Richard's Ramblings

Contemplations – Thoughts – Action

It is really quite interesting. A few days ago I was beginning the process of formulating this post when I received the article, A Morning Reflection on Life from Ivan. Upon reading it I asked if I could share it, he said I could, and I published it as a guest blog post.

Interesting because I was contemplating having the title of this blog post Thoughts As We Near Life’s End. Not the morbid type of thoughts, but rather thinking of the processes we must consider as we get to the old age part of our lives.

As I get to the point where I am only a few short years away from completing my eight decade, new rules keep appearing as we, Kim and I, endeavour to carry on with our lives.

When I say rules, I am grouping together policies, practices, processes, procedures, requirements, and so on. You get the idea.

For instance, many people have observed that, as they age, they “are not as active as they used to be”. Aging will do that. (For me, I never was as active as I used to be.) Maybe we move slower, aren’t as flexible, can’t leap a curb in a single bound.

Perhaps this means that, when flying, sitting in basic economy does not make for a pleasant flight, but rather we must fly premium economy or (gasp) business class. This will, of course, bring a financial penalty.

Another aspect of traveling is travel insurance, particularly the health part. Boy oh boy, as we age, do the insurance companies really see you coming in this area. Within the last year we went to Malaysia and area for five months. Our medical travel insurance quote was twice our airfare and we flew premium economy. Holy dingle, that was a bit of a shock to the system.

Two of the important ingredients for traveling are the time and the wherewithal (i.e. money). As is the case with many folks, when we age we find we often have more time, albeit affected by the slower movements mentioned above. Also, as is the case with many folks, when we age we find we often have more wherewithal, albeit affected by the expenses referenced above.

Keeping these things in mind, I always recommend to young people that whenever they get a chance to travel, think seriously about taking it.

Another aspect of aging is our health. Here of course we are all different, but we may have medications, living aids, mobility supports, bionic parts, and so on. All of these factor in to how we live our lives and what we can do.

After reading what I have written thus far I see that maybe I got a wee bit off track with the travel part and got back to more general with the health part.

Really my original intention was to talk more about what I see or feel happening with me. So let’s try to stay on course.

For instance, I cry more.

Not just from sadness, but from emotion. Usually it’s the eyes get blurry type of crying, and on occasion, the cheeks are wet. When I was younger, the wet eye thing only happened on rare occasions. Perhaps due to the “real men don’t cry” mantra. Who knows.

Over the past number of years I have been to quite a few funerals. Sad occasions and I go to pay my respects and support my friends who have lost a family member. (Note: the frequency of this happening increases with age.) However recently the waterworks occurred when I felt the raw emotion coming from a friend who had lost her much beloved father.

I like to watch The Voice on YouTube, primarily The Voice Australia or The Voice UK. Curiously, not the whole show, just the blind auditions. The reason for the audition, the result, and the interaction with the judges, can, at times, result in emotional blurry eyes.

There are other things as well, movies, public events, books, but I think you get the idea.

So I cry more, and I don’t consider it a bad thing.

I have become more isolated.

This is something that I tend to do to myself and is the result of several factors. Often I feel that I really don’t want to be a bother or that I don’t have anything of value to contribute. I may reach out a few times, and when not receiving a response for whatever reason, will not reach out again. I consider this to be part of life. These days folks are kept extremely busy with the events of their own lives.

There is one exception to this however. Young people. I work/volunteer with groups of young people within my Kiwanis activities, and to me, that is one of the most important things I am involved with, outside of helping my family members. I will be doing a separate blog post regarding my activities in this area.

As I continue pondering on the composition of this blog post, I run up against the confounding complexity of my own grey matter. I have a number of projects set for myself, mostly with a common thread, yet constantly am frustrated by my ongoing inability to actually do them.

Recently I had a contact with a person I had initially met almost twenty years ago. She had posted on LinkedIn that she was having issues being active in her projects, and was pledging to try and address them. This struck a chord, being similar to what is happening with me. I immediately reached out to her (the old misery loves company thing). I thanked her for the post, telling her how it struck a chord and I was dealing with similar feelings. She suggested that I also make a pledge, and that we could work supporting each other.

Her words are part of the reason for this blog post, perhaps functioning like the proverbial “kick in the ass”, to get me going. Also there was an effect on me when I encountered her “putting it out there”, reminding me that often things are more easily dealt with when they are spoken out loud, and not just thoughts in the mind. When we say something out loud, even to ourselves, we hear what is said and it has a different effect rather than simply thinking it.

So… I mentioned that I have some projects set for myself, and you are likely wondering what they may be.

Basically, there are three projects, and each overlaps to a degree on one or both of the others.

Since I was young I have had an interest in my family history, even writing an essay on it for a school assignment about 1965. (My father had kept a copy of it, however after his death in 1992 it was not located in his files.) My interest continued and when my mother passed in 2012, she left a number of family albums. In early 2014 I created an account with Ancestry and over the years it has grown substantially. In addition to my personal interest, I like to pass the information discovered to other family members, near and distant, particularly those interested in our family legacy and connections.

Also since I was young I have been a prolific taker of photographs, and over the years have accumulated tens of thousands of prints, slides, and digital photos, going back to the mid 1960s. Added to that are the family photos (and movies), a great many of which were taken by my father, and a large amount of extended family photos taken by my grand parents and uncle which were passed to me through my cousin Jennifer (who is also studying our family history). As you can imagine, the majority of the family history photos are basically prints. Then there are my prints and slides. This give me the project of digitizing the prints and slides, having started over a dozen years ago. Part of the reasoning for this project is I figure photos and videos aren’t all that useful sitting in a box in the garage. My aim is to share them, put them in a place where people can see them. For that I utilize my Flickr site, having photos anyone can see, and areas for friend or family viewing.

