Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Thank God for Netflix

Tags

Amazon, Curiosity Stream, Disney+, Documentaries, Entertainment, Netflix, Shows, TV Series

All of us are on lockdown, so I wanted to take a few moments to share some TV series I stream, in case you haven’t seen them. Here’s my list:

Netflix:

• West Wing
• Ozark

Amazon:

• The Man in the High Castle
• Anything James Cagney

Disney+:

• The Mandalorian
• Anything Star Wars

Curiosity Stream:

• Everything!

I hope you enjoy these. If you love documentaries, I cannot recommend Curiosity Stream enough. It only costs about $20 bucks a year, and there are enough topics on outer space, undersea exploration, animals, and tons of history. I am a huge documentary fan, so this is my bread and butter.

I’m thankful for these services and don’t regret one penny that I spend on them. It is terrific to have so many things to watch, pending my mood.

Well, that’s all I got today. I continue to hope all of you and loved ones are still safe.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Thinking Thursday

Tags

Acquiring Skills, Amazon, Education, Ellen DeGeneres, Learning, Netflix, TV Series, Xbox

“Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.” ― Isaac Asimov

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/learning

Only you know what you need to learn. Take some time to think about this. Learning is something that should be life-long. Why stop learning after you finish college? There is so much in the world to see, do, and understand.

There is no reason or excuse for failing to learn new things. Take advantage of the free education available on YouTube, Coursera, Udemy, and other online universities. They cost nothing or are reasonably priced.

What are you interested in? What would you like to be able to do? Take some time during the holidays to answer this question. You’ll be so excited to begin when you find what you are looking for.

Here’s what I’ve done since the last posting of Thinking Thursday on November 8, 2018:

Exercise Program:

I’m still working through Jim Stoppani’s Shortcut to Size program. Yeah, it’s taking longer than the 8 weeks because I sloughed off at my brother’s place and didn’t hit the gym that much.

Books:

How to be an Imperfectionist, Guise – This book was terrific! Like all Stephen Guise books, it is an overview of the research around perfectionism and how to thwart it and be more productive. I recommend this book if you are a procrastinator. It will show you how everyone makes mistakes pursuing new things and avoid the pitfalls of perfectionism, so you can get on with living and producing.

2136 Trilogy (Thrush, Matthew)

(I read the below books every December—they are just that good)

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey, Stephen)
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity (Allen, David)
• Mini Habits (Guise, Stephen)

Classes:

Codecademy – I’m working through JavaScript coding currently. It is fun to get back into coding. The logic and thinking needed to work through code, line by line, is awesome!

Documentaries:

Movies:

Relatable (Netflix) – Comedy act by Ellen DeGeneres. If you’re a fan of her dry humor, you’ll love this one.

Kiss Me First (Netflix) – A good series about a world-wide multi-player game that goes awry. I think you’ll like this if you’re into tech and into CGI. I enjoyed this one.

Fun:

Fortitude (Amazon) – Great show! I won’t drop anything that will ruin the story for you. It’s just a great series. I’ve watched season 1 and 2.

Tin Star (Amazon) – Another great show about a cop who moves his family to a new area away from the big city to have an easier and safer job in law enforcement, but is their new home really safe?

Homecoming (Amazon) – Great series with Julia Roberts. This one is about an organization that helps soldiers when they return home—with a twist.

Kiss Me First (Netflix) – A good series about a world-wide multi-player game that goes awry. I think you’ll like this if you’re into tech and into CGI. I enjoyed this one.

Interesting Apps:

Nothing to add this time…

Video Games:

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Xbox) – Phenomenal game. This was not marketed like your typical game launches but was just terrific. I’m a big fan of “Indiana Jones” type adventure games and this one truly delivers. My brother and I played through the whole thing in 3-4 days. I highly recommend this one.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Phoenix – Day 12

Tags

2136 trilogy, Amazon, Barbados, Netflix, Phoenix Trip, Relaxation, To-do List, vacation

My brother and nephew took off this morning for a week in Barbados. I have my brother’s house to myself and looking forward to just relaxing and doing nothing but knocking out my daily to-dos and watching some shows on Amazon and Netflix.

Yeah, I know. It’s lazy, but that is what vacations are for. I’m also going to get in some reading today. I’m reading the 2136 trilogy and for an Indy writer it is really good. Well, that’s it for today.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Phoenix – Day 11

Tags

Amazon, Brother, Friends, Good times, Great weather, Nephew, Netflix, Phoenix Trip, Xbox

Today is just a hangout day with my brother at his home. We’re watching a new show on Amazon, called Fortitude. It is really good so far. We have to run some errands today so my brother can get some last-minute things for his trip tomorrow with his son to Barbados.

I’ll be here at his house until the 13th, just hanging out and relaxing for the last three days I’m here, before heading back to Michigan. This was a really good trip. I got to hang out with some of my friends who I used to work with out here. I got caught up with some folks I haven’t seen in a while.

It was also really nice to hang out with my brother and see my niece get married. My brother’s son will be coming over today to hang out and sleep the night here so they can get to their flight early in the morning. While they’re gone I’ll be knocking out some reading and get caught up on some Netflix and Amazon shows I’ve been wanting to watch.

That’s it for today, folks.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Phoenix – Day 7

Tags

Amazon, Brother, family, Friends, Happy Hour, Phoenix, Video Games

Yesterday, was a nice day. The weather was awesome and I had a nice dinner with my wife. She is a special education teacher by day and a female bodybuilder at night. We had to separate because of my Dad’s condition, requiring me to come home and help out my parents.

