Current list of streaks:

• Writing: day 17
• Blood Pressure Readings: 8 days in a row. 127/79 today. Perhaps too much coffee? Time to switch to tea in the afternoon?
• Logging to SparkPeople: 7 days in a row (began entering food and activity data)
• Intermittent Fasting: 0 days (I ate a snack late last night, so I am back to starting to day)
• Daily Exercise Routine: 0 
• Cardio: Jogged 2.09 miles
• Strength Training: Nope
• Stretching: Yes
• Meditation: Yes, 20 minutes overall.
  
  (In order to count this one, I am making it a bit challenging. A day will only count if it contains at least 30 minutes of cardio, at least 30 minutes of strength training, at least 10 minutes of stretching, at least six hours of sleep, and at least 10 minutes of meditation.)
• Meditation: 4 days (all-time = 40): morning meditation was difficult. I could barely finish the ten minutes because I wanted to get out for a run before the weather turned bad. I had a second meditation period in mid-afternoon to try to bring my blood pressure down a little; that did not work.

PERSONAL GROWTH

My efforts to organize and downsize continued today. My goal was to clean my closet's entrance area. Goal accomplished (and then some). In the process I got rid of about 10 dress shirts, half a dozen shorts, and some t-shirts. I also worked on part of our coat closet downstairs. I am quite pleased with the changes. I should have most of the closet done by tomorrow afternoon. The hardest part will be going through a ton of photos. That will take sometime.

TIPS & TRICKS

This video shows you how to simplify any wardrobe in about 10 minutes. I used this technique today to help me purge clothes from my closet. It worked like a charm. I will do the same thing with another section of the closet tomorrow.

The Daily - Friday, September 14, 2018

Writing Challenge- Day #16

HURRICANE FLORENCE UPDATE

Winds have been picking up all day. We have significant gusts and rain started around 6 PM. The forecast puts the center of the storm right over my house by tomorrow afternoon. Fortunately, it will be down to a Tropical Storm (or perhaps just a Depression) by then. It is about 110 miles away as I write this.

I have had several surprise messages of well-being throughout the last day or so. I also have had the usual missing care from other family members. That makes me sad.

HEALTH & FITNESS

Jogged another 1.75 miles this morning using some older ASICS shows. The wind had already picked up quite a bit, and the air was moist and sticky, but not unbearable. I wanted to go longer but stopped myself because I had other things I had to get done.

My blood pressure was a bit high today, and finally came down to normal this afternoon. Perhaps Florence had something to do with it.

GOALS, DREAMS, HABITS, RITUALS

Current list of streaks:

• Writing: day 16
• Blood Pressure Readings: 7 days in a row. Initial readings were higher than they have been (about 130/90). Tried meditation and a breathing exercise to lower it. Finally it came down to 122/80 by 2 PM.
• Logging to SparkPeople: 6 days in a row (still need to enter food and activity data)
• Intermittent Fasting: 3 days
• Daily Exercise Routine: 0 
• Cardio: Jogged 1.75 miles
• Strength Training: Nope
• Stretching: Nope
• Meditation: Yes, 25 minutes overall.
  
  (In order to count this one, I am making it a bit challenging. A day will only count if it contains at least 30 minutes of cardio, at least 30 minutes of strength training, at least 10 minutes of stretching, at least six hours of sleep, and at least 10 minutes of meditation.)
• Meditation: 3 days (all-time = 40): morning meditation was difficult. I could barely finish the ten minutes because I wanted to get out for a run before the weather turned bad. I had a second meditation period in mid-afternoon to try to bring my blood pressure down a little; that did not work. 

PERSONAL GROWTH

From Eckhart Tolle:

"When the ego is at war, know that it is no more than an illusion that is fighting to survive. That illusion thinks it is you."

TIPS & TRICKS

Vinegar is an amazing helper around the house. And it can also be great in your yard:

The Daily - Thursday, September 13, 2018

Writing Challenge- Day #15

HURRICANE FLORENCE UPDATE

I worked from home again, mostly to stay off the roads and out of the way of those that really need to drive. We have had periods of sunshine, but it has been mostly cloudy. It is definitely windy and very humid. Florence is approaching.

Our internet access has been a bit flaky. That could be related to the storm or just me having an older PC.

Even if we lose power, as we are expected to, I will hand-write notes and then post them to the blog after the storm is over.

HEALTH & FITNESS

Another nice 2+ mile jog this morning. I listened to Week 4 of the NHS series, with a little of Podrunner's "135 BPM - Amplifier". to finish the session.

Nice meditation session this morning before heading out to jog.

GOALS, DREAMS, HABITS, RITUALS

Current list of streaks:

• Writing: day 15
• Blood Pressure Readings: 6 days in a row (holding steady around 120/80)
• Logging to SparkPeople: 5 days in a row (still need to enter food and activity data)
• Intermittent Fasting: 2 days
• Daily Exercise Routine: 0 (I did jog for 30 minutes, stretched a little and meditated, but did not do strength training)
  (In order to count this one, I am making it a bit challenging. A day will only count if it contains at least 30 minutes of cardio, at least 30 minutes of strength training, at least 10 minutes of stretching, at least six hours of sleep, and at least 10 minutes of meditation.)
• Meditation: 2 days (all-time = 40) [The app tells me I missed a day -- darn it!)

PERSONAL GROWTH

I have been doing the rolling of clothes and other items and I have developed several shortcuts. I think I may do a video on some of them. I managed to do more cleaning and purging today; I will post pictures soon.

FINANCES

When should you tap into your emergency fund? Here is some good advise from the Dave Ramsey organization.

