Category: Podcast

July 10, 2023 – The Good, Bad and Ugly of Small Town America

I talk about what life has been like in the last year since the big fallout. You will know what I mean when you hear it. Despite the bad and the ugly, I choose to highlight the good.

End Your Programming Routine: Just like John Mellencamp said, “It’s probably where they will bury me”. Whether it is my current town or a new one, small towns are for me. Sure they have some downside but there are a lot of upside too. I just wish that things didn’t go the way they went.

July 3, 2023 – What YOU Do Matters

As I promised in the podcast, this will be the last 1990s triggered theme. It took me a while to develop this because I wanted what I was feeling to be relevant other people and not just me. I think that I found a way to make my story relatable and motivational. At least I think so.

End Your Programming Routine: We certainly have grand ideas about legacy; even I do. I attempt to do things that really matter. That being said, let’s not get caught up in things outside of our circle of control. Even if the only thing that we do is transfer a life skill to our children, then we have accomplished something significant. Sniping in a chat group is not so do things that matters.

June 27, 2023 – Lessons From the Strawberry Field

While I can’t totally relate, we recently watched a movie called ‘Flaming Hot’. It is the story of how a child of a migrant family wound up working for Frito Lay and created a billion dollar industry. While my story is what I see my kids getting from the experience as well as what I learned, there are some common bonds between that story and mine.

End Your Programming Routine: Because I saw the movie after I recorded, I made no reference in my podcast. But, if you are looking for further information or justification to have your kids do this work, give the movie a shot. Some people might claim that they learned the lessons by halfheartedly trying. They might say that they learned that it was hard work and so they can appreciate it. I say, you don’t learn the value of labor to wage without working the season at least.

June 19, 2023 – Time Machine to 1996

I thought I was getting ahead and then a couple of days go by and pretty soon, I am staring at the eight ball. I am gone this week for travel and my tank is a little empty. That being said, I will do the best I can to keep up this week.

The trigger for this post was something another podcaster said. All of the sudden, I was taken back to a particular day and time. Hence, I am talking about a particular bill that was signed in 1996. Who knew what happened then would have such wide ranging impact today.

End Your Programming Routine: From my fatalist point of view, it doesn’t do much good to wonder what if. But really, what if? It is interesting to take a look at something that did so much good and bad at the same time. That is probably the definition of just a thing. It is neither good nor bad, it just is what it is.

June 12, 2023 – Not in My Backyard

The original title of this was going to be ‘From Population 20,000 to Gotham City’. But I actually forgot when I went to do the editing. I also forgot to bring up why I was going to call it that title because I was disrupted a few times including 6 hours in between. Oh well, so I stayed pretty much on topic.

End Your Programming Routine: This is a complicated problem. I think that if previous implementations had worked, then we would be well on our way to solving the problem and I would be in support of the project. Given that micro shelters have really not worked, I am not really for doing something rather than nothing in this case. I strongly feel like this will concentrate the problem without any real results. But, I say my peace in the podcast, so listen to that.

June 5, 2023 – Wisdom of My Father

OK, I get a little vulnerable today. This is part of my quest to be real and not just ‘I can do everything well all the time’. So, if that is not your cup of tea then I am sorry for that; tune in next time. But, I do feel that clock ticking so I am trying to enjoy the moment while I can.

End Your Programming Routine: There is a phrase that Dave Ramsey uses called powdered butt syndrome. That means that nobody is ever going to take advice from someone that you powdered their butt. This is the opposite where I have some doubt about doing things that I have never done alone. It is hard to imagine doing so, particularly when there is some emotion around the task involved.

May 30, 2023 – Getting Saucy

There is nothing like coming in with information after the fact. Memorial Day is classic for the grill and sauces go hand in hand with that. Today, I go around the world with sauces.

End Your Programming Routine: I am keeping it brief because all the content is in the podcast. That being said, the programming is that making sauces are relatively simple. You can do it. Just like 40 years ago, there was no such thing as a bottled salad dressing; today no one knows how to make them. You can do it.

May 22, 2023 – Twenty Questions

I am still fighting through my recovery with life. So, I resurrected something that I originally wrote for Polymath Daily, the version 0 of altf4.co. At the time, I was going to batch up a bunch of outlines so that I could stay way ahead of my podcasting. This was before I sort of found my mojo with altf4.co and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to be.

End Your Programming Routine: As the days move by and we zoom into summer, I am hoping that this funk will pass. I suppose that it is not so much funk, but life so busy that it makes it hard for me to dedicate time to this endeavor. Just like Nemo, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming” and it will be a safe place before we know it. I am going to hang in there, I hope that you do too.

May 15, 2023 – The Lost Generation

I talk about this today, but when I go back and listen to what I said, you always think about things that could have been said differently or emphasis changed in certain areas. Generation X is named so because it has no definition. Sandwiched between the Baby Boomers and the Millennials and waiting for the Boomers to step away with the Millennials fighting for the same positions it is hard to find a voice.

End Your Programming Routine: I realize that generation names do not define us as individuals. However, what is in common is a shared experience. There is an intangible feeling for how it was is common. Honestly, I don’t spend anytime worrying about whether my generation gets any credit or blame for anything. I just thought it was apropos that the voice of a generation was just a forgotten as the generation itself.

May 8, 2023 – Ethics and Laws

Just like when I read Atlas Shrugged and came upon the philosophical concept that ‘A is A’ this connection hit me in the face when I was writing about Animal Farm. I had never made the association that laws are moral when they fit our ethics. I have heard and even said, that law is immoral but I didn’t really get it.

But even more so than that, I finally figured out why all these things bother me. Despite the fact that I have little control over it, many of these laws violate my ethics. Don’t tell me what to do, dont prohibit by law items that have no victims, honor our tradition and culture. I don’t know, I have never sat down and figured them out. Maybe I should do that?

End Your Programming Routine: At the end of my podcast I holistically came to the phrase, “do things that matter”. This is what I try to do with all of the do-it-yourself projects and demonstrations that I do. But, I don’t emphasize that aspect of what I am trying to do enough (another epiphany). I try to offer ways to deal with programming, but I didn’t recognize that there is a second part to my tagline that I have left on the vine for far too long.