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Monthly Archives: November 2018

Daily Ramblings – Phoenix Day 2

30 Friday Nov 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Travel

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Tags

family, Friends, Newlyweds, Niece's Wedding, Phoenix, Rehearsal Party

Today, was my niece’s wedding rehearsal dinner. The big day is tomorrow. The ceremony is at 10 am outside and will run until 3 pm. It’ll be a great time!

I met with the spouse’s family and got to reconnect with family who all came to AZ. We went to a pizza parlor and had a great night of eating pizza, wings and getting reacquainted. It was a terrific time and one that I will remember for some time.

Don’t worry folks! I’ll be getting pictures up later, once I have gone through all of them.

Happy Friday!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Phoenix Day 1

29 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Travel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Different Time Zones, Nice temperatures, Phoenix, Reconnecting with friends, Vacation time

We got off to a late start today. We were all tired from the flight, getting unpacked, and getting a late meal before heading to my brother’s for the night. Today, we had breakfast at one of the local bistros.

The rest of the day will be relaxing, watching some television, and knocking out my to-do list. My Mom and I were going to hit the gym but instead will go tomorrow. We’re still in acclimation mode and getting adjusted to the nice temperatures and different time zone.

It has been great reconnecting with my brother after his visit to Michigan last year. I’ve already gotten in touch with most of my friends who live in Phoenix and starting to coordinate meetings for lunch and all the rest.

I’ll have more tomorrow!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Phoenix, here I come!

28 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Travel

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Tags

family, Fun times, Niece's Wedding, Phoenix, Travel, vacation, Warm Weather

In approximately 6 hours, I’ll be on a flight with the folks headed to Phoenix, AZ! I’ll be there to see my niece get married and meeting with lots of friends and colleagues.

It is going to be an awesome trip!!!

I should be able to keep up my posting schedule while gone but wanted to tell you what was up today. My Wisdom Wednesday posting will be avoided in light of time constraints. We are heading to the airport in about 45 minutes.

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk

27 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Ted Talk

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blind spots, Derek Sivers, Internal Maps, Paradigm Shifts, Paradigms, Ted Talk

Enjoy this short Ted Talk that shows us that what we thought was true can also have an opposite and also be true. Watch this short video to see what I mean.

We all have our paradigms. We all have our blind spots. When our geography is minimized through technology, we get more access to places where the people may look at things differently than us. Our internal maps (paradigms) can help us with navigating our own environments most of the time. They fail us when we are put in a different environment or receive new information we’ve never experienced.

Have a great Tuesday!!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Insight Mars Landing

26 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Insight Mars Lander

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Exciting times, Exploration, Insight Mars Lander, Nasa, technology, Wow!

All, I’m going to bypass my typical posting for today. Today, the Insight Mars Lander is negotiating Mars’ atmosphere as we speak. I’ve attached the YouTube video below, in case you didn’t have a chance to watch it live like I am right now.

Very exciting time! It was just announced that the Insight Lander successfully landed on Mars. Wow!

I have always enjoyed watching things like this. I hope you are just as excited as I am. After a 6 month journey, the lander literally negotiated and landed itself successfully on Mars all by itself. This is just terrific!

Have a great week everyone! Oh! I also wanted to let you know that my posting on the 28th will not occur this week. I’ll be on a flight to AZ to see my niece get married.

Until next time…

Dave

 

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Daily Ramblings – Thank you!

25 Sunday Nov 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thank you

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Tags

Arizona, family, Friends, New Followers, Niece's Wedding, Phoenix, Thank you, Thanks

Thanks for following Daily Ramblings! I appreciate all of the new followers this week. I hope all of you continue to enjoy the content that drew you to the site in the first place.

Announcement!

I am heading to Phoenix, AZ on Wednesday, the 28th. I’ll be there until the 13th of December. My family and I are going to my niece’s wedding. It will be great fun!

I’ll do my best to keep up my schedule but wanted to forewarn you that I may miss a day or two hanging out with my friends and family in Phoenix.

