For the last week or so I have been making a conscious effort to pause and focus on my surroundings, my breath and my inner self. I have also enjoyed some excellent in the zone experiences so the last 7 days have provided me with an opportunity to be more present-good stuff!!!

My "gear-head" tendencies have been part of my life since being a very young lad playing with my toy cars and dreaming of owning my own garage. 

My decision making processes need a bit of a "nudge" today to get me into the right frame of mind to make a clear concise consumer decision. I am sitting at the computer instead of being out in the real world making things happen......arghhhh.... 

Yesterday I was contemplating my 9 months of freedom from the workforce and how much things have changed from a global economic perspective since I "retired" in June 2008. I am not sure I have a "handle on" what it all means but like many others I am adapting to my environment and going along for the ride.(and hopefully making some good decisions along the way)

Yesterday I spent most of the day outside in the sunshine. It was an excellent experience to be out of the house, working with my hands and soaking up some rays. I worked on my shed roof and made some good progress on installing the slats required to mount the steel roof. I was able to use up some scrap material I had sitting around my yard which in itself was a satisfying accomplishment. As I worked I became aware of the activity in the neighborhood. One of my neighbors, Scott likes to clear snow from the sidewalks and street with his snow plow attachment on his quad. He spends endless hours on this pursuit and refuses to take monetary contributions for gas or his time. He also