POLITICS

Our Liar-In-Chief simply cannot stop! Today (or yesterday) he lied to the whole world about how well his so-called government did when dealing with Hurricane Maria and the disaster in Puerto Rico. More people died there than in the 9/11 "attacks" yet the citizens of Puerto Rico had to fend for themselves for months. Why? Probably because they are Hispanic, not #45's top priority, especially since he cannot kick them off their own island. I bet he would love to build some magnificent golf courses and resorts on free land.

PODCASTS / VIDEOS

One of my favorite authors and speakers is Timber Hawkeye of the "Buddhist Boot Camp" podcast. I loved today's episode on "Self-worth."

The Daily - Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Writing Challenge - Day #14

Spent the day working from home. It was a busy day, much of it keeping an eye out for the start of Hurricane Florence. It was a sunny morning, and then it got very cloudy. It is raining lightly now.

HEALTH & FITNESS

I received a new pair of running shoes (Zoot shoes I got at a bargain through eBay) and had to take them for a run this morning. Almost two miles at a 17 minute mile pace. I think the Zoot shoes are the most comfortable running shoes I have ever worn.

GOALS, DREAMS, HABITS, RITUALS

Current list of streaks:

• Writing: day 14
• Blood Pressure Readings: 5 days in a row (holding steady around 120/80)
• Logging to SparkPeople: 4 days in a row (still need to enter food and activity data)
• Intermittent Fasting: 1 day
• Daily Exercise Routine: 0 (I did jog for 30 minutes and meditated, but did not do strength training or stretching
  (In order to count this one, I am making it a bit challenging. A day will only count if it contains at least 30 minutes of cardio, at least 30 minutes of strength training, at least 10 minutes of stretching, at least six hours of sleep, and at least 10 minutes of meditation.)
• Meditation: 6 days (all-time = 40)

PERSONAL GROWTH

The key to success: a three-day work week. According to billionaire Richard Branson, less hours and more enjoyment in the work we do lead to greater success  [Source]

Billionaire Richard Branson is pushing business leaders to embrace the idea of flexible work arrangements, claiming that with today's cutting-edge technology, there is no reason people can't work less hours and be equally — if not more — effective.

TIPS & TRICKS

Close your internal house doors during a hurricane! There is evidence that doing so could save your roof and thus minimize other damage to your home. [Source]

After conducting scientific wind tests, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety concluded that when high wind enters the home during a storm (as it could through an open or broken window), it creates strong upward pressure on the roof. If this pressure grows strong enough, it can eventually cause the roof to blow apart, allowing rain to come in and leaving the home exposed to the elements. In short, causing catastrophic damage. 

PODCASTS / VIDEOS

Watching How-To videos on YouTube has proven extremely beneficial to me. Watching how folks solved problems has released problem-solving juices; all of a sudden I have been coming up with some great ideas on improving issues that have lasted over a decade. So, watch some videos, learn lots, even in unrelated areas and you may experience the same trouble-solving benefits. I will share some of these solutions as I implement them.

The Daily - Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Writing Challenge - Day #13

Today, our family celebrates the birthday of one of our family members. We only wish we were closer, that we were together to celebrate. We send you our love, regardless of the distance that separate us. You are always in our hearts.

And the USA observes the anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center. It has proven to be the most expensive demolition effort in the history of mankind.

In 1297 Scottish rebel William Wallace defeats the English. FREEDOM!

HEALTH & FITNESS

Great jog this morning. I covered over three miles for the first time in months. It was a slow jog (18-19 minute miles), starting by listening to Laura of the NHS Couch-5K podcasts, and ending with listening to Steve Boyett's 133 BPM "Common Ground" track from Podrunner.

Tuesday is bowling night, and today was a challenging day. The bowling center was very hot and humid, and that never helps bowling conditions. We had fun, and that is all that matters.

HURRICANE FLORENCE

Our area is in full Hurricane mode. Two major highways had lane reversals to help with coastal evacuation efforts. This usually means our highways are super congested. On top of that, we are beginning to experience weird weather; this afternoon we had a strong, very isolated thunderstorm that was exciting and a bit scary. Please visit the National Hurricane Center website for more information.

GOALS, DREAMS, HABITS, RITUALS

I am going to begin listing my streaks here.

• Writing: Day 13
• Blood Pressure Readings: 4 days in a row
• Logging to SparkPeople: 3 days in a row
• Intermittent Fasting: (I will re-start tomorrow)
• Daily Exercise Routine: in order to count this one, I am making it a bit challenging. A day will only count if it contains at least 30 minutes of cardio, at least 30 minutes of strength training, at least 10 minutes of stretching, at least six hours of sleep, and at least 10 minutes of meditation. The count starts tomorrow.
• Meditation: 5 days (all-time = 40)

FINANCES

Tomorrow I must catch up with "EveryDollar" entries. This is the danger of not keeping up with it; trying to be accurate and being behind are enemies to financial success.

PODCASTS / VIDEOS

Warning: do not watch videos that start "10 great gadgets …" unless you have lots of self-discipline! I watched two of those today and ended up spending $100 at Amazon. Granted, these are things I need for long term projects, and I did get a huge bargain on one of them (saved over $60), but many of these things could have waited. Indeed, I could cancel the orders if I wanted to, but I am not planning on doing that. I do have the money in the bank, I was planning on getting the things anyway. I am very happy with the purchases I made and I cannot wait to get them delivered after Florence is out of the area.