I turn seventy-seven next month and have retired a number of times throughout my life. I retired from the military in 1990 (first retirement), and from my work in law enforcement in 2019 (last retirement). There were three or four in-between. I have had an online presence since the late 1980s and am quite active on social media since 2007, particularly Twitter and Facebook. Over the years I created accounts on several internet platforms and in late 2019 decided to put them all together when I created the Wee Internet Empire, my retirement project, of which this blog is part. You can follow the link to see what else is involved. As a result of events in my life I have thoughts, experiences, travels, that I would like to recount and share on my various platforms with those who are interested.

So… these are the three projects of which I speak. After seeing them together you can see the overlaps.

Now we come to the crux of the matter. As I noted previously, for the past couple of years I have been frustrated and upset with myself that not even one of these projects as moved forward in any substantive fashion. I’m sure I could come up with various “life happens” type reasons, however I know that the real reason is buried somewhere between my ears. Yes, I have had sparks, however they were quickly extinguished (unlike the wildfires the world is suffering from currently).

What is next?

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
   “To talk of many things:
Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—
   Of cabbages—and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot—
   And whether pigs have wings.” – (Excerpt from The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll)

Yes, the time has come, encouraged by my friend Felicia’s post, for me to say out loud to all of you that I will move past this grey matter doldrum and get at these projects with renewed sense of purpose.

It has been a few days since I started this blog post, there has been much thinking, I’ve read it aloud a number of times (almost like practicing a speech), and now it’s time to press “Publish” and send it out to you, my loyal readers.

Thanks for reading, I hope you found it interesting. As always, I appreciate any feedback or thoughts you may have, your comments are welcome. I invite you to share with others and also subscribe to my Wee Internet Empire newsletter if you have not already done so.

Until next time. Be well, look after yourself, look after others.

A Morning Reflection on Life

A guest blog written by Ivan Goh (shared with permission)

A few mornings ago, as I sat alone at breakfast overlooking the hotel pool on a bright, beautiful and almost impossibly peaceful morning here in Dubai, I found myself simply staring at the water and thinking about Life.

The sun was shining brilliantly. The sky was blue. Breakfast was being served. People around me were talking, laughing, checking their phones, making plans for the day and carrying on with the familiar routines of an ordinary morning.

And yet, somewhere beyond this peaceful little world surrounding me, there is war in the region.

Not so very far away, another human being may be experiencing the most terrifying morning of his life.

A family may be wondering whether their home will still be standing tomorrow.

Someone may be saying goodbye to the person they love without knowing whether that goodbye will be the last.

The contrast struck me deeply.

How strange this world is.

How one person’s perfectly ordinary morning can exist at exactly the same moment as another person’s unimaginable tragedy.

And it made me realize again just how fragile the thin thread of normality really is.

We wake each morning assuming there will be another.

We make plans for next week, next month, next year and sometimes years into the future as though Time has somehow entered into an agreement with us.

But Time has made no such promise.

Life is fleeting.

Perhaps we hear those words so often that we no longer truly understand them.

But they are among the greatest truths of our existence.

Everything we know is temporary.

Youth passes.

Beauty changes.

Strength diminishes.

Careers eventually end.

Homes belong to someone else one day.

Possessions are scattered.

The places where we once stood become somebody else’s memories.

And eventually, every one of us must surrender the one possession we spent our entire lives believing belonged to us:

Time.

That is why I have come to believe that Time is both life’s most precious currency and its greatest adversary.

Money lost can sometimes be earned again.

Possessions can be replaced.

Opportunities may occasionally return.

But yesterday is gone forever.

Not all the wealth in the world can purchase one minute of Time back.

And perhaps this is why I feel so strongly that Life should never be unnecessarily postponed.

There are words that should not wait until tomorrow.

There are embraces that should not be withheld.

There are promises that should not be endlessly delayed.

There are people who should never be left wondering whether they truly matter.

Because one day there will be no “later.”

One day the telephone will no longer ring or text will never appear.

One day the chair across the table will be empty.

One day we will desperately wish for one more ordinary morning with someone we loved.

And suddenly all those mundane moments we barely noticed will become priceless.

One more breakfast together.

One more walk.

One more argument followed by forgiveness.

One more laugh.

One more journey.

One more opportunity to say:

“You mattered to me. You were part of my life, and my life was richer because you were in it.”

That, increasingly, is how I want to live whatever remains of my journey.

I do not want merely to accumulate more days.

I want to make my days count.

I want to live without keeping score.

I want to give without constantly asking what I will receive in return.

I want to have compassion for those whose journeys are more difficult than mine.

I want to speak truth to power when silence would be easier.

I want to remain kind in a world that can sometimes make kindness difficult.

I want to be grateful for the privilege of another sunrise.

And above all, I want my word to mean something.

If I make a promise, I want to honor it.

If I give someone my commitment, I do not want that commitment to disappear when circumstances become inconvenient.

Because ultimately, what is a human being without integrity?

At the end of our lives, we will not be measured simply by what we possessed or the titles that once appeared after our names.

Perhaps the greater measure will be much simpler:

Did we keep our word?

Did we care enough?

Did we stand beside the people we promised not to abandon?

Did we show compassion when someone needed us?

Did we make another human being’s life a little brighter because we were part of it?

That is the legacy I increasingly care about.

I have no desire to live forever.

But I desperately want to live while I am alive.

I want to see more of this extraordinary world.

I want to sit at more tables surrounded with people I care about.

I want to laugh until my stomach hurts.

I want to watch sunsets without rushing somewhere else.

I want to say what is in my heart while I still have a voice to say it.

I want to forgive what deserves forgiving.

I want to fight for what deserves fighting for.

And I never want pride, fear, convenience or procrastination to steal years that life could have filled with memories.

Because there is a terrible sadness in imagining one awaiting for life to begin when life was happening all along.

We cannot keep telling ourselves:

Someday.

Soon.

When circumstances are better.

When everything is easier.

When the timing is perfect.

There may never be a perfect time.

There is only the time we have been given.

Today.

This morning.

This heartbeat.

This opportunity to live life to the full

This opportunity to make something right.

This opportunity to keep a promise.

This opportunity to tell someone what they mean to us.

