Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, and Learning – Deep Time, House of the Dragon, The Rings of Power, MS Excel, and Crash Course World History

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Crash Course, Curiosity Stream, Deep Time, House of the Dragon, Learning, MS Excel, Reading, The Rings of Power, Udemy, Watching

Well, folks. Here we are on Thursday, the 15th of September 2022. The year is moving along quickly isn’t it? We are experiencing some cooler temperatures and the trees are releasing their leaves.

So, I’m still reading Deep Time, Book 6 of the Star Carrier series. The America is currently in a huge space battle. It’s pretty exciting. Ships are exploding, they are currently searching for “streamers”. Streamers are fighters that have been crippled and toppling through space. To gather them up, the America has to send out tug boats designed to get these fighters.

House of the Dragon is another installment of the Game of Thrones series. This story happens 200 years before Game of Thrones. It is really good so far. The Rings of Power are a take off of the Lord of the Rings. It is on Amazon Prime. Both are terrific shows.

I’m learning Visual Basic for Applications in my MS Excel course. It’s pretty cool. There is so much to learn. It is really fun to learn the intricate details of MS Excel. I really enjoy this stuff, because I work a lot in Excel and it will help me in my position.

Crash Course World History is on Curiosity Stream. This is a service I pay for. It is a terrific service. If you are interested, it is in the Apple Store and Google play. It is literally the Netflix of Documentaries. For the $19 annual feel, it is an absolute steal. I am a huge fan of Documentaries and this is a daily experience for me, because I really love learning new things, while being entertained. I am not an affiliate, it’s just that good!

Well, folks, that’s it for this week. I hope you check out what I’m watching. If you are a GoT fan, House of the Dragon will not disappoint. The same goes for The Rings of Power for those of you who are Lord of the Rings fans. You may also want to check out Curiosity Stream for the hundreds of Documentaries that cover every topic you could imagine. Environmental documentaries, Science Documentaries, Historical Documentaries, and Biographical Documentaries. It’s all there and more.

Have a great Thursday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, and Learning – Dark Time, The West Wing, and Anne Boleyn

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Anne Boleyn, Curiosity Stream, Dark Time, Learning, MS Excel, Reading, The West Wing, Udemy, Watching

I’m still enjoying Dark Time. The crew of America has just sent three ships through a wormhole with the alien ship to their home world. Admiral Gray (the main character) is waiting to here back from them to make sure this was not an ambush by the aliens. It’s getting exciting!

The West Wing has the President delivering his third State of the Union. The conflict is between President Bartlett and his wife over reelection. The staff is also reeling from the news that the President has MS and has begun working on how to overcome this problem as they work on the reelection campaign.

Anne Boleyn was the second wife of King Henry the VIII. The documentary explains in detail how King Henry the VIII got rid of his 2nd wife because she could not produce a male heir. The intrigue and how things were in that time period is absolutely chilling. The series is presented on Curiosity Stream and is in three parts. I just started the 2nd part which details her trial.

I’m also plugging through the MS Excel course. I just started learning about Macros. From what I’ve seen so far, this is going to be really powerful. There is also a part about Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). I love learning this stuff!

Well, that’s it for now. Have a great Thursday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday – Dyslexia

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brain, Communicaiton, Dyslexia, Kelli Sandman-Hurley, Mom, Reading, Spelling, Ted Talk, TedEd, Wife, Writing

I hope you enjoy this video. It’s an important topic to me, because both my wife and mother have it. It is tough for them to read, to write, and even communicate, because of the wiring of their brains. Enjoy!

It’s Tuesday, folks and I hope you have a great one.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Rewards

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Games, Monday, motivation, Movies, Naps, Reading, Rewards, To-do List

Another big motivator is a reward. You do something hard, reward yourself. You finish your to-do list, reward yourself. You accomplish a goal, reward yourself.

Rewards motivate us to do the things we’ve tasked ourselves with and give us something to look forward to. When I finish a task on my list, I play some games. I love video games, so this reward motivates me to get my stuff done, so I can play. The reward must be something you look forward to. It has to be your favorite thing, whether it’s a nap, a snack, television show, or some other thing. The reward must be worth the work you do or this tactic will not motivate you.

So if you have a long list of to-dos, spread out your rewards throughout the day. Knock out five tasks and take a nap. Knock out five more and watch your favorite show. I like to sprinkle rewards throughout the day because it keeps me rolling along. There is always something to look forward to.