The Daily - Monday, September 10, 2018

Writing Challenge - Day # 12

The European Union (EU) recently announced that they were working on discontinuing what in the USA is called Daylight Savings Time (DST). The EU citizens found that the time change was no longer applicable to a society that is not, for the most part, largely based on agriculture and farming. Europeans argue that if the aim of this time change is to maximize use of daily time, then the time change is highly ineffective at doing so. I completely concur. I firmly believe the disadvantages of DST significantly outweigh its benefits. It is time to ditch an obsolete construct and settle on Standard time. It is not as if every community in the USA follows it, anyway. I think it is time to let the time be the time and stop monkeying with the time, for time's sake! Time, after all, is just an illusion, a human construct designed to get more things done, often at the expense of actual living.

HURRICANE UPDATE

Hurricane Florence is heading our way, perhaps not as a direct hit to the SC coast, but close enough to cause havoc. Schools in our district have already been closed through next week. Our governor has issued mandatory evacuation orders for all coastal counties. Store shelves are just about empty, even this far inland.

HEALTH & FITNESS

I did a partial workout today. I simply ran out of time (and some motivation) to complete the whole thing. It is hard to get back on a workout routine once you have been off for a week or two. Tomorrow will be better.

PERSONAL GROWTH

I briefly looked online today on ways of making common, free cardboard boxes more usable for organizing efforts. Here is my suggestion: use an old pillow case to cover the box.

Shoe box with top cut off. Not pretty.

Shoe box with rolled cleaning rags. That would work.

Found an old pillow case. Slip box into pillow case.

 

Cover box with pillow case. Gently tuck material into box.

Same cleaning rags inside newly covered box. Much nicer. Easy project.

Nice covered box back in laundry room.

FINANCES

I recently mentioned the use of Mint for budgeting and expense management. Annielytics has an excellent blog post titled "8 Ways to Customize Mint to Make Budgeting Easier" that should be helpful to anyone considering or starting with Mint.

WARNING: You may owe taxes next April! Please read the article "Millions of taxpayers could wind up owing for 2018" and make adjustments to your withholding amounts as needed.

Get ready to feel the effect of #45's tariffs; please read "Why everything you buy at Walmart and Amazon is about to cost more".

POLITICS

What in the world is a mayor in Louisiana thinking? According to a news report, the mayor of Kenner City has banned the use of Nike products perhaps as a reaction to Nike's decision to use Colin Kaepernick as their spokesperson for the latest "Just Do It" campaign. I don't think the mayor of any city should interfere with free commerce and free enterprise based on their political viewpoint. Government business should be conducted without influence of personal opinions. This mayor has left their city open to a lawsuit, although I doubt Nike will do that. Nike's sales have gone through the roof as a result of their decision to hire Kaepernick. By the way, I admire Mt. Kaepernick for his valor and bravery and his firm convictions; in many ways, his courageous actions forced us to open our eyes to issues that had remained buried under the rug of ignorance for far too long. We may not have liked what he brought to light, and facing these issues has made us a better nation.

TIPS & TRICKS

An easier way to roll jeans:

TECHNOLOGY

Do you log out? It is not uncommon for computer users to allow connections to websites (such as banking sites) to expire before they logout. Often, users just close the window or tab without logging off. This is not a good practice as it potentially leaves the connection to the account vulnerable to hacking. The best thing we can do is to always log off from any resources we have connected to.

The Daily - Sunday, September 09, 2018

Writing challenge day 11.

Sunday, a day usually reserved for spiritual time and relaxation. Unless it is this Sunday, which was hectic and it lacked a lot of the spirituality that I normally like to focus on.

I joined my Tribe for some beautiful dancing on its fifth anniversary of starting, and also the last time dancing at our current location. Unfortunately, I had to leave early to run errands and pick up my daughter and do some preparations for Hurricane Florence.which seems to be heading straight for SC.

I managed to accomplish a lot today. In the afternoon I went back to Dollar Tree to get more organizing boxes. Here are some before and after pictures:

The shorts are now in nice boxes; top container for sports, bottom for dress shorts.

Before: Shorts (sports and dress) in available cardboard boxes

After: Shorts (sports and dress) in inexpensive nice boxes

The second part is cleaning, purging and organizing the remaining two drawers of my dresser.

Before: second drawer -- what a mess!

After: middle drawer (t-shirts, head wear, swim suits)

 The bottom drawer was last.

Before: bottom drawer -- what a mess!

After: bottom drawer (swim items, run/exercise items, winter wear)

I also managed to cook a yummy Mexican dish called "Mole Verde." It came out great. I will have to share my recipe and tricks will all of you at some time.

Speaking of tricks, I realized during the rolling of many items that one of the tricks to a successful Army roll is to make sure that the area where you begin to roll is narrower than the place where the roll is going to tuck into the garment. The second thing I realized is that you don't really need to roll every single inch of the garment. It works almost as well to fold the part you are going to roll in half and then roll that much smaller amount of garment. In some clothes you can fold the garment into thirds before you begin rolling. Much faster and easier on your hands.

That's it for this post. Much more to clean and organize, but it will wait until tomorrow.

The Daily, September 8, 2018

Writing challenge, Day 10: a busy Saturday, a fun Saturday, a productive Saturday.

Yesterday I stayed up late (past 1 AM) trying to master the new skills needed to do the Ranger Roll for best packing of clothes (please see video below). I managed to roll pants, shirts, sports shorts, and socks; dress shorts and underwear, however, did not work for me. I ended up adapting the concept for those two garments. For dress shorts, I still rolled them and used rubber bands to hold each short neatly tucked in. For underwear I modified the tucking step to make it work. It is not as neat or durable, but it still does the job.

Dress shorts, rolled, rubber band

Sports shorts, rolled, tucked in

All shorts neatly stored in available cardboard boxes (to be replaced with appropriate cubes later)

Learning to do the Ranger/Army Roll lead to videos on organizing clothes. This morning I bought some very inexpensive organizing cubes for my socks and such. I wish I had taken a picture of the before. But here is the after.

