So another month falls off the wall. The beard enters its 6th month and the hair is now a year old. Like Dumbledore, I consider the history in these locks. Come August with both beard and body, I'll look like I did in 2021 on my Me page, when I designed that Large t-shirt.

I could nearly copy-paste my words from today a year ago in Got Up and Came Back Strong...Victorious, the title of the post from the lyrics of a great song for training by Skillet. I read once that John Cooper writes his songs while on a treadmill; I totally get that vibe with all the anthems they do.

As to what I am listening to as I write now, it's Switchfoot's Meant to Live. How does that song brings back the memories! So powerful! Oh, 2004, how ARE ya?

Twenty years ago today, you could find me in Europe at the Alexandra Hotel in Fort William, Scotland. It was my first place to stay in Europe, for I had already spent a sleepless night wandering the streets of Cherbourg, France—no rest for the jetlagged.

Those were the days I faced a veiled future with arms wide open. I didn't know where I would go, didn't know what I would do. I explored just staying over there. Life was about...being ALIVE. In the moment. Too often we deaden ourselves.

And these days, I am optimizing the budget! OK, I get a kick out of these past two weeks, knocking out the grocery shopping in the Saturday 6 AM hour. It's all about substitutory and complementary goods in a context of maximizing utility at lower price points. My shopping printout is organized in ascending aisle order.

Inspired by the same focus on economic utility and unlike 2023's March swims, I have not opened the pool this year. I cannot find the justification to support its expense. I don't even track the pool motor's electric bill to filter everything for 8 hours—utilities have been noticeably cheaper! I do keep a monthly pool maintenance budget; it has now grown to $700, a tidy sum that would have otherwise evaporated up into the sky.

It reminds me of when we lived out in the country. Our fridge succumbed to age and the new hire was lousy on day one. So, we fired him and opted to go with a freezer. Our new, high-dollar Samsung dryer went out after a year, so I chose to hang up clothes outside and added it to my chores list that included dishwashing by hand with just a splash of bleach. The absence of those power leeches led to substantial savings in both utilities and replacement costs. And I discovered how much I like a freezer, a device that lends itself to a save & store approach.

A part of me longs to be in an off-the-grid location, where I harness the power of nature for limited applications. Is this pragmatic? I find that the tech since my October 1995 has ripped apart the fabric of our society.