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Monthly Archives: December 2021

Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – Happy New Year!

31 Friday Dec 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Bonus Content, Happy New Year

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Adventure, Goals, Happines, health, Hobbies, Love, New Year, Projects, Prosperity

I’m posting this roughly 12 hours before the New Year, but since many of you are in so many different time zones, it just made sense to get this out there. 2021 was a good year and 2022 will be even better. This year, like every year, presents the opportunity for growth, improvement, and learning. I wish each of you a terrific 2022 filled with love, prosperity, good health, and achievement.

If you are finalizing your goals for the New Year, here are some areas you may want to consider if you are stuck.

Relationships

Health

Finances

Hobbies

Spirituality

Learning

Creative Projects

Travel Plans

These are some areas that I am diving into this year and figured some of you may benefit from seeing what I am doing and it will prompt you to do the same.

I’ll be back on my blogging schedule on Monday. It was a great idea taking December off. It was nice to just do my thing without a schedule, to-do list, or some other mechanism I normally use to track things. It allowed me the freedom to just be for a month, enjoy my family and friends, and get in some serious gaming. Now it’s time to get ready for the new year and get cracking at my new goals scheduled for the year.

Happy New Year!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – Merry Christmas

24 Friday Dec 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Bonus Content, Merry Christmas

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Cheer, Christmas, family, Friends, God, Good Food, Hope, Love, pets, Presents, Reflect

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas or a holiday specific to your country. This a time to reflect on the year, enjoy our friends, pets, and families, and celebrate how terrific life is. It is a time of hope, thanksgiving, and sharing love for one another.

Merry Christmas to all of you, from Daily Ramblings.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Charles Dickens

08 Wednesday Dec 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Wisdom Wednesday

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Call of Duty, Charles Dickens, family, Far Cry 6, Friends, Gaming, Happy New Year, Last Posting 2021, Merry Christmas, Relax time, wisdom, Wisdom Wednesday

A loving heart is the truest wisdom.

Charles Dickens

We forge the chains we wear in life.

Charles Dickens

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else.

Charles Dickens

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

Charles Dickens

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!

Charles Dickens

I wanted to touch on Dickens again, since he is so connected with the holiday season with many of his tales that celebrate Christmas. Here is his Wikipedia link for those that would like to know more about him and his life: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens

I wish all of you a wonderful Christmas! I’m shutting Daily Ramblings down early, because we are starting our celebration of the holidays early. These last few weeks in December, I shut down everything to truly enjoy the holiday season, get some gifts out to extended family, and get in some final relax time before we begin getting busy in 2022. I’ll still check in to reply to comments and such, but will not be putting anymore postings up this year.

Today, I celebrate my wedding anniversary, on the 12th my wife’s birthday, and of course, the 25th for Christmas, and the 31st for New Year’s Eve. It has been a great year for me, and I hope all of you, despite all the craziness of COVID and all the repercussions of lockdowns in many of your home countries.

I sincerely wish each of you the very best during the holiday season. I wish you every happiness, every joy, and hope that you have some time to settle down and enjoy your families and friends as we close out 2021.

For those of you who are gamers in my readership, I’ll be playing Far Cry 6, Call of Duty Vanguard, Call of Duty Mobile, and Mafia City. My gamertag in all the Call of Duty games is ieatbullets63. If you find me, send me a quick note that you are one of my readers, and we’ll get in some “kills” together. The new Warzone is out today, featuring Caldera Island. I cannot wait to dig in!!

Happy Holidays! See you in 2022!!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday – Reading Charles Dickens

07 Tuesday Dec 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Ted Talk

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

classics, Coffee, Dickens, Novels, Oliver Twist, Reading, Relaxing, Tale of Two Cities, tea

If you’ve never read Dickens, here’s a video to explain why you should. It’s a great time of year to cuddle up with a book and a hot cup of tea or coffee. I hope you have a great Tuesday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Here we are–again!

06 Monday Dec 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Motivation Monday

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Adventure, Books, Boredom, Cycles, Excitement, Games, Gaming, Monotony, Movies, Reading, Writing

Sometimes life seems to be a little dull. We get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to work, come home, eat dinner, we relax, go to bed, and then up again to start the whole cycle again. The days are the same, the weeks are the same, the months are the same, and so on. What can we do to break the cycle?

Many folks break up this cycle by doing what they enjoy. Maybe it’s quilting, writing, having an adventure in a local forest, or taking a long drive. For others, like me, it’s gaming, writing, and reading. Reading really helps me a lot. There are so many books and so many places to visit.

I read a book by Stephen King, titled On Writing. He wrote this book while he was in the hospital recovering from an accident, where he was hit by a delivery van while on his daily walk. In the book he described himself as more of an archaeologist. He “uncovers” stories that are already there. Each chapter strips away a little more dirt.

It’s a great analogy for story telling. Initially the story starts out at the surface level. We get to meet the main characters, the place they call home, and told about a problem these characters are involved in. As the story unfolds, we learn more about our characters. We learn how they react to stress, how they think, and what they do to solve the overarching problem. In the end, depending on the story type, the characters win or lose. If they win the story is a comedy. If they lose the story is a tragedy.