Socks and underwear, neatly organized

Socks and underwear, neatly organized, drawer in place

More or less what the top drawer used to look like. This is my project for tomorrow.

PERSONAL GROWTH

Why all the fuss about cleaning and organizing. It is a way to reset my mindset, not just about clothes and drawers, but also about other aspects of life. Just like I started with working on my finances, cleaning other areas of my life is a good exercise in discipline and tidiness.

TIPS & TRICKS

Fantastic clothes folding tricks. I cannot wait to use them the next time I travel!

The Daily, September 7, 2018

SIDE NOTE

I wrote this post on 9/7/2018 and got busy and did not post it until 9/8/2018. Life happens.  :-)

TODAY

I am celebrating day nine of the writing challenge. Speaking of celebrations, September 7 is a very busy day of celebrations:

• National Beer Lover's Day
• National Lazy Mom's Day
• National Food Bank Day
• National Grandma Moses Day
• National Neither Snow Nor Rain Day
• National Salami Day
• National Grateful Patient Day
• National Acorn Squash Day
• National New Hampshire Day

If nothing else, maybe we can bring some donations to a food bank. Perhaps we can then go out and have a salami sandwich and a beer while enjoying a day that has neither snow nor rain, being grateful that we are not a patient (in hospital or nursing home) or that we don't have to endure the New Hampshire winters. I will let you figure out what to do with the Lazy Mom and Grandma Moses part of the list.

HEALTH & FITNESS

I received a nice pair of ASICS running shoes from one of my favorite supplies (Running Warehouse) last night and I went for a nice 2+ mile jog this morning. I am not sure about the new shoes; they feel a bit tight, but it just may be the newer model is cut different than the models I am used to. I will give it one more try on Sunday and then decide if I need to return them. The great thing about Running Warehouse is that returns are hassle free.

FINANCES

So far I am thoroughly enjoying "EveryDollar". Today was my payday, which means entering a whole bunch of manual transactions. I looked at Mint a little today, but I think I am going to stick with "EveryDollar" for now.

TIPS & TRICKS

Excellent tips for times when you are traveling and use a hostel or AirBnB.

The Daily, September 6, 2018

This is day eight of the writing challenge.

TODAY

On September 6 we celebrate "National Read A Book Day" and "National Coffee Ice Cream Day." Coffee ice cream is one of my favorites, and reading a book one of my favorite pastimes. Maybe it is a sign that tonight we should eat some coffee ice cream (my favorite) while reading a book, although we must be careful not to drip all over the pages (especially if it is a borrowed item).  J

Lots of things happened on this date, among them:

1620  The Mayflower departs Plymouth, England with 102 Pilgrims and about 30 crew for the New World

1901  US President William McKinley is shot by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, while visiting the Pan-American Exposition in New York

1916  1st true supermarket, the "Piggly Wiggly" is opened by Clarence Saunders in Memphis, Tennessee

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Meditation is a way for nourishing and blossoming the divine within you." ~ Amit Ray

HEALTH & FITNESS

I am been good about logging in to SparkPeople everyday for the last six days. I just caught up with entering the food I have eaten. Sadly, this effort brings to mind that I have not been exercising daily as I know I should. Time to get back on it — today! :-)

PERSONAL GROWTH

As I rose this morning I realized I missed one of my streaks yesterday. I was rushed in the morning and forgot to meditate; then got busy all day and did not meditate during the day. And so my streak of meditation days ended at 40 days. Today, I start that streak again. There is an important lesson there: just because we miss one day of whatever activity we are trying to do regularly, it does not mean we need not start all over. The event (in my case, missing the meditation period) gives us pause to evaluate the importance of relevance of that event. If it is still important and relevant, then we must start again. And, as my Buddhist Master often says, when we forget the activity (and we will), then start again, and then again, and be kind to yourself when you find yourself starting over and over. Whether this applies to meditation, exercise, diet, work assignments, cleaning, or anything else, it is a daily process that we commit to everyday. 

How appropriate that today's quote is about meditation.

The other lesson from this finding is that rituals and routines are critical in developing better habits and achieving our goals and making our dreams come true.

FINANCES

As I venture into using "EveryDollar" everyday, I learn more and more about my finances. One of the things we must be alert to, regardless of what budgeting/tracking system you use, is the impact of automatic transactions. I have many transactions carefully scheduled, and tracking each manually will be a nice challenge.

POLITICS

I published my "Manifesto for a Better United States of America" as a separate post. It is not meant to be a call for revolution, but for reform. Some of the reform is drastic and could be confused with revolution. In my mind, the time for this type of drastic change is now, perhaps overdue by decades. We cannot continue doing things in the same way and expecting different results. When we waste billions of dollars on war instead of spending those resources on peaceful efforts that would result in less suffering then we miss the opportunity to make a real positive impact in our world.

AND THE LIES CONTINUE

Did you read about the inauguration photos? Go read all about it!

TIPS & TRICKS

50 Ways to Make $50+: we could usually use some extra cash, right? Here are 50 ways to do just that. If you want more ways, how about 107 Ways to Make Extra Money?

How about part-time jobs to supplement your income. Here is a list for you!

PODCASTS / VIDEOS

One of the podcasts I listen to regularly and that applies to anyone is called "Hacking Humans." I think we can all learn from the hacks hackers are using to hack into our lives. Power is knowledge, and knowledge brings safety.

