Renovating a house gives a person lots of opportunities to drive to a home improvement or hardware store, so I have plenty of opportunities to encounter fellow drivers who do annoying or dangerous things. On just one trip out to the store, I experienced a person who cut me off, another who rode my bumper…

Philosophy, as an academic study, has not interested me too much over the years, despite my appreciation for the writings of philosophers and humorists (who are often philosophers in disguise). Of the more well-known philosophers, Albert Camus is on my “top 5 favorite” list. Even when his work has an air of frustration or hopelessness,…

For centuries, the spring equinox has been a time for sowing seeds and celebrating a time of regeneration, new growth. In some places and religions, it has also been a time of purification with an intention of starting life anew. We had a few inches of snow last night, which covered up the crocus that…

I’m sure you’ve heard the very old saying, “A thing worth doing is worth doing well.” I often think of this saying as I’m stripping woodwork in preparation for refinishing it. A person can strip just enough to make the wood smooth and ready for sanding, primer, and paint (as we will do in our…

I’m blogging during my lunch hour, today. It’s cold and flu season in cubicle land, here at work. With sneezing going on all around, I often hear people say “Bless you!” Sure, it’s meant as anything from an expression of goodwill to a full blown religious statement, but the concept has always seemed just a…

Renovation is a messy process. Things often look awful before they begin to look good. And you sometimes jostle and disturb the nice parts of the house as you work on the damaged parts, resulting in repairs to the parts that had been nice to begin with! We have a couple of examples of this.…

Opportunities and expectations. They can be tough to get a handle on. Opportunities can present themselves at the most surprising times, and they can be missed when they are disguised in a cloak of misfortune or disappointment. Expectations can be described as inflated or unrealistic, and sometimes they can even be said to be too…