Life On A B-I7

Excited

I’m planning to go to India with my daughter in December for a yoga retreat. I probably won’t be spending a huge amount of time on the mat since my mobility is a bit limited. I am working on that. I do plan to spend a good bit of time in meditation, probably while everyone else is doing their yoga thing. I am hoping to learn a lot about Buddhism and I’m looking forward to that. I’ve been told that visiting India is as much spiritual as it is cultural. I’m excited to experience both.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 6

Always have a backup plan. When things go wrong, and they will, determine to make the best out of the situation.

Fixed

It only cost me $8 for a CR1620 battery and $17 for a set of precision Torx screwdrivers at Home Depot. It would have been a bit more at my local bike shop. I’m not opposed to spending money at the shop, and I do.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 5

Our primary job on this earth is to be a good human. Look around you, if you see someone that is not being a good human, don’t be like him.

Gender Assigned at Birth

My gender is male. It was not “assigned” at birth. It was biologically determined and was not given to me by someone with “magical assignment authority.”

We are seeing “gender assigned at birth” more and more on all manner of intake forms and documents. To put it simply, this phrase is an affront to science. We do not need more science denial.

I hesitate to use the term “woke” because that is such a trigger for so many people. But frankly “gender assigned at birth” is woke. It is a phrase that obfuscates instead of clarifies. We are what we are, not what we were assigned by some magical power. If we choose to alter what we are in some fashion then we become what we have chosen. Finito. Nothing more, nothing less. We don’t need to be concerned about what was, all the matters is what is now. Special phrases like “gender assigned at birth” only lead to inter-generational division, not understanding.

My intent here is not to alienate, but merely to point out that besides words having meaning, they also evoke feelings, and can impact people’s attitude in negative ways. Yes, if you view something negatively, that’s on you. No, it’s not a good idea to ignore that fact if what you are seeking is understanding and acceptance.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 4

Choose a form of work and go do it. But always ask yourself why you are doing it and where it will take you. If you don’t have a good answer for those, the work is not good.

Debt of Gratitude

Keep strong. If possible. In any case, keep cool. Have unlimited patience. Never corner an opponent, and always assist him to save face. Put yourself in his shoes—so as to see things through his eyes. Avoid self-righteousness like the devil—nothing is so self-blinding.

Hart is the noted author of “History of the Second World War,” and “Strategy.” Two books that should be required reading for everyone engaged in diplomacy or military planning. (Probably not on the bookshelves of those serving in the current administration.) President John F. Kennedy studied these works and the knowledge gained was instrumental in helping Kennedy to resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis using a blockade of Cuba rather then taking the advice of his many advisors who wanted him to bomb then invade Cuba. The world owes President John F. Kennedy a debt of gratitude that can’t be fully appreciated.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 3

Do not leave your potential unfulfilled. The answer is work. Choose a form of work and go do it.

Joy Ride by Kristen Jokinen DCVBCS
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Stuck by Yoni Appelbaum
How Emotionally Mature Are You? by The School of Life
Turning to Stone by Marcia Bjornerud
Greek Philosophy by Helen Gagatsu
Merlins Tour of the Universe by Neil DeGrasse Tyson
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
The Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
The Cat Who Taught Zen by James Norbury
My Friends by Fredrik Backman
Beartown by Fredrik Backman
Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday
The Hollow Crown by Eliot A. Cohen
Walking in Wonder by Adam Segel-Moss (Cliff Dancer)
Raising Hare A Memoir by Chloe Dalton
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
On Quality by Robert M. Pirsig
How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One by Stanley Fish
Abbey in America Edited by John A. Murray
Shadows on the Koyukuk by Sidney Huntington DCVBCS

Currently Reading:
Flaubert A Life by Geoffrey Wall

DCVBCS - DCV Book Club Selection
Last Update: September 10, 2025

Not Your Mother’s Rice Pudding

• 3/4 C white rice
• 1-1/2 C water
• 2 C coconut milk (Unsweetened)
• 1/3 C (or less) Muscovado brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg beaten
• 2/3 C golden raisins
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cook rice until tender. Add 1-1/2 C coconut milk, brown sugar, and salt. Continue cooking over medium heat until thick and creamy. Remove from stove. Stir in remaining coconut milk. Temper egg and add to pudding mixture stirring constantly. Stir in butter and vanilla until combined.