TECHNOLOGY

Have you been the victim of an internet based crime? Not sure who to talk to about it? Try the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center or IC3

A Manifesto for a Better United States of America and a Better World

I originally posted this manifesto on September 5, 2018. This is my vision of what we must do in order to make the United States a better country and thus begin the process of improving the world. I made small edits on September 6, 2018.

Here is my manifesto for true change in the United States of America and in the world:

1. Congress must pass an amendment limiting the number of terms a Senator and Representative can serve. Senators must be limited to two terms, Representatives to three terms.
2. The salary for members of Congress shall be set to the average wages received in their district. If the average wage in a congressional district is $26,000 per year, then that would be the salary for that member of Congress. There shall be no additional perks or bonuses allowed; the majority of Americans do not get perks nor bonuses.
3. The benefits given to a member of Congress shall match the lowest benefits available in their congressional district. If there are citizens that lack health or other benefits, then the Congress member shall have none.
4. Neither Members of Congress nor the President shall have lifetime benefits after finishing their term. They shall be eligible to receive a one-time payment equal to their previous year's salary to assist them in transitioning back to private life; their health benefits, if any, shall also be extended by one year after the end of their term.
5. Congress shall not pass any law that affects the citizenship but to which Congress is exempted.
6. It shall be illegal for Congress to pass any expenditure resolution which contains unrelated amendments that thus increase the expenditure. For example, a resolution to authorize the funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs shall not contain amendments of any kind unless they directly affect programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
7. Congress shall pass a balanced budget amendment and shall submit and approve an annual budget at least 120 days in advance of the end of the current fiscal year. Failure to do so would result in disciplinary action, potentially including loss of salary and termination for failure to perform.
8. Any Bill/Resolution brought for a vote must be presented to Congress with a minimum of 30 days prior to the scheduled vote. All such items for voting must be publicly available for at least 30 days so that citizens can voice concerns to their representatives.
9. All citizens shall receive basic health benefits at no cost.
10. All citizens shall receive education benefits, including access to college and universities, at no cost.
11. The criminal justice system shall be reformed to help rehabilitate, not punish, those that commit a crime. We shall implement a system based not on revenge but on compassion. Humankind's history shows us that the more pain we inflict, the more pain we suffer; the more love we give, the more love we receive.
12. We shall strive to end poverty, ignorance and disease worldwide; we must dedicate our resources to improve conditions on Earth for all planet inhabitants by focusing all our efforts to ensure we live in peace and freedom, and that everyone has enough food, water and shelter, and excellent free health care and education.

The Daily, September 5, 2018

Writing Challenge -  Day # 7

Partisan politics in the USA has reached ridiculous levels. Please read my thoughts below under "POLITICS."

Today is "World Cheese Pizza Day." Does that mean that toppings are outlawed today?

Speaking of outlaws, Jesse James was born on this date in 1847. I bet he would kill for one of those cheese pizzas.

Tonight dinner will consist of cheese pizza to conform with today's celebration, and we will also have pizza with toppings, to push back against the expected, to be a rebel, to be different; mostly, just because pizza is great with or without toppings!

PERSONAL GROWTH

Here are seven things you can control that can make a huge difference in your life:

FINANCES

On my drive to work I realized that some of the knowledge that comes from budgeting and expense tracking can lead us to believe that being over-budget on one or more categories is a horrible thing. While it is not the best idea to over-spend, knowing that we are over-spending is the first step in making changes that will, eventually, bring us to the point where we can live within our means and stop over-spending. This is especially true in the first few months of us taking responsibility for our finances. It is during this time that we discover where money is going that we did not even realize was a factor. It is this process of discovery that brings control to our spending habits. With knowledge comes the power to make adjustments. If we over-spend one month, then we can strive to under-spend the next month to make things balance out. Knowledge is the key to self-control.

POLITICS

Partisan politics in the USA has reached ridiculous levels. Yesterday's Supreme Court confirmation hearings on Judge Kavanaugh's nomination were a pathetic display of useless partisan politics. As a liberal, I was dismayed by the ridiculous waste of time and effort in what we all suspect is public posturing for the cameras. Democrats do not have the votes to prevent the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh. I understand that there are many things not to like about how the process is going. It is not fair that thousands of pages of related documents were received just hours before the hearings were scheduled to start. It is unfair that twice as many pages were excluded from the disclosure. It is sad that there is no time to digest all this material to make an informed decision on Judge Kavanaugh. On the other hand, Judge Kavanaugh has an extensive public life and Democrats have had lots of time to investigate and they did not have to wait until the day of the hearing to begin the process. And, from what I heard in an NPR report a few months ago, Judge Kavanaugh is the least worrisome candidate amongst the list of candidates originally proposed by #45. Is Roe V. Wade in jeopardy if Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed? Perhaps it is. However, considering the erosion to the pro-choice movement at the state level over the last few years, it would not be surprising if Roe gets overturned. Many liberal leaders have allowed this to happen. Change is inevitable, even if we do not like the change that is happening. And change can go the other way if we liberals get our act together.