I feel an overwhelming gratitude simply for being alive.

Not because life has always been easy.

It hasn’t.

Not because everything I have wanted has happened when I wanted it to.

It hasn’t.

But because despite everything, I am still here.

Still capable of living

Still capable of giving.

Still capable of dreaming.

Still capable of making someone’s day brighter.

Still capable of creating another memory.

And while I still have that privilege, I want to use it.

I have often thought that perhaps this is how I would like my own life to be remembered:

Like a shooting star crossing the night sky.

A shooting star does not remain forever.

Its journey across the darkness is breathtakingly brief.

But for those few extraordinary seconds, it burns brilliantly.

It catches our attention.

It makes us look upward.

It illuminates the darkness around it.

And even after it disappears beyond the horizon, the person who witnessed it remembers having seen its light.

Perhaps that is all any of us can really hope for.

We arrive.

We burn brightly for a little while.

We live

We stumble.

We learn.

We hurt.

We forgive.

We laugh.

We cry.

We touch other lives.

And then eventually we disappear beyond the horizon.

But perhaps something of us remains.

In someone’s memory.

In someone’s character.

In a kindness they learned from us and passed to another.

In a promise we kept.

In a hand we held during a difficult time.

In the life of someone who once needed to know that they mattered.

And so when my own shooting star finally disappears into that vast night sky, I hope those I leave behind will not remember me simply for what I accomplished.

I hope they will remember how deeply I

cared.

That I gave.

That when I made a commitment, I meant it.

That I tried to speak the truth even when truth was uncomfortable.

That I stood beside the people I loved when standing beside them mattered most.

That I tried to leave people better than I found them.

And perhaps somewhere, someone will look into the night sky and remember that for one brief moment in this enormous universe, our lives crossed.

And I hope they will smile.

Because ultimately, I have come to understand something very simple:

Life is not about how long our shooting star remains in the sky.

It is about how brightly we choose to burn while we are here.

So I want to live.

Fully.

Fearlessly.

Compassionately.

Honestly.

I want to love with everything within me.

I want to honor my promises.

I want to cherish the people who have chosen to walk beside me.

I want to make ordinary moments extraordinary simply by understanding how temporary they are.

And when my final day eventually arrives, I hope I can look back without wishing that I had lived more, spoken more honestly, forgiven sooner, travelled farther, laughed louder, held someone closer or spent fewer years waiting for tomorrow.

I want to be able to say:

I was here.

I lived with integrity.

I gave something of myself to others.

I made memories.

I made a difference.

And I did not waste the extraordinary privilege of being alive.

Because Life is fleeting.

And somewhere between our first breath and our last lies this magnificent, heartbreaking, beautiful opportunity called Life.

May we never be so busy preparing for tomorrow that we forget to live it today.

May we never postpone to live until Time decides for us that it is too late.

And may each of us, however briefly we are given this night sky, have the courage to become that shooting star

to burn brightly,

to illuminate the lives around us,

to live without reservation,

and to leave behind a little light long after we are gone.

Typing → Dictating – As I Age

Well, here I am, a considerable length of time since my last blog post. The reasons for the delay are many, varied, and I’m not even going to go into them. It’s just really too much to think about sometimes. Well, during this blog post I will not be dwelling on any of those reasons or touching base with any of them. Although on some of my other social media in the future there may be some appearing, but they’re not part of this blog post anyway.

Right now I’m in Malaysia and I have been for the last four months. It seems I almost have to confirm that by looking at the calendar. I don’t know if it’s a factor of age or what it is, but time just seems to be, wholly dingle, moving along and it’s really hard to keep up. Of course, when one is retired, the aspect of time has really shifted as well, it seems. In addition, while we are here, Kim is also functioning as retired, because she’s not working, and that puts it into a whole different area. I am sure that many of you have experienced this effect as well.

Something that is a factor of age is the process that we cannot seem to do now what we’ve been able to do for most of our lives and we get frustrated. For example, I have been a touch typist for basically all my life. Since high school. All during my military career and into several careers following, my touch typing was quick and accurate, no problem at all. My fingers went right where the keys are supposed to be and the words and letters came out. Everything was just great.

Now I am neither quick nor accurate. The frustration level becomes high and it seems I must resort to the hunt and peck method. I suspect that perhaps there is a conspiracy between my fingers and my laptop keyboard.

As a result, I am now moving to a new process, at least a new process for me. I am dictating to my computer what I want to say and hoping that the computer actually puts down the words that I use and that I can keep my brain in gear long enough to actually make sense.

I know that I am many sailings behind the majority of the world in doing this. But hopefully I can persevere, learn, get some skill, and maybe show once again that an old dog can learn new tricks.

I’m sure that it’s going to take a while, however. For many years I was pretty good at coordinating my thinking speed and my typing speed so that the words that I thought would flow off my fingers and I would form the paragraphs and whatever as I went along. Speaking to a computer is different than speaking to another person. As the computer does not speak back, so it’s not really a conversation. However, one of the rules, one of the basic rules of having a conversation, is to ensure that the brain is in gear before engaging the mouth.

I have had always in my mind for a considerable time the aspect of dictating to my computer. However, it was not really convenient for them to learn my voice and all of that stuff, the different applications that I saw and so I didn’t do it. However, just recently I was watching a video on TikTok and the person was talking about a feature that has been on Microsoft Windows for years and I was unaware of. So I thought I would try it out and basically you activate ability to dictate into a text box by using Windows “H”, the Windows key and the H key, and it works very well. I don’t have to do anything extra and I don’t have to do any training. Well, at least I don’t have to do any training for the computer. I have to do training for me, it seems.

Currently it’s not increasing the speed because I keep stopping and reading and thinking. However it is increasing the accuracy and taking the frustration level way, way down.

So I was working on my Wee Internet Empire newsletter and it popped into my head that maybe I should come over and just do a blog about this dictating to the computer thing. And so I’ve done that. Now I will wrap things up here, make sure it’s all good to go, and then I will head back over to the newsletter and get some more stuff done there. Because my loyal readers certainly deserve to get a newsletter. It’s been quite a while since they’ve had one.