The secret to this recipe is the coconut milk and the Muscovado brown sugar. Muscovado brown sugar is less refined than normal brown sugar and has more molasses in it. Along with the coconut milk, It adds a unique flavor to the pudding. These two ingredients arguably make this recipe healthier than your mother’s rice pudding.

Try not to eat it all in one sitting…

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 2

There two things you should aways do before acting. 1) Don’t get upset, stay calm. 2) Recall what you value most, make sure the action you are about to take does not run counter to those values.

A Year of Living Stoically

Today is day one of my most recent challenge, namely, to post a stoic thought every day for the next year. If I had to choose a religion (read here a philosophy) I would choose Stoicism. Of course Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Epicureanism, and the myriad other “isms” designed to lead us to right-living are all worthy of study, Stoicism speaks most clearly to me at this stage in my evolution.

I started this project back in May, but I have decided to restart today so that each entry will appear as its own separate post and be compiled into a separate category. This will allow for easy access in the future (as well as boosting my page count… smile). All of the entries are inspired by the book “The Daily Stoic,” by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. I can in no way take credit for these thoughts, for that you have to look to those authors and the Stoics themselves. What I can take credit for (nominally) is the presentation. I have tried to shape each entry in my own words, and with an eye towards that portion of the teaching the speaks to me personally.

The struggle is great, the task divine—to gain mastery, freedom, happiness, and tranquility.

To paraphrase: The struggle is great, the task divine—to gain happiness and mastery of a life sublime… Let the journey begin.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 1

Little things add up. Your life is the summation of your individual choices and how you learn from them.

In Session

If you want to hear some classic electric blues, you gotta dig into the “In Session” album. Albert King does his thing with Stevie Ray Vaughan sitting in. This is the only known recording of the two virtuosos playing together. Grab the remastered version from 2024. Every track is a classic. My two favorites are “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and “Blues at Sunrise.” Mary is an example of a song that doesn’t need any words, or maybe better yet, a song with words that don’t make sense, but work anyway. In “Blues at Sunrise,” Albert reprises a song he did with Jimmy Hendricks and Janis Joplin at the Filmore West. Stevie sits in on Jimmy’s part. The track knocks me over. I like to put the headphones on and let myself be carried away. It’s great driving music too. It’ll make you forget how far you’ve gone and how far you have left to go.

Happy Birthday Sister!

Guedelon Castle

I would like to visit Guedelon Castle in France. Twenty-Five years ago, Michel Guyot decided to build an authentic 13th century medieval castle using only period tools and construction techniques. Craftsmen and volunteers from all over France have participated in the project. The project is now nearing completion.

The castle gets 300,000 visitors a year. It’s a step back in time that even Disneyland could not replicate.

Kingdom of God

We recently received a very nice hand-written letter addressed “Dear Neighbor.” The letter focused on all that is wrong in the world today and suggested that the solution has been written in the Bible and can be explained by visiting the jw.org website. While ultimately the second coming and establishment of a new religious order on earth led by God’s Son might be a solution (recall the argument two twins were having in the womb) I believe we have a responsibility to do more than wait for a solution that does nothing to make things better in the here and now. I believe there are things we can do to change the world. To be clear, I’m not talking about this political party or that political party, this particular religion or that particular religion. I’m not talking about violence or punishment for those you don’t agree with and I’m certainly not talking about blaming people that look different than you. I believe it comes down to how we treat each other. The answer is kindness and respect, a willingness to listen, and a willingness to compromise. These things do seem to be in short supply at times, it’s difficult to argue they don’t, but each one of us can make a difference if we take the time to ask ourselves what we can do to make things better.

Inner Compass

I remember my first year of college. I took an introductory class in geology and I found it fascinating. Indeed, I found many subjects fascinating. That did not change the fact that eventually I would have to choose one subject. When I graduated I had no idea what I was going to do next. Not surprisingly, I took a couple of jobs that had nothing to do with my studies in school. I did not seem to have any real direction. Finally on my third attempt at employment, I found work that was satisfying. I’ve asked myself how did I arrive there, the only answer I have for that is I followed my inner compass as best I could and kept trying different things until I found the answer. For those of us not born with knowledge of what we are going to do with our lives, that is probably the best approach we can take. I’m fortunate, it worked for me.