Here is my manifesto for true change in the United States of America:

1. Congress must pass an amendment limiting the number of terms a Senator and Representative can serve. Senators must be limited to two terms, Representatives to three terms.
2. The salary for members of Congress shall be set to the average wages received in their district. If the average wage in a congressional district is $26,000 per year, then that would be the salary for that member of Congress. There shall be no additional perks or bonuses allowed; the majority of Americans do not get perks nor bonuses.
3. The benefits given to a member of Congress shall match the lowest benefits available in their congressional district. If there are citizens that lack health or other benefits, then the Congress member shall have none.
4. Neither Members of Congress nor the President shall have lifetime benefits after finishing their term. They shall be eligible to receive a one-time payment equal to their previous year's salary to assist them in transitioning back to private life; their health benefits shall also be extended by one year after the end of their term.
5. Congress shall not pass any law that affects the citizenship but to which Congress is exempted.
6. It shall be illegal for Congress to pass any expenditure resolution which contains unrelated amendments that thus increase the expenditure. For example, a resolution to authorize the funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs shall not contain amendments of any kind unless they directly affect programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
7. Congress shall pass a balanced budget amendment and shall submit and approve an annual budget at least 120 days in advance of the end of the current fiscal year. Failure to do so would result in disciplinary action, potentially including loss of salary and termination for failure to perform.
8. Any Bill/Resolution brought for a vote must be presented to Congress with a minimum of 30 days prior to the scheduled vote. All such items for voting must be publicly available for at least 30 days so that citizens can voice concerns to their representatives.
9. All citizens shall receive basic health benefits at no cost.
10. All citizens shall receive education benefits, including access to college and universities, at no cost.
11. The criminal justice system shall be reformed to help rehabilitate, not punish, those that commit a crime. We shall implement a system based not on revenge but on compassion. Humankind's history shows us that the more pain we inflict, the more pain we suffer; the more love we give, the more love we receive.
12. We shall strive to end poverty, ignorance and disease; we must dedicate our resources to improve conditions on Earth for all planet inhabitants by focusing all our efforts to ensure we live in peace, and that everyone has enough food, water and shelter, and excellent free health care and education.

TIPS & TRICKS

Should I Answer That Call? If you are bombarded by phone calls at home or on your cell from numbers you do not recognize, you may appreciate the website "Should I Answer?" Not only can you look up numbers, you can also report scammers and telemarketers.

The Daily, September 4, 2018

Writing Challenge day 6 (by the way, I will stop counting once I reach 31 days — I figure I would have tortured you enough by then).

Today was a busy day and content is not as abundant as in previous days. It looks like after day #31 I may try for shorter posts, and post more often during the day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your unguarded thoughts." Buddha

HEALTH & FITNESS

One of my trusted sources for health information is "The People's Pharmacy." In today's newsletter they share information about a potential source of relief for people dealing with certain types of allergies: Quercetin. Most importantly, it is naturally occurring in foods like kale and apples.

PERSONAL GROWTH

Leo Babauta (ZenHabits) has started a Unprocrastination Challenge. I am in!

FINANCES

Using "EveryDollar" is beginning to pay off. I am becoming more aware of where money is going and how many categories I had forgotten to include originally. This is what it is all about: knowledge, which then allows you to begin gaining control of your finances.

POLITICS

Another example on how #45 continues to try to erode the American system of justice, a system that is envied throughout the world, and thus corrupt it beyond recognition:

The Daily: September 3, 2018

Today is day five of this writing challenge. It is also Labor Day in the United States. As usual, Labor Day falls on a Monday, the first Monday in September. Monday, which to many is the most hated day of the week, the day when they return to work, that horrible four-letter word.

But not this Monday. This Monday, in the United States, is about celebrating Labor by not laboring.

For many of us, it also means that Tuesday will be congested with all the things we needed to do on Monday but we did not do on Monday because we were off on Monday and now we need to do Monday and Tuesday work all on Tuesday.

How do you squeeze 16 hours worth of work into eight hours? You work 12 hours on Tuesday and 12 hours on Wednesday, of course! By the time Thursday comes, no wonder we are looking forward to Friday so that we can start the weekend!

I can just hear the squeaking of the wheel!

Happy Labor Day! (Learn more about it!)

ALSO TODAY

In addition to Labor Day, today we celebrate U.S. Bowling League Day. I have been an avid bowler for 44 years (still looking for my first 300 game). I am also the Secretary/Treasurer for a bowling league (currently dormant) and have served as President and Vice-President of several leagues over the years. I am a lifetime member of the United States Bowling Congress (USBC), perhaps the only one in Columbia and one of few in South Carolina. I love bowling!

HEALTH & FITNESS

Although I went to bed very late last night (it was actually very early this morning, 1:30 AM to be exact), I managed to get up, take care of chores (feed dog and cats, clean litter boxes, etc.) and went for a 2.2 mile jog. I recently discovered the NHS Couch-to-5K podcast series and have been using it over the last few weeks. I just finished Week 2 and started on Week 3. I am thoroughly enjoying the music and the personal trainer (Laura) that guides you through the walking and jogging lapses. I recommend it as an alternative to Steve Boyett's amazing C25K series on Podrunner.

I have never been a very fast runner; at the height of my fitness in 2009 I was able to approach a 9-minute mile during several 5K races. I am currently averaging an 18-minute mile using the C25K program. Considering I still have some pain on my right knee, I think I am doing quite well.

Today, I also started the Darebee "90 Day of Action" (PDF here).

GOALS, DREAMS, HABITS, RITUALS

My friend Warren Doyle has hiked the Appalachian Trail 18 times over the decades. More importantly, he has helped dozens of people achieve their dream of conquering the 2200 miles that run from Georgia to Maine and, in the process, conquering themselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I recently came across this documentary of one brave, admirable young lady that hiked the AT and documented it for all to see.

PERSONAL GROWTH

FINANCES

The "EveryDollar" app continues to impress me. It is extremely easy to use and, with that, easy to track expenses on the go.

