Biometric Screening Today

 According to The Integrated Benefits Institute, the US workforce loses $27 billion a year due to lost productivity from employee illness.  In my opinion, many of us have no idea we are sick inside our bodies.  That's why I believe biometric screening is a useful tool to measure what you cannot see.   Your blood tells the real story about your health.  Today I'm going to find out if my food program is on target to help me reach my longevity goals.  

There has been great debate in our country about what a healthy food program looks like.  I heard there was a new study about how eating processed foods can lead to improved health.  These folks are probably capable of selling land above toxic land dumps.  I don't trust processed foods or artificial ingredients.  The test results from today will give me proof about my food choices.  I'm no longer concerned about diseases like diabetes because my body is no longer suffering from poor eating habits.  If you get an opportunity to have a biometric screening, get one.  If this is not available, ask your physician for a comprehensive blood panel test.  The best way to handle a problem with your health is to prevent it from becoming a problem.  Your family will thank you for taking the time to monitor your health.  Have a great day.

Late Blog Message Today

 Sorry for the late story today.  My sleep cycle was interrupted in the middle of the night and I never recovered.  The morning was rushed.  Just checking in now on my first break of the day.

My sleep score was 59, an all-time low.  The last time I had a score in the "needs improvement" range was last November.  The challenge I have now is a full to do list.  Waking up after only 3 hours of sleep and not being able to go back to sleep is no Bueno.  The good news is I believe I can get back on track.  Have a great day.

Show Me the Money

The vision board I created for Lucy shows pictures of all the necessary tools I need to build my dream vacation home on wheels.  What's lacking on the vision board is the plan to fund the tools.  That plan is spelled out on my 'Timeline for Lucy' which sets up specific time targets for raising the funds for the van build and tool acquisition.   It's vital more my wife and me to do this van build without taking on personal debt.  So, maybe you're asking, "Where is the money?"  This is where my credit union is playing a role.  You've heard it said, "It takes money to make money."  That's what we're doing.

Our credit union is currently paying 5.5% for 7 month CD's.  This rate of return may not be as high as the stock market but it serves a short-term purpose.  The two biggest tool purchases I need to make to build Lucy are a table saw and a miter saw.  I want the table saw to be portable so our one car garage will be able to accommodate a vehicle when I'm not in van building mode.  The mitre saw will be placed on a yet -to-be-built fold up wall mounted work table.  Both of these tools can be purchased for about $500.  That means I need to buy enough CD's by January 8 to have the money available seven months later on August 8, the time target for buying Lucy on the resale market.  If my math is correct, I will have $500 from the interest earned on the CD's.  This is critical because without the tools, Lucy cannot be built.

Some of you reading today's story may be thinking that this van build idea is a lot of work.  It is.  In my opinion, the relentless pursuit of any goal requires much sacrifice.  Goal achievement requires making changes to your daily routine.  I've decided to have fun achieving my goal of adopting 'Five Star Lucy.'  For me, the journey is where the magic happens.  There is much learning ahead.  When Amazon says, "Show me the money," on 8/8/25, I will.  When the seller of our dream van says, "Show me the money," I will do that as well.  Stay tuned.  Have a great day.

The Best Investment You Can Make

There are no guarantees in life.  You may have heard that the greater the risk, the greater the reward.  What if you could invest in something that provides a high rate of return without too much risk?  That investment is in yourself.  It's all about learning something new every day.  The more you learn, the more your investment multiplies.  Apply what you learn to your dreams and that's when the magic happens.  You add value to yourself, your community and the world.

I'm a big believer in daily learning.  If you happen to be one of those people who believes you don't have enough time to invest in yourself,  you can benefit the most by today's story.  There is a daily struggle to invest in yourself.  To succeed, you must be willing to cut out the time wasters in order to free up time for learning.  A great place to start is learning about how your brain works.  Figure this out and ideas like goal setting and time management become easier to understand and implement.  The better you become at time management the more time you have for more learning.  