Have a great Sunday all!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday

24 Saturday Nov 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spiritual Saturday

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Tags

Being a light, Heart People, Helping Others, Loving, Setting the Example, Sharing, Teaching others

“Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being.”―Albert Schweitzer

I think the “light” Schweitzer discusses in this quote is about the spark or motivation we carry with us to meet the day. When life beats you up on multiple fronts, it is hard to be motivated to do anything at times. Then you meet someone or interact with someone who inspires you, invigorates you, or shows you that you may not have it as bad as you thought. These people are those people who are the “heart” people.

Heart people or the people who center their lives around the aspect of love are those who can withstand hardship because they know they are loved. They give love because in many cases it is all they possess. They give without thought of gain or advantage. They give without expecting anything in return. They give. They are grateful for the small graces sprinkled upon them.

When you run across a grateful person, you find they do not believe in a lack of abundance. They believe that there is enough for everyone and are always willing to give what they have to others, particularly if they believe the person, they are giving to needs something more than them. Grateful people do not advise others, they teach through example. They show the world that what they have is enough. They show others that happiness is internal, not an external thing subject to the whims of chance, the weather, or what other people do.

I am eternally grateful for the heart people I have come across. They have taught me. They have helped me. They have given to me. They arrived at times in my life that were not so great. I befriend people who are like this and keep them close. I, in turn, have tried to cultivate this same aspect of character. I try to help those that I can. I try to teach others the things I have learned that have been helpful to me. I try to show other people that they can have a better life by working on themselves. Some folks listen—others don’t. That’s ok.

I thank God for the family, friends, mentors, and teachers that have graced my life. They have taught me persistence. They have taught me discipline. They have taught me a great many things that benefit me. I reciprocate the grace they have brought to my life and try to do the same for others.

I hope each of you has had the privilege of knowing a heart person. I hope you are emulating these people and pursuing a life of being a “light” for others. It will make a huge difference in another person’s life.

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Funny Friday

23 Friday Nov 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Funny Friday

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Tags

Albert Einstein, failing, Falling, goofs, Improving, Learning, Mistakes, Programming

“Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.” ­Albert Einstein

Only Albert could give us something to ponder while being funny. This brought up a point about the importance of giving yourself a break. You are human. You will make mistakes. You will goof up. You will fall.

Will your mistake end the world? Will your goof destroy your progress? No. You can fix mistakes and goofs. Just realize that making mistakes and goofs are all part of the learning process. Learn from your mistakes. Learn what didn’t work. Learn why it didn’t work.

After re-wiring my brain toward coding again, I realized how silly some mistakes are. Software development languages are quite unforgiving when you screw up syntax. They are also maddening when you think they should do something, and they do something else. Between syntax and logic errors, logic errors are the worst. But, like every other developer before me, there are little hacks to learn, little “tricks of the trade” that allow you to avoid plenty of errors or have a process for finding logic and syntax errors.

The same thing that a software engineer uses can be used in real life when looking at your other projects. Look at the big task, break it down into little tasks, and execute each little task. This is what a computer programmer does because a computer can only work through little tasks to accomplish bigger ones. You must build the code, so your computer knows the variables it will have access to, the functions it will execute, and told when to execute a function or line of code. All these little tasks build up to an end goal, like allowing a person to play a game, do a calculation, or learn if they had enough sleep last week.

We do the same thing when we are looking to accomplish something. We look at the goal. We visualize what the end-state of that goal’s accomplishment looks like. Then we begin breaking the goal down into actionable steps.

I’ve really enjoyed getting back into programming. I haven’t done it seriously since 2005, but it is all beginning to come back quickly. I like the way software engineering requires us to think about what we want to accomplish. Only then can we build code to help us fulfill our desired end.

