Clouds

 One of my joys is to capture beautiful cloud settings. Here is one of my latest.

Discovery

 I am hooked on this. There is a YouTube channel called "SUV RVing" and it rocks!

Tristan, the guy that runs this channel, is the ultimate adventure seeker. The places he travels to in his SUVs are amazing.

What I like most about his channel is the simplicity. The photography is fabulous, the narration is simple and lively.

One of the things that impresses me the most is Tristan's comfort with loneliness in what could be dangerous situations. I often wonder what would happen to him if the unthinkable happened?

I hope you enjoy his adventures.

Science-based

There is so much information available to us. And there is so much misinformation fighting its way to capture our attention. Which one wins? The one we pay attention to, of course.

An area that concerns me the most is the misinformation concerning health issues.

In the last few months I discovered the work of Dr. Michael Greger at Nutrition Facts. Everything posted there is science-based. Profits from the few products he promotes (mostly his books) all go to charity. He also does a podcast, which I listen to regularly. It is called "Nutrition Facts with Dr. Michael Greger." Two of the main advantages of using these resources is that they are based on science and that Dr. Greger promotes healing the body through better nutrition (which is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle).

The other resource that I like and recommend is the NPR show "The People's Pharmacy" (which also has a weekly podcast.

Are either of these resources perfect? Probably not. They do go a long way in being more objective than most others in that they are not benefiting directly from Big Pharma and the corrupt medical industry (no longer a profession, now a full-blown, money-driven industry).

Freedom

What is freedom?

I mean, true freedom.

How do you define freedom?

I was exposed to a different, yet not new, definition of freedom.

The Wages of Freedom

I hope you enjoy this short video.

I hope your definition of freedom is changed, expanded, re-focused.

May the power of humanity, the humanity in all of us, helps us all become free.

Priorities

I was deeply moved by the needless pain and the suffering. I was disgusted by the unjustified greed. 

In today's NY Times "The Daily" podcast there is a story of people suffering from the Monkeypox virus and how, through greed and cruelty, they were denied treatment for weeks and months.

When a society values money and profits above the well-being of its members, such society must be examined carefully and thoroughly, and its priorities must be changed. Nothing justifies inflicting horrendous suffering when the treatment is available.

Perhaps we should all adopt a philosophy of "Do no harm."

The NY Times "The Daily" Podcast

I hope you listen to the show.

I hope, sooner rather than later, we can demonstrate that we care more about people than about money.

It has been a while

 It has been a while since my last post here. Life has been happening to all of us.

A quick update:

• I am still alive and doing well. 😁
• The company I worked for merged/was bought by a larger enterprise.
• I retired from that company.
• I went to work for another company.
• I still Contra dance.
• I still hike.
• The kids are well and rising seniors in university.
• Oh, yes, a pandemic happened and the world changed.
• And let us not forget, ever, that January 6, 2021, also happened.
• Much has changed, not always for the better, and much has, unfortunately, remained the same.

I love writing and I intend to do much more of that in the future.

For now, I wish you well.

Bringing someone to justice

Much has changed in the last two years. Much of what we knew as normal or expected behavior has been discarded like last weekend's stale pizza. What once was unacceptable has been normalized. Such are the times we live in.

In today's announcement on the death of ISIS' leader, Donald Trump used a phrase that took my breath away and sent shivers down my spine. In describing the killing of an enemy, Trump used the phrase "He was brought to justice." All day long that replayed in my mind, crashing loudly against the concept I have had that "bringing someone to justice" meant charging them with a crime, bringing them to court, and using due process to determine their guilt or innocence.

Granted, several sources online do use "punishing someone for a crime" as "bringing them to justice." In the case of al-Bahgdadi and many other accused foreign terrorists, death may be considered punishment for their crimes, assuming we believe everything we are told about them, a point I will not argue here. So that is how we treat foreign enemies, assigning death as justice.

A question kept jumping at me: what happens when this or any other administration turns that definition on domestic "enemies"? Will political opponents become "enemies" and, thus, subject to being brought to justice by means of death? We already have way too many examples of citizens dying shortly after committing insignificant "crimes". What happens when speaking your mind becomes a crime?