Imagine where you will be in five years.  If you don't spend time learning, the time will pass and you will be in the same place you are today and five years older.  Acquire wisdom from daily learning and the sky is your limit.  Start building a new brain today.  Never allow one day to pass where you missed an opportunity to learn something new.  Your future self will be grateful.  Have a great day.

Close Encounters

We are all connected.  Some of you reading these stories know what I'm talking about.  These are not random chance encounters.  These are close encounters that could only be found in sci-fi movie scripts.  I have proof.  Last week I met a man who is headed to a wedding in California.  The bride and groom will be wearing Star Trek outfits.  The entire wedding party will also be dressed in Star Fleet attire.  The man I met will officiate the ceremony while dressed as "Q," also from Star Trek.   Imagine the shock on his face when I pulled out a copy of my latest book, "Live Long and Prosper."  He plans to order copies for the wedding party.  

Here's another close encounter for your consideration.  The same week I met "Q" I met a man from Kihie, the place where I asked my wife to marry me on the island of Maui.  His spirit name is Saha which means "one who creates energy to open the heart like a lotus blossom with unbridled and unconditional love leading to ecstatic pleasure."  Our stories of moving to Iowa are eerily familiar.  We both found true love from people rooted in Iowa.  

Happiness does not come from where one lives, it comes from how one lives.   Happiness is derived from finding someone who shares your hopes and dreams.  Thank you, "Q" and "Saha," for beaming into my life and sharing time with me.  And for those of you who remember Kevin Costner asking, "Is this Heaven?"  No, it's Iowa – a place where close encounters happen regularly at my day job.  This is not science fiction although the veil of separation may appear thin at times.  Have a great day.

Happy Birthday to Dr. John Mulligan

 If you were to make a list of the top ten reasons why you are grateful, what people would you list?  I have a feeling most of us would list our parents and our spouses.  What about other names?  If I could list every one of my first cousins on both sides of my family, that list would be far greater than most people could even comprehend.  That's what happens when you are blessed beyond measure.  Most of my relatives prefer anonymity so their names will remain confidential.  Thankfully, there is a first cousin who has given me permission to share his name and today happens to be his birthday.    We are separated chronologically by a mere two months and four days which allowed us to be on a similar path for our elementary school years and beyond.  

There is a Bible story about ten lepers who met Jesus and asked to be healed.  All ten were healed.  Only one came back to say thank you.  The other nine forgot about the miracle they received.  Well, I got a special intervention at a time in my life when I had two strikes against me and it appeared I was headed to an early grave.  Thanks to my cousin John, I am here to today to wish him a happy birthday and to say thanks for being a special inspiration in my life.  Thanks for offering me the 'Caveman Food Experiment' which confirmed your theory my health issues were likely attributed to poor food choices.  Thanks for caring enough to help me improve my ways.  Happy birthday.  May you live long and prosper.  Have a great day.

DIY Dust Collector in Place

Good things come in small packages.  The 2.5 gallon shop vac is the smallest on the market and it's now powering up my DIY garage dust collection system.  I set up a connection point to the dryer vent which inspired this project as I was seeking a way to stop the spread of lint.  Success!  The bonus is the 6ft PVC pipe that can connect to the shop vac for cleaning hard to reach cob webs in high places.  I purchased two of these pipes to serve as a way to transport dust from future tools.  The diameter is one inch to coincide with the small shop vac.  This will work fine as long as I don't have too many connection points open at the same time.  The contraption I made yesterday is rather crude in design but highly effective and great for not breaking the bank. 

I'm thankful for all the YouTubers out there who share videos about projects like the one I completed yesterday.  Perhaps one day I will be able to pay it forward by sharing my own videos.  I will be building my own work tables once I acquire the proper tools to work with extruded aluminum.  These projects will help me learn the skills necessary for the van build next year.  Have a great day.