Category: Thriving in Midlife
Right Bike, Wrong Trail – an Alpine Adventure: Part III
In my last installment, my bike and I had just encountered two Spanish hikers who advised me to turn back because the trail was too dangerous to ride down. I brushed off their comments because […]
Right Bike, Wrong Trail – an Alpine Adventure: Part II
In the last installment, I was descending my first Swiss Alpine mountain bike ride, and things were not going as planned. Eventually I popped out near the hotel where I had initially caught the bus. […]
Right Bike, Wrong Trail – an Alpine Adventure: Part I
My summer vacation this year was a trip to Switzerland, with a side trip to the Netherlands to visit some friends who live there, and a side trip to Barcelona to spend time with friends […]
Stealth Teflon – the Secret Strength of Passivity
Not too long ago I was told that I was perceived as passive. Most people who know me will probably be surprised to hear this, but I wasn’t that surprised because I had been passive […]
Toilet Town
Every once in a while an aircraft mechanic has to deal with Chapter 38 – water and waste. The water’s no big deal; maybe a tap that won’t turn on or off, or a coffee […]
People Will Show You Who They Are
People Will Show You Who They Are If someone tells you they’re unreliable, believe them. If someone tells you they’re going to harm you or others, believe them. If someone tells you about their lies, […]
The Ripple Effect of the Woody Allen Culture
When I was a teenager, Woody Allen movies were the available cinema for a small-town kid with hopes of becoming an intellectual. But, looking back, I wish I had never heard of him. I think […]
Goodnight Airplane
If you’re ever at the airport late at night, or early in the morning, you may have noticed that a lot of planes spend the night at the gates. Have you wondered what is going […]
The Fallacy of the Chaotic Creative
I recently read the tidying book that was so popular a couple of years ago (yeah, I’m always behind with the best sellers), “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” I have always been quite tidy, […]
Blogging Paralysis
Blogging Paralysis In the summer of 2016 I was working on my second novel, and let my blog lapse, for what I thought would be short break. Weeks turned into months, with an occasional post […]
My Summer Vacation – Foreign Extraction Edition, Part X
My Summer Vacation – Foreign Extraction Edition, Part X By the end of the last installment, we had departed Manila and were on our way to Tokyo (actually Narita, a suburb of Tokyo). The check-in […]
My Summer Vacation – Foreign Extraction Edition, Part VIII
Hello readers, I’m back with more of my Philippines tale. In the last installment we had traveled from my brother’s village to the airport in Cagayan D’Oro and were waiting for our flight to Manila. […]
Your Standards Will Save You
Very many years ago, in the early days of the internet, I got semi-catfished. The guy was real (truly, some friends met him at a later point) but was not at all what he claimed […]
You Say Control Like it’s a Bad Thing
People talk about those who like to be in control, as if it’s a negative trait. “Oh, she doesn’t like going to the doctor, because she likes to be in control.” Etc. You know what? […]
I Thought I Was Done Dealing with Teenagers
Regular readers of my blog might remember that I dealt with some immature characters while I was in airplane mechanic school. The kids in my class sometimes frustrated me, sometimes amused me and sometimes pissed […]
Difficult People
When I was in college, I had a few friends who were considered “difficult people.” Not by me, mind you. Coming from a crazy home as I did, I didn’t even notice that these people […]
In the Soup
I’m working on a post about how to think critically and evaluate the sources of information. It’s taking some time, so in the meantime I’ll tell a story about some soup I tried to make […]
No Blog Post/Tiny Blog Post This Week
I’m in the middle of Boeing 767 training this week and have had to flip my sleep schedule around so that I’m arriving at class at the time I normally get off work. I am […]
Technical Difficulties
Faithful readers, this week’s post will be a customer service rant because I’m in the middle of a Kafkaesque experience with my internet company and I am without internet except for the occasional connectivity I […]
Pass Rider – a New Board Game
Someday when I have run out of things to do, I’m going to invent a new board game so that people who don’t have pass travel privileges can experience the excitement of “non-revving.” To give […]
What is This Brain Sorcery?
When I was in A&P school I struggled a lot with the electrical portion of the training. I have always been good with concrete concepts rendered concretely, and abstract concepts rendered abstractly, but there was […]
Kids These Days, the Ballad of the Sad Countertop
I recently ordered new countertops for my house. When I had my kitchen remodeled in the early aughts I had a very constrained budget so a tile counter made a lot of sense. The person […]
Running To Versus Running From
Years ago, while I was working the job that preceded my decision to leave corporate America in order to work on airplanes, a friend made the statement, “it’s always better to run to something that […]
Another Live Story
A few months ago I did another Moth Story Slam. This time the theme was “risk.” I talked about how I went from being a Microsoft corporate grind to a line mechanic for a major […]
We All Want the Same Things
In my current career I work alongside a number of people who are on the opposite side of the political spectrum from me. Amazingly, we’re not at each others’ throats most of the time. When […]
Blog Post Delay
I’m working on a post about unreliable narration, gaslighting and the parallels between an abusive relationship with a partner and an abusive relationship with your government. It’s turning out to be complicated and I want […]
Motorcycles in April – Part III
Faithful readers may remember the first two installments of my yarn about trying to explore the Romantischestrasse on two wheels – here and here. I’m quite sure you have all been on the edges of […]
Jennifer Lesher 