Happy Monday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, Learning

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Call of Duty Mobile, Dark Time, Kyle Pew, Learning, Office Newb, Reading, Udemy, Watching, World Championships

I’m still reading Dark Time. It is getting really good. America boarded the alien ship and found some surprising information, particularly with the aliens, which are literally walking squids. Anyway, that’s what’s going on in the book.

I’m continuing to watch the West Wing. I’m rewatching season 3. My sister couldn’t be here the last few weeks, so I’m waiting to get season 4 until she is back here to watch with me. One thing I will mention that I am also watching is the Call of Duty Mobile Championships. We are in stage 4 and Japan and Europe are both finalizing the team(s) that will represent them at stage 5 where the entire globe competes for the number one spot. Last weekend was India and Latin America. It was great watching these players. Wow, are they good.

I had to put MS Excel on hold to brush up on PowerPoint. I have a presentation that will be recorded and I don’t know how to do it. I’ll finish the course tomorrow and be up to snuff at that point. Then I can finalize my presentation and get it into the gal who will be running it in my absence at a retreat. The reason I passed on going is we are still seeing COVID numbers spike and with my folks’ condition, it is impossible for me to get out. So, learn PowerPoint is what I’m doing. If you are looking to brush up on any of the MS office products, you’ll love the instructor that runs these courses. Here’s his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbCHkRl8AGEVmdF369Er7VQ He is terrific!

Well, folks. I’m still clearing out the cobwebs from taking some time off. It was a great week with my brother. We got good news yesterday. My brother and nephew (his son) are coming back in the first week of September for Mom’s birthday. It’ll be terrific!

Have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, and Learning

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Ian Douglas, Learning, MS Excel, Reading, Star Carrier, The West Wing, Udemy, Watching

Well I’ve done it. I’ve decided to focus a gaming post on the weekend, and pull it from this posting. That way, those of you who are interested in hearing about the games I am playing can get some exclusive content. The new posting will be on either Saturday or Sunday (I’m leaving that option open), and will start out with what I’m doing in the games I’m playing, and then add in some pointers and things I’ve learned playing them.

I’m still reading Dark Time. It’s in the sci-fi genre and is about a space carrier called America and a whole host of characters that have developed over the previous 5 books. I don’t like giving away the story, but if you enjoy the sci-fi genre, you will enjoy the Star Carrier series by Ian Douglas.

My sister and I are on Season 3 of The West Wing. What a great show. I can’t speak enough about it. I’m also watching a great Civil War series on Amazon Prime.

Daily Ramblings – Gaming, Reading, Watching, and Learning

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CODM, Dark Time, Discord, Gaming, Learning, Reading, Reddit, Season 6, The West Wing, Watching

Call of Duty Mobile start season 6 today. There are new guns, the KSP-45 and L-Car. A submachine gun and machine pistol respectively. I completed the challenge last night for the L-Car and got the KSP-45 as part of the season’s battle pass. We’ve got a new map, new weapons, new character skins, and all kinds of challenges coming up. Oh, and did I mention they are adding jet aircraft to battle royale? HA!!! It’s going to be great fun!

For those of you doing the “Too Close for Comfort” Challenge, there is a slight glitch in the task list. The task of using The Purifier flamethrower 5 times wouldn’t work when I first started playing it. The key is to use the generic version of the Purifier, not the H20 version or even using a camouflage. You need to use the plain, generic Purifier and the task will count the games you use. This threw me for a bit, but I visited Reddit and the solution was there. I’d also like to pass on my thanks to CODM’s folks on their Discord channel. They directed me to Reddit, updated me that the glitch was fixed, and were terrific.

I’m reading Star Carrier: Dark Time. It’s a great read so far. I’m also reading my bible daily. I love a good story. Reading is what I call one of my “critical tasks” because it keeps the creative juices flowing. Each time you read, you are invoking your inner creativity, so that the scenes, characters, and story come alive. At least that’s what I do. I truly enjoy the escape that reading provides.

My sister and I are still watching season 2 of The West Wing. She’s been busy lately with her friends, going out and such, so we haven’t watched too much this week, but that’s ok. I’ve watched the entire show about 9 times. I just love this show. This time around, since it is no longer on Netflix, I am buying each season as we go, just like I did with The Sopranos. For those shows I really enjoy, I buy them, so I always have access to them everywhere. I don’t buy DVDs anymore. I really try to minimize the things I own, because there’s nothing like having access to everything I need digitally. I joke from time-to-time that I can literally survive with what’s in a backpack.

I’m watching a great documentary on the Civil War on Amazon Prime. I’m also continuing my studies on Udemy. This week I learned about the Index() and Match() functions. Today, the instructor is going to use both to show how powerful a combination these two functions are in Excel. I enjoy learning something new each day. It’s a real rush when you learn something you didn’t know the day before.

Well, that’s it for this week’s installment of gaming, reading, watching, and learning. I hope you all enjoy this posting. I’m thinking of separating gaming into a separate day, like Saturday, but haven’t decided yet. What do you think? Put your comments in the section below. I’ll listen.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Little Things Add up to Big Things

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Battle Royale, Big Things, CODM, Exercise, Legendary, Little Things, momentum, Reading, Writing

I’m a little wiped today, as I ground the last few days on CODM to attain Legendary status in ranked play. I got it last night, after a week worth of heavy game play. Grinding by the way, is a term in gaming for playing and playing and playing until you reach a goal. I grind to get diamond camo and I grind to get Legendary. I still have 3 days to get Legendary again in Battle Royale and knock out the season’s last challenge.

The reason I ended up grinding the last few days to get Legendary status in CODM is because I did not plan out the season well. I only had 6 days left in the season when I started, and now I’m down to two days to finish out the Battle Royale. So, what’s the lesson. It would be much easier moving through a single rank area in the progression than trying to do multiple levels in a short period of time.

It’s easier to get in shape if you work out each day. It’s easier reading 50+ books a year if you read a little each day. It’s easier to write a book if you write a little each day. This little consistent actions each day will be bring Big results. Subsequently, when season 6 starts in 2 days, it’ll be working on both Battle Royal and Ranked Multiplayer each day to attain Legendary status in both within the first few weeks. This will be much less stressful, and a heck of a lot more enjoyable. I do not want to do this again.

So, if there’s a goal you have, like reading so many books, posting so many blog posts, or working on a book, do a little each day. These little actions build momentum, build habits, and make attaining big results easy–almost subconsciously. Once you learn this anything is within reach.

Well, that’s it for today.

Have a great Monday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming, Reading, Watching, and Learning – CODM, Star Carrier, The West Wing, Udemy – Excel Course

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CODM, Excel, Hobby, Learning, Reading, Season 5, Star Carrier Series, Total War WW2, Udemy, Watching, West Wing

Happy Thursday, folks!

Season 5 of CODM is upon us. They have loaded up some new challenges, updated rewards and goodies for completing them, and I am continuing to work on Diamond Camouflage for weapons. The Clan Battle has started up again, where specific games are set up for clans to compete. It’s all great fun! To make this easier to understand, I’ll begin uploading photos next week of various screen shots within the CODM portal.

I’m still reading the Star Carrier Series. The story so far has our hero locked in battle with a new alien enemy known as the G’rdock. It’s a crazy story so far.

I started watching Total War WW2 on Amazon. It’s a new take on WW2 that covers themes of things, instead of battles, like normal documentaries. Topics like mobilization, the aerial war, and other topics. It’s great!

My sister and I finished Better Call Saul. Season 6 doesn’t come to Netflix until July, so we moved over to one of my favorite television series–The West Wing. I just bought season 1. It’s been a great ride so far.

I’m still in the MS Excel course offered by Udemy. This week we are learning about conditional statements, like IF functions. It’s terrific to learn about all these things I did not know and it will make me more proficient when I begin creating better spreadsheets that will help me be more organized and efficient in both my work and my personal life.

Well, that’s it, folks.

Have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Funny Friday – Thanks!

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Blogging, Contributing, Friends, Funny Friday, Gratitude, Readers, Reading, Sharing, Thanks

All, I’m taking a little break from the funny videos today, to express my thanks to my readers and all the new followers of Daily Ramblings. When I started blogging in 2016, I had no idea what this was about. Now that Daily Ramblings has been up for a while, I am still amazed by the folks on this platform. So much talent!

It is also terrific to peer into your lives, for a few minutes each day and see what you are up to. The pictures you post, the stories you tell, the neat “finds” you share, are all a wonderful part of this special place.

I hope each of you have a terrific weekend. Thanks for reading, sharing, and following. This has truly been a positive blessing in my life and I look forward to many more years of contributing, sharing, and learning.

Until next time…

Dave