Bubbling in the Shade When I bought this house on the hilltop it was January of 2012. I saw it on Christmas morning, 2011 from astride my motorcycle (only from the bottom of the driveway since I was sheepish of interrupting the seller’s holiday), went to contract on December 28th, finally had my sister the architect do a walk-through with a phone video camera and closed on the sale on January 30th, my 58th birthday.…
Becalmed In a seafaring sense, being becalmed is a bad thing. Remaining motionless due to a lack of wind is something every sailor dreads since it leaves him at the mercy of the currents and tides with no ability to set his course and make progress. In retirement the objective (at least for me) is to adjust to a state of being becalmed and liking it. Even if we are not working at all, we…
That Old Black Magic Have I mentioned that I’m retired? That is supposed to mean that if I have anything to worry about, its about whether my deck renovation is on time and in budget or my new plants are getting enough or too much water. But despite being retired, I have an urge to stay engaged in the business activity in which I spent my productive years. I am not entirely sure why that…
One More Go It’s Saturday night and we have nothing on. I drove son Thomas to the airport this morning for his return to NYC after a wonderful week with him here. I’m a little sad to see him go, but I am a big believer in the concept that birds gotta fly and at 26, Thomas is out of the nest and winging his way into his life. In fact, as I look at…
On Moonstone Beach Three years ago for Kim’s 60th birthday, we brought most of our family and friends together for a special night of celebration. I rented Hearst Castle in San Simeon for a party of fifty (strictly limited to that number). Hearst Castle was the fabled home of William Randolph Hearst, a media magnate of his day and the subject of the Orson Wells film Citizen Kane, one of the ranked best movies of…
Planting Seeds I have set up this week to be a getaway week because I will be traveling next week. It is always more relaxing if I do not have too much hanging over my head when I am undertaking a road trip. That isn’t an unusual sense and many would share that preference, but being the high-focus person that I am, it is an especially important alignment for me. I am one of those…
How Much is Too Much Now that I have done my “Year in Provence” year on this hilltop, I am faced with the ongoing issue of where to stop and enjoy versus keep improving. It is a very personal decision. Have you seen those quirky houses that someone invariable does a segment on. The sea shell house that has sea shells imbedded in concrete, stone walls and stucco walls is one I recall. The Who…
On a Tear Have you ever noticed that there are times when you are more productive than other times? Sometimes it happens for very understandable reasons and sometimes it just happens for no particular reason at all. I am in such an Uber-productive state right now for some reason. If anyone noticed, yesterday’s post came about an hour later than normal. That was because I suddenly realized at 7am (my normal PDT publishing time each…
A Sunday Lecture It’s almost 10am on Sunday and I am killing time before I am supposed to give a guest lecture in a course being given at the University of San Diego graduate business program. The Sunday morning time is a little unusual, but in these days of virtual education and even more so in graduate business education, there are more and more courses that are given on weekends and since Sunday is half…
Catching Up I have had a slightly more busy week this week since we have had house guests for a few days and the finishing of the deck project has caused me more work than normal in terms of getting things arranged as we like them. This is work that cannot be delegated as it has to do with how we like to live our lives in our space. As such, I have been busier…