Posted inStarlink

After getting Starlink’s Gen 3 router, I’m liking it

I've had, and enjoyed, Starlink's satellite internet service since January 2021, when I was approved to be a beta tester and got to put the original round dish on our roof. Not for free, sadly, I had to pay for it. Recently Starlink emailed me with an offer to purchase their new Gen 3 router that works both with the first generation round dish and the second generation square dish. This time I had to pay $200 for the privilege of being a beta tester. I decided to get the router because the original router was still in use. It's…
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Posted inFood and drink

I declare a winner in the Decaf Instant Coffee contest

For many years I was a coffee addict. More accurately, I craved the caffeine in coffee. I'm still in recovery. Probably always will be. But even though my withdrawal several years ago was difficult, I've managed to give up the hard stuff and get by with a little help from my decaffeinated friends. I'll share their photos below. One of them has become my best Decaf Instant Coffee friend. Here it is. Republica makes an organic decaf instant coffee from Arabica beans that to me tastes like brewed coffee. I just use a level teaspoon in 16 ounces of hot…
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Posted inHome life Humor

My guide to happiness: act stupid, then undo your stupidity

Everybody wants to be happy. And everybody has their own ways of accomplishing this. Recently the New York Times had an interview with a Buddhist monk, Matthieu Ricard. When I saw that the story was called The 'World's Happiest Man' Shares His Three Rules for Life, I got excited.   Yay! Finally I'd know how to be happy all the time. Sweet. But when I read what Ricard said the three rules were, I felt my Perpetual Happiness Balloon popping.  You know, once I was on the India Today Conclave. They said, “Can you give us the three secrets of…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Watch this video of Lahaina fire destruction. Then do what you can to help.

My wife and I have vacationed on Maui many times. We love the island. The town of Lahaina has a special place in our hearts. Front Street in Lahaina was a delightful place to visit. We'd go there most evenings during our stay to shop, people-watch, see the art in the many galleries, eat. The atmosphere was like nowhere else we'd ever been. Now much of Lahaina has been destroyed by the wind-stoked wildfires that have killed 53 people on Maui. This screenshot from the video below shows the destruction. The three minute video was really painful for me to…
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Posted inPhilosophy Sports

US women’s soccer shootout loss shows power of smallness

Understandably, most of us believe that in order to accomplish something great, you need to do great things. Meaning, large important things. There's a certain logic to this, but it doesn't fit with reality.  In the real world -- as contrasted with the ideal world constructed in human minds -- important outcomes often hinge on insignificant details. For example, and as a progressive it's painful for me to think about this, if Hillary Clinton hadn't decided to set up a private email server as Secretary of State instead of relying on her government account, there's good reason to consider that…
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Posted inSports

Oregon leaving Pac-12 for Big Ten is a disaster for Oregon State

Today the University of Oregon and University of Washington announced that they were leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten conference, which now will have 18 teams.  With the departure of Oregon, Washington, USC, UCLA, Colorado, and apparently also Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah to either the Big Ten or Big 12 conferences, this leaves Oregon State, Washington State, California, and Stanford in a pitiful Pac-4 conference after the upcoming academic year. The Oregon State athletic director isn't happy. While UO leaders celebrated its move, Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes decried it. “The great history and tradition of this…
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