Ted’s essays

operating on Farmer Time

Today is the biannual celebration of control our overlords wield over details of our lives. They remind us twice a year that even little things are within their power. For absolutely NO GOOD REASON, they send us scurrying around our houses, shops and vehicles resetting every clock and timer therein. It is just a little jab, not like they are starving or poisoning us … with that poke anyway. I am approaching the mark where half of my life will have been spent self-employed. When you do not report for work at a time fixed by others, the annoyance level of biannual clock manipulations is reduced. I get up when I am awake and go to bed when I am […]

Appreciating California Highway 1 in the good old days

I grew up in idyllic Sonoma County that nature graced with beauty and interest in every direction from border to border. Lightly traveled mountain roads, river roads and Highway 1 skirting the rugged coastline were perfect for 20-something sports car and bike aficionados. Running solo more often than not, I gloried in the capabilities of my series of old-school Porsches and a sweet-handling BSA 650. Rarely did the destination have any significance; the journey was everything. I was leading a sports car tour to the Big Sur campground for a weekend of watching premium sports car racing at Laguna Seca. This group of young couples had shoehorned our gear into 50s and 60s topless cars with similar luggage capacity to […]

Gab founder nails it

Disgusted with social media, Andrew Torba quit helping them, quit lucrative employment on their behalf and built GAB.COM, a great competitor that has grown exponentially since its founding in 2016. According to their website, “Founded in 2016, Gab is a social media network that upholds freedom of speech and information.” It is MUCH MORE THAN THAT. Andrew has built a team, is continuing to grow that team, and is providing great tools to Internet users who have been wounded and suppressed by the media giants. “Jack The Giant Killer” jumped into my head. They aren’t dead yet, but at least we GAB.COM users are not feeding them and being fed by them. Today I found the post below from […]

being thankful

Among the things I am thankful for is that the manipulators have not messed up the language and culture of Thanksgiving Day. It remains on Thursday and is still widely celebrated as a day with families coast-to-coast gathering and giving thanks for what they do have. My wife and I have now crested 20 years together and the team is holding up well, giving both of us comfort, joy, peace, support and happiness. Though many have extolled the virtues of unpalatable yams, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, there is nobody forcing me to gag them down… and so many wonderful things I do enjoy are all readily available. Weather is not unpleasant, our homestead is strong and we are […]

Tennis tales from the only guy the coach couldn’t beat

My Dad loved tennis and gave me excellent private lessons. The skills and techniques he taught me were a great foundation. Tennis is a very fast-moving strategy and technique game that I was uniquely well suited for. In a graduating class of 1,000 and a school of almost 3,000 students, I was not only among the smallest boys there, I was the third best tennis player in the school … including the tennis coach in that pool. Among the more important bits in tennis are hitting the ball where your opponent is not, making it as difficult as possible for him to return the ball, striving to keep him off balance, doing the unexpected… an undercut short shot just […]

Memorial Day …. beyond beer and hot dogs

… “Memorial Day the holiday however is a day that we as country pay respect to the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. They gave their lives. You will notice if you go to a cemetery or even pass one the graves are covered with flowers and flags more so than on any other day of the year. The practice of decorating soldiers’ graves with flowers is an ancient custom. Soldiers’ graves were decorated in the U.S. before and during the American Civil War. Some believe that an annual cemetery decoration practice began before the American Civil War and thus may reflect the real origin of the “memorial day” idea. Annual Decoration Days for […]

Dance, Freddy, Dance

When I was a Daddy, I would tell bed-time stories to my daughters … made up on the spur of the moment, out of my head, just as my daddy did before me. Fast forward a bunch of years to a mid-twenties daughter who needed artistic expression and purpose in her life. So I wrote a story about my brother and asked her to illustrate it. This is our collaboration. I am happy enough with the result that I fancy it could be a published book … if anyone could share with me how to take the next steps, I would appreciate that boost. It already served its designed purpose. Anything past that is gravy. P.S. The formatting here […]

A Car Guy and the Sports Car Olympics

With a little help from my friend I produced a series of animated interview videos discussing sports car competition, the life and times of a G-Force-Junkie, a car guy and the joy of sharing times with other car guys. My wife really enjoys how enthusiastic I get when telling tales of the fun and excitement I have had whilst driving infernal-combustion-propelled vehicles. While of no interest to Yogis, meditators and poets, Car Guys and motorcycle buffs will get it. Sports Car Olympics 1 of 4 – Funkhana, venues, autocrosses I discuss the Funkhana, a competition that took place only at the Olympics, plus a bit on Olympics venues and autocrosses Sports Car Olympics 2 of 4 – Concours de Elegance, […]

The Road Taken

We all do it – That is, look back at decisions made, actions taken, paths we followed that could have been chosen or handled differently. I know I am not the only one regretting mistakes made, insults given, opportunities missed. I have liked to remind myself that the other path could well have had me run over by a train. We play the hand we were dealt. Another is not among the choices available. I also consider myself to be in a good position, location and time. As ugly as things are for those choosing to see the darkness instead of light, we are living exciting times. We get to find out what we are made of, and extend […]

Meet Joe Black

I am watching more movies nowadays. They are a pleasant respite from the 4th-generation-war theater that is in some ways dragging on while we race to the epic, titanic, grand melee between good and evil, light and dark that seems destined to happen quite soon. I know, I know, I should be meditating, seeking the great spirit, becoming ONE with The Cosmos, finding my inner peace connecting with The One… or at the very least, reading poetry, philosophy and otherwise growing in spirituality or preparing for The Transition. But decent movies are my time off for good behavior. The challenge is to find wholesome, entertaining movies in a medium packed with garbage. Our antique, grandfathered Netflix DVD/Blue-Ray subscription is […]

I lost a friend

I happened to be listening on the scanner Jeff programmed for me in exchange for some stuff I did for him. An emergency evolved starting with “a man fell, hit his head, is not breathing, CPR is ongoing”. I realized I knew the location well, the man, and the other people directly involved. I made a phone call to a mutual friend who would be in a better position to take useful action, find more information, or actually execute a worthy response. I listened as the situation transitioned through several steps to “coroner called”, and knew I had just lost a friend. I don’t know if the information sequence was good for me or not, but it did hit […]

finding the calm in the storm

So much of what I see, read, hear, fight against … so much of my world and what I share here is about the evil forces and their assault on everything we appreciate about our world. Once in a while a supremely positive note comes my way. I need those. You probably do as well. As I read the mantra below I was inspired to do as it instructed. But where? Where in my current world is the right place to connect with my spirituality, nature, the cosmos …? Recalling when I was most at peace and in harmony with the natural world took me to the Pacific Coast. Walking, jogging, laying and playing on the sandy beaches with […]