Personal Update 202403 | 4 Mar 2024

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is from a Kent Park on 8 Feb 2024.

Paper-Based Organizing

Despite being an enthusiastic ambassador for the wonders of modern technology, I still like to encourage the use of paper and pen for as many tasks as possible. Sometimes a simple non-electronic solution is the best.

I use a half-sheet paper-based system as a daily planner. Using the front and back of a page cut in half, I am able to have four planner sheets from a single 8.5×11-inch piece of paper.

For each month, I have a half-sheet monthly checklist. I try to get started on my monthly tasks as early in the month as possible. Sending out my monthly newsletter is on the list.

Weekly tasks don’t require a checklist since they are prompted by the days of the week, with most tasks getting done every weekend.

The inkjet printer I use can be run from a solar-charged battery pack. The paper I use is made from sawmill waste chips and manufactured using solar and wind power. [View] So, I feel like it’s an eco-friendly system. I can easily teach the method to others and it can be used without great expense.

Using a paper-based day-planner system is a nice simple and quiet way to start the day without distractions.

WRITING TOPICS

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present.

TECH WRITING

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202402 | 29 Feb 2024

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is from a bank lobby on 16 Jan 2024. I thought the abundant natural lighting, natural wood materials, and floor to ceiling windows made it a nice space. The day was bright and sunny after a long period of overcast winter skies.

Pressing Through

From 2003 to 2009, I lived in a tiny off-the-grid house. In the winter, I would leave the window open at the head of my bed. Breathing fresh cold air all night helped me wake feeling energized. It was a challenge in the morning to leave the comfort of a warm bed to start the day. In the mornings, it might be 40 to 50 degrees in the tiny house in the morning, or colder if the heater ran out of fuel.

Sometimes I still sleep with the window open. This morning it was 42 degrees, and stepping out of the shower was a mild form of taking an ice bath. Going from a warm bed, to wet and 42 degrees requires some focus and determination. It’s a good exercise.

That kind of discipline and drive is useful to develop for other areas of life where we need to stay focused and press through despite discomfort. Taking care of routine tasks requires a mindset of perseverance.

Writing topics

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present.

Tech Writing

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

Subscribe

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

Thanks

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202401 | 1 Jan 2024

GREETINGS

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The sunrise photo above is from 20 Dec 2023 taken at Finkbine Golf Course.

In this month’s newsletter, I am sharing some past successes and positive stories with a hope of similar outcomes in the future. The overall message of these stories is to demonstrate effective ways to achieve desired outcomes.

Small House Movement

About 20 years ago, early on in the development of the small house movement, an investor contacted me about a business plan that would franchise the small house movement in a way that could make a lot of money. It would have been something like creating the Walmart of small house manufacturing and distribution.

I didn’t want to have copyrights, patents, and trademarks hinder the spread of the movement. I turned down the offer and increased my efforts to organically spread the movement to what would become thousands of independent builders and designers around the world. I believe the outcome has been better than if the movement became commercialized.

Greg Vs Apple

In April 2003, Apple announced they would begin selling songs for 99-cents each through the iTunes Store. The song “American Pie” by Don McLean was one of the first songs I wanted to download. Instead of 99-cents, the song would cost me $10 because purchase of the entire album was required. It was clear to me that Apple was engaged in false advertising and perhaps a bit of bait-and-switch. This would inevitably result in a multi-million dollar lawsuit.

I find such lawsuits to be a waste of everyone’s time and money, so I contacted the legal department at Apple and directly negotiated with them to correct the problem. After multiple phone calls and exchanges with a lawyer at Apple, I was able to have the price lowered from $10 to 99-cents as advertised. When we take a step back and consider what, specifically, is the grievance, and what specifically would be a direct remedy to the problem, the answer is fairly simple to arrive at.

The 99-cent per song pricing was simple from a marketing standpoint. Greatest hits albums with several or many good tracks might produce $10 in revenue. For the consumer, an excellent compilation album with 15 tracks or album with music from different artists, sometimes as many as 18 tracks or more could be purchased for the $10 album price. So, overall, it was possible for consumers to build a music collection for less cost (and less clutter) than buying CDs.

The problem with the 99-cent pricing is that some classical music does not have the typical 15 to 20 tracks per album. Other music genres have longer songs. So, selling those longer songs at 99-cents each would result in a financial loss.

I didn’t receive any reward, monetary or other, for my negotiation with Apple, but I did get the satisfaction of feeling I had a successful negotiation with one of the biggest companies in the world.

Glucose Monitoring

In 2012, I wrote a short story (“Rezifp Dawn“) that included (in Chapter 4) the introduction of the topic of glucose management through diet. I was echoing some unconventional, but reliable, medical advice that was novel at the time. I studied the topic from 2012 to 2014. In my newsletter for Nov 2014, I wrote about an approach to blood glucose management that I was developing. By 2015, I was studying glucose monitoring with my own DIY “continuous glucose monitor” (CGM) system. I put that in quotes because it was a manual finger-prick system. I wrote about that in my newsletter for March 2015.

At the start of 2015, with test strips costing about $1.50 each, testing every 30 minutes would cost about $1,400 per month ($48 per day). Shortly into 2015, without any advance notice, a popular pharmacy (CVS) began selling test strips for 20-cents each. A pack of 100 strips was $20 instead of $150. Apparently a 700% markup wasn’t necessary. This brought the cost of testing down to $192 per month — a savings of over $1,200 per month, or $14,000 per year. This assumes 16 hours of testing per day every 30 minutes. Adjusted testing times, by testing before and after key events like exercise or eating, can bring that cost down to under $100 per month. I wrote about this low-cost approach to glucose monitoring in my newsletter for March 2015.

I presented my findings to several doctors. I was told that glucose levels naturally fluctuate during the day, and that additional glucose data in any given day would be meaningless. In summary, I was told it was a waste of time. I was told that only a morning fasting test was useful. I continued writing about glucose monitoring and noticed website visitors from around the world were reading my articles and the short story.

Fast forward eight years, and now continuous glucose monitoring is a multi-billion dollar business with many companies offering CGM devices, not just for those with diabetes, but also for athletes and those trying to lose weight. Nutrisense is designed as CGM to offer nutrition and wellness insights.

It’s satisfying to see some idea or initiative that I’ve proposed gain traction. I wasn’t aware of any other work being done, but I presume the discoveries and revelations I’ve had will no doubt be simultaneously discovered by other people who look at the same set of challenges.

As a result of the evolution of CGM devices, I’m able to use a commercially available CGM device that has great features. Of all the devices available, I chose this one for the features and accuracy it offers.

Gun Safety

I grew up watching the show Star Trek and noticed in the show how most of the time the command was issued to “Set phasers to stun” when encountering hostile enemies. It made sense that self-defense would stun rather than kill.

In 2016, I wrote an article describing a method to create a non-lethal gun. It would basically be a gun that fires blanks and then progresses from blanks to successively impactful rubber bullets to deter a would-be attacker. The sound of the blanks would deter most people, and avoid fatalities in non-planned firing of guns. It was a simple and practical solution using existing technologies.

The idea was met with much resistance and criticism. All I could do was present the idea. It could not be adopted widely if it were ridiculed and rejected by gun culture influencers. The web stats for my article showed readers from locations all over the world. It was popular, but I didn’t have any sense that anyone was interested in implementing the idea.

Fast forward 7 years, and today the non-lethal (or less-lethal) self defense industry is a multi-billion dollar industry with companies trading on the NYSE. Something very similar to the weapon I described has become one of the top self-defense weapons of choice. Gun store owners are promoting them, gun enthusiasts are buying them, and police departments are using these weapons.

There are several reason for the popularity of these non-lethal weapons: (1) In some states, cities, or venues, it is illegal to carry lethal firearms. (2) If you severely injure or kill someone, even in what seemed to be self-defense, you could end up going to prison if it’s determined you used unnecessary excessive force. (3) Innocent people can get harmed or killed from gun accidents or misuse. According to members of law enforcement and gun enthusiasts, lethal weapons really aren’t needed 99 percent of the time. We’re seeing an increase in fatalities from road rage or disputes over fast food orders. Non-lethal weapons help reduce these incidents.

Any other consumer product with the hazards that guns present would be recalled, but the 2nd Amendment protection of guns and the entire industry allows relatively untethered production, sale, and ownership.

Countries with many more guns per capita than the Unites States have far fewer gun-related injuries and deaths. This is partly due to reasonable gun ownership laws, and also due to a culture that promotes tolerance and discourse over amped-up violent responses to disagreements. The increase in uneducated, irrational, and violent people in the United States creates conditions for a growing crisis.

Even if we replace all guns with non-lethal self-defense weapons, there’s still a problem with other acts of violence by those using rocks, knives, and cars. To adapt to our increasingly unhinged violent culture we would really need to outlaw all sharp objects. Certain knots have already been outlawed (the decorative monkey fist knot) because the knot could contain a rock or metal object that could harm someone.

The problem isn’t only due to unsafe products. In addition to removing unsafe objects from society, we also need to work on restoring compassion, understanding, and kindness to predominance in our society.

A company at the forefront of making non-lethal self-defense weapons is Byrna. I describe Byrna in my 2023 report on Gun Safety and Gun Rights and also in a dedicated article about Byrna from 6 Aug 2022. The Byrna product is called a “launcher” and it’s described as being less-lethal (I presume for legal reasons). Watching the product evolve and become more popular has been an interesting learning opportunity.

I don’t imagine that what I described many years ago influenced the work of Byrna, but it’s inspiring to see that the concept evolved into something far above and beyond what I had originally envisioned. They offer the option for various types of ammunition designed to avoid seriously harming or injuring anyone — including eco-friendly biodegradable projectiles. This is a benefit to the gun (launcher) owner to protect them and others from being seriously injured or killed by their own weapon. It also helps protect the owner from ending up in prison.

Byrna goes beyond just producing a product. They provide educational videos about the benefits of non-lethal defense. Their videos feature gun shop owners and gun enthusiasts who acknowledge that lethal force is rarely, if ever, needed. It’s a message about gun safety from gun owners to gun owners. In recent months, their videos have featured Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and Judge Jeanine Pirro — these are well-known pundits on the “right” who have many followers. This is probably one of the most important developments toward a society less likely to turn to lethal responses. What Byrna has accomplished could have never been achieved by people immersed in the anti-gun culture because the answers need to be what gun enthusiasts will respond positively to. It’s counter-intuitive, but reducing gun violence needs to begin with gun enthusiasts willing to have honest discussions about gun safety.

COVID Contact Tracing

On 13 Mar 2020, the COVID pandemic was declared a national emergency causing many non-essential services and businesses to close. [Source] On 23 March 2020, I wrote an article describing how contact tracing could be used to combat the spread of COVID. [Source] To avoid attention, I credited a company as having the existing technology that could be modified to provide contact tracing. That was only partly true — I just didn’t want to seem to be grasping for credit. I wanted to expedite the adoption of the idea.

I wrote to Google and Apple with a link to the article, and within hours saw visits to the article from Mountain View and Cupertino. A few weeks later, it was reported in the news that a Google-Apple partnership would develop a contact tracing capability. In the months to follow, Google and Apple began offering contact tracing as a way to alert people to COVID exposure.

I assume there were other people thinking creatively about how to stop the spread of COVID, and probably others had a similar revelation about using smartphones to let people know if they’d been in close contact with anyone self-reporting a COVID infection. So, I don’t claim to be the sole source of the idea, but at least I feel like I was part of assisting in promoting it.

This is another example of where an innovative solution may be better discretely handed off to some agency or business to have broader and more successful dissemination — rather than trying to figure out how to profit from an idea and prevent others from participating.

From Concept to Creation

Taking an idea from concept to creation, and then to a marketable product, and over time to something evolved and improved based on customer feedback, is a process that takes many years and big investments of time and money.

Occasionally I’ll think of some innovative products or processes, and I like to document the evolution of such ideas to describe how I thought of the solution and improved on what might be a workable implementation. However, I don’t pursue having inventions patented. In my mind, what most benefits everyone is the unrestrained development and refinement of products.

Companies wanting to inspire creative thinking are known for creating work spaces with bean bag chairs, interesting architecture, table games, and a relaxing environment. Nature paths and gardens are part of the workplace.

The creative mindset required to innovate is different than the administrative mindset required to implement and follow-through. It’s the partnership of these two personality types that can produce great results.

I think we have a shortage of inventors and problem solvers because there’s not a way to equitably monetize creative thinking. Creators and innovators might be on the payroll somewhere, or perhaps volunteer their ideas, but can’t get sucked into the legal and administrative weeds required to see something through to multiple years of sustained marketability and improvements. The profits and rewards should really be distributed to those who labor over the entire lifespan of products or services.

I like to document these stories because it helps for my ongoing writing to have the sources and development timeline. I like to retain the freedom to write about topics by demonstrating I am an originator (or at least an co-creator) of the original idea.

WRITING TOPICS

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present.

TECH WRITING

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202312 | 31 Dec 2023

GREETINGS

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is from 12 Nov 2023 while taking a walk at Kent Park.

WRITING TOPICS

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present.

TECH WRITING

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202311 | 30 Nov 2023

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is from 22 Oct 2023, looking west at sunset on a bike ride heading home.

Writing Topics

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present.

Middle East

For the fourth quarter, since October 1, I’ve added only a few new writings to the Resources For Life dot com website, which were mostly relating to the heightened conflict in the Middle East.

I already have existing news posts for this year on Lebanon, Iran, Qatar, and Palestine / Israel, as well as other countries in the region. So, I’ve updated those, but didn’t need to create much new.

On Facebook, a “suggested post” for me with a peace dove and the words “Thankful for Palestinian-Israeli Ceasefire” showed up as the cease fire details were unfolding. It was a post of mine from 21 Nov 2012 that Facebook randomly selected as a previous post on the same day. I decided to accept the suggestion and share the post. The timing was appropriate to share it again.

I’ve followed Middle East news for about 25 years, mostly with an interest in efforts that prevent conflict and violence.

The song “Prayer of the Mothers” by the group Women Wage Peace was made into a video (below) that shows women involved in the peace movement in the Palestine / Israel area. I wrote an article in 2018 about the video and their efforts. [Learn More]

The group Koolulam works to promote peace through music, by inviting people from diverse backgrounds to sing songs together. On 28 Feb 2018 they had an event where a group sang “One Day” by Matisyahu. I wrote an article about the event, and shared the video. I was able to get help from my Arabic and Hebrew speaking contacts for translation assistance to share the lyrics, and Koolulam gave me permission to embed their video on my website — it was otherwise blocked for viewing outside of YouTube. You can watch the video on my original post. [View]

My hope for myself and for others, is that we can grow and expand our sense of compassion. I guess it’s human nature, or the habit of some, to have selective compassion. We hear about tragedies, but for concern to be expressed, we first want to know the race, religion, gender, or nationality of those involved. If the incident feeds into a narrative we’re trying to push, we’ll get involved and march in the streets. If it doesn’t fit our ideology, we go back to binge watching a show or some other activity.

In February this year, a tragedy in a region of predominantly Muslim countries resulted in over 50,000 lives lost in a matter of hours. To me it seemed like a big event, but because it was an earth quake, and people couldn’t blame any popular vilified group of choice, the media was mostly silent after one or two days. I still check the news on conditions in the region.

In 2020, the largest non-nuclear explosion in history took place. It effectively wiped out an entire country that still hasn’t rebuilt three years later. We couldn’t blame any of our preferred vilified groups of choice, so it got a couple days coverage in the news, then everyone forgot about it. I’ve been more closely following the news from Lebanon since that blast in Beirut. [Read More]

These massive tragedies happen, and if there’s nobody to blame, there typically is no marching in the streets, no flag waving, no public mourning, no candlelight vigils.

In the area of the Middle East, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caspian Sea, there is archeological and cultural heritage dating back thousands of years. If you go back far enough, you’ll discover all of our ancestors are most likely from the cradle of civilization. There are numerous UNESCO World Heritage sites in that area. The entire area is a huge fragile protected outdoor archaeological museum, with people still living there — people who are sort of everyone’s relatives, and it is everyone’s homeland.

If we increase our compassion for humanity to include everyone who suffers, regardless of how or why or who they are, it would make the world a better place, and it would de-politicize our emotions and humanity.

To people who want to know which side I support in the war, I’ll share what I wrote to someone in October, “I strongly support both sides (the innocent people on both sides who are suffering), and strongly condemn both sides (those who are making the situation worse).”

More Next Month

I’m going to skip my usual entries this month for tech writing and how many steps I took. I’ll include more about that next month.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202310 | 1 Oct 2023

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is from my morning walk on 7 Sep 2023.

Topic Reports for 2023

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present.

TECH WRITING

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

Walking and Travel

In September I walked about 131,000 steps covering 21 miles in about 10 hours. These calculations are provided by Google as totals of my outdoor walks and other steps. The Google Maps and Google Fit monthly reports provide cumulative reports as well as weekly and daily reports. These help to stay mindful and motivated. Below are the travel and steps summary reports. The top report is from the Google Maps app and the bottom report is from the Google Fit app.

Social Media Outreach

I posted some more pictures and reviews in September using Google Maps. The total cumulative all-time views are now at 10.2 million.

My main goal for the posts is to help local small businesses become more discoverable, and also serve the many people who visit our community for big events, healthcare, education, and other reasons.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site.

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202309 | 15 Sep 2023

GREETINGS

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well.

Featured Photo

The featured photo this month at the top of the page is from 29 Aug 2023 while on my daily walk. It’s the completed parking area that replaces a field of prairie grass previously used by wildlife and pollinators. Below is a photo of what the field looked like in July prior to the parking area being developed.

Asphalt Habitat

The new parking area helps accommodate RV parking and vehicles during football games. It is also used by weekday commuters, mostly those working at the hospital. Proposed names for the new parking area will undoubtedly include “Prairie View Parking Facility” since it is common for developments to be named after the habitats they replaced.

There’s a saying that we sometimes can’t see the forest for the trees, meaning we can get so focused on specific details of an issue that we don’t see the overall picture. In this case, there is no forest and there are no trees, but the principle is the same.

It’s easy to be discouraged by the loss of natural spaces and it’s disappointing to see habitats removed. Of course, the driving forces behind sprawl and development are far upstream. Often with projects involving the de-beautification of natural spaces, the protests and “solution” involve moving the proposed development to someone else’s neighborhood or backyard. We subconsciously know that the landfills, the power plants, the factories, polluted rivers, deforestation, smelly waste water treatment facilities, and similar byproducts of massive demand are apparently, given our present technologies, necessary to sustain all that we do. We just don’t want to look at those things or be reminded of them.

Anyone who has been in the Iowa City area for a few decades ends up being somewhat of a welcoming cheerful ambassador to greet and help visitors. With the new parking area, I’ve already had an opportunity to meet and visit with some of the travelers that come to our town by car or RV. On game-day weekends, the parking area turns into what looks like a traveling RV show. Many enthusiastic football fans descend on the area for the camaraderie and festivities that accompany the big game (every game is the big game when you’re a fan). I like to meet new people. I like RVs. I like seeing people having fun and socializing. So, there can be some positive aspects to this development.

Big parking lots have always been an important aspect of human experience: at large factories, theme parks, concert venues, shopping malls, sporting events, and remote commuter lots that reduce city traffic congestion by replacing cars with public transit. For many people, the concrete jungle and asphalt parking areas are our habitat. The spaces that support cars and parking are part of the complex mix of what makes up our human habitats.

WALKING AND TRAVEL

In August I walked about 160,000 steps covering 34 miles in about 10 hours. These calculations are provided by Google as totals of my outdoor walks and other steps. The Google Maps and Google Fit monthly reports provide cumulative reports as well as weekly and daily reports. These help to stay motivated. Below are the steps and travel summary reports for August. The top report is from the Google Fit app and the bottom report is from the Google Maps app.

