Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Moving Left

Tags

Conservative, Curiosity.com, Documentaries, Learning, left, Liberal, right, school

The weather is sticky today in Michigan. Dad had a hearing aid appointment, and Bella (our dog) and I are holding down the fort. Today, I’ve got some homework to do, my exercise routine, reading, taking a class, and all the rest. I’m in my last class for a Masters in Sociology. Why college, when I’m retired?

I love to learn. I don’t take student loans. I pay cash for my courses and materials. I also attend online, so I don’t have any commuting to do. It’s a good feeling to knock out a degree. I just enjoy reading broadly. When I left the Army I was pretty conservative (politically). Over time, however, I have moved more left. I have experienced a great deal in my life, and have opened my mind a great deal, particularly because of the assignments and reading in school.

Have I been indoctrinated, like so many conservatives would posit? No. When you read broadly, however, you take time to hear the arguments of the other side. Instead of being close-minded, like so many on the social media feeds, who are constantly bashing the other side, I have discovered that both sides of the political aisle have legitimate positions. Compromise, however, left our political discourse years ago. You just do not see it anymore. Maybe some of our elected officials should go back to school? (Ha)!

What’s the message of today’s posting? Read broadly and continue to educate yourself. You are not too old to learn new things. We are always learning new things anyway. Why not learn something specific? I try to learn something new each week. I like learning about other people, who I post about on my Wisdom Wednesday article. I like to watch documentaries. You just pick up so much stuff when you watch a good documentary. I really enjoy the documentaries on history. I would recommend curiosity.com for my documentaries. This is one terrific channel and it only costs $20 USD a year.

Well, that’s it for my Motivation Monday posting! I hope you have a terrific day!

Until next time…

Dave

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

Books, Documentaries, Keto, Learning, Movies, Netflix, Weightlifting

This week is a holdover week for weightlifting. I’m continuing to hit weights and two-a-day cardio sessions but have made some adjustments. My cardio will be executed this time around on the elliptical.

I learned that my body is not a big fan of carbs during the last 8-week trainer I just completed. The last week of the program is where I had my big losses, and this is exactly when I was down to very low carb amounts (less than 50 grams a day). Subsequently, I’m looking into KETO and other low-carb diets to see how these will affect my muscle growth. Right now, I’m only interested in maintaining the muscle I have and reducing my body fat from 36% down to about 15%. The KETO diet appears to be a solution to my dilemma.

I’ve also been investigating some local sites who can provide accurate body fat measurements and I found one today! It costs 115.00 for the initial visit and 95.00 for subsequent visits. BINGO!! I’m going to set one of these up next week to get a good baseline before commencing my next transformation routine. The reason for spending some money on this is that my entire meal plan is based on accurate weight and body fat measurements. Without these, I’m just guessing. More to follow on this front, folks.

Books:

• The Shariyat Ki Sugmad, Paul Twitchell
• Turn your passion into a thriving business, Gundi Gabrielle
• Andersonville: A story of rebel military prisons, John McElroy
• The Orion Plague, David Vandyke
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe
• The Science of Getting Rich, Wallace D. Wattles
• The Spiritual Exercises of ECK, Harold Klemp

Classes:

• Public Policy, Hillsdale College
• Learning how to Learn, Coursera
• Mini-Habits Course, Udemy (pending for next month)
• How to Write a Non-fiction Book
• I just finished this course and I have to say it was decent for the 11.99 price tag. By the way, when you pay for a course on Udemy.com, you have access to it for life. The course covers topics like researching your topic and investigating other books, determining who your target reader is, and then using various tools to begin outlining the book, writing the book, locating an editor and proofreader, revision processes, and finally getting the book onto the market. If you have aspirations about writing a non-fiction book, this course will be worth your while.

Documentaries:

• The Civil War, Ken Burns (Netflix currently)
• The West, Ken Burns (Netflix currently)
• Vietnam, Ken Burns (Netflix currently)

Fun:

• Hell on Wheels (Currently on Netflix)
• The Hollow (Currently on Netflix)
• Goliath (Currently on Amazon Prime)

Workout Routines and Other Weightlifting Knowledge:

https://www.kagedmuscle.com/

Kaged Muscle is run by CEO Kris Gethin. This website provides workout routines, supplements you’ll need, nutrition advice and a whole lot more. I am currently working through the 8-week hardcore trainer.

https://www.bodybuilding.com/

For access to every supplement on the market, access to the top trainers in the world, and also gain access to their training routines, this is the one-stop, shop for anything related to fitness.

Well, that’s it for this week folks! I hope some of this information has been helpful to you.

Until next time…

Dave