Another Moment of Peace

As a young man, I sought pleasure, looking in all the wrong places, for all the wrong things. Pleasure was an escape. As an older man, I seek pleasure, but it is a journey, by way of Peace Harmony Happiness Love Pleasure I was asked a few days ago if I was happy. I said, […]

The Story of Chicken

Her name really wasn’t Chicken; it was Gai, which means chicken in Thai. Thai women have given names as long as your arm, often difficult to pronounce, so most end up with one-syllable nicknames, such as Lek which means small, Dang, which is red, or We, Oi, or Kung. Kung means shrimp. I don’t know […]

I am Not a Gay Man

I was having coffee with a couple of close friends a month or so ago. I forget the context, but one, a very close friend, said, “I am not a gay man. I am a man who is gay.” I thought about it at the time, and have been thinking even more about it lately. […]

One More Day in Laos

Ah, jeez. Chicken feet. I hate chicken feet. They are worse than eating dog. We were on our way to look at some land in Laos to lease for project I am working on. Let’s just say that it is a bit of land, and unbelievably cheap. Thanks to the Communists, I guess. Before we […]

A Working Life Chapter 1

Life was easy back then. It wasn’t simple, but it was easy. I am in my mid-60’s now, and grateful. I worked through one of the most interesting and transformational periods in the history of the United States. I think there were two periods, and they ran sequentially, without a break. My father lived through […]

English or Metric?

I live on my sailboat in the Caribbean. Now I am in Panama. I asked the local maintenance guy to change the zincs (sacrificial anodes) on my boat, a task for a diver. There are zincs on the end of the prop, the rudder support, the prop shaft and the bow thruster. The diver was […]

Nicknames

It was dusk. I was walking through Bocas town with Toni wearing short pants and a t-shirt, a ball cap, and my backpack with chancleta on my feet. Willie stopped his rusty old bicycle next to me and said, “Weed, Weed?” I find it a bit odd that he even asks me, a man in […]

I Hate the Yankees

Baseball rivalries and history have lots of lessons.

If a Picture is Worth 1000 Words…What Do You Do When You Need 100?

A sketch is a powerful way to get started on every technical project for a lot of reasons.

Last Night in Shanghai

David, Tobias and I finished a two-week d-TACTICS workshop in China yesterday. Together we took the subway and the maglev train to the airport. The train was fun. We reached 300kph while looking out the window at the cars stuck in traffic, blowing horns like the Chinese like to do. It took 7 minutes to get […]