For years now, I have thought to myself that I simply don’t understand why people listen to podcasts. Meanwhile podcasting has grown to become one of the most profitable mediums (to the podcaster) with the most audience appeal and an absolute influence on the political scene. It is now being said that Joe Rogan single-handedly won this election for Trump by swaying 11-15 million listeners (mostly young males) to the Trump camp, thanks to his…
Last night I got a one hour massage from my massage therapist who has come to my home for perhaps eight years. I paid him for my regular two hour massage. My long history with this guy, a very soft-spoken man who grew up in the valley to the east where the more hardened folks of this area reside. It’s ranch country and they are ranch-strong, which I suppose is a lot like being farm-strong.…
You will probably never hear me talk about life on this hilltop any other way than I have. I love our hilltop and feel that we chose our property exceedingly well twelve years ago. The last five years of living here full time have done nothing but reinforce that view (pun intended). But now something has changed about life on the hilltop. Imbedded in any hilltop living is an overt or subtle sense of superiority.…
Out here on this hilltop, November is an unpredictable month. I can remember a stormy November with 17 days of torrential rain which almost made my flat roof unserviceable. This year it is more normal with a hint of evening rain on one or two days , but mostly clear skies, like we have had for the past many months. It’s been very dry overall for a long time…so say my succulents. With daytime high…
When did they stop making bootstraps part of our daily ritual? I have recently become a devotee of Claude, the AI bot from Anthropic. It tells me, “From what I understand, the literal bootstrap (the tab or loop on boots used to pull them on) has never entirely gone “out of fashion” – they remain functional features on many types of boots today, particularly Western/cowboy boots. If you’re referring to the saying “pull yourself up…
I’ve had some strange dreams lately. I really don’t know what to make of them, so I’m doing my best to ignore them. As is usually the case, I only remember dreams if I wake up in the middle of one. Disturbing images are not so incomprehensible, but sorting out what motivates some dreams gets very hard. Why would you dream of someone you long ago made peace with? Especially if that dream consists of…
I have misjudged the American people. I know I am going to bed tonight with some very important votes still to be counted, but right now, the numbers are not looking very good for Harris. I was horribly wrong about what I thought would be a coming to their senses of a majority of the voting population. Then again, maybe it’s me that has to come to my senses. The American electorate seems to have…
I have, for some inexplicable reason, been buying garden things lately. I go on sprees like this every once in while and this seems to be one of those nervous whiles. I say nervous because today is the day before Election Day and there is a lot going on for me, but at the same time, I’m not going anywhere. Let me explain. I am starting the final set of hearings on a case I…
Last night we went to the Hotel Del Coronado to attend the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation annual gala. As I have mentioned before, we were the guests of my sister Kathy and her Husband, Bennett, who are involved with the Foundation in support of their two grandchildren (Milla and Rhys, a.k.a Tiny & Mighty), both of whom have CF. We have been to several CF events at their behest and they have always been fun. This…
I surrender. I’ve tried for five years now and done everything I can to professionalize myself with regard to this task. I’ve bought the finest Italian-made tools. I’ve tried using every imaginable resource to improve my capabilities. I’ve broken the task down so that I space out my efforts and not grow weary. But I’m here to tell you after this latest bout of effort that I simply cannot clean windows well enough to justify…