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Several items on my personal gear list were used by the whole family, and thus, this page was born. I have excluded our furniture. We keep only those items that are useful and/or are enjoyed which allows our family to focus on doing things that we find rewarding rather than devoting ourselves to managing stuff.…
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A friend recently asked “If you could watch only one movie, what would it be?” This is an incredibly hard question. In the end, my answer was the documentary Weapons of the Spirit, a story of the town Le Chambon that sheltered around 5,000 jews during the Nazi occupation. The cinematography isn’t amazing but the…
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The following was extracted from the “preserve life” section of my make a difference post and expanded here because a paragraph wasn’t enough. TL;DR I believe that we should do everything possible to compassionately discourage abortions. This starts with empathy for the mother. Abortions are rarely a flip decision or a casually selected birth control…
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These are notes I made for myself when I was considering a career change in 2008. I was thinking about how various activities (career / future work) are most impactful to human flourishing. Last week several friends indicated an interest my notes so I am sharing them here. This is more raw than most of…
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I have been reading Thinking Fast and Slow which I would highly recommend. If you have read a summary and think you know what’s in the book you are wrong. I think it takes example after example to actually internalize how easily we are influenced by things we don’t notice. I am writing up some…
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I strive to be grateful for my material possessions and not fall into the trap of consistent consumption. For the last several years I limit my purchases to consumables and replacing items that wore out for most of the year, aka a shopping diet. Think of this as intermittent fasting applied to purchasing. When I…
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Outdoor activities often requires dealing with biting bugs such as mosquitos which are annoying, but generally not directly life threatening (though they can be a disease vector). There are also ticks, black flies, spiders, scorpions, and some ant variants. Appropriate preventative measures vary by the “Bugforce” that is expected. Qualifying Bugforce Bugforce Scale as proposed…
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The following is a reference I use when selecting the next hiking or backpacking destination with a bias toward Northern California. I make it in 2002 and just now moving it from my old site so it is easier to fix broken links and add new places to try. Hopefully I will get it cleaned…
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In the book A Praying Life, Paul Miller asserts that we shouldn’t focus on prayer (the method) but rather God (the object). Miller has a very high view of prayer. He expect prayer to accomplish things. Not because we are somehow manipulating God, but because God cares and prayer is a key way that we…
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Truth is the only thing worth standing on. Lies, falsehoods, secrets, excuses, might seem expedient, but they are like quicksand. They will drown your life if you walk in them. Lies can only hurt people and will rot away your heart and conscience. Secrets limit your ability to share fully with others and hurt your…
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Updated December 2023 My packing list for trips than range from a few days to several months. Items “*” are optional. This list was extracted from my Packing & Traveling Light post. For a more complete description of these items see my gear for life. Packing list from 2023 Camino. If a trip includes camping as…
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I have an updated gear list which captures what I am using now. I used pretty much the same gear in 2019 as previous years and will continue to use the same items with minor changes in 2020. My current list is now available. Several years ago minimalism led me to simplify my stuff, keeping…
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Items that I removed from my personal gear list because we have them for the general family. This list is incomplete. I plan to make a complete list this year, but haven’t gotten around to it. Maybe I will make the complete list in 2021. Electronics Google WiFi Mesh network access points easily install and just…
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Last night I had a spirited discussion with some friends about US politics. One of our friends was expressing a concern that historically the US has been too “nice”, hopeful, helpful. We have created a culture people want to enjoy, but now we will be taken advantage of and ultimately destroyed. We need to be…
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TL;DR I am so grateful that I live in an era that can correct many issues related to poor vision!! It’s easy to take glasses for granted, but for thousands of years, people born with poor eyesight had to find ways to muddle through life, never seeing things clearly. I have worn eyeglasses since I…
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For a year I tried using the service blinkist which provides summary’s of popular non fiction books, with a focus on business and self improvement literature. I thought it would be an effective way to screen books to decide what books I would want to read in full. After a year I decided it wasn’t…
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You can get commercial information from NapaValley.COM. For years, I found The Best of the Wine Country to be a useful guidebook to the area, but it’s out of date now. Wine Wine is the first order of business. There are more than 400 wineries in the Napa valley, and more than 600 if you include Sonoma county.…
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Yosemite is arguably one of the most beautiful places on earth. I have been then tens of times, and never tire of visiting the park. While the Valley floor can be crowded, it’s still worth visiting. For a first time visitor to Yosemite I would recommend staying in the valley if possible. Lodging options range…
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San Francisco is a beautiful, world class city. There are numerous museums, places of nature beautiful, great food, and well known tourist spots. You could easily spend several weeks exploring San Francisco and only scratch the surface. The SF City Pass can be a good deal. The greater SF bay area has more Michelin stars…
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Part of my visiting northern California series. I would recommend taking two days to explore the area around Monterey. If you had a lot of time you could make it a four day leg and continue down Route 1 to Hearst Castle / San Simeon, Morro Bay, San Louis Obispo, and then come back via…