Category: Daily Life

My transition to grumpy old man is almost complete. God I hope the Republicans don’t make me reverse it. This therapy has taken decades.

My bank was happy to order this for us but won’t accept the coins as a deposit and since it is less than 200 euros there is a surcharge to deposit the bills.

Their suggestion? Drive to Gatlinburg or Florida. I’m think of getting a briefcase and beginning my collection of currencies and passports. 00Doug!

When I asked, “Was this supposed to stay in Spain?” The banker replied, “Yeah, he should have spent it.”

Like waking up to a note that says “congratulations! You can sleep through today”

I use several tools to keep myself organized and functioning. I do not rely on my memory. I journal. I log. I need lists. I use project management tools. I research in tools such as Scrivener. I mind map in tools such as Scapple. And I use a Hobonichi Techo as a paper planner/journal (with fountain pens!) with First Things First principle centered time management. I also use Omnifocus which is modeled for Getting Things Done.

I’ve let OmniFocus slip. Rather than using it as GTD, I’ve allowed it to become a lengthy check list. I’m working on closing out the projects and tasks that I’ve had in there forever. I’m going to set some rules for what may appear in OmniFocus and everything else will move to other tools. If it is a “someday” task then it does not belong in OmniFocus. If the project is not being actively worked, it can move to Redmine or Kanboard or some repository of wishful thinking.

Time to get some things done!

It’s 2023 and I totally relate to Gene Hackman’s character in Enemy of the State and his Faraday cage. I’m just having difficulty visualizing myself answering my children’s question “Why did you blow up the house?” Me, “Because you made a phone call!” Well, now that I type that it doesn’t seem that far fetched.

So what genius decided to put Clorox wipes and flushable wipes in the same style container?

For years, I’ve begged the children to trim the vines from the trees while I’ve procrastinated doing it myself. I finally removed vines from on of the trees and it looks so much better. I’m excited to continue and cleared 3 more trees today.

“Cleared” and “removed” are inaccurate. I use an Ax my son gave me for Christmas and chop thru the vine about 3 feet high and then at the ground to remove the bottom 2-3 feet of vine. I am very careful to not damage the bark.

I actually got on the rowing machine. I was interrupted so it wasn’t as long as intended but it was something. It was a start!

Glad you asked. It didn’t. Hold me accountable. I do have an 8 mile hike planned for Saturday.

I’ve been at this for decades and I still don’t have an answer to that question asked of every 8 year old.

Quit asking people what they want to be when they grown up. Quit trying to make them define their life purpose. Instead, ask them what do they want to do. If money were no object, what would you be doing with your time right now?

In my twenties, I enjoyed exercising. I would wake at 4am and be at Court South at 5am with the morning crowd waiting for the doors to open. I’d use the dry sauna, stretch, run the track, use the free weights, sometimes swim and other times play racquetball then finish in the steam-room and possibly ride my bike to work. I never felt better. Then life got in the way.

I also used to stretch 20-30 minutes in the morning and again in the evenings. I loved my flexibility. At one point, I gave many of my friends and family a Go set and a stretching book by Bob Anderson which was basically the only stretching book at the time because yoga had not taken off and there was no yoga section in the bookstores.

I lament letting myself go. So tomorrow, April 12, 2023, I begin a journey to get in shape. I invite your commentary and suggestions knowing that I am very limited on time and regularly do not have access to a car. I do have access to a rowing machine and a chest strap heart rate monitor. Let’s get me to drop 20 to 30 pounds, add on muscle and tone, and make my body lean again.

It is 8:24pm. I have 3 hours of computer work left to do. I have to cook dinner. And there is a third thing I am completely forgetting. This is why you see “cooking at midnight” posts of Facebook.

Me. I am all my obstacles.