GOOGLE POSTS 8.9 MILLION VIEWS

I posted some more pictures and reviews in August using Google Maps, and there were over two million views. The total cumulative all-time views are now at 8.9 million as of mid-September. As the collection of posts grows, the number of monthly views increases.

My main goal for the posts is to help local small businesses become more discoverable, and also serve the many people who visit our community for big events, healthcare, education, and other reasons.

TOPIC REPORTS FOR 2023

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. The list of topics expanded considerably in April. I keep adding to these reports, typically with one or two additions per month with a video or article link. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related elements are already present.

TECH WRITING

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site.

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202307 | 1 Jul 2023

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. The featured photo this month is from 23 June 2023 while on my morning walk. The trail is near a wetlands area. I’d shared a similar photo from the same location last summer. The photo at the bottom of this page is of the Old Capitol on 24 June 2023.

Walking and Travel

In June I walked about 218,000 steps covering 59 miles in about 17 hours. That’s about double of my May walking totals. The calculations are provided by Google as totals of my outdoor walks and other steps. The Google Maps and Google Fit monthly reports provide cumulative reports as well as weekly and daily reports. These help to stay motivated.

Below are the steps and travel summary reports for June. The top report is from the Google Fit app and the bottom report is from the Google Maps app.

Reviews now at 3.8 Million

In recent months I’ve started using Google Maps to post reviews of parks, restaurants, museums, businesses, and other destinations.

With billions of people using the Google Maps service, even just a small fraction of views result in surprising numbers.

I am now at about 3.8 million views and gaining at a rate of 500,000 per month. Of those views, about 3.5 million are of photos and 300,000 are people reading reviews of places.

It’s taken some effort to reach “Local Guide Level 8” by earning over 15,000 points. That was achieved by making about 4,500 contributions in the form of photos, comments, and reviews.

If I write a review and take photos of a very popular tourist destination, that will result in more views than information about a place with less popularity. I’m focusing on the places I’m going to anyway, and not making special trips simply to gain more views.

TOPIC REPORTS FOR 2023

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. The list of topics expanded considerably in April. I keep adding to these reports, typically with one or two additions per month with a video or article link. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related elements are already present.

TECH WRITING

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site.

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202306 | 24 Jun 2023

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. The featured photo this month is from 15 May 2023, taken at sunrise of Niagara Falls from Ontario, Canada. A zoomed-in variation of that photo is at the bottom of the page. [More Niagara Photos]

WALKING and Travel

My Google Pixel phone helps keep track of my walks and other travel. In May, I walked about 180,000 steps covering 28 miles in 9 hours 22 minutes. I spent about 50 hours driving 2,092 miles. In a more typical month, my driving miles would be about 300, but May included a road trip to Canada to visit Niagara. It was my first vacation since 2019. [More Niagara Photos]

Work Life Balance

Today as I write this monthly update, I have about a dozen computers needing attention from different people and additional non-computer work that’s pending. I’ll take a break today for my walk and some time away from computer screens, but generally my work continues through the weekend as a quiet time to catch up on pending projects.

This year I began supporting a large group of people who were getting support from another tech person in our area who is no longer consulting. It’s been a good fit and a wonderful expansion to the community of people I already support. I’m adjusting to take on extra people. Some live a few blocks away, or have limited periodic support needs. So, I’ve been able to handle the additional work without too much strain.

TOPIC REPORTS FOR 2023

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. The list of topics expanded considerably in April. I keep adding to these reports, typically with one or two additions per month with a video or article link. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related elements are already present.

TECH WRITING

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site.

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202305 | 31 May 2023

GREETINGS

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. The photo above is from 7 Apr 2023, taken at the Des Moines Art Center looking out the large windows to the grassy area behind the center. I applied the “Surf” artistic filter available in the Prisma app.

Walking

Last month, with nicer weather becoming more frequent, I started walking more regularly. The photo at the bottom of this page is from a walk on 18 Apr 2023.

Topic Reports for 2023

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. The list of topics expanded considerably in April. I keep adding to these reports, typically with one or two additions per month with a video or article link. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related elements are already present.

Tech Writing

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site.

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

The photo above is from a walk on 18 Apr 2023.