Life On A B-I7

What is a “blog?”

Starting a blog involves selecting a niche, choosing a platform (like WordPress or Squarespace), purchasing a hosting service and a domain name, and creating consistent, high-quality content.

That is one commonly accepted definition.

I find all of that humorous. “What is a blog” is different for everyone that has a blog. A couple of things (ten to be exact) should be noted there.

1. I’m not curating an audience, because frankly, there is no one interested in reading my writing. Even the people that are closest to me, the people that I love the most, don’t read this. So what? The jury is out on all of this, and that’s okay. (I’ve been informed I’m wrong about this by some of those I am referring to — for those that informed me thus, I made it very clear they are under no obligation to read this…)

2. I do this because I love doing this. Good for me. Maybe you like woodworking or fiddling with cars, good for you. We do what we have to do.

3. Maybe someday this will be of value? I doubt it, but you never know.

4. The notion that “high quality” content is intrinsic to blogging is a bit over the top. Look at any number of websites that damand your attention and subscription and if they are examined closely, reveal that “high quality” is not really a prerequisite.

5. My explanation in reason number four above _coincidentally_lsts me off the hook…

6. “Blogging” is helping me improve my language skills. Good for me.

7. “Blogging” is helping me see myself better as a person and as a member of the human race, Also, good for me.

8. After a career of working in the technology sector, blogging allows me to feel like I am still engaged in that arena. (That is also a bit of a stretch.)

9. It gives me a reason to write, which is the _real_benefit of all this. It helps me. if it helps you then we both win. But keep in mind, I don’t care about you…

10} I said in the title “Ten reasons why I blog,” I don’t have ten, so you’ll have to be satisfied with nine.

Note: My hosting service is Micro.bog, they are awesome. My domain name is Live On A B-17 (dot) me, because cycling is my deal, and skiing, and the occasional pickleball round robin.

Donald Trump is a modern day Nero. So many people that have done Trump’s bidding have been cast aside. These people should have been prepared for their fate. The signs were everywhere. Instead it seems they were surprised.

Seneca was tossed aside by Nero. Seneca was well respected, Nero was a tyrant. When Seneca’s friends heard the news that Seneca had been sentenced to death by suicide, they lamented the fact. Seneca’s reply, “where is your philosophy?” You should be prepared for any turn of fate. We may not be happy to be led by men like Trump and Nero, that makes the necessity to be prepared all the more important. Fate does not spare anyone.

I would live in a School Bus.

To be a bit more specific, I would live in a School Bus converted into an overland vehicle with a ton of solar on the roof.

Imagine the freedom that would provide. Of course gas prices are now a consideration. Even if gas is not affordable, you still have a pretty damn nice living set-up.

I’d paint it grey-green, or maybe tan, like my Tacoma…

Preparation for life means proper training. Training the mind to perform properly is of the utmost importance. Training the mind to not get angry, training the mind to avoid gossip, training the mind on all good habits is essential to being prepared.

What is the best thing a book can do for you? It can inspire you to take action. After reading “The Correspondent,” I decided to write a weekly letter to my children. It feels good. I am not only giving them the gift of myself, I am gaining a clearer understanding of myself… It’s also fun.

Nothing is free. We will face situations where we are outmatched by the adversity we are facing. Preparation is our best practice in defense of adveristy. When facing adversity, how we respond will define us. Is our approach to the confrontation allowing us to learn and get stronger or have we submitted to failure without a struggle?

General Douglas MacArthur once said, and these words are engraved on a wall at the West Point Gymnasium:

Most verbs are action words. Verbs can also indicate mental actions.

Every sentence needs a verb, to be a sentence.

There are also linking verbs. The most common linking verbs are is, am, are, will be, was, has been, have been, and so on. Tip: Usually if you can substitute a form of the words to be, and the sentence still makes sense, you have a linking verb. (A linking verb can also be an action verb, depending on context.)

The tense of a verb tells you when the action took place. Verbs are the only parts of speech with tense. These are the tenses: present, past, further, present perfect, past perfect, future perfect. The helping verbs specify the tenses. Helping verbs are words like will, have, and have beeen.

This is all very opaque as far as I’m concerned, just remember this. You can tell if a word is a verb by putting the word to in front of it. Here are some examples, to jump, to think, to be, to study, to allow.

Good luck, Grammar is like computer programming… there are a LOT of rules to follow!

Part of life is constantly being caught off guard. It will happen more often than we want it to. Plans are only as good as their assumptions. When you are caught off guard, the best you can do, and your highest priority, is to calmly find your way back to your goal as quickly as you can.

The President of The United States is insane. I hope all the other leaders in the world are more stable than he is. That’s all we can hope for at this point.

Life is to be wrestled with. Adversity and the unexpected require that you be ready to grapple with circumstances at any time. I the best of circumstances, life is like dancing, when circumstances become complex and work against you, life becomes like a wrestling match. Be a good dancer, but also learn some good wrestling holds.