The Quality of Your Thoughts

One of the beautiful observations I picked up from Cliff Dancer’s book is that the quality of our thought determines the quality of our life. Think about it. Always complaining? Don’t have enough? You probably aren’t happy. Self-talk that is not positive only leads to an unhappy life experience. We are in charge of our lives and we have responsibility for shaping our experience, first and foremost by whether we view it positively or negatively. Thank you Cliff Dancer for this beautiful observation. You are a Stoic Master.

30 Years Compiling Code

I spent the better part of 30 years writing software. I’m happy to report I’m proud of that, even though it damaged me for life. The problem is, you spend that much time worrying about spelling and punctuation, you lose the ability to understand what people are saying to you. You see, no one speaks in complete sentences. At this stage in my life I find myself lost unless people are using complete sentences, including, and most importantly, a subject, a verb, and a noun. I often find myself replying to someone, “could you put that in a complete sentence for me, I have a vocationally acquired lexical disability…”

Introduction to Welding

I’ve been exploring the classes available at the Senior Center. Yesterday they were offering a watercolor card making class. That sounded interesting. I was warned that I would be the only man in the class so I was prepared. Sure enough, I arrived a few minutes early, there were several women and the instructor (also a woman) already in the room. I started looking for a place to sit down, but before I could take a seat, I was asked if I was in the right room. It just so happens the person asking me was the program director who happened to be in the room chatting with the instructor. The program director was a man. I decided that if I was going to be challenged, I might as well get some mileage out of the situation. I looked right at him and said, “this is the introduction to welding class, right?” His eyes got big and he stared back at me and said, “seriously?” After a long pause, I said, “no.” That lit up the room. I was welcomed into the watercolor class even though I forgot to bring my welding helmet.

Walking In Wonder

A good friend completed the northern 1,000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail last summer. (Canada to California.) When he and his hiking partner reached the Bend Oregon resupply point, we picked them up and hosted them with home cooking and a comfy bed. His trail name is Cliff Dancer and his hiking companion last summer was Raw Dog. They are fantastic people and it was a pleasure to help them along on their hiking journey. I was doubly pleased when to my surprise, Cliff Dancer wrote a book about the experience and sent me a copy. It arrived in the mail two days ago and I have already devoured it. Such an inspiration! It’s not easy to hike and write at the same time. I’ve cycled and chronicled at the same time and while that’s not easy, I think I got more out of the experience capturing it in the moment than if I had attempted to document the journey post-mortem. I will have more to say about Cliff Dancer’s wonderful work in the coming days. You can get a copy for yourself of “Walking in Wonder On The Pacific Crest Trail” from Amazon Direct Publishing. Walking In Wonder

3.5

I got my 3.5 Pickleball rating a few days ago. That’s a significant accomplishment, but not one to get too carried away with. The 4.0 level is where good play really begins. 3.5’ers are still learning the game and still working on loosing beginner habits. Making the jump from 3.5 to 4.0 requires a lot more skill than making the jump from 3.0 to 3.5.

After the testing completed, those of us that tested were sitting around with our “play-ins” having a beer. Someone asked me if I was going to try and get to 4.0. (It’s a good question, many people that make 3.5 never get to 4.0.) My reply went something like this. I want to correct my bad habits, improve the weak points of my game, and improve in overall consistency so that I will feel comfortable playing with 4.0s. I also added that due to my advanced age, I would be very happy if I was still a solid 3.5 ten years from now. I think that is probably the best goal of all.

Change The World?

You can’t change the world entirely, but you can change someone’s entire world.
—Timber Hawkeye

The message here is you can’t single-handedly change the world. Many have tried and ultimately that approach fails. You have to decide what is enough, once you figure that out, that should become your goal. There is a school of thought that says the desire to change the world only leads to emotional distress, depression, or at the very least, a warped sense of reality. In the worst case scenario, it makes the world worse, not better.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to a very special someone. I hold you dear in my heart and wish you all the best. You deserve it.

Competitive Sycophancy

If Competitive Sycophancy (not Democracy) is what you wanted when you voted, then that’s what you are now getting.

Definition: Weak spineless people competing to win the favor of a sycophant. Look it up.