People

What do you like about people?
What don't you like about people?
And -- be honest, now -- which of those characteristics and traits describe you?

How often are we the people that we don't like?
How often do we do the things that aggravate us when other people do them?
If you weren't you, would you like you?

I'm curious.
If I want you to like me, what should I do or avoid doing?

Just wondering

John

Do Better

 

John

Going and Doing -- or NOT!

Yeah, that's not really for me.
I mean I do like going out occasionally, but the constant rush of having to do things, be places, and see people just isn't really my thing -- at all.

Last night we found ourselves 1700 miles (2700 km) away from home and doing exactly what we would have been doing at home -- Chris inside watching Netflix and me on the deck smoking a cigar.
I guess we truly are creatures of habit.

Aside from getting to visit with the kids, our trip to PV is to finish with my dental implants later this month. My dentista is currently vacationing in Japan, but I wanted to be here for the Day of the Dead celebration, so we came early. 

With the first part accomplished and the second part still more than a week away, we are just here to extend our summer by a few weeks. 

Life is good!

John

Wednesday Wisdom

A life of relative leisure is certainly a privileged thing to have, whether it is living here in Puerto Vallarta as some of our friends do or living in rural SWMO as we do. We got to meet up with some of our PV friends last night and I am really happy for them and the life that they have here. 
One of the conversations last evening centered around identity and how it can make retirement difficult for some people that identify themselves by the work they do. 
I think this is more prevalent in the US than it is in other cultures and countries.

For me -- one of the more difficult things about adjusting to retirement was just finding a new rhythm of daily life. Apparently some people also need to redefine who they are.

Who are you?
Wouldn't it be nice if we could be who we are without feeling like we have to meet the expectations of others?
What if we (as a society) didn't place expectations nor judgments on one another and just let each person manage life in their own way?
What if we didn't have to have a purpose, achieve goals, accumulate wealth, or be successful by societal standards to have worth?
What if we didn't focus on doing and just enjoyed being?

What if... ?

John

Taco martes

No
It doesn't work nearly as well in Spanish as in English. 
And since Taco Tuesday is a US marketing thing that capitalizes on alliteration and tacos are just an everyday thing here -- let's just call it martes or Tuesday.

It's day 4 of NaBloPoMo and I suppose I should be writing about our time here in Puerto Vallarta. It's still warm here, but as I've said -- summer is my thing. I spent most of yesterday relaxing on the beach, sipping palomas, and enjoying a cigar. Jenny joined me and it was a pretty good day. 
Chris joined us for an evening walk along the malecon to take in the Dia de los Muertos sites with the evening lights. There are a lot of tourists here for the holiday as the low season is coming to an end and the high season is ramping up.

I don't know if we'll be back for this celebration again, but I am glad we made the trip for it this year. We still have a couple of weeks and we will enjoy the warm days and always festive and friendly atmosphere. And although I rarely indulge in the US Taco Tuesdays, maybe I will start a new trend by going to los Molcajetes for dinner today -- Molcajetes Martes!

John 

Awake

It's not often I find myself awake after a single sleep cycle and unable to quickly fall back to sleep, but... that does seem to be the case in these early morning hours. One of the great perks of retirement is that the clock on when you need to sleep becomes less important and you can pretty much sleep whenever you can and get up in those times when you can't.

It is 3:30 in the morning and the coffee is just about finished brewing. I have two books on my Kindle and one from the library and I have my trusty Chromebook and less trusty wifi signal, but I am probably the only one up and using it. 
There is a disadvantage to being awake in an unfamiliar place and to not really having any available snacks. I have yogurt, granola, and some protein bars. I can make due with that or step out to the convenience store that is basically next door.
It appears that I may have a Wordfeud opponent that is in a time zone where they are up or perhaps they are also experiencing a bit of insomnia. At least they have made a couple of plays in our current game. I am magicianary if you are a Wordfeud player.

I am not really being meditative at the moment, but I am thinking about personal responsibility -- owning who we are, who others perceive us to be, and figuring out if we need to reconcile the differences or if it is okay for us to be perceived to be different people than we think we are.
I think it's probably okay for people to think I'm a jerk or unkind -- as long as I'm not really being a jerk or an unkind person. But how obligated am I to changing either their perception or my behavior? 

Just stuff in my head.
Since my Wordfeud friend seems to have gone back to sleep (or maybe off to work) I think I'll pour another cup of coffee and read a book.