As always, thank you for reading my blog. I do appreciate any comments or remarks that you may want to make or send along, any thoughts that you may have.

Why Blah?

I began this blog post sometime in the beginning of March. Since then I have gone back to it on several occasions, adding and editing each time. And I continued to ponder what was the issue. Was it a combination of all that I addressed, was there something additional, or was it something completely different.

I seem to have reached a conclusion in this matter and it will be included at the end of this blog post.

Meanwhile I have decided that I will publish this blog post, when finished, as I think that maybe I’m not the only person with experiences like this and perhaps it will help others.

It has now been over two months since my less than scintillating post to start 2025.

If that post gave you the impression that things were really kind of blah, then that would be an accurate impression. And honestly, not a hell of a lot has changed.

Okay now, why blah? Now I know this is a question that the “analysts” like to ask. The reason I know this is that they do. They are well meaning of course, however if my response falls short, which it usually does, then I am gifted with approaches and actions I should take to improve the blah, all well-meaning as well.

Now these thoughts might help, if I understood the blah factor better myself. However, at times in my addled brain they may tend to have a contrary effect.

So again, why blah?

Perhaps because it’s winter, with the accompanying lack of daylight, cold, and so on. I don’t really partake in winter activities and tend to be much more out and about in the non-white times of the year. Maybe, but some of the blah was around pre winter.

Perhaps because I’m retired, and Kim is still working two jobs. To be clear, this is something she wants to do, not because she has to, and I totally support her. We are looking ahead and reviewing plans for the time her retirement comes.

Perhaps because my hands don’t work as well as they used to. Certainly this is a factor. When I’m putting things together it seems I drop stuff more, which can be a bit frustrating, particularly when trying to find wee screws which have fallen. However, my greatest frustration regarding my hands is what I am doing at this moment. During my military career in communications one of the skills required was typing, be it on a typewriter, a teletype machine, or a computer. I was proud of my skills, achieving well over sixty words per minute with no mistakes. Today, I just made five mistakes in that last sentence (at far less than 60wpm).

Perhaps because my brain has issues, it forgets things at times. I have said, for years, and not totally tongue in cheek, that I suffer from part-timers, where I forget part of the time. Generally this has only been a source of “goldarn it” frustration, but on occasion it has caused a situation which had to be dealt with.

Perhaps because my body is not always happy about the way I’ve treated it over the years. And yes, I am honest about that, I’ve not always been the best caretaker. As well there are a couple of things which are hereditary. I was diagnosed with gout around thirty years ago, and although I’ve been on medications since then, it has contributed to arthritis in different parts of my body, leading to a hip replacement two years ago.

Perhaps because I’m old, speaking strictly about my age, my number of years on planet Earth. Maybe, but the aspect of my age is not really something which upsets me. Some will say that the hands, brain, and body reasons above are because of age. I disagree. Age may be a factor with them, however they are, to me, all separate issues, any one of which would matter less on it’s own.

And this is where this blog post has sat, for close to two months, as I have pondered, and pondered.

While pondering, I arrived at a form of realization that, although all of the above are, to a degree, factors, they are not primary reasons.

A bit of retrospect here. Over my lifetime I have always been interested in technology, particularly computers. My first computer was a Radio Shack MC-10 (which I still have), then the first bug free bios IBM PC, and as the story goes, the rest is history. Of course I was involved with bulletin boards, but the real push came with the development of social media, Facebook, Twitter and the like. For instance, I began blogging about 2007 or so.

When I retired, for the final time, in 2019, I began doing more online, and it morphed into the creation of my Wee Internet Empire, which became like a retirement project that I enjoyed doing. That was good, and I was quite enjoying puttering around and sharing my thoughts and memories.

For the past twenty-five years I have been in Kiwanis, both with my local club and having involvement up to the international level. Around the same time that I retired I began taking a lower Kiwanis profile yet maintaining my support.

A couple of years ago I was approached and asked to return to the club board. After consideration I did, as club secretary, feeling I could make a good contribution there and provide support for the new president. Upon my return I discovered much I could do and set right in, doing that and even more.

I put my Wee Internet Empire off to the side so as to focus on what I wanted to do and pressed forward.

Now, I realize more that I had done something that most parents have cautioned their children over the years – Be careful your eyes are not bigger than your stomach! Or… Don’t bite off more than you can chew!

My term as club secretary will be finishing in a few months and I truly feel that I have completed pretty much all that I set out to do and I believe that the club has done well and will continue to benefit from what we have accomplished together.

However, now I realize that I had moved away from a good comfort spot for myself. My retirement hobby has been essentially dormant for well over a year and when I try to do something with it I am way too easily distracted (hence this photo meme from the movie Up) and move to something else, most often Kiwanis related.

This, over the long term, caused me to be frustrated with myself, and, when combined with the other things I talked of earlier, led me at times to think poorly of myself and to almost withdraw generally into a state of complete blah.

Throughout it all Kim has been a rock, putting up with and supporting me, as she has done for nearly twenty-six years now. Otis (the cat) has done his part also, regularly kicking my ass to feed him and change his litter (which makes Kim happy as well).

As I noted in the intro, I often wondered if I should post this blog as I had it written.

I decided to go ahead, for two reasons. For people who have gone through similar feelings/events, perhaps this will provide some help or insight with their own thoughts. For myself, putting things into words is often better suited for understanding of oneself.

So what does the future hold? Hmm… If I do it right, more good input for future blog posts!

In reality, there are lifestyle changes on the horizon, and we are planning together as to what they may be. As we move forward in our lives I, through my Wee Internet Empire, will endeavour to bring you along also.

As always, thank you for reading and allowing me to share my thoughts and experiences with you. Any comments that you may have are always welcome.

A New Calendar Year Begins

It is January 1st, a new calendar year has begun, and tradition has it that people all over the world are posting about the year past and their visions for the coming year. It seems that this is almost an obligatory activity in which to indulge.

