Category Archives: General Talk

Can You Help My Friends Katharina and Chris?

A couple years ago I visited Kat and Chris and stayed with them at their home, this little enchanted cabin in the woods.

Chris and Kat live just north of Santa Cruz, California. They lost their home and most of their belongings in the recent fires. To make matters worse, three of their kids also lost their homes in the fires.

Up in the hills, this fire completely destroyed their home. They only had time to grab a car full of personal belongings.

Continue reading Can You Help My Friends Katharina and Chris?

Lockdown or Liberty: How to Deal with Stay-in-Place Orders

Or When Can We Go Backpacking & Camping Again?

Like almost most Americans, we are isolated at home due the our local state, county, and city “stay-in-place” orders. Life isn’t working out according to plan. After a full-time engagement of four years of house remodeling projects, this was going to be a year of extensive backpacking and camping. I should point out that during the previous four years, we did are fair share of camping, probably more than most people. I also did several backpacking trips during each of the past four years of my retirement. Currently, in the State of California, most backpacking and camping opportunities don’t exist. Most places are closed to use. At the same time, we are in a high risk population as regards coronavirus infection. I’m scheduled to reach my 70th year milestone on the planet and Joyce isn’t far behind. Approaching 70, the fact is very real I don’t have a lot of backpacking years ahead, so I would like to maximize each year going forward.

Given all of this, it is wisest for us to stay in place until life equalizes and gets back to some sort of normality. So we are stuck at home, or perhaps better stated, we are willing staying at home for a while.

Staying at home for extended periods of time is a new state of being for many Americans today. Many aren’t handling it well. So the purpose of this post is to share my experiences as a retiree for the past four year, and more importantly, the 18 years I spent working from home – often for months at a time. The following topics will be reviewed with a focus on how to maximize your time, or better yet, how not to waste time. Continue reading Lockdown or Liberty: How to Deal with Stay-in-Place Orders