PODCASTS / VIDEOS

I recently added a podcast to my collection of resources, and today was the first time I listened to "The Life Coach School." Full disclosure: as with many podcasts, this one is used as a soft-selling tool for the author's training classes and seminars. This one, however, seems to bring reasonable value to the listener. The latest podcast is titled "Who are you becoming?" and it makes some excellent points on how we can manage our paradigms to make progress and become who we want to become. We are all in transition and the trick to success is to manage the transition process. A key point of the episode is that we need to consider our capabilities not on what we have accomplished but on what we want to become. The author points that if we based on future solely on our accomplishments then we would never have learned to walk because, of course, we did not know how to walk (past accomplishment) and therefore we had no experience in such to help us become a walker. This is, obviously, an over-simplification of the matter, but worthwhile considering nonetheless.

TECHNOLOGY

One of the best computer-related websites available is Bleeping Computer; they have a vast knowledge base and are often the first to report on problems and dangers with our dear computers (including the smart phones we use all the time).

IOU

I mentioned I would share tips from Sunday's UU service today. Today is, however, quickly coming to an end. Tomorrow (Tuesday) will be a very busy day and the UU service content may have to wait until Wednesday.

The Daily: September 2, 2018

Today is day four of this writing challenge. And today's writing challenge was made even more challenging by a freaky thunderstorm that knocked the power out in my neighborhood. Of course, my cell phone battery was nearly depleted and I am on-call for work, so I made my way to Starbucks for a cup of café latte and a quick charge for my phone. I just love Starbucks!

 It is Sunday, a day many reserve for church and family activities.

I am not a religious person but I routinely attend services at the Unitarian Universalist church in Columbia. I love their philosophy and I actually became a member over a year ago, the second organized church I have ever joined.

I am definitely a spiritual person. I am an ordained Buddhist layperson and an ordained minister in two Humanist churches. I do not believe in God in the way many people do (that is, an omnipotent being that punishes and rewards, one who we must fear and obey blindly). To me, God is the Universal energy that connects everything; that is my understanding, and it is likely flawed and incomplete, but that is the best I can come up with. As my Buddhist Master once told me, much of the Universe is beyond human comprehension. Although we see that it works, we do not always understand how it works.

Humans have a tendency to demand an explanation for everything, and so we come up with ideas/concepts about how things work. The problem, of course, is when we grasp unto our beliefs so tightly that we name them "The Truth." When our truth becomes the only acceptable truth then we enter the "suffering zone." We either suffer ourselves when others disagree with us, or we cause others to suffer because they think differently from us.

Those in power love this because that causes us to be divided, fragmented, impeded from working for the collective good. The elite has created all manners of ways to divide us, religion being but one of them. Globally, we are separated by national borders. We are split by races, ignoring the fact hat we are just one race: the human race. From early childhood we are taught to be rivals with something: a different school, a different sport team, a different club. Our world is constantly being fragmented with the main purpose of keeping us apart.

I often recall John Lennon's "Imagine" — I wonder what it would be to not be so divided, to be more united, to work together for the common good. Can we imagine a world without borders, without religions, without competitive team sports, without political parties? Can we imagine a world in which we no longer need to stand against things, in which we stand for things, and then work collectively to achieve those things?

I will share more about Sunday's service tomorrow.

HEALTH & FITNESS

I missed jogging again this morning. Darn it! I went to bed late last night working on "EveryDollar" and did not get up until after 7 AM. I cannot wait for Fall weather so that I can begin running during the day and evening. Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Speaking of fitness, I highly recommend the Darebee website. They provide, free of charge, a huge collection of workout plans, challenges, and other fitness and health information. All their materials are downloadable and printable. All for free. I donate monthly to them. Please consider supporting them if you find value in their resources.

And speaking of Darebee, I plan to start their "90 Days of Action" program tomorrow. I will keep you posted.

MEDITATION

I am on Day 38 of daily morning meditations. That is a record number of days for my meditation practice. Today's session was on Equanimity, the mindful intent of finding common ground with anybody we dislike. It is a powerful meditation because, at the very least, every being wants to be happy and free of suffering; we all have that in common. If we think about anyone we have a conflict with and we remind ourselves that the other person is also seeking happiness then we begin to build bridges with them.

GOALS, DREAMS, HABITS, RITUALS

Tim Minchin is an amazing comedian, musician and philosopher. I love his commencement speech. I have listened to it many times and I always laugh and I am moved and inspired by his words.

One of the most powerful messages from his speech is his plea for people to be teachers. Tim says, in part: "Be a teacher, even if you are not a teacher, be a teacher." We all have something to offer to the rest of humanity. Let us share our knowledge, our experiences, our discoveries. Every story matters, every voice is important. Raise your voice, share yourself with the world. Be a teacher!

One of the most amazing, thought-provoking pieces by Tim is called "The Fence." Enjoy!

PERSONAL GROWTH

For some time now I have been working on becoming a minimalist. Someone recently asked for a definition of minimalism. It boils down to this: a minimalist questions the value of everything in their life. It is not just about material things, although that is a good point to start. It is not about having the least number of things, it is about only having things that bring value in our life. And beyond the realm of "things" we can have other areas such as activities and relationships. We can view the things we do and the people we interact with regularly and find if they bring value to our life (and when it comes to relationships, we could also question whether we bring value into the other person's life). Sometimes we are in a crappy relationship and we are the cause of it being crappy.

For more information on minimalism, I suggest reading the blog by "The Minimalists". I met Josh and Ryan when they were in Columbia some time ago and they are genuine believers in the power of minimalism. You may also enjoy reading Leo Babauta's "Zen Habits". Leo was one of the original minimalists.

FINANCES

I have been using the "EveryDollar" website and app very successfully today. One word of caution. Do not get too far ahead in your monthly budgeting. If you create several monthly budgets and then you decide to add categories to the current month, the new categories do not automatically appear in future months unless you use the "Reset" function (link located at the bottom of the page) which will copy the previous month budget and categories, but also causes you to lose any budget data entered for that month. It is not a big deal, but I wanted to share this tidbit with you.

