When I traveled to Arizona back in September I had many moments when I just quietly sat and took in the view.

This pic is from the top of Snowball mountain, near Flagstaff.

These moments of contemplation gave me Peace, Perspective… in those moments I felt that much closer to God.

Lately I’ve been looking at ALL the facets of my life and asking a simple question: Does this make me stronger?

Not just in a physical way, but in my spirit.

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Singing in church makes me stronger, so do my personal connections with the folks in my church.

Being around my parents and daughters makes me stronger.

Push-ups, walking 10,000 steps and coldwater swimming makes me stronger.

Talking through stuff with my friend Marcus makes me stronger.

Writing makes me stronger, because it grants me both clarity and catharsis.

Getting out of Flat Florida and hiking up a mountain makes me stronger.

Volunteering makes me stronger.

Being single and finding PEACE in being single… way stronger.

Even daily fasting makes me stronger, because I’m imposing discipline on my body.

Getting closer to a Higher Power makes me stronger, fer sure.

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At the same time there are things that weaken us, and I’m guarding against these:

Drinking too much, and feeling crappy the next day.

Romantic entanglements that result in chaos. (Been there, done that… got the whole drawer full of t-shirts).

Eating too much, not exercising, not taking care of myself.

+++++++++++++++

What makes YOU stronger?

WHO makes you stronger?

These are good questions to ask.

Ben Alexander

10 /21 /21

Some folks at Harvester Methodist arranged a 3 hour fishing trip yesterday on an 80 foot charter that we shared with a bunch of other random strangers.

I had to go, because…. adventure?

It was glassy calm ::

I’m not an expert fisherman, but I caught this monster:

Look how high he’s flying!

He only looks small because I have giant hands?

Pastor Russ was there, had to take this pic:

Things are getting back to normal, and I’m grateful to go back to building friendships in my little church community and getting to know folks that we couldn’t hang out with during the pandemic.

A member of our church died from Covid19 last week, he had not gotten the vaccine for medical reasons… he was only 40 years old. My heart goes out to his wife and 5 year old son… hard to say what might have resulted if he had gotten the vaccine.

Maybe he’d still be alive.

I got both my vaccines back in April and started going back to church again.

Started singing in the choir again.

Funny thing is that I’m a leftwing progressive on many things (like science and solar and how I vote) but I’m also connected to a Higher Power in a way that I have trouble articulating sometimes.

My best friend Marcus is a right wing lunatic who is an avowed atheist!

Marcus is not allowed near any churches, by court order.

Perhaps all of these labels; right wing, left wing, atheist, Muslim, Hindu…. maybe none of that bullshit matters when we die.

There are mysteries of the universe that I don’t think we truly understand until we’re far past our last breath.

In my life, right now… I’m working on my health, my soul, and my connections to those around me.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday!

October 17th 2021

This is me now….

Kidding, that pic was taken when I was a 20 year old knucklehead, I used to do 500 push-ups every other day, maybe 1500 per week, most weeks.

I worked as a lifeguard at a very quiet pool, and when no one was swimming I could read novels, swim, or drop and do push-ups all day. I was also working this crazy midnight shift sorting thousands of packages 5 nights per week at the UPS facility in Lawnside, New Jersey.

Goodness knows how many calories I burned each day back then.

I used to eat like a horse, 2 footlong subs at lunch was no big deal.

To do 500 push-ups in a workout I would do 50 reps at a time, 10 sets.

Drop and do 50, OK, now do it NINE more times.

I’ll never be that young again, but in the last 2 months I’ve rediscovered push-ups.

I’m doing sets of 20, a few times each day.

Combined with one meal per day, eating more veggies, 10,000 steps… I’m getting slimmer each week.

My goal by Christmas is to be able to drop and bang out 50 push-ups in one shot, no stopping!

Most 47 year old men can’t do that, but I don’t want to be like most guys.

I’m DONE with anything mediocre or half ass in my life. If something is broke I want to fix it, and if I can’t fix it I don’t want it in my life.

Health used to be WAY down on my list of priorities, and I aged faster because of that seemingly benign neglect.

No more.

If only 1% of the men my age can do 50 push-ups I want to be in that TOP 1%.

Same goes for my income, decency, character, FAITH, my relationships, basically everything in my life.

I’ll never be the BEST at everything, but I can get damn close.

As my health improves on the outside I’m also working on my soul, my outlook, and my Faith.

Ben Alexander

10 / 12 / 2021

Take a listen here:

This is an baritone aria from Handel’s Messiah (aka the Hallalujah Chorus).

Such an amazing piece, and it really pops with a full orchestra.

Before my voice ages out I’d love to get a chance to sing this.

The complexity of it is a bit mindboggling.

October 12, 2021

If people in this country are not having enough children who will pay taxes when we all start collecting social security?

There is a good argument here for allowing MORE immigration into our country.

Who will fill the jobs if we don’t?

Robots?

10 / 11 / 2021

The title of this video is a bit apocalyptic… but it is worth watching.

If anyone has insight on tech advances it would be the guy who is at the forefront of that technology.

Musk has a wide ranging intellect, and I get the sense that he has a profound awareness of where certain trends are headed.

Right now across the United States there is a trucker shortage, resulting in cargo ships moored off the coast of California for 10 days or more, waiting to get into port.

I got a theory here; how many of the 700,000 folks who died from Covid19 were truckers?

Did Covid19 kill off the (older, whiter) right-leaning truckers?

White men over the age of 50, many with a weight problem and an awful diet, and they tend to be Trumpers… the type of working class / blue collar men who “ain’t gonna get that damn vaccine, no how, no way!”

I friend of mine from high school (Bob V.) is a trucker in California, he un-friended me on Facebook during the election because he’s a huge QAnon fan and we started to argue about politics online. He was also about 100 pounds overweight. I wonder if he’s OK.

I doubt Bob V. got in line to get vaccinated, ever. Bob and I sang in our high school chamber choir together, he has an amazing bass register. I hope he’s OK.

I’m no longer on Facebook, for a plethora of reasons…

I have no idea where to verify this data, but how many premature trucker deaths would cause a shortage? Short of calling trucking companies, how can this theory be verified?

Truckers can pull down $80,000 or more in annual income, or more.

Companies are paying $10,000 signing bonuses….

Higher gas PRICES also mean less profit margin for self employed truckers:

Some older truckers retired… but truckers have always been retired out.

How many truckers in their early 50’s died from Covid19 and never got a chance to retire?

This would be a good subject for a 20/20 segment. Or 60 minutes, if that still exists.

These are bizarre times we’re living through.

Ben Alexander

October 9th 2021

I got a new computer back in May and since THEN I have not been able to log onto my Facebook profile.

I got so much time back… I was looking at facebook every single day, since 2006!

That’s 14 years of wasted time.

My good friend Marcus Price and I meet up occasionally and have interesting conversations about family, dating, business, and space alien theories.

I wrote about Marcus in my 2nd book, Fishing on Wednesday. He’s the founder of a chain of post office stores called Goin’ Postal…. and a bit of a character in his own right.

Marcus and I have known each other for many years, it just so happens he was married in 1997 and divorced in 2017, almost at exactly the same time as me. This past year we’ve become good friends, and he’s a great guy to keep me in check when I have crazy ideas.

Marcus was telling me how I could be a blessing in the life of certain women that I’ve dated, or not.

Marcus’s comment got me thinking, about how we can be a blessing to so many folks around us, especially if we are INTENTIONAL about it.

But what if that is not the case?

Maybe your presence in someone’s life is NOT a blessing! In that scenario you probably won’t be in their life that long, unless they’re family, which is another can of worms entirely.

Sometimes I’ve FAILED at being a blessing to others, to my eternal regret.

Sometimes I was so wrapped up in my own head that I failed to look outward and recognize that I was more of a curse than a blessing!

I don’t know what my daughters would say, but I’d like to think I’m a blessing in both their lives, just as Claire and Grace are a massive blessing in MY life. Same goes for my parents, my siblings, and the rest of my extended family.

Having Mom and Dad down here in Florida is really wonderful. I see them once (or twice) a week, and I treasure that time we share together.

Mom and Dad are a huge blessing in my life.

To a lesser extent I hope I’m a blessing to all the clients who’ve bought solar from me the last 5 years or so… and by extension I hope I’m a positive blessing for our installers, admin staff and sales team.

I hope I’m a blessing to the folks at church who see me on Sunday mornings. They are a blessing to me, just by being a part of my Faith community. The mostly retired folks who go to Harvester Methodist love me exactly where I’m at, and I’m grateful for that.

Even my Fervently Atheist friend Marcus is a blessing to me, but I’d never TELL him that.

I’d like to move through the rest of my life being a true BLESSING to everyone I meet, even if just for a brief moment.

If we were all intentional about BEING A BLESSING to everyone we meet imagine the love that we can cultivate everywhere we go?

Imagine if all husbands were a huge blessing to their wives?

I’ll bet the divorce rate would plummet.

My biological odometer clicks over to 48 years old in March… and with the finite years (weeks?) I have left on this spinning blue marble I’d like to be a blessing to everyone, as much as humanly possible.

That’s a good way to live one’s life.

Ben Alexander

October 7th, 2021

There are some hyped up electric car companies that keep making promises, but they haven’t released a viable product.

Until I watched the recent videos about Rivian’s new R1T I thought Rivian was firmly in the “Hype and BS” sector of EV startups.

After seeing this review… the new Rivian truck looks like the real deal.

The YouTube guys who review these products had nothing negative to say about the Rivian, even after spending a few days beating the hell out of it in the Colorado mountains.

This is the warning shot across Ford, Dodge and Chevy’s bow.

Gasoline trucks are going the way of the Horse ‘n Buggy.

Between the Ford Lightning, the record breaking (1/4 mile drag) Tesla Plaid and the Rivian I’m really optimistic about electric vehicles, solar and even the mitigation of global warming.

Heck, I’m even thinking about buying the twin motor Volkswagon ID4… and when I do you know I’ll write all about it.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Ever get behind a diesel pick-up in traffic on a beautiful day when your windows are down?

I’m NOT OK with choking on diesel exhaust, and trucks like the Ford Lightning and the new Rivian prove that trucks don’t need to burn dead dinosaurs to climb a mountain.

When rednecks start buying electric trucks that’s a big deal. I’m excited about these new EV’s because I’ve been driving a plug-in Chevy Volt since 2017, and as electric vehicles become common everywhere rooftop solar follows soon after.

The Ford Lightning, the Rivian, The electric Hummer, the Tesla Truck… all these vehicles will use a ton of power, especially if the owner has a 50+ mile daily commute.

No one wants a $400 monthly electric bill. Solar is far more attractive when the homeowner is paying $5,000 each year to the electric company.

More folks are coming around to the idea of “fueling your car off your roof”.

Rooftop solar, combined with NOT spending $300 per month to gas up your truck?

The gas savings makes the ROI on rooftop solar that much faster.

If you power up your electric F150 Lightning with a nice solar array your ROI on the solar install shrinks from 8 years to around 3 or 4, based on how many miles you drive daily.

I will indirectly profit from the sale of electric trucks, but everyone wins when exhaust belching trucks are replaced by these new electric models.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Gasoline and diesel? So yesterday.

Ben Alexander

September 29, 2021