I don't know if Mr. Trump meant the phrase one way or another. I don't know if the administration would turn on its own citizens like this. I do know that words matter, behavior matters. And, based on the last two years, nothing, absolutely nothing, is outside the realm of possibilities. We have already seen that what was once considered absolute bottom is nothing but a rung in a very long ladder heading down.

A little FB experiment

For the last few weeks I have been paying careful attention to my Facebook news feed and doing an experiment to track how closely the bots are adjusting what they present to me. You will not be surprised if I tell you that the algorithms are very much in use on every one of us.

Personally, I do not want to be manipulated or brain-washed, especially when it comes to politics and elections. Therefore, I have decided to be a (mostly) non-reactive user of Facebook in as much as politics is concerned. I will not "Like," "Love" or share any post that concerns politics or the upcoming elections. It is nothing personal. I am just going to play a different game, and hopefully not their game.

The Experiment

My experiment consisted of two phases. First, I focused solely on posts of animals and landscapes, liking and loving as many of these posts as I could. Facebook served me more of those posts, tons and tons of them. In phase two I switches to focusing on political posts, liking and responding and loving as many of them. Quickly, Facebook abandoned most of the previous posts (the birds and landscapes quickly disappeared) giving room for more and more political posts. It took less than 24 hours for their programs to adjust to my new interactions. Phase three, now in progress, is to stop reacting and begin acting. I will try to use FB for nothing but building personal relationships, things such as saying happy birthday and keeping up with everybody's adventures.

Let's Be Careful

Please be careful when using FB. The poisoning of our minds is actively underway. There are active efforts to widen the gaps between us. We can either let FB and other actors weaken us as a nation, or we can find ways to cooperate and find common ground to make our nation truly greater than it has ever been.

This book is finished

This book is finished. The last page completed. The last paragraph inked, all "ts" crossed and all "is" dotted. Done.

I cannot, in all good sense, call it a chapter. Something that has taken 20 years to write deserves to be much more than a chapter, it deserves to be a book. Besides, who would read a chapter that long? Not me; I hate long chapters. Give me a stopping point every few pages, I say.

Today, I penned the last line of my career at Dominion Energy, the place I still, too often, refer as SCANA. Here are the words I shared in my almost-mandatory, sent from the heart, email message; I share this to reach all those that retired ahead of me and those I know I did not include in that electronic blast of memory-laden electrons.

Dear colleagues and friends:

Today is my last day at Dominion Energy. It is hard to believe that 20 years have gone so quickly.

My contact information is [Ed:email address removed] and cell phone remains [Ed.: phone number removed]. I am on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

I began working at SCANA as a contractor in August 1998; I was employed by Vanstar, which then merged with Inacom in 1999, and went bankrupt in 2000. I was hired by SCANA in July 2000.

During the last 20+ years while at SCANA/Dominion Energy, I got married; went through the incredible Y2K (yawn!); had two incredible kids; went through bankruptcy (thanks Inacom!); learned that my wife had cancer; fought the darn disease with her for three dark, incredibly painful years; experienced the death of my wife and then my mom; and lived life with my kids for 13 years as they became adults. I am now watching them leave home to attend university.

Along these two decades we have shared many experiences. Some of you saw me go through, and some helped me with, the darkest three years of my life as I tried to help Tracey with all that comes with a cancer diagnosis, and helped my kids deal first with all the surgeries and procedures she endured, and then her loss and our new reality without her. I am eternally grateful to those that stood by us, offering everything from a kind word to hours of companionship in hospital waiting rooms.

Over the years I moved from Workstation Support to Staging (now ABARS), to software development, to Cyber Security. Along the way I had the honor of interacting with many of you and with many that have already retired. It has been a great experience.

I wish each of you well. As with anything worth doing, there will be challenges and successes. In keeping with the family spirit that we experienced here throughout the years, please continue to be kind and supportive to each other, knowing that your kindness makes a huge difference to those that receive it.

May there always be light where you are. May the brightest light come from your heart.

Memorial Day Thoughts

While many Americans "celebrate" Memorial Day with BBQs, picnics, cookouts, and parties, I find the day very sad.

It seems many Americans misunderstand the reason for Memorial Day. Some think it is to honor those that serve in the armed forces; actually, that is "Armed Forces Day." Some think that it is to celebrate the valiant efforts of our veterans; in reality, that is done on "Veterans Day."