Happy Monday
(It is Monday, right?)

John

NaBloPoMo 2025

National Blog Posting Month

It's that one month when bloggers strive to post daily for the month -- or at least it used to be.
Let's face it, blogging is a relic of the past and video messages from influencers on various platforms are now the way to communicate with the masses.

Fortunately, I've never been an influencer nor have I ever really tried to communicate with the masses. A few years of preaching and performing magic was more than enough for me. My little blog is just a way for me to organize some thoughts, share some ideas, and kind of bring a little calm to my own world. You can be in charge of your own world and finding whatever influencers you desire to follow. 
Following John is not highly recommended.

I've got a two day streak going, so I may just see how it plays out over the coming days. I am not going to make it a goal, but I may make a bit of an effort to post daily. In any case -- Happy November!

John

Daylight Savings Time -- Can we just end it?

We won't notice the change from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time this year. We went from Central Daylight time to Mountain Daylight time when we arrived in Puerto Vallarta, but since Mexico no longer does the twice a year clock hokey pokey we will now be on Central Standard Time and we don't have to change our clocks. 

I've pretty much always thought it was stupid. 24 hours is 24 hours. We can adjust work or school schedules and it's not like we don't have artificial lighting for late-night summer activities. I am sure that we will notice the early sunsets when we return to the Ozarks of SWMO. 
It's no biggie. We have lights.

I could be wrong, but I doubt the time change has the economic impact that it once had. I think technology probably nullifies most of that. Outdoor recreation areas are well lit with the latest/greatest high bright, low cost lighting available, and I'm not sure why we ever needed later daylight hours to go into dimly lit bars and nightclubs.
Isn't it time to recognize that the reasons for switching no longer really matter?

On the other hand -- the clock doesn't really matter to me. Do whatever you want to do. I'll go to bed when I'm tired and wake up when I'm finished sleeping, and find ways to occupy the hours in between.
Most things in life don't have to be as hard as we make them.

John

Friday in PV

It's coffee in the condo this morning. 
We'll be out a little later for breakfast at a favorite little diner. I have discovered that most restaurants don't have very good coffee, so I'll have my coffee now and water or diet coke when we go out. Chris has a couple of appointments today, including a 90 massage. I might just bring a cigar and find a place to sit and smoke it while enjoying a paloma or margarita while reading a book or people watching.

Nothing special planned. 
More meeting with friends tonight. More nightlife than we are used to. 
But still...

...just another day in the life of John.

John

¡Buenos días, mis amigos!

I am writing this morning from the sidewalk in front of Dee's Coffee Company next to the pier in Puerto Vallarta. The birds are screaming this morning!

My early morning walk for coffee was a nice reminder of why I love it down here this time of year. 
It is so green and colorful with the beautiful flora! 
It seems a little old man-ish to be walking in a city as vibrant as PV and notice the flowers, but that is what I have become. This time of year is very festive and the Malecon is decorated for the weekend celebration of el dia de los muertos -- the day of the dead.

Our travel day was long, but easy. We hit the early morning flights because they are generally cheaper, plus you get an extra hour or two in the tropics. We didn't do much once we got here other than to settle into our Airbnb, grab lunch at a familiar and favorite place -- Monzon Brewery, and spend time with the kids.

Typically, Puerto Vallarta doesn't feel like a vacation. It's really just being retired in a different place. I'm generally up when I finish sleeping and I enjoy my coffee, while spending a little time on the Chromebook. It is much noisier here than the quiet of my deck, but it is also much warmer -- 76 vs 38 (24c vs 3c). I'll take wearing shorts and t-shirts and dripping in sweat over bundled in coats any day -- especially today!
Today we'll go to the store and get the things we'll need for a three week stay, and hopefully we'll catch up with a few friends that we have made in previous visits. 
I did have a brief conversation with a couple of guys that have moved here from Texas and a guy visiting from Canada. They were just at nearby tables friendly enough to chat with. 

I have a pretty good life for a fat, old man that grew up in a small town in Central Illinois -- retired, relatively healthy, and financially secure enough to have a nice home and do a bit of traveling. I suppose it is a bit of a bonus to have great kids that live in wonderful places to visit. 

I am sure that there is strife and stress in daily life for people in Puerto Vallarta, but the overall vibe is one of a great community. That incredibly positive energy is one of the things (other than the beautiful flora) that keeps me coming back. 

John