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BETTER LISTENING SKILLS FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING

If practicing better listening skills isn’t a life goal, it should be.
How hard is it to pay attention?
You did it in the classroom with the encouragement of a teacher.
I still remember Mr. Kraus singing ‘Toot toot tootsie goodbye’ when he tossed little tootsie rolls to students with the right answer in algebra.
Maybe we need more of that? Instead we get more of this:

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RETURNING REVERENCE TO IT’S RIGHTFUL PLACE

There’s a scent of reverence in the air, of returning reverence after a long pause.
It started in my doctor’s office where I’d been called to sit on a panel with others.
One of the others was Roy Pittman, one of my personal heroes.
The next time I saw the doctor he told me he was surprised at the way I acted, that I showed reverence to Coach Pittman.
If I did, I didn’t know it. What I remember is feeling awe-struck. Maybe it’s the same thing?
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NBA CHAMPION CROWNED, AGAIN

Becoming an NBA champion is a lifelong goal for every basketball player in the world.
The best want to play the best, beat the best, to tell themselves they’re good enough.
It’s that along with contracts and money and fame.
All of that goes along the wayside when you stop playing in ninth grade like me, or in high school.
Do I blame the coaches that I didn’t become a star, a substitute, or even a benchwarmer?
Noooooo, but . . .
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CLEAN LIVING FOR A QUIET LIFE

Clean living is an art form, and like all art it takes practice.
Yes, we’re talking about practice.
It takes practice to talk without a particular tone, without too much edge.
Do that and you may have a productive conversation.
Go ahead and save the tone and edge for people you don’t know, who don’t know you.
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I READ THE NEWS TODAY OH BOY

The news today is all about world events.
News organizations deliver it every day with the same hype and urgency.
News hounds consume every detail and load it onto the pile they carry in case someone asks them ‘what’s up?’
That’s when you brace yourself for the headlines as if they’re coming from an anchorman. Or woman.
That’s the big news story you NEED to know.
The small news, the stories that make us step back, come out another way.
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toughen up

AR15 PURCHASE QUESTIONS THAT NEED ASKING

    The Washington Post ran an nice piece about a guy buying his first AR15. He’d wanted one for years and finally the day came.   Money, motivation, and gun show all came together for him.   The WaPo research seems pretty good, even with a tag of fake news thrown around.   The […]

BILL GATES KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HPV AND HIV?

    Bill Gates is not a doctor. Nor is he a college graduate. So how is it he’s smart enough to know the difference between HIV and HPV?   This is a man smart enough to give medical advice to the most powerful man in the world, leader of the Free World, President Donald […]

Too Expensive For Boomer Exercise? Probably Not

Breaking Down The Numbers (approximate values) What to do about rising co-pays, premiums, and fees from the insurance and medical billing? First, make an appointment with a Naturopathic Doctor for a baseline health analysis. Find an ND you like. Here’s mine. Then find a gym.

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boomer years

BOOMER ARMY RACE RELATIONS, 1974

The time Army race relations got it right. In the early stages of the All-Volunteer Army, recruiters filled the ranks with whoever showed up. The draft ended, so most of the smart guys stayed out of the way of The New Army. The people who did show up had their own agendas. Some wanted college […]

NEW HOMETOWN TRENDING?

Live one place long enough, it’s your new hometown. If you even have a hometown you ought to feel lucky. Feel lucky it’s not your ‘home floor’ or ‘home building’ or ‘home block.’ Hometown feel pretty good compared to some places. Except every hometown has the same stigmas as every city, just smaller. Which brings […]

BOOMER RELATIONSHIPS: GOING FOR THE WIN-WIN

Whether husband or wife, childhood friend or college pal, you eventually get this question: “Be honest. I want to ask an important question and I’d like an honest answer. Am I a bad friend?” How you answer reveals if you’re a bad friend, or not. So give a process answer. No sense digging a hole […]

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buckle up

BIRD WHISPERER OF TUALATIN NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Try and count the times you’ve learned something new only to find it something as old as time. And you didn’t learn anything new at all except for being wrong about what you thought you knew. Like birds.   A bird whisperer visited the wildlife sanctuary just past the junkyard on Highway 99 before Sherwood […]

THE FIGHTING FOO FIGHTERS

It’s Not Easy But You Will Win. Foo Fighters Fight For You. What’s the usual concert experience? Buy a ticket, show up, sit down, go home. Maybe raise a smart phone, flick a bic. Then there’s the concert up the Columbia at The Gorge in George, Washington. It’s a road trip no matter where you […]

POLICE STOP TRAFFIC TICKET SAFETY DRILL

A traffic officer pulled me over coming down the ramp to the straight stretch to the Portland (PDX) airport. Of course I didn’t think it was fair, just an opportunistic wrong place, wrong time deal. And I was ten mph over the limit. In the van were my two kids, wife, and a French exchange student late […]

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