POLITICS

You may have heard or read that Sen. McCain's daughter delivered a strong message about how America is already a great nation that does not need to be made great again. #45 could not take the high ground on this and went on the attack. How un-presidential these actions are. Childish and vengeful behavior that would be expected of a 10-year old, not the head of state of the most powerful nation on Earth. But then again … perhaps he is not the legitimate head of state of the most powerful nation on Earth.

TIPS & TRICKS

For months now I have been using the "Waze" app to plan my drives, even the simplest ones. It has helped me avoid traffic jams many times. I highly recommend it.

The Daily: September 1, 2018

Day three of this writing streak; so far so good!

It is Saturday and it seems that the weekends are when I am most vulnerable to fall off my routines and abandon my goals. It goes to show that having a set of rituals for everyday can impact our success. I normally try to get up at 4:30 and be on the road jogging by 5 AM. That requires that I go to bed by 9 PM so that I can get enough rest. Last night, however, I went to bed late (after 10:30 PM) and I did not get up until almost 8 AM. By then it was a bit too hot for jogging so I miss that window for my favorite way to start my day. Too hot at 8 AM? It is if you have a health condition that amplifies the effects of histamines (normally released during exercise) and causes hives all over your back; that happens to me when I exercise in hot, humid weather. Which is interesting because I live in a city that is hot and humid most of the year.

HEALTH & FITNESS

When I first started jogging/running back in 2009, I discovered the Couch To 5K training plan. That lead me to discover Podrunner, the best source for workout music I know of. I have been so impressed and grateful for the hard work of Steve Boyett that I contribute monthly to his website funding. The music mixes that Steve produces can be used for more than just running; he often puts together Tabata mixes, walk mixes, etc. And if you just want to dance (which is also a great fitness activity) then Steve provides dance mixes at Groovelectric. Enjoy!

PERSONAL GROWTH

I have watched the following video many times, and I always find inspiration in the message it carries: it is the little things that make the greatest difference in life.

FINANCES

I started the process of setting financial information through EveryDollar. The initial set up is the hardest part. The next challenge is to keep up with entering transactions daily and working diligently to stay within our budget. Simple things, not so easy to always do. However, I am proud to have finally gotten started. I am very impressed with the website and look forward to using the mobile app. That should make it easier to keep up with things.

PODCASTS / VIDEOS

I want to mention two of the podcasts I listen to regularly:

• The New York Times Daily
• NPR's "Up First"

INTERESTING TIDBITS

Today is "National No Rhyme (Nor Reason)" day.

From the website "National Day Calendar':

September is filled with many reasons to celebrate and some of the celebrations have “no rhyme or reason”.  

National No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day, observed annually on September 1, actually celebrates words in the English language which do not rhyme with any other words.  Also known as refractory rhymes, these are words that poets try to avoid using in verse.

Some unrhymable words in the English language include: 

• Orange
• Month
• Silver
• Spirit
• Chimney
• Purple
• Woman

HOW TO OBSERVE 

Make a list of words that you believe cannot be rhymed, and check if you are correct. Use #NoRhymeNorReasonDay to post on social media.

The Daily: August 31, 2018

Day two of this daily writing effort. It brings to mind the motivational power of streaks. How long can we do something? How many days can we do the same activity? What is the reward for going on long streaks?

Many groups use streaks to reward and motivate. My daughter told me about Snapchat and their streak philosophy; obviously, they want to increase user involvement with their platform, to create addiction to the chatting, even if it is not always meaningful communication.

HEALTH & FITNESS

My favorite health/fitness website, SparkPeople, uses streaks for motivation in many different ways. You can earn points for simply logging in, earn points for entering the foods you eat, the fitness activities you are perform, etc. During my best fitness (2008-2009), I ran a nice streak of daily log ins and daily journaling of nutrition and fitness. When I let go of that discipline is when I began to slide into unhealthy habits.

Recently, I started using an app called "Zero" to keep track of intermittent fasting. I am doing the 13 hour program and I am beginning to see results. For more than a year I have been stuck at a very unhealthy weight; finally I am beginning to see some weight lose and I am thrilled. Part of the success comes from portion control and part from the fasting hours.

GOALS, DREAMS, HABITS, RITUALS

I have been using the Bedtime feature of the Clock app that comes with the iPhone as a good reminder of when to go to bed so that I can wake up at 4:30 for my morning routine (which includes jogging and other exercises). As long as I go to bed when I am supposed to (or close to it) then I am up and going in time to get everything done. If I don't, then the morning routine suffers.

PERSONAL GROWTH

I am on my 36th day of daily meditation. That is a nice streak of 10-15 minute daily meditations. I use an app called "Breathe" to help with my morning meditations. I recently discovered "Oak" and began using it for my evening (before bedtime) meditations. Each app has its benefits.

As a follow-up to yesterday, here is some amazing advise from Wayne Dyer:

It's your choice: you can be a host to God or a hostage to your ego.

FINANCES

I signed up yesterday for the EveryDollar app/service promoted by Dave Ramsey. I will start the process this evening and keep you posted.

POLITICS

In the news yesterday: the Washington Post reports that American citizens from border states are being denied U.S. passports. In the news today: "Thousands of Vietnamese, including offspring of U.S. troops, could be deported under tough Trump policy". The anti-immigrant wave from this So-called President cannot be denied, and it is biased, not to mention heartless. It could also be very costly: Trump's Immigration Proposals Could Cost Social Security Up to $2.4 Trillion. Anyway you look at it, this is not the best approach to immigration issues.

PODCASTS / VIDEOS

All we have to do everyday to improve our life: