Category: Daily Life

Daily Life, Health, Travel

A Change In Priorities

We had a death in the family this week. Two, actually. Both had massive strokes on the same day and both passed away on the same day. A very odd coincidence. Anyway, I was talking to the widow of one of them and, in an attempt to offer comfort, had mentioned that now is the time to relish the memories they had made together. He brightened up and went into a long list of all the cruises, trips, excursions, and sailing outings they’d done. They’d actually done a lot more than I’d realized. It was obvious how fondly he remembered all those things they’d done together. Ultimately, our life is defined by the experiences we had.

I just finished a book that drove this concept home. It’s called Die With Zero by Bill Perkins. In it, the author has some very unique ideas about money, resources, and what’s important in life. To quote the old saying, “nobody dies wishing they’d spent more time at the office“. He encourages you to use your money to maximize the experience points you accumulate throughout life. He gives an example of when he was just out of school, dirt poor and eating ramen for dinner every night.

His roommate quit his job and borrowed money so he could backpack through Europe for a few months. The author thought he was nuts for being so irresponsible. The roommate came back with fantastic stories of meeting girls, beautiful beaches, and pictures of gorgeous scenery. The roommate found a new job shortly after returning and had paid back the borrowed money before long. Years later the author had built up some savings and thought about the trip the old roommate had taken. He realized that at age 30, he’d never be able to experience or recreate a carefree trip like that. That was an experience reserved for youth, and he’d missed it because he was being responsible with his money. Meanwhile the roommate had an experience he’ll remember forever and suffered no long term financial impacts because of it.

As the name of the book implies, the point is to die with zero. If you’ve got money and savings still in the bank when you’re gone, you left experiences on the table that you could have had. As you lay on your deathbed, wouldn’t you rather have had one last cruise or a trip somewhere with your loved one than a few extra dollars in the bank?

While much of the book is geared towards younger people and helping them think about how to manage their resources long term, there were a few chapters that really hit home for me. He uses the concept of “time buckets” to help prioritize experiences. The things you do in your twenties and thirties can be wild and more risky. You have time to recover, both physically and monetarily. As you move into your forties and fifties you can still have “active” experiences – ski trips, climbing the thousands of stairs in tiny towns in Italy, hiking national parks, etc…

But reality is that by the time you hit your sixties and seventies, the experiences you can have – change. While we all hope we’re still physically fit, for most of us a week long ski trip to Taos is not realistic at 65. Driving and long plane flights are harder. Our experiences tend to be more sedate – cruises, museums, and sitting on the beach enjoying sunsets. If you make it to eighty… well, very few of us are still active. Median life expectancy in the US is 77. Experiences become pretty limited at that point. Most of what you have at that age are memories of the past.

Having someone pass away, combined with the concepts in the book, hit me hard. Based upon average life expectancy, I have twenty years left. That’s only 1,000 weeks. If I did an “experience” every four weeks, that means I’ll have 250 more experiences in my life. That’s sobering. And out of those remaining twenty years, how many do I have left where I can still be relatively active? I hope a lot, but there’s no guarantee.

Why don’t we come to that realization when we’re younger?

So no more farting around and waiting until next month, six months from now, or next year to have those experiences. The clock is ticking and I want those life experiences in the bank. I don’t want to be on my deathbed, with money still in the bank, wishing I’d taken that trip when I was still fit enough to do it.

You only have this life once and you don’t get to take your things with you. You die with nothing more than the memories of what you’ve done and the people around you.

Let’s go make the most out of those remaining weeks.

Cool, Daily Life

Random Things And Observations

Very often I can’t remember my phone number or why I walked into the kitchen. Yet, I’ll always know how many feet in a mile, a quote from a movie I saw in high school, and the quadratic equation. (just kidding on that last one) Needless to say, there’s a lot of useless crap and random thoughts that float around in my head much of the day. From time to time I need to purge. Enjoy.

  • How did men in the 40’s and 50’s walk around with fedoras all day and not have hat hair? Watch any old movie. They walk inside, take off the hat, perfect hair. For me the morning decision of hat/no hat is an all-day commitment.
  • We may have our first big winter storm inbound. Thank god because this is the worst start to a ski season I can remember. The flip side is that next weekend is forecast to be in the negative temps. I’ll accept that if it means snow.
  • Speaking of weather – do you notice that the mainstream news only covers weather if it hits the East coast? We’re going to get hammered by a series of storms this week here in the mountain West. Not a peep. The East coast gets an inch of snow and it’s wall-to-wall coverage. The exception is tornadoes in the mid West or mudslides in Los Angeles.
  • You do know that asylum is coming, right? I don’t care what party is in charge. At some point they’ll decide that the numbers are too great to attempt deportation and that the humane thing to do is grant some sort of asylum.
  • I have no idea what’s going to happen with the first few primaries. I do remember that Trump lost Iowa to Ted Cruz in ’16. The future is not set.
  • I ordered a casual wool vest from Amazon in an effort to stop dressing like a homeless teenager. When I walked out to show my wife, her look of horror and puzzlement was priceless. I’m returning it today.
  • My dog hates carrots. He will dig through his food and make a point of spitting them out on the floor. He’s not messing around with that orange bullshit under any circumstances.
  • In the last six months I’ve started wearing Crocs, drinking tea, siting in front of a UV lamp in the morning, (ordering vests) and have had no alcohol in the last six weeks. I’m not entirely sure why, and don’t think it’s helped or improved me as a human in any way. So I’ve got all that going for me.
  • Don’t ask why, but one of my random resolutions was that I need to add more heat (spice) to my food. There is now a bottle of sriracha in my fridge. I’ve used it once. This may take some willpower.
  • Speaking of resolutions, I also decided that music needs to be more of priority in my life. I’d also like another tattoo, but older saggy skin is not ideal. I’ll probably have to let that one go.
  • I got it in my head the other day that we needed chopsticks. I’m not sure why. Anyway, we’re all set in case we decide to have a large asian-themed dinner party.
  • A non-flattering video snippet of Madonna dressed in some head-to-toe sliver outfit and gyrating wildly showed up on Twitter/X the other day. Someone commented that it reminded him of forgetting to remove the aluminum foil from his burrito and putting it in the microwave. I’m still laughing. I showed it to Mrs Troutdog. She was not amused. Some pop icons you don’t mess with I guess.
  • I didn’t get asked to appear on a single podcast last year and I’m crushed.
  • I’ve earned .79 cents from this blog thing. (no, not kidding) Clearly this is the year I’m going to crush it – I can feel the momentum.
  • I learned that there are people out there who stand in the shower facing the water. What’s wrong with them?
  • I stood outside the other day and chatted with a friend about a particular model of car. He said that night his YouTube feed was nothing but videos about that car. They’re always listening.
  • Did you know you can buy a battle axe on Amazon? Not saying I would, but it’s good to know.
  • I guess we forgot about Ukraine.
  • How many modern day navy SEALs would it have taken to win the Revolutionary war? Also, who would win in a head to head battle – Samurai or Vikings?
  • Everyone knew EXACTLY what Epstein was. Yet they interacted with him anyway. Power, influence, money, corruption, blackmail, perversion… been going on since the beginning of time.
  • The Norse gods are starting to grow on me.
  • Just finished a book on the history of the Israel six-day war in ’67. The parallels to what’s happening today are frighteningly similar. Israel is the only country that’s constantly expected to lose a war and then beg for international approval.
  • Does anyone know if you can play a harmonica if it gets wet? The acoustics in the shower would be amazing. I haven’t pulled the trigger on a harmonica yet, but I’m considering…

And that’s a wrap. A successful purge of randomness in the brain. Until the mental hard drive fills up again, thanks for reading along!

Daily Life, Government, Solving the wrong problem

Should I Care?

Last night Mrs Troutdog and I watched a two hour discussion with Vivek Ramaswamy on the Shawn Ryan show. I HIGHLY recommend watching it, regardless of your political beliefs. The dude is scary smart and has seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of everything. Even if you disagree with his political views, you have to admit – there is no other candidate would could conduct this type of long-form discussion with his level of candor. None. (maybe JFK Jr) Why aren’t we, as a population, demanding this level of candidate to represent us? Never mind, don’t answer that.

So we’re watching this interview and I’m getting myself spun up about politics and the state of the country, and Mrs Troutdog shared some insightful wisdom. She said, “I don’t care. All I care about is that the market stays healthy, our money stays secure, and we can enjoy retirement”.

She’s right.

In the big picture, none of the nonsense these meat puppets running for office are babbling about is really going to affect me. Of course there could always be some sort of cataclysmic change and civil war or zombies in the street. But in the next twenty years… probably not. Could we suddenly become Venezuela and need wheelbarrows of cash to pay for our mocha lattes at Starbucks? Sure, but not likely.

Things will get a bit more expensive. Random silly rules will get passed. I might not be able to replace my gas stove. There will be more cricket meal inserted in the food. But that’s about it. We’ll still be able to travel and see the countries largest ball of string and the museum of socket wrenches. I’ll still be able to buy and read books. Pretty sure there won’t be any restrictions on hiking, mountain biking, skiing, or riding the motorcycle. Fly fishing will always be an option.

So as usual, she’s right. There’s no point to getting my panties all in a bunch over the latest political outrage. I was equally outraged at the last four or five elections and somehow we survived. I’m pretty sure the next four will be about the same.

Don’t get me wrong, the country is heading in a bad direction. Fortunately for us, the car crash will happen long after we’re gone. Is that selfish? Yeah, a bit. But you know what? The younger generations have by and large voted for all this crap. So, you reap what you sow.

It makes me sad to see where we’re headed. Don’t worry, I’ll still be getting on my soapbox and ranting about whatever the latest outrage is like an old man shouting ‘get off my lawn’. But it’s all for show.

Behind the scenes, I love the beauty and adventure this country still offers and that’s where my head is at most of the time. You should do the same. Unless you’re young and just starting out. In that case… I’d be worried about what your future holds. You younger folks may want to really think about where we’re headed and decide if that’s really what you want.

But that’s not me. I’ll be sitting on the back porch, drinking a beer and looking out over the lake. Fondly remembering what used to be, and happy it’s not my war to fight.

Content, knowing that I’m well armed, and have plenty of food, water, and survival gear. I may be past the age of getting all worked up about politics…

But I’m not a complete idiot.

Cool, Daily Life, Motivation

Ready To Start Over?

I am a collector of cheesy sayings, quotes, and memes. When I read or hear a good one I write it down. Occasionally I’ll hang one in the bathroom like my framed “Live Laugh Love” poster. Sometimes I’ll make them into Twitter/X posts, sometimes blog posts (are these things still called blogs?). More often than not they get deleted or forgotten, just like your New Year resolution. However yesterday I saw one that I couldn’t resist. It ticks all the boxes; cheesy, inspirational, and true. So if I had to read it, so do you. Ready?

“The count is zero when you wake up”

Did you have a bad day yesterday? Doesn’t matter because the count resets every morning. Did you set a personal deadlift record yesterday? Doesn’t matter because the count reset this morning. Is some weird intrapersonal drama going on at work? Doesn’t matter because the count starts at zero today. In other words a zero count every morning is a less cheesy and lame way of saying every day is a new day.

Unless you’re a Hamas commander who just had a 500 pound JDAM drop on you – then your count definitely does not reset.

I really needed to re-read this saying today. Why? I’ve had zero alcohol for over a month. I’ve worked out at least three days a week. I’ve been both downhill and cross country skiing multiple times. I’ve been riding my bike on the greenbelt. I’ve skipped all deserts and feel like I’ve been paying attention to what I’m eating. I initially saw a seven pound weight loss.

This morning I stepped on the scale and I gained four pounds.

Shit. I didn’t drink all through the holidays and kept away from the buffet table and still gained weight. What’s the point? I might as well have that evening cocktail if I’m going to gain weight anyway. It’s very depressing.

Sigh. Deep breath. The count is zero when you wake up. Today we start over from scratch. I don’t know what the answer is, but we will find a way to make this weight loss work. Yesterday or the last month doesn’t matter. Calories have been too high and protein too low. Step count and workout intensity have been half-assed.

We can fix this and turn the ship around. There was a mantra I’d mutter to myself back in the trail running days when things started to hurt – it’s mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.

It’s not whether you fall down, but if you get back up. Ok, ok, ok. I’ll stop with the cheesy sayings. You get my point. Go out and do the thing today.

And remember, always drink upstream from the herd (sorry, couldn’t resist). What’s your cheesy saying for the day?

Daily Life, Health

Death To Coffee

I was asked last night by someone who does not drink coffee – what does coffee do for you in the morning? Despite the urge to say, “uhm everything”, it did make me think. But first, some context. Starting about a month ago I began to make some changes. No, we won’t call them changes but experiments. One of them was to start drinking non-caffeinated tea at night before bed. I’m trying to avoid reaching for a snack, desert, or nightcap in the evening. Turns out a hot cup of tea fills the belly and keeps me from foraging in the kitchen.

Next, I started reading about Dr Huberman’s morning routine. Of the things he suggests doing, one of them was to delay caffeine intake for 90-120 minutes upon waking to let the residual adenosine clear from your system. At that point his caffeine choice is a strong tea.

It got me thinking. I’ve lost the taste for coffee lately. It’s very acidic and not helped by the fact that I make crappy Keurig coffee because I’m too lazy to do the pour-over or French press thing. Although I’ve never in my life been a tea drinker, I was already drinking it at night so why not try it in the morning?

So a few weeks ago I substituted some old caffeinated tea I found in the pantry for my morning coffee. Shockingly, I didn’t die or lapse into convulsions. I won’t say I was in love with the taste, but it was certainly more mellow on my stomach than the coffee.

So here we are. I’m keeping up with the tea instead of coffee thing. I ordered some fancy loose leaf tea and a proper tea strainer thingy.

Let me be clear about how momentous a change this is. Way back in the day when I was a software developer, I drank an absolute frightening amount of coffee. As in, multiple full pots a day. In later years as an RN, the only way to survive 12-13 hour shifts was large amounts of caffeine. Nowadays I’m back to a normal 2-3 cups a day, but the ingrained habit is strong. It’s a big thing that I’m not drinking coffee.

Is it going to be a continuing habit? That brings me back to the original question I was asked – what does coffee do for me in the morning? I honestly didn’t have an answer. In reality I’m probably not getting a decent nights sleep and therefore I’m super groggy in the morning. It feels like coffee/caffeine is the only way to “wake up”. A logical person would conclude that the right answer is to work on getting a better nights sleep, rather than caffeinate to compensate. I’ve never been accused of being the sharpest crayon in the box.

The routine I’d like to work towards is two-fold. First, work on getting a better nights sleep. Second, continue to incorporate Dr. Hubermans ideas. Wake up, sunlight, two large glasses of water with salt, and delay the caffeine for 90 minutes. For extra bonus points, use that 90 minutes to get my workout in.

At that point, take my time and make a proper cup of tea or a decent cup of coffee. Probably alternate. Maybe 70/30 tea/coffee.

Once I’ve reached that level of superhuman performance, I shall be in a perfect state of zen.

So that’s more than you wanted to know about one of my 2024 resolutions. We’ll cover the conquest and take over of some foreign country and running a 100 mile ultramarathon in another post. How about you? Are you a coffee or tea drinker? Pour-over or French press? Best high caffeine morning tea? Inquiring minds want to know.

Cool, Daily Life, Motivation, Travel

Chasing The Stoke

The stoke is a surfing term that started appearing in the 1950’s. “Stoke” is a feeling of exhilaration or happiness that you find in something. It can also be a feeling of confidence. “Dude, I’m so stoked – did you see that wave I caught!” Surfers spend their time “chasing the stoke”, meaning driving up and down the coast (or flying to exotic destinations) looking for that perfect wave to fuel the stoke. I mention this because once upon a time in a galaxy far, far, away, I fancied myself as a surfer. In reality I was a really bad surfer, but it didn’t matter. When I caught a decent wave, it gave me such a feeling of exhilaration… I knew exactly what the stoke was at those moments. And I wanted more.

I am officially declaring the next 356 days the year of the stoke. I’ll admit that I’ve lost the stoke lately. It’s time to get it back. It’s time to do things that get you excited and wanting more. This year will be about experiences that make you want to wake up early so you can plan out the next thing. I want to get back to chasing the stoke.

So in no particular order, here are the stoke-inducing resolutions for the coming year:

  • You can’t chase the stoke if you look like a homeless street bum. Regardless of setting – island wear, city exploration, or climbing mountains, if you look good you’ll feel better about yourself. And if you feel good, you’ll be more pumped to go find the stoke. We will look good this year.
  • It goes without saying, if you resemble the Pillsbury Doughboy it’s hard to look good. Not impossible, but certainly harder. We want to remove obstacles to finding the stoke. Not being squishy around the middle is a priority.
  • With the zombie apocalypse and/or civil war looming at any moment, we will strive to be harder to kill. Confidence makes finding the stoke easier.
  • I have plenty of adrenaline-producing hobbies. Mountain bikes, motorcycles, skiing, etc… These things shall be a daily priority to keep the desire for chasing the stoke primed.
  • Documenting the stoke helps maintain that need to keep finding it. Looking back at pictures or video and thinking whoa that was cool, makes you want to go do it again. Creativity will be a priority this year. Besides, let’s be honest – who doesn’t like showing off your stoke a bit?
  • It’s harder to feel the stoke when you only surf at the same spot. It gets boring. We will chase the stoke this year. Little towns, museums, epic landscapes, picturesque barns, quirky stores and tacky tourist spots are all on the menu. We will hit the road to find the stoke this year.
  • Part of finding the stoke is developing habits that make you happy and content. Finding your zen. Making a point to go to the coffee shop several times a week to relax and talk about where to find your stoke next. Getting massages. Creating morning routines that don’t involve hours of mindless TV or surfing the internet. Walks after dinner and sitting in the sun first thing in the morning. There’s a reason so many surfers are into Buddha, mindfulness, and connecting with nature – being grounded leads to contentment. You can’t find the stoke if you start your day angry about geopolitics.
  • When I was a teenager, I was able to chase the stoke fueled by pop tarts, gas station burritos and NoDoz. That is not a recipe for success now. This year we will be mindful and deliberate about food. We will take the time to make a decent cup of coffee or tea. We will spend time cooking with a focus on real food, taste, and healthy recipes. We will combat the urge to eat crap because we were too lazy to plan ahead. Clean, simple, and not processed. Life is too short to not enjoy food (in appropriate portions).
  • It’s hard to chase the stoke when you’re weighed down with things. If something isn’t adding value to my life, or I haven’t used it in a year – it’s gone. I’m too old to be collecting stuff. This year needs to be a focus on minimalism and being deliberate. The things I surround myself with need to be comfortable, make me happy to be around, be of good quality, and be utilitarian. If it’s not helping me chase the stoke, or improving my mood and environment – it’s gone. Clean and simple is the answer. Clutter and disarray are the enemy of finding the stoke.

So that’s it. My plan for the year. Easier said than done, I know. But when you sit back and look at the list, why wouldn’t you be doing those things? The mere fact that I have to make these resolutions to myself shows just how off track I’ve gotten from what’s important.

We’re only here once. Let’s make sure we make it a life worth living.

“We are what we repeatedly do, therefore, excellence is not an act but a habit.” - Aristotle

Daily Life

Tar, Feathers, And Telemarketers

The first call came in sixty seconds after I hit the submit button. I laughed to myself, “wow that was quick”. Thirty seconds later, another call. And then another. “Oh crap, that can’t be real” I thought. More calls came in. I couldn’t hit the block button fast enough. As the old Talking Heads lyric says, “…and you may ask yourself, well how did I get here?”

One fine morning I decided to investigate health insurance options. I was curious what the going rate would be if we were to go on the dreaded exchange – the ACA, Affordable Care Act, which is decidedly not affordable. One of the worst disasters for our health care system ever. But that’s a story for another day. So there I was, trusty internet browser at the ready. I entered in the name of my state and “health insurance exchange”. The very first entry looked like an official state exchange website, so I clicked on it.

Now, I’m usually pretty good at identifying scams, phishing, and other ne’er-do-well type of people on the interwebs trying to take advantage of unsuspecting senior citizens. I must have been off my game because nothing jumped out at me as a warning sign. An official looking form wanted a name, zip code, and phone number before it would show you the available plans in your area. Normally I’d enter bogus info in, but clearly I was asleep at the switch and entered my real phone number. As I said in the first paragraph, the moment I hit submit I started getting phone calls.

I didn’t get just a few phone calls – in less than 48 hours I’ve received over 80 telemarking calls.

The calls start exactly at 7am each morning. They continue, roughly one every 15 minutes or so all day long, ending at 5:30pm. They’re mostly from different numbers so it’s impossible to block them all.

I went back and looked at the web site I’d been on. Upon closer examination it’s an insurance broker. I searched all around the site and found a contact page with an email address. I fired off a spicy worded email demanding I be removed from their list. The mail bounced back with the message “the recipient’s mailbox is unavailable”. Of course.

These people are scum. They are truly evil. What kind of soulless ghoul do you have to be to intentionally design a system that misleads people and then bombards them with phone calls every 15 minutes? From the marketing people, to the project managers, down to the software engineers who coded it – fucking evil people. How do you go home and sleep after working on a system like that? Do they really look in the mirror and think they’re doing something that adds value to society? The answer is no they don’t, and they don’t care. It’s a paycheck. Not their problem that it might impact people negatively.

In a just world we would track down every employee’s address and park loud sirens outside their homes and let them blare away all night long. And for the executives at that company? Tar and feathers. A highly underrated form of mob justice from the medieval days, that carried over to the American Revolution. A mostly non permanent way of identifying someone as an absolute piece of shit human who should be avoided at all costs and probably run out of town.

Although not ideal, we’d probably be better off as a society if we brought back some good ol’ fashioned frontier justice. Protesters who block freeways? A good ass whipping by an angry mob would cure that pretty quick. Environmental protesters who deface art? Tar and feathers. Lawyers and politicians? Well, I’ll let you use your imagination.

By society becoming “more” civilized, I’d argue we’ve become uncivilized. There’s little concept of manners and decent behavior anymore. People don’t care because there are no consequences for their behavior.

As I sit here fuming at the calls that continue to come in, I’ll leave you with a quote from the pulp fiction author, and creator of Conan the Barbarian, Robert E. Howard:

“Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.”

Cool, Daily Life

Electric Robot AI Bulletproof Cars

I am generally not a fan of electric vehicles. They are a very purpose-specific application that doesn’t fit most peoples lifestyles. We don’t have the electric grid infrastructure to support large scale implementation. The environmental impact of sourcing materials for the batteries is huge. And the battery disposal problem… don’t get me started. If you live in a large metropolitan area with tons of charging options, and primarily use the EV for short errands or an easy commute, then an electric vehicle might make sense to you. For the rest of us, not so much.

Having said that, I am in love with Tesla Cybertruck and have been since the concept was first introduced. The technology, an outside the box design approach, the look… I love all of it. And come on – it’s bulletproof. Something that will come in handy during the zombie apocalypse.

Sadly, it just wouldn’t be realistic for our lifestyle. We live in a mountainous region with large amounts of snow all winter. The distances between towns can be significant. And those towns are often small – as in 400 residents. Not many superchargers are being installed next to “Tackle Tommy’s Bait and Ammo” shop. On top of that, the Cybertruck is huge. It wouldn’t fit in my garage, which means I’d be dragging a charging cable outside. Not ideal in winter.

So I’ve jealously watched all the preorders and the Tesla update events knowing it wasn’t for me. Last month Tesla had their Production Release Event where the first production Cybertrucks were rolled off the assembly line and delivered to customers. Every auto YouTuber started filming review videos of the production version of the truck and I watched every one of them.

And then Mrs Troutdog surprised me. She told me that she’d entered our name on the wait list for a Cybertruck! Of course at the rate of production, my truck will come available sometime in 2030 so I have plenty of time to decide if it’s something I want. But still, the idea is still fun and I’ll be watching all the reviews, like the fanboy I am, until then.

I continue to be a huge fan of Elon Musk. The ability to reimagine automobile design is something nobody else has done. Sort of like Apple used to be, there’s a level of thinking outside the lines that everyone else tries to copy. For example, independent of the Cybertuck, I’ve been researching new vehicles lately. My current truck is 14 years old and is not ideal for longer distance travel. As I look at all the features in new cars, everyone is now copying the large display in the center console that Tesla started.

The problem is that there’s no comparison. If you’ve ever interacted with a Tesla display, it’s a masterpiece in software engineering and user interaction. It just works. The displays in non-Teslas look like the software was outsourced to a random high school kid hired off of Gigster. Compared to the Tesla, the screens look like the AOL browser from the early 2000’s.

The rest of the automotive world is playing catch-up to Tesla. The typical “new model year update” for most cars these days is a change to the front grill and slightly redesigned cup holders. There is absolutely nothing new or exciting about most other cars these days.

Unfortunately, I don’t like the sedan look of the other models of Teslas. I’m a truck guy, always have been. I tow stuff, haul things to the dump, drive down rough fire roads to go fishing, throw skis and mountain bikes in the back, and cart around a muddy dog. A truck fits what I do.

But for the first time ever… I’m considering something other than a truck. I will admit, it would be nice to be able to easily park downtown and to get decent fuel economy. The only reason I can even contemplate this, is that we’d keep the truck I already have for all those “truck” applications. My everyday vehicle would be something much smaller.

I haven’t decided how I feel about this. Does this portend other significant changes in 2024? Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria! (are you even old enough for that movie reference?) Anyway, not sure if we’ll pull the trigger on that one. That may be too much of a change for me.

Besides, if I switch to a small car for the next seven years I may not want the Cybertruck when my name comes up.

Decisions, decisions.

Daily Life, Motivation

Do You Even Know Where You’re Going?

I had an odd inspiration the other day. I stumbled upon a YouTube channel by a guy who was a Navy SEAL who ended up joining the French Foreign Legion. He’d reached the pinnacle of military achievement and squandered it due to stupid decisions. After drifting for a while and getting in more trouble, he decided the Legion was the only chance he had at getting his life back together. In his case, it worked. He’s now, at least according to him, squared away and on a good path.

The inspiration was a quote he shared in one of his videos from Yogi Berra: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else”.

What was interesting is that here’s a guy who had micro planning and goal setting down to a science. He had a goal to join the SEALs and knew exactly how to get there. How to train, workout, prepare, and what path to take in the military to get there. He had the discipline to stay focused and achieve his goals. And yet for as laser focused as he was on the micro issues in front of him, he had no vision for the big picture. He couldn’t see what the impact his daily decisions was having on his career. The end result was he lost everything.

What struck me was how close to my life that is right now. No, not getting in bar fights, being a Navy SEAL or joining the French Foreign Legion. Although, the Legion would be a great weight loss program. Hmm… Anyway, the similarity to my life is the Yogi Berra quote – I don’t know where I’m going.

Are we going to spend the next ten years traveling? Should I focus on photography or making YouTube videos? Should every day be spent exercising and doing a sport of some sort? Writing an award winning blog? What do I want 2024 to look like? I don’t know.

The critical part of the quote is the second part – “you’ll end up someplace else”. No matter what you do, you’ll end up somewhere. The question is, is that where you wanted to be?

This year, I was in drift mode. I did a little bit of this, a little bit of that. It was a weird weather year. We had a ton of house/landscape work that disrupted my routine (or so I told myself). I got hurt and had surgery. All in all, 2023 was a completely forgettable year. Not bad, just forgettable. Virtually nothing I can look back on and say, “I did that!”. There’s nothing wrong with years like that every once in a while. The problem is that I’m not twenty. I don’t have that many more years to squander.

So I can keep focusing on the day to day, week to week. Should I go for a bike ride today? Skiing? Maybe I should plan a motorcycle ride for next week. What are we having for dinner? That’s all well and good but I’m afraid if that’s all I do, another year will zoom by and I’ll be asking the same question next holiday season. What did I do this year?

It’s time to have some actual big picture goals and plans. It doesn’t need to be planned out to the nth degree… but we at least need a roadmap to help keep focus on a direction.

It’s interesting. Small goals are easier to wrap your head around. Lose ten pounds. Finally get that fence built. Take a trip to Vegas. It’s identifiable. Easy to plan for. Measurable from day to day. Big, macro goals are difficult. It’s hard to wrap your head around them in a way that’s quantifiable. It’s one thing to say “my goal is to travel this year”. But what does that actually look like?

I suppose it’s more about having a purpose in life. While going for a bike ride every day certainly isn’t a bad life… is that all I want for the rest of my time here? If I got hit by a cement truck tomorrow, is 2023 how I’d like to have gone out? (that’s a bigger philosophical question, but you get the point)

Some soul searching and planning needs to happen. We need to hit 2024 with a roadmap. Like any roadtrip, there’s nothing wrong with detours as long as you’re still generally heading in the same direction. The philosopher Yogi Berra was right – you’re going to end up somewhere no matter what you do. Just make sure it’s where you intended to go.

Daily Life, Travel

Time To Hit The Road

The other day I saw one of those on-line questionnaires designed to phish for security info disguised as a quiz; “how many of these states have you visited?” But it did get me thinking, so I put together a list of all the states and countries I’ve been to. It’s not overwhelming. Nobody is going to mistake me for a travel influencer. The official count – 23 states and 6 countries. I’d guess that makes me an average traveler, maybe a touch above? It is possible my state count is higher… early on in my career there was a bunch of flying to visit customers that’s mostly a blur now. Anyway, I’ve been to about half the country.

Here’s the reality though – of those 23 states, I’ve only really seen a handful. “Seen”, meaning drove through a significant portion. Did sightseeing. Ate at restraunts. Did the tourist thing. The rest were business trips, driving through to get somewhere else, or saw only a tiny portion.

And now that we’ve reached retirement age, it’s time to truly travel and see ’em all. Both Mrs Troutdog and I have been talking about travel for some time. We both agree that we want to see the USA more than other countries at the moment. The problem? We can’t agree on how to see the country.

Mrs Troutdog wants to travel in a mega-land-yacht RV so we can sleep in our own bed each night and not be pooping in public toilets. She wants home cooked meals rather than eating out every day and having to go to a restaurant just to get coffee in the morning. I want to travel by car so we can be nimble and flexible, able to easily stop at every roadside stand advertising deep fried Twinkies. We’re at a bit of an impasse.

Full disclosure – we used to own a mega-land-yacht. In fact we lived in it for a year, so we’re very familiar with that sort of travel.

Impassioned pleas have been made on both sides of the argument. Power point presentations and white boards have been involved. Hundreds of hours of YouTube videos have been viewed looking for an edge to win the discussion. Friends and family now cringe and leave the room if anyone brings up the “travel” question.

The thing is, when you step back and think about it… it’s a silly discussion. Two thirds of the people in this country would give anything to be fortunate enough to be in our shoes. We’re very blessed to even be having this discussion. We worked hard, saved our pennies, and now find ourselves in a great place in life. We’re able to do as much or as little travel as we want. I don’t take that for granted.

So here we are. I think we’ve come to a temporary compromise. We’re going to pick a handful of things to see and places to visit in shorter 3-4 day trips. We’ll either drive, or fly and rent a car, and do the hotel thing. We’ll use this to not only sightsee, but to evaluate that sort of travel. Do we like that sort of flexibility, or is the whole hotel/motel, eating out every meal vibe a no-go for us?

It will be an interesting experiment. One I’m looking forward to. I see Route 66 calling my name. How about you? What’s your preferred method of vacation/travel?

Of course with the price of gas, food, and lodging these days… we may have already missed our grand travel window.