Good leaders are like medicine. They heal, strengthen, and lift all those that rely on them. Bad leaders are like poison; they weaken those around them leading everyone to failure. Surround yourself with (choose) good leaders. Don’t just listen to their words, study their actions and their history.

Stoic Thoughts

It would not surprise me if people thought my project to write a stoic thought every day was a waste of time. Maybe on a good day people think it odd at best. I would not fault anyone for thinking either of those things. That makes it a good thing that no one reads this blog. Let me explain a bit more (to myself).

I am well aware that the words I read, and the words my posts are based upon, are not mine alone. In fact, they represent wisdom that has been around for a long time. What is unique here (I hope) is the shape I put the words into when I try and convey the ideas they represent. This I do primarily for myself. I plan to make this a years long effort by coming back to these entries and looking at them periodically. My hope in doing that is I will eventually incorporate these ideas into something resembling practice.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 182

If you set your mind to a task and you always follow through, that is commendable. If you always follow through, even when the task becomes irrelevant, this behavior becomes a liability. Always look at your tasks in the light of changing conditions, because conditions change. Some tasks are not meant to be completed. They may have been good ideas when they were conceived, but now they are no longer good ideas due to a change in conditions. Complete tasks whenever you can, but don’t be captive to them.

I Bit the Bullet

Lots of people are talking about Anthropic Claude. I decided to give it a try. I told Claude (it’s difficult for me to call an AI by a human name) a little bit about myself and asked it to build me an FAQ Page for my Blog. I like the initial replay Claude gave me:

I’m glad Claude thinks so, I’m a bit skeptical. I’m not certain that everyone stumbling into this site would agree… But I’m not accepting opinions at this time…

I’m not going to bore you with the FAQ Page that Claude generated. It’s actually quite good. A couple of the sentences provided are probably better written than what I would have come up with.

Claude provided the following to describe my journal entries when I’m bicycle touring:

On the subject of philosophy, Claude answered the question “are you a practitioner or a reader” this way:

This one actually strikes me as pretty good. This is Claude answering the question “why I write.”

There you have it. That’s what Claude thinks about me. Who am I to disagree…

Just for fun, I asked Gemini what Claude meant by “rich and genuine creative life.” This is what Gemini told me:

For goodness sake! I’m really something!

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 181

Nothing is unending, you simply need to be gracious and work through it.

“Nature is merciful, and does not try her children, man or beast, beyond their compass. It is only when the cruelty of man intervenes that hellish torments appear. For the rest — live dangerously; take things as they come; dread naught, all will be well.” Winston Churchill spoke those words prior to WWII.

This attitude no doubt played a role in leading Churchill through one of the darkest times in modern history. I take encouragement from these words. There is little doubt we are facing our own dark time full of trials. Remembering these words is consoling.

Shiva

I don’t pray to this statue of Shiva but I have great respect for what Shiva stands for. I keep this statue on my desk and will often meditate on the attributes that Shiva represents. I bought this when I was in India in late 2025. I didn’t fully understand the significance when I purchased it. After living with it for a while, I have come to appreciate all that this deity represents. There is no supreme god in Hinduism, but Shiva is worshipped as a supreme being in Shaivism. It is the attributes of Shiva that I find fascinating. Many of them are worth incorporating into my own life. (As far as humanly possible.)

Trident The Trident that Shiva is holding represents Shiva’s control over creation, preservation and destruction. The Trident also represents the three qunas: Past, present and future. Meditation on these is grounding.

Serpent The Serpent represents power over ego and desire. It also represents control over the primal forces of nature. While my control over natures forces is limited, I certainly can benefit from meditating about the role of ego and desire in my life.

Legs Crossed The meditative position, legs crossed, represents deep concentration, spiritual discipline, and transcendence of all things. Contemplating these in meditation brings one onto solid ground.

Third Eye The third eye (not clearly visible in this statue represents wisdom and insight. Looking for wisdom and insight is something we all should spend time doing whenever possible.

Ornaments The Ornaments represent the divine status of Shiva and the cosmic energy that Shiva possesses. The blue color represents Shiva’s ability to swallow poison, the ability to save the Universe, Shiva as protector of the Universe. Meditating with a desire to obtain these attributes is not the point. Meditating to look for ways to protect the Universe, that portion that we have within our control, is the point.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 180

Does someone hate you? Let’s hope not. If you find yourself in those shoes, it is better to respond with kindness than it is to respond in kind. If there is a chance to influence the hater, take it. If that is not an option, then accept that person as they are — never hate in return.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 179

It’s better to persevere than it is to get lucky. Anyone can get lucky. The truly great person achieves success through hard work, by prevailing over adversity and disappointment. It is also better to admire the hard working over those that achieved success via luck or unearned inheritance. There is a saying, “God favors fools.” That may be true, but who wants to be admired as a fool?