As a year ends it is considered to be a time of reflection. For that reason I tend to avoid mirrors.

The beginning of the year is considered to be a re-start on life, however for this to happen the battery must have sufficient charge.

For me, to start the year, I arose at 0530, got dressed, headed to the loo for the morning business, accompanied by Otis, who ensures the area to be safe (he is, after all, a vicious guard cat). Then, it was time to put in my teeth, weigh myself (never you mind), head into my office, look out the window (only a dusting of snow and -14C), turn on the desk light and head to the kitchen.

In the kitchen the priority was to feed Otis and make my coffee (Malaysian of course) and put away the clean dishes before heading back to my office. Once there I tested my blood sugar level (it’s okay), had my pills (ten of them) and opened up my computer.

On my computer I checked my emails (most were deleted upon reading), looked at the calendar for significant activities, checked Facebook for birthdays, marketplace and posts of interest (on several pages that I administer).

Once that was done, I opened WordPress and decided to compose this blog post.

What a way to start the new year!

Except…

Other than composing this blog post, that is the description of pretty much every morning (with minor changes when Kim is up getting ready for work on weekdays).

Now if you were expecting a disertation on my wide experiences of the past year and my lofty expections of the year to come, like so many others around the world, you will be happy to know that you need not suffer though one.

Rather, you are now privy to the way I start a new year every day.

As a result this blog post is likely not highly informative or interesting, but it is the first post I’ve done in months so an achievement has been reached.

Regardless of whether it’s the end of an old year, or the beginning of a new year, or just a regular day in the life, it is my wish that you are all well and moving to the future.

Until next time, take care of yourself and look out for others.

Well, Whattaya Know – 3/4 of A Century

So, today I made it to three quarters of a century.

With all the talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI) lately, I thought I would have some fun.

First, I asked ChatGPT to provide the meaning of 75 years old.

Following that I asked ChatGPT to provide the meaning of three quarters of a century old.

It seems that they are not the same, however both are interesting. You can read them here.

I will rejoin you below.

Turning 75 years old carries multiple layers of meaning:

Longevity: Reaching 75 is a significant achievement in terms of longevity. It reflects a long life, often filled with rich experiences, and is celebrated as a mark of resilience and vitality.
Wisdom and Experience: By the age of 75, individuals typically have accumulated a wealth of knowledge and life experience. This age often signifies a deep reservoir of wisdom, shaped by decades of personal and professional experiences.
Reflection and Legacy: At 75, people often reflect on their life’s journey, accomplishments, and the impact they’ve made on their families, communities, and beyond. It’s a time to consider one’s legacy and the contributions they’ve made throughout their life.
Family and Generational Connections: Many individuals at this age have witnessed the growth of their families across generations. They may have children, grandchildren, and sometimes great-grandchildren, making this a period to celebrate family bonds and the continuity of family traditions.
Health and Well-being: Health becomes an important focus as people age, and reaching 75 often involves managing health conditions and adapting to changes in physical abilities. It’s a time when maintaining well-being and enjoying a good quality of life are priorities.
Cultural Significance: In various cultures, turning 75 is celebrated as a major milestone. It’s often marked with special ceremonies or gatherings that honor the individual’s life and contributions.
Reflection on Societal Changes: A person who is 75 years old has witnessed substantial societal and technological changes over their lifetime. Their experiences offer a unique perspective on how the world has evolved over decades.

In essence, being 75 years old is a time of celebration and reflection, honoring a long life lived and looking forward to the future with appreciation for the journey so far.

When someone is described as “three quarters of a century old,” it means they are 75 years old. This phrase adds a layer of formality and historical depth to the age. Here’s what it conveys:

Historical Context: The phrase highlights the span of 75 years as a significant period in history, suggesting that the individual has lived through a considerable portion of modern history, witnessing and experiencing many changes and events.
Significant Milestone: It frames the age as a noteworthy achievement, emphasizing the milestone of reaching 75 years. The term “three quarters of a century” underscores the considerable duration and the importance of the individual’s longevity.
Reflective Perspective: Using this phrase often implies a reflective perspective on the person’s life, acknowledging the depth of experience and the impact of their journey over a substantial period.
Formal and Poetic Tone: The expression lends a formal or poetic tone to the description of age, making it sound more grand and significant compared to simply stating “75 years old.”

In essence, “three quarters of a century old” celebrates the achievement of reaching 75 years with a sense of historical and personal importance, highlighting both the length of time and the depth of life experience.

I have to admit, that I do like the poetic aspect of “three quarters of a century”. It has a bit of a ring to it don’t you think.

Reading these items does indeed cause me to reflect.

I won’t go into great depth today but would like to highlight a few things.

Reflection: It has been an interesting journey thus far with still more to go. My intent is to share some of my life’s journey and accomplishments using this blog and other parts of my Wee Internet Empire, as I have done already to a degree with more to be forthcoming.

Family: As some of you know, I have, for many years, been working on our family history, and am now back to the early 1600’s. Learning where one comes from and where the extended family comes from is quite facinating. As far as the current group, Kim and I have a blended family. Three daughters, one son, one cat, one daughter in law, two sons in law, four granddaughters, three grandsons, three grandcats and one granddog, spread across England, Canada and Malaysia.

Health: Generally things are going along pretty well, although it seems I’m slowly becoming more bionic with a hip replacement last year and an implantable cardiac device just recently. The idea is to say around for a while longer.

Societal Changes: I certainly will have to write more about this subject. We are all familiar with the current technology, and for comparison, I can remember when we got our first huge sized black and white TV. It would seem there is much inbetween. Then we have the myriad ways that the world community has changed and modified over the passage of time, some ways good, some ways not so much. Yep, to look back is quite something.

All in all, the fact that I am on the good side of the grass, am able to do more or less what I want, with whom I want to, and am in a position to help and support others, means things are going pretty well, and I am thankful for that.

As always, any thoughts or feedback that you might have are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for visiting, take care of yourself, and when you get a chance, look out and take care of others.