When you make a mistake and get down on yourself, take some time to contemplate the bigger picture. Each mistake you make helps you move forward—you find out what NOT to do. Learn from these mistakes. They’ll make you stronger—better. I hope all of my readers in the US had a terrific Thanksgiving!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Happy Thanksgiving

22 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thanksgiving

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Cranberry Sauce, family, Friends, Gratitude, Parades, Pie, Stuffing, Thanksgiving, Turkey

Today, we’ll be bypassing Thinking Thursday for a Thanksgiving Day Post. Today, in the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. It is the start of our holiday season in the U.S. and is always a nice time of year. Today, there will be parades, big meals, and football.

Thanksgiving is a day we Americans take the time to think about what we are grateful for. I believe Thanksgiving is a daily affair because it makes me feel good to isolate those things that I am grateful for daily.

Here is my list:

I am grateful for my family.

I am grateful for my friends.

I am grateful for God’s love.

I am grateful for the abilities I have.

I am grateful for my health.

I am grateful for the family dogs.

I am grateful for this life.

For those of you that celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoy some time off with your friends and family, eat some great food, and share some well-deserved time off. Take a moment today to write down or think about the things you are grateful for–it is a great exercise and you’ll feel terrific.

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday

21 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Wisdom Wednesday

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Tags

anguish, experiences, Joy, pain, pleasure, Suffering, Teachers

“Pain is a pesky part of being human, I’ve learned it feels like a stab wound to the heart, something I wish we could all do without, in our lives here. Pain is a sudden hurt that can’t be escaped. But then I have also learned that because of pain, I can feel the beauty, tenderness, and freedom of healing. The pain feels like a fast stab wound to the heart. But then healing feels like the wind against your face when you are spreading your wings and flying through the air! We may not have wings growing out of our backs, but healing is the closest thing that will give us that wind against our faces.”―C. JoyBell C.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/wisdom-quotes

If you spend any time reading through other blogs in the WordPress.com blogosphere, you see a great many people in pain. Mental pain, physical pain, the pain of loss, the pain of failure, the pain of addiction, the pain of poverty, and so many other types of pain.

We all experience pain in our lives. Without pain, we cannot feel its opposite—pleasure. Both have to exist for us to feel one or the other. The same goes for beauty and ugliness, love and hate, laughter and crying. These opposites are here so we can distinguish one from the other. Once we have learned what pain is, we tend to run from it and pursue pleasure.

Pain is a double-edged sword. Wallow in it and you are in hell. Use it and you can sometimes find a way out of it. Pain identifies when I’m at my limit in the gym. Pain tells me I should be careful with my back. Pain tells me what I’ve lost and to treasure regaining that again in the future. Pain teaches me contentment when the pleasure returns.

Pain, like pleasure, is fleeting. Pain and pleasure revolve around each other. They are finite. They come and go.

Don’t get me wrong. I realize there are some folks out there whose pain is so deep that the only escape is medication and psychological help of one sort or another. I am not trying to minimize this.

The pains we feel in life are teachers. There is a saying, “Things are not done to us but for us.” – Harold Klemp. Pain can be a great teacher.

Have you ever come out of a challenging situation in your life and failed to learn something? I, like most, have had my share of troubles. When I go back through my journal and read some of those entries, I am almost brought back to that point instantly, reliving the pain, the fear, and the absolute despair I was experiencing at the time.

When I take the time to really examine these periods, from a more balanced and neutral point of view, I can see the lessons that I learned from those experiences materialize. If I had not gone through what I did, I wouldn’t have learned what I now know. In fact, my greatest learnings over my lifetime have been initiated by painful circumstances, painful relationships, or painful experiences. I am not advocating that you seek out pain to learn, just to be aware that when life gets hard or you are presented with a problem that appears to be unsolvable that there is a way out. “There is always a way.” – Harold Klemp.

For those of you who are experiencing loss. For those of you who are experiencing physical pain. For those of you afflicted with mental pain of any type, I send you good thoughts. I hope your pain passes. I hope that one day you can regain some semblance of normalcy in your life.

Until next time…

Dave

 

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