I’ve noticed a change to my daily routine that I can’t really explain and I’m not sure whether to embrace or fight. The problem started in January and has yet to resolve itself. The change is; I don’t get up as early as I used to. I sleep in an extra 45 minutes each day. Which doesn’t sound like much, but in the morning, when every minute counts to get on the road before the commute and be at the…
After I parked I realized that I made a mistake in not bringing with me an umbrella or raincoat. An unceasing frigid mist sprayed down from the dark sky. The wind pushed the mist into a sideways spray that soaked everything and made being outside an unpleasant, head turning, eye squinting affair. There was no way I was going to walk around the dealership lot browsing cars in this weather. I already didn’t want to be there. The misty rain…
I’m not sure exactly when I realized that I needed to start taking retirement seriously. By this I mean traditional retirement at age 62. Sometime in my mid to late twenties an internal switch flipped. The light randomly came on in some nether region of my brain. I suddenly understood that I would not be in my twenties forever and that my future self solely depended on me to take care of him. I began to worry about a tomorrow…
We got our tree up right before Thanksgiving this year. With family coming over for Thanksgiving we wanted to have the festive spirit alive in the house. Our fake tree has proved to be a worthwhile purchase. I remember for years I resisted against the idea of a fake Christmas tree; images of Charlie Brown’s Christmas coming to my mind as I rejected the idea. But my wife eventually talked me into getting a fake one a few years back…and…
I hung out with a few friends recently for a kid’s birthday party. My friend has a nice set up in his backyard, perfect for hanging out. Fire pit. TV mounted on the wall. Nice furniture. Well built deck. The weather has turned colder in recent days out here in the Bay Area and we had the fire pit going. A few cold drinks. Hot pozole soup. Conversation turned to how cheap travel trailers and RV’s have become. It looks…
I was talking to a good friend recently about old times. Reminiscing about things that I hadn’t talked about or even thought about in years. In conjuring up these memories it felt as though I were talking about another person, another lifetime, a forgotten chapter that even myself had somehow tucked away for no good reason. Some of these events are hidden away in my mind and I don’t talk about them with anyone; not that they are all bad…
In 2003, on my way back home from deployment to the Middle East, I had one of the best movie experiences of my life; I went to see a movie without any knowledge of the plot or even its existence. This happened on the island of Oahu as our ship pulled in on its final port of call before heading back to Bremerton, Washington. Back then, and probably still, the Navy didn’t allow any correspondence back into “civilian life” while…
Once again I’m taking off with my family and heading overseas. As I write this our backpacks are half stuffed and waiting for a final check over before we load them onto our backs and head to the airport in the next few days. I’ll be turning 40 next week and we’ll be celebrating in Munich, at Oktoberfest more specifically. I plan on having my first beer in years to mark the occasion. I can’t deny having mixed feelings about…
I go out sailing once or twice a month now. My skills have drastically improved over the course of nearly two years since picking up this hobby. I still have some moments out on the water where things can become hectic by the intense wind that rushes in from the Pacific during the summer afternoons. Gusts of up to 30 knots and sustained winds of 15-25 knots (17-30mph) are normal in the summer. Small Craft Advisories are issued daily by…
I don’t check my pay stub too often. When I was an hourly worker I inspected each pay stub with great care, ensuring my time given to my company was paid for. Nowadays, being on salary means I can get complacent as long as the amount my company deposits into my bank account is consistent. Still, every so often I go over my pay stub and lament over all the deductions I have going on. But there’s one deduction that…