It may be strange to some that my wife and I are separated for this reason but I learned a long time ago that the rules we create for ourselves are just that–rules we impose on ourself–not imposed by others. Society has a way of imposing things on us. There are expectations of owning a home, having a traditional family, doing what everyone else is doing. What I have found is that these social norms are not the norm for most of us. When I made the decision to balk at the expectations of society and truly live my own life, life became lighter, relaxing, free.

Today, I’m meeting some friends at one of our favorite haunts. It’ll be a great time to reconnect, learn about what’s going on in their lives and spend some time together laughing. Right now, my brother and I are watching Patriot on Amazon and will kick into some gameplay on his Xbox a little later. We are enjoying Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The graphics and storyline in this game are beyond awesome!

That’s it for today, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thinking Thursday

Tags

Amazon, Case Western University, Coursera, Curious.com, Groupthink, Hillsdale College, Netflix, Patton

“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” – George S. Patton

Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/george_s_patton_130444?src=t_thinking

I enjoy reading broadly and trying new things. Recently I ran across a website called www.curious.com. It is a site that provides stimulating ways to exercise your brain with puzzles, interesting articles, a word of the day, a poem of the day, and a whole lot of other activities. I am not an affiliate but highly recommend it if you are ok with the $40/year or $10/month subscription. I was because I like a diversity of things to do and look at each day.

Patton was a stickler for out-of-the-box thinking and pushing his subordinates to come up with their own solutions. He was well-known for pushing the envelope with his commanders during all his exploits in WWII. Patton is referring to a term we now call “groupthink”. Groupthink occurs when a group of people all think alike without refuting one another or challenging each other’s ideas. You typically find this type of thinking in organizations where politics reign and people are stifled or ostracized for coming up with ideas that are not in alignment with a leader’s or organization’s thinking. Some of the results of groupthink have been devastating.

We can do this with ourselves as well. We stifle our own ideas before we entertain them. When you brainstorm individually give every idea an equal weight during the session. You will evaluate each idea later. Use every resource you have at hand when you are seeking a solution. If you keep an open mind, you’ll be amazed at the ideas that come in. Some of them will be exactly what you need to solve your problem.

Here’s my progress on key reading, learning, and entertainment activities for this week:

Books:

Ethics, Aristotle

The Shariyat Ki Sugmad, Paul Twitchell

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

Classes:

Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential, Coursera – I just finished this one. This is sort of a continuation of the Learning how to learn course I finished a bit ago and it was terrific. Learning how to learn and Mindshift are both worth your while if you are interested in taking them. They can both be found on www.Coursera.com.

Western Heritage, Hillsdale College

Mini-Habits Course, Udemy

Designing Your Own Weight Loss Plan – Case Western University – Coursera – Just finished week 1—pretty good so far.

Documentaries:

Movies:

Fun:

The West Wing (Currently on Netflix)

I’ve been playing a video game with my Army buddy called StarCraft II. It is great fun.

Ozark – Netflix (in the cue)

Jack Ryan – Amazon Prime (in the cue)

U.S. Open Tennis (when I have time to catch a good set here and there).

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thinking Thursday

Tags

Amazon, Books, Diet, Exercise, Netflix, Plato, Reading, Writing

“Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself.” – Plato

Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/thinking

I’ve really begun to enjoy my reading sessions each day. Sometimes I pick out a string of books that are just not that great, but the last few months I’ve been getting my hands on some terrific ones—books you look forward to reading each day. Have you ever read a book that you enjoyed so much that you took your time reading it to expand the time you could enjoy it? That’s what it has been like with the books I’ve been reading. Kobo and Uncle Tom’s Cabin are two books that I’m enjoying tremendously.

I just started the Mindshift course a while ago. It is a lot of fun. The teachers are the same as my previous course – Learning how to Learn. This course is about different techniques for learning new things, like a language or picking up a skill you do not have any experience with. It is terrific!

One of the things I’ve learned about low-carb diets is my energy level. It is easier to do endurance work, but lifting weights is much tougher than it was when I was eating a decent amount of carbs. I have been getting comments about my trimming down, which always feels good. I’ve adjusted my workout routine to every other day to adjust to this diet. This is a temporary adjustment, but one that should expedite my body’s adaptation to this new eating pattern.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far. Feel free to comment below with any of the things you are doing well, any goals you have set or accomplished, and even course or book recommendations. I’m always on the lookout for the next great online course or book.

Books:

The Shariyat Ki Sugmad, Paul Twitchell

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

The Spiritual Exercises of ECK, Harold Klemp – Just finished this book yesterday. Boy, what a collection of exercises that can help solve some of life’s little challenges.

Kobo: A Story of the Russo-Japanese War, Herbert Strang

The Thirty Years’ War 1618 – 1648, Samuel Rawson Gardner – Religious differences and intolerance, coupled with greed and vanity and you get 30 years of conflict along with the civilian suffering that followed. Very interesting read if you would like to learn about the 30 years’ war.

Classes:

Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential

Public Policy, Hillsdale College

Mini-Habits Course, Udemy

Documentaries:

I’m a Killer (Netflix)

Movies:

Ready Player One (Amazon Prime) – I haven’t watched this yet. My sister recommended it and it is on my hit list.

Fun:

The West Wing (Currently on Netflix)

Keep pushing, only today and tomorrow before the weekend!!

Until next time…

Dave