Memorial Day is supposed to be a day to remember those that died in combat or while serving in the military. It is a day to be grateful for their sacrifices and those their families made. It is a day to stop and think why those sacrifices were made. It is an opportunity to stop and question why those sacrifices were made.

As I grow older and gain ability to discern, I find myself very sad on Memorial Day. The last few wars, from Korea on, are very different from their predecessors. The reasons for going to war have shifted from morality to economics. I cannot help but to question how many lives lost in wars motivated by greed could have been spared and would have benefited our country and our world in so many better ways. My admiration for, and gratitude to, the men and women that lost their lives is not diminished; my sorrow for their loss is heightened by the awareness of senselessness.

We now face the prospect of another prolonged war, this time against Iran. The lies being told are obvious to anyone that wants to use a questioning attitude. Who will benefit from another war? Will it benefit the average citizen in the United States? Not likely, as we will all be made to pay for this war and the restoration thereafter. Will it benefit the citizens of Iran? Not likely; their dead will be but one more reason to hate us. Or will it benefit, mostly, a few wealthy industrialists that peddle their deadly, immoral wares unconcerned with whether the victims are in a far away place or in an elementary school down the street.

I think we must grow impatient with the status quo; we need to question the excuses for more unnecessary death, for more unnecessary destruction. Let us be true patriots and pledge allegiance to the nation, not to the government, certainly not to a government that has sold out to the war lords.

Our fallen deserve our respect, our gratitude, and our truest patriotism.

The future of motorcycles?

I used to ride motorcycles in my youth. That was a blast to do. I have not been on a bike in decades. I just came across this review and I am very excited to see what motorcycles are up to. This would be a sweet ride to have. The price is right, the technology is amazing, and this really looks like the future for motorcycles.

Let's talk about baking a cake....

In three short minutes Beau and his wife show us the power of logic and choice. Enjoy!

Are we looking at the Alabama law all wrong?

The debate over the new wave of anti-abortion state laws has been raging; I even engaged in it on Facebook. But Beau makes a great point in this video. Could we be looking at the Alabama law all wrong? Could it be that a combination of good old free-market supply and demand, with some relatively inexpensive technology may save the day for women that need or want an abortion?

Mammoth Caves & Bully Butterflies : Camping Kentucky

One of my favorite things about the Internet is the ability to travel to places without ever leaving home. I know, it is not the same as being there but, at least, if you don't like the place, you saved a whole bunch of time and money, and you can use those to visit a place you really would enjoy. Here is a place I definitely want to stop by and visit sometime.

This Gasoline Will Destroy Your Car

For several years now, I have avoided using gasoline that contains ethanol. Why? It is bad for engines. Take a look. Besides, there are major economical and ecological factors that make ethanol a bad choice. Among them: increased use of pesticides and fertilizers to increase the yield for corn; these chemicals wash down river and are killing our oceans.

Let's talk about teens, combat vets, and suicide....

Please watch this video and make a decision ... please decide that you are going to do something to help. It can be as simple as spending time with one of your kids or grand kids; listen to them, ask questions, be involved. Perhaps you can volunteer in some capacity for the many organizations that care about preventing suicides amongst the several groups in our society that are most vulnerable to suicides: vets, teens, pre-teens, the elderly, the sick, the poor. Let people know that they matter and that you care.Twenty-two (22!) veterans each day take their life; 168 teens successfully commit suicide each day! We need to talk about it and not hide from it; and we need to take action. Apathy and disdain are not helpful in this crisis.

Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-8255
Suicide Text Hotline: 741741

Decide to live in a perfect state ...

Tony Robbins is a great speaker and teacher; he has touched millions of lives with his talks, audio programs and books. I have read and listened to much of what he has produced. This 15-minute video summarizes much of what Tony has taught and shared over the years. I hope you enjoy it and take it to heart. It is up to each and every one of us to make the most important decision ... what is your choice?

Let's talk about the world I want to live in....

We are often quick to point what is wrong with the world we live in. It is easy to say what we don't like of the world around us. It can be far more challenging to intelligently articulate what we want our world to look like. Here is a good example:

11 Gardening Hacks That Will Blow Your Mind Away

Great ideas for your gardening experience!

Let's talk about the problem with young women....

It is a real shame that we treat each other like this ... men need to rise up to the occasion ... adults should act accordingly ... because these girls, these young women ...