Reading can break up the monotony of day-to-day living. It takes us to far away places, and lets us explore another world “discovered” by the author. I truly enjoy reading a great book, regardless of where it takes place, what time period it is in, or what the characters are doing. Each book is an adventure waiting to be had.

One of the key lessons I’ve learned in retirement is the need for structure, and something to look forward to. I look forward to reading every day, writing this blog and working on my book. I also look forward to my game sessions, which are a lot of fun for me. Games have become so realistic that they act like books for me. They transport me to a war torn city, an outer space battle, or an adventure with friends who are part of my adventurers party.

As far as structure goes, I tend to chunk my time. One chunk I do my morning routine, the next chunk I read, followed by another chunk which is writing and the chunk I am in right now. After I have done all of my daily chunks, it’s game time. Even when I game, I have goals for each gaming session. It could be to finish a challenge or solve a particular problem to get to the next part of a story. This is what I do in a game I’m playing now called Far Cry 6. Far Cry 6 is set on an imaginary island, where a dictator uses his people to manufacture a cure for cancer. The problem-the chemical used to add to its chemical crop kills those who work in the tobacco fields.

In another game I play, Call of Duty Vanguard and Mobile (two different games), I work predominantly on leveling up weapons. Call of Duty uses camouflage to designate what level a gun is at. For example, when you complete all weapon challenges, the gold camouflage is opened up. When you get gold camouflage for all of your weapons in a particular class of weapons, you have access to the platinum (mobile) camouflage, or diamond camouflage in the version of Call of Duty for consoles or personal computer (PC).

Every game has these types of challenges or goals. It’s great fun for me to try and finish all of them, which can take quite a long time. I’m currently working on gold camouflage for the assault rifle class on Call of Duty Mobile. I’m not playing Call of Duty on console yet, because the next year’s season does not start again until December 8, 2021. That will be a great day!!

The key to keeping your life exciting in retirement is to have a structure to your day, along with some things that really excite you. Each day is a grand adventure for me. If you need some ideas on what to

read or what to play on a game console, here is what I’m up to in both areas:

Books:

Delta Force: A Memoir by the Founder of the U.S. Military’s Most Secretive Special-Operations Unit

Deep Space: Star Carrier: Book Four

The Silent Wife

Games:

Far Cry 6

Call of Duty Mobile (iPad)

Call of Duty Vanguard

Mafia City (iPad)

Movies:

Apocalypse Now

Well, that’s it folks. Break up the drudgery of your day. There are many who blog who have all kinds of ideas for travel, crafting, writing, and all the rest. Use them. They are a great resource. Life is short. Make every day your best day, by doing things to break up the patterns or cycles in your life. You’ll look forward to each day. You’ll be excited to get up and get at it.

Have a great Monday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Funny Friday – The Oatmeal

03 Friday Dec 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Funny Friday

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Cartoons, Chuckle, Comics, Friday, Funny, Giggle, Happy, Laughter, Smile, Snicker, The Oatmeal, Weekend

All, my sister introduced this guy to me a few years back. He is quite funny, but his humor is a little different. For some, he might not be funny at all. I wanted to do something different today, and was prompted to share this guy with you, because an email arrived today about another one of this new comics. I think he’s terrific, but I’ll let you be the judge.

Here’s a link to his site: https://theoatmeal.com/

I wanted to change it up a bit this Friday, the first Friday of December. I hope you guys find him as funny as I do.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Blogging

02 Thursday Dec 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thankful Thursdays

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Blackbirch, Blogging, Friends, Good News, Grateful, Quilting, Thankful

Today, I’m grateful for blogging. I started this blog in 2016, when I returned home from Arizona to help out my folks in Michigan. I’ve always wanted to write and have a blog, but never had the time before retiring to really put in the time to build a readership, put together written content, or any of that.

One of the unknown benefits of blogging that I discovered is the ability to make friends. I’m pretty isolated here in Michigan with my folks. My Dad’s immune system is pretty compromised. My Mom and I have to be very careful, particularly now with COVID and all of its different strains. My state is one of those states experiencing another surge, due to the Delta variant. Now that the omicron has hit, who knows what will happen. So, getting out is risky, other than making short trips to the gas station, doctor and dental appointments, or a run to the grocery store.

I have made some really great friends here. At least I consider them friends. When you think about the intimate conversations we have with one another, it is more than most friends who see each other all the time have. Friends sharing stories about losing their husband, other friends talking about the writing life they have, and still other friends who focus on passing the good news around, rather than the bad news, which is so rampant.

So today, I am grateful for blogging. Here’s to some great friends, I would have never met any other way. Your stories are terrific. Getting to know you over the years has been great! Here’s to many more years of friendship, more stories to share, and even more friends, from who knows where.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Percy Bysshe Shelley

01 Wednesday Dec 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Wisdom Wednesday

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Autumn, English, Harmony, Laughter, Love, pain, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Poet, Poetry, Winter

We look before and after, And pine for what is not; Our sincerest laughter With some pain is fraught; Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Familiar acts are beautiful through love.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Fear not for the future, weep not for the past.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

If you could not tell, Percy is a poet. Here’s a Wikipedia link for more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Bysshe_Shelley

Have a great Wednesday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

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