It Crossed My Mind

Since I started on social media I have tried, for the most part, to be positive, share interesting, thoughtful and fun things, as well as avoiding religion and politics (as there seems to be more than enough of those subjects available).

I have, on occasion, posted about things such as family violence, down syndrome and other issues affecting primarily children and youths. These particular areas are of great importance to me and are the main reason for me continuing my membership and volunteering with my Kiwanis club.

Recently I have started following more people on various platforms and while doing so figured that perhaps I need to provide some of my thoughts on other areas, at times a bit separated from my regular fare.

However, this may bring with it an obstacle which I must be willing to overcome.

Unfortunately it is becoming increasingly difficult to discuss, it seems, pretty much anything, and expect it to remain a civil discourse.

Civil discourse is taken to mean a respectful conversation aimed at fostering understanding and constructive communication between individuals in a group having different perspectives. (A good Wikipedia article can be found here.)

It seems that too often what starts out as a discussion soon becomes clogged with misinformation and vitriol. One only needs to read comments of some articles or posts to see how the discussion can degenerate.

So, if I start offering my opinions on subjects or issues which may be, shall we say, more controversial or contentious, I must accept the fact that on occasion they may result in in uncivil discourse. And so I shall, as the alternative would be to remain silent.

So how did my regular fare, my Wee Internet Empire come about. Well, it just sort of evolved.

Although I had been online since the early 1990’s, I became really involved in social media about 2007 with Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. I started my Flickr page about the same time and began blogging in 2009. My YouTube began in 2016 and about mid 2021 I came up with my podcast.

While doing a podcast I made an offhand remark about about my wee internet empire. After, I thought why not, so that’s when I officially named it.

I have deliberately kept the subject matter and schedule of all platforms unstructured so as to post what I felt like, when I felt like. Because there is no set pattern, I created a newsletter so that my followers would know when there was something new and they wouldn’t have to keep checking in. If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to the newsletter here.

So, the point of this blog post is to let folks know that in the future I may talk about some areas where most likely there will be some religious and political aspects involved. Discussion in the form of civil discourse is welcome and encouraged. Most comments will be left for all to see, however threats or similar comments will be deleted and the person blocked.

As always, I really appreciate the support and feedback from my followers, or those who just drop in (whom it would be great to have as followers – unabashed plug). Your comments, thoughts and ideas are always appreciated.

Take care all. Catch you later with my next blog post/podcast or whatever.

1413 Days

In the middle of March 2020, due to the beginning of Covid, we were forced to cut short our visit with family and friends in Malaysia. We made it back to Canada just in time, although we did have to go into isolation for fourteen days. Two of Kim’s brothers, who were also in Malaysia, were not able to return to Canada until several months later.

Today, 1413 days later, we begin our journey back to Malaysia to see our daughters and grandchildren, having missed nearly four years of their lives.

Oh sure, we have maintained contact with them via electronic means on this thing called the “world wide web”, however as anyone can figure out, it’s not the same as being with them in person. It’s not even close.

Well, wouldn’t you know it, this has become another blog post stretched over a period of time. In this case, about six days, or maybe five, depending on how one looks at it, because the International Date Line is involved.

At 1600 hours on 30 Jan, we left home and headed to YEG to begin our journey.

Okay, if you know me, I use military time, the 24 hour clock, and write my dates different from some folks, and use airport designators. I write my blogs and you read them, that’s the way it is. <<Grin>>

So, off to the airport we went, have to get there a minimum of two hours before the flight, as everybody knows. Check-in was good, four checked bags, all comfortably under 23 kg, so no issue there. Then it was off to security, there we had a bit of an issue on a couple of fronts. Going through the detector, I beeped. Was asked if I had a hip replacement, said yes, so secondary it was. Hmm… there I beeped all over. It seems that the buttons on my cargo shorts are metal, so you guessed it, I beeped. Okay, got that sorted out, only to discover that my backpack had been pulled aside. Hmm… seems somebody had not emptied out his water bottle. The security chap was kind and did it for me so all was good. Nobody arrested me or even yelled at me, they were very good about everything. Away to the departure gate, waited a while and boarded the aircraft. At 1935, on schedule, we lifted off for YVR, experiencing a relatively uneventful Westjet flight, getting our glass of non-alcohol drink and bag of tiny pretzels enroute.

Now in the interest of transparency, I need to let you know that for this journey I am still having some issues with both my legs so am listed as requiring assistance, meaning a wheelchair. Having heard tales in recent months about folks with disabilities and the issues they have had when flying, I was unsure as to how things would go. I must state that for me on this trip, the service I got was exemplary from start to finish with the various airlines and airports doing exactly what was required. And I thank them for that.

Back to the journey. Upon arriving in YVR it was necessary to make the trek, and it is a lengthy trek, from the Westjet gate to the EVA Air gate. Thank goodness for golf carts. Once there, we had an almost three hour respite until we boarded the aircraft. At about 0015, on 31 Jan, we were ready to taxi away from the gate. I say we were ready, however Mother Nature was not. Vancouver had been experiencing a couple days of an “atmospheric river” and there were so extremely high gusting winds. After a half hour or so, Mother Nature said that we could go, so we did.

It was our first time flying EVA Air, I found the economy seating on the Triple 7 comfortable and the flight attendants were very efficient. Even so, it was nice to arrive at TPE thirteen and a half hours later. Once there it seems that connecting passengers have to go through what amounted to a mini security screening prior to heading to their next departure gate. This made us quite confused, however through we went. Our water bottles didn’t have to be emptied and our laptops, tablets and phones didn’t have to be removed from the bags. Personally I’m still not sure of the purpose of this process. Guess there must be some reason for it.

Then it was off to the departure gate for another close to three hour respite. I should mention that there was quite a distance from the arrival gate to the security to the departure gate, all done by wheelchair, no golf carts.

