Coping: Christmas Dinner Topics

Survival:  Sitting at the dinner table for a Christmas dinner can be one of the most socially-awkward times of the year.  All depends on how Ure relations are with the other people at the table. Since Elaine and I are “dispersed parents” we don’t have but ourselves to entertain over Christmas, though we may jump … Read More

Coping: The Survivalist’s Cheap Santa List

Survival/Prep:  I had a toothache this week so one of the first items on my “survival/prepping” list is a good supply of whole cloves, clove oil – anything clovey.  Bet you weren’t expecting that, were you?  A trip to the dentist yesterday (and an emergency walletectomy is being scheduled with a colleague), some antibiotics and pain … Read More

Coping: Is Stagnant Water Poisoning Us?

Environment/Health:  Here’s a health tip that we picked up from Zeus the Cat that I’d completely forgotten about.  Yet, it is potentially one of the easiest health pick-me-ups you can find.  The effects aren’t huge – at first – but it’s one of those slow poisoning deals that may constitute an unseen attack on the middle class. So … Read More

Coping: The Art of Personal Programming

I was doing some house-cleaning Thursday and found a column that I’d never gotten around to posting.  Since I’ll be on CoastToCoast next week, which usually brings a younger crowd wandering through, seemed like a good time to post it. I should have tossed into my earlier book, The Millennial’s Missing Manual: What School Didn’t … Read More

Coping: With Creeping Demonics

The Ure household is nominally non-denominational. But, that doesn’t blind us to the fact that there is now – and always has been – an ongoing battle between forces of “evil” and “good.” To the point:  We are seeing a number of indicators this year that are telling us in no uncertain terms, that this … Read More

Coping: Our Lost Sense of Adventure

We’ve been kicking around an interesting conversation over dinner the past few days:  What is our next big adventure in life?  This being a 3 1/2 day workweek for most, why not work a bit on the play calculations, right? Sure we’re old,  and yeah, we agree that dying is an adventure, no doubt.  But, … Read More

Coping: The Value of Long-Term Friends

As you should know, I don’t have a lot of friends.  But the ones I have seem to stick around a long time.  Take Gaye at StrategicLivingBlog.com.  We’ve been pals for 40-some-years. It’s been an even-longer friendship with my buddy the major up in Gig Harbor, WA.  We measure longer in decades. We were introduced by our parents … Read More

Coping: With High “Personal Noise Levels”

I suppose you’re wondering what a high “personal noise level” is? Let’s take it from the top:  Although it might be more enjoyable for some, the world we live in (more or less together) is a 100% analog place.  To make matters more confusing, we’re trying to pretend that it’s a partly digital place. As … Read More