Change

There are two types of people in the world, those who look forward and those who look backward. Forward to a brighter future, backward to a past that was better than today.

I realize this is an oversimplification, but when you think about it, we are living in a time when the exceptions are few. This is the very nature of the polarized social climate that we live in today.

If you happen to be in the latter group, that’s fine, but indulge me for a moment if you will to consider how we got where we are today… We did not arrive here because of leadership that wanted to take us to an earlier time, we arrived where we are today because of leadership that looked forward to a brighter future. Can you honestly say that life in the 16th century, 15th century, 100 A.D., was better than it is today? I you consider that honestly, I think you have to conclude that looking forward is the very nature of man, and it is the capacity that allows us to evolve. It is to be pedantic, our future.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 178

If you have a philosophy that you choose to live by (Stoicism is one of many to choose from) that’s a good thing, but beware the temptation to think you understand that philosophy before you have had time to put it into daily practice. Just because you agree with a philosophy or feel attracted to it doesn’t mean you have a true understanding. Understanding only comes with time, learning, and practice. Beware the temptation to sound smart before you actually are.

Differences

Of course this is a weak metaphor. But if you examine the two municipalities carefully, I think it’s hard to deny this. Central Oregon is a marvelous place. Working man’s town (Redmond). Vacation/Retirement paradise (Bend). Kitschy cute tourist town (Sisters). Classic rural ghost town (Brothers). You really can’t go wrong here.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 177

There are two ways to approach desire. When desire is appropriate, address it with caution and be sure not to overindulge. When desire is inappropriate, ask for the strength to ignore it. In both cases, make desire a positive motivation, don’t allow it to become an obsession.

Parts of Speech - Pronouns

Pronouns take the place of nouns. “Her” is a pronoun, it takes the place of someone’s name, as in: Mary baked her pizza.

Common pronouns: I, you, he, she, them, they, we, us, him, her, and it.

An Antecedent is the word the pronoun is standing in for. A pronoun may or may not have an antecedent depending on the voice being used. “He showed the manager her report,” has no antecedent.

Tip: Pronouns must agree in gender and number (singular or plural) with their antecedents. Make sure your antecedents are clear or you will confuse your reader.

Here is some more pronoun trivia (more than you probably want to know):

1. Interrogative Pronouns ask questions.
2. Personal Pronouns come in three varieties, First Person, Second Person, and Third Person.
3. Demonstrative Pronouns tend to give direction or state ownership.
4. Relative Pronouns are Interrogative Pronouns that don’t ask a question.
5. Intensive/Reflexive Pronouns have “self” at the end of the word and refer back to the subject of the sentence.
6. Indefinite Pronouns are pronouns that are not one of the five types listed above (simply put).

Decision Making

I’m a big fan of David Brooks. His writing for The Atlantic is wonderful. He recently wrote a piece describing three decision making strategies. Here they are in a nutshell (in my words):

1. I’m smatter than you; I make decisions when I “feel them in my bones.”
2. I will make decisions based on analysis of facts and data.
3. I understand and can exercise the art of compromise.

Note: I’m sure you have noticed we are currently suffering a plague of bad decision making because strategy #1 is the prevailing methodology in use today by our administration in Washington D.C.

What David Brooks does so well is take a position and not only explain it, but do so in a fashion that is both erudite and also beautiful.

Of course the position I’m referring to here is his support of strategy #3. Before I share his words, which I am quoting because I could not improve upon them, let me set them up so they stand more firmly on their own.

Lord Halifax, the Anglo-Catholic reformer in late 17th Century England was often criticized as being a “Trimmer.” At the time, “a Trimmer” was a disparaging term used to describe someone with no clear course either for or against some position. The figure of speech is a reference to someone who trims the sails of a ship in order to capture the most favorable winds. Of course this is a common practice in sailing, but during Lord Halifax’s time the exercise of compromise in politics was considered anathema.

Here is why the exercise of compromise is so important. In David Brooks’ own words:

“The Trimmer understands that reality is more complicated than any single person can comprehend, and therefore he insists that no decision be taken until there has been a collision of diverse views. He maintains trust and communication with the broadest possible range of stakeholders but refuses to be owned by any of them. He governs through cooperation and compromise, not through domination and fear. His greatness comes in the art of holding his nation together, not in the exercise of arbitrary power. He perceives that if a leader loses the affection of his people, he can no longer govern except by threat of violence.”

It is my personal opinion that weak minded people (non-thinkers) prefer to follow people who use decision making strategy #1 because that makes life simpler for them and they don’t need to do any work on their own. I believe the smartest among us use decision making strategy #3 with input from people that fall into category #2.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 176

Avoid giving in to fear. Fear is a warning to be cautious and aware, not a signal to give up hope. The Stoics speak of the “Inner Citadel.” Our inner domain is our sanctuary. Fortune can affect us. Physical vulnerabilities may befall us. It is our inner sour, our inner fortress that sustains and supports us.