Boarding time came and there was a problem. Passngers were there, flight attendants were there, aircrew was there, but oops, seems there was no aircraft there yet. It appeared realatively quickly, however it had to be prepared for us to board, which took a while. Okay, then we were ready to load, but wait, it seems there was a passenger who had to be escorted on first. We don’t know what her situation was, but she didn’t want to go and was carried on by four or five people, while making quite the disturbance. Kim and I noted, although there was certainly a major kerfuffle, and while people were certainly paying attention, we didn’t see people videoing the event with their phones and we appreciated that folks seemed to be respecting her privacy.

Eventually we boarded the aircraft and departed just over an hour later than scheduled. Our flight to KUL was four and a half hours. The economy seating on the Airbus was not great and for some reason my seat would not recline, making it rather uncomfortable, with the result I was fairly sore by the time we landed. Once again the EVA Air flight attendants were highly efficient, although I will say that on both flights they were not all that friendly, basically just business.

Arriving at KUL was uneventful, deplaning went well, and then the KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) trek began. At KUL we land at one terminal, however customs, immigration, baggage, and passenger pickup is all done at another terminal. Joining the two terminals is normally a train, but currently it is under long maintenance, so buses are employed. Not horrible by any stretch, however they are less efficient in moving the people. Once again there was an extensive wheelchair trip. A bit of a wait for immigration as it was quite busy, then baggage was acquired and contact made with our arranged ride who had been waiting patiently. Wait you say, what about customs. It seems that you only go through customs if you are selected, randomly or otherwise. I’m sure that baggage is screened on arrival. We try to do things properly and, I guess, have been successful thus far as I’ve not be called for customs on this, or previous, arrivals.

Now we are talking about baggage, this is a good segway to an action I took prior to this trip. One always hears horror stories about travel and baggage. Things like “I flew from YEG to YOW and my luggage went to YYC”, or worse “my luggage has disappeared”. We make sure that our bags are well marked, strapped, and we also place sheets inside providing information on our destination and contact numbers. In addition, for this journey I decided to purchase Samsung Galaxy SmartTags for each checked bag. It was kind of cool, at each stop, I would check my phone and see if all our bags were still with us, and they were. On a couple previous trips we had been short a bag upon arrival, but in both cases the bag had decided to spend an extra day in HKG. Both Cathay Pacific (our airline for those trips) and KLIA, preformed admirably and the bags were delivered directly to us the next day. To have the SmartTags was reassuring however, and according to reports, they, along with similar other tags, have proven their worth when baggage goes astray.

Once through all the process at KLIA, we also picked up Malaysia SIM cards for our phones, we connected with our driver and commenced our roughly two hour drive to Malacca and our accomodation provided for us by our granddaughter. The drive was uneventful other than a brief rain deluge and the ever present traffic.

Bottom line for the journey. We left home at 1600 on 30 Jan (Edmoton time), and arrived at our destination at 1930 on 01 Feb (Malaysia time). We essentially skipped 31 Jan entirely due to the International Date Line. Total time from door to door was thirty-six and a half hours, which was considerably longer than any of our previous flights, all of which were with Cathay Pacific through HKG.

So, 1413 days between trips, but now we are here, we have reunited with some of our family, a number more to go, and and are making contact with friends so as to arrange visits. Now we must make the most of our time here, but that is another story, or should I say, blog post.

Thanks for reading, catch you next time. Look after yourselves, and look out for others.

Back In The Kiwanis Secretary Saddle

I joined the Kiwanis Club of South Edmonton back in 2001, then became Club Secretary in 2002 and continued in that position until 2011.

After serving in a number of positions over the subsequent years, including Club President, Division Six Lt Governor and Kiwanis Western Canada District Governor, as of 01 October 2023 I was back as Club Secretary.

The different positions I’ve held over the years have helped me learn more about the Secretary position, so when asked to once more come back on the Club Board, I thought that I could do the most good as Secretary.

So, on 01 October, the start of the Kiwanis year, after being off the Board for several years, I received the files and started to work.

Holy Dingle, there was much to do and review. Unfortunately, due to various events, Covid being one, there were a few hiccups in the paperwork that needed attention, and some Board actions needed to be tracked down and clarified.

As many of my readers know, leadership positions in any volunteer organization can be difficult when balancing work and life’s events. Then add a two year pandemic to the mix. Kudos to all those who persevered, with the organization only suffering a few hiccups or minor confusions.

However minor confusions, on occasion, can lead to more serious situations if not addressed. Fortunately we were not at the serious situation level, though the minor confusions did have to be dealt with.

Previously, while Secretary, I also served as Club Webmaster. They must of liked what I did, seeing as how in early October, I was asked if I would also take that position once more. In reality, Secretary and Webmaster blend well together, so I said I would.

Interestingly enough, I started this blog post in November, about a month after resuming the secretary position, as I thought that the main rush of catch-up had passed. However, it seems that I was wrong. It is now into the first week of December and I think I can finally get back into blog creation.

Skip forward once again, to the end of December and it seems I was wrong again as a few things got in the way, a good number of them Kiwanis related as it turned out.

So why, you might ask, do I not just pack it in for this blog post and start something new, probably on a different subject. Well if that were the regular modus operendi, then a great many of us would not achieve much in our lives. I think that the term which comes to the fore most often is “life gets in the way”.

Any the who, back to being club secretary. Over the years many people have indicated that the club secretary is the most important person in the club, the one who keeps the wheels turning so to speak.

I agree that the club secretary is an integral part of the club, however I feel that not only every board member, but every individual club member is extremely important to the organization.

Kiwanis is basically all about kids. Our primary focus is young people from birth through their teenage years. Each club has a number of projects to help and/or benefit kids. These projects need people. The most perfectly planned project in the world will be ineffective without the people to actually do the work, to “get their hands dirty” so to speak.

To me, the secretary has two essential tasks. To be the primary point person for the Club President, and to ensure that the club administrative functions are completed in an accurate and timely fashion. I consider myself to be a kind of “gatekeeper” for my president, to support her, provide her with information she may be seeking, and to act as a buffer or a sounding board when needed.

