My Summer Vacation – Foreign Extraction Edition, Part X
My Summer Vacation – Foreign Extraction Edition, Part X By the end of the last installment, we had departed Manila and were on our way to Tokyo (actually Narita, a suburb of Tokyo). The check-in...
View ArticleMy Summer Vacation – Foreign Extraction Edition, Part XI, the Wrap
In the immortal words of Jim Anchower, holas amigos, I know it’s been a long time since I rapped at ya. At the end of the last installment I had sampled the unfortunately named Pocari Sweat sports...
View ArticleBlogging Paralysis
Blogging Paralysis In the summer of 2016 I was working on my second novel, and let my blog lapse, for what I thought would be short break. Weeks turned into months, with an occasional post bobbing in...
View ArticleThe Fallacy of the Chaotic Creative
I recently read the tidying book that was so popular a couple of years ago (yeah, I’m always behind with the best sellers), “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” I have always been quite tidy, but I...
View ArticleGoodnight Airplane
If you’re ever at the airport late at night, or early in the morning, you may have noticed that a lot of planes spend the night at the gates. Have you wondered what is going on with these airplanes?...
View ArticleThe Ripple Effect of the Woody Allen Culture
When I was a teenager, Woody Allen movies were the available cinema for a small-town kid with hopes of becoming an intellectual. But, looking back, I wish I had never heard of him. I think Annie Hall...
View ArticlePeople Will Show You Who They Are
People Will Show You Who They Are If someone tells you they’re unreliable, believe them. If someone tells you they’re going to harm you or others, believe them. If someone tells you about their lies,...
View ArticleToilet Town
Every once in a while an aircraft mechanic has to deal with Chapter 38 – water and waste. The water’s no big deal; maybe a tap that won’t turn on or off, or a coffee maker that pees all over the...
View ArticleStealth Teflon – the Secret Strength of Passivity
Not too long ago I was told that I was perceived as passive. Most people who know me will probably be surprised to hear this, but I wasn’t that surprised because I had been passive on purpose. If...
View ArticleRight Bike, Wrong Trail – an Alpine Adventure: Part I
My summer vacation this year was a trip to Switzerland, with a side trip to the Netherlands to visit some friends who live there, and a side trip to Barcelona to spend time with friends who were...
View ArticleRight Bike, Wrong Trail – an Alpine Adventure: Part II
In the last installment, I was descending my first Swiss Alpine mountain bike ride, and things were not going as planned. Eventually I popped out near the hotel where I had initially caught the bus. I...
View ArticleRight Bike, Wrong Trail – an Alpine Adventure: Part III
In my last installment, my bike and I had just encountered two Spanish hikers who advised me to turn back because the trail was too dangerous to ride down. I brushed off their comments because they...
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