As well, the secretary is usually the “Keeper of the Stuff”. The description of “the stuff” can vary greatly from organization to organization. It will, of course, include the files, which used to be myriads of paper, but now for many organizations, including Kiwanis clubs, are maintained electronically, often in the cloud for easy access by others on the board, or even club members as well. As the age demographics of Kiwanis clubs leans towards Baby Boomers, and some of The Silent Generation, provision and administration of electronic storage of files in the cloud continues to be a work in progress.

Other aspects of “the stuff” can vary greatly depending on the individual club. Perhaps it is the meeting equipment, gong, flags and so on, or awards, received by the club or to be presented to members. Maybe the paraphernalia used when out working on a club project. Or any number of other things. Regardless, storing, tracking, or arranging for, these things, often falls to the secretary.

Reactions to the secretary’s efforts are also varied, ranging from “how wonderful that was”, to “haven’t you got that done yet”, and often quite the arrangement of comments in between.

As every Kiwanis Club Secretary knows, all of the above aspects are part of the job that we volunteered for. And generally, we take it all in stride, because we’re good at what we do!

So there you go, a blog post that took longer than expected to complete. However one of the positive aspects is that that my secretary work was not delayed to compose this blog post, rather it was the other way round.

Do take care and be well. Until next time.

Kiwanis – Making My Heart Feel Good

For most of this century, thus far, I have been a member of Kiwanis.

Upon reading that, some will nod their head and smile knowingly. Others will cock their head to the side with a puzzled look on their face. You see, not everyone knows what “Kiwanis” is.

Put simply, “Kiwanis is all about kids”. That’s what I respond when asked, and even when not asked, that’s what I tell people.

Kiwanis is an international, community based, organization comprised of people who care about children and youths. In many ways we consider ourselves to be a family, a family comprised of close to 450,000 members around the world.

The mission statement for Kiwanis International is: Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time. The most commonly used hashtag is: #KidsNeedKiwanis.

I became a member of the Kiwanis Club of South Edmonton in 2001, and over the years have filled a number of positions within the club, such as Secretary, Webmaster and President. I have also been Division Six Lieutenent Governor, and Western Canada District Governor.

Also, my wife Kim has been a member of our club since 2004. As some of you may know, Kim and I consider Malacca, Malaysia, to be our second home, and both of us are involved with Kiwanis Malaysia District, being members there as well for a number of years.

Now, my intent with this blog post is not to tell you all about Kiwanis, although I do strongly suggest you read more about this fine organization by clicking on the links above. Rather I will be sharing a few of my Kiwanis experiences to try and explain how and why Kiwanis means so much to Kim and I.

I should let you know that I do not “grade” my Kiwanis experiences as they are all equally special to me. As well, the time frames make no difference. So, in no particular order, here we go.

Back in the late 1950’s our club decided to develop some lakefront property west of Edmonton into a camp for children with disabilities. In 1960 Camp Health, Hope & Happiness (Camp HeHoHa) opened and it has grown larger and stronger since. Along with fellow club members and others, I have visited the camp regularly for many years. While there we get to witness how powerful the camp experience is for those children attending. They feel free because all those around them have some form of disability as well.

It was on one of my visits that I had, what we often call, a “Kiwanis moment”. At the camp is a climbing wall, about twenty metres high, and it gets quite a bit of use from the campers. On this day, I watched a young disabled child climb the wall, by herself, all the way to the top. You can tell by the look on her face after she came down what it meant to her. While watching her I was thinking that our Kiwanis Club made it possible for her being able to be there and climb that wall. I still marvel at that to this day, and it makes me feel very proud.

While in Malaysia, when a person says Kiwanis, people often think of Down Syndrome, and when people mention Down Syndrome, folks often think of Kiwanis. In 1989 the Kiwanis Club of Kuala Lumpur decided there should be support for children with Down Syndrome. From that came the Kiwanis Down Syndrome Foundation and five Kiwanis Down Syndrome Centres around the country. Kim and I have been often to the KDSC in Kuala Lumpur and frequently volunteer at the KDSC in Melaka, where we live while in Malaysia.

One of the activities at the KDSC Melaka is their Annual Sports Day, with a great many activities arranged for the children to take part in. The children, parents and Kiwanians, all have great fun and laughter together.

After the games were over, it was time to eat and then time for prizes. There were awards for all participants as these games were not for serious competition, but for fun and the joyous enjoyment of doing things together. As I was a “distinguished visitor from Canada”, being Kiwanis Western Canada Governor at the time, I was asked to present some of the prizes to the children. This I was more than happy to do. And it paid me big time. While I was presenting a prize to the young lady in the photo she looked at me. It is difficult for me to describe how I felt at that instant, but every time I tell people about it I cry, as I’m doing now while typing this. To this day I say thank goodness Kim was taking many photos and happened to catch that exact moment.

The third moment I will share today is a program that our club has had for a very long time. I was of course introduced to it as a club member.

Certainly a great many folks are familiar with Reading Week, where local celebraties and others will go to schools and read to the students there. This usually happens towards the end of September. The program offered by our club (and other clubs), is similar however is an ongoing event, several times a year. It is called “Reading Is Fundamental”. Our club member would go to an inner city daycare and not only read to the children, but give the each child a book, including the one that was read to them. For many of the children it may be the first book they have ever had, and at times the only book that they might get. My parents made sure that I grew up reading books, for which I am thankful. Knowing that our presence at the inner city daycare could make a difference in a child’s life is indeed a good feeling. After the reading there would be a healthy snack for all.

Now these are but three of the aspects of Kiwanis, however I hope they give you an idea of why Kiwanis means so much to those who have been lucky enough to become members.

Doing things for the children of the world, whether they be in our own communities, or on the other side of the globe is both necessary and rewarding. Click the links above, read more, check out the Kiwanis Club in your area, they’d welcome your questions and your membership. The emotional awards can be great.

Thanks for joining me today, I hope you enjoyed my blog post. Your feedback is alway welcome and appreciated. Until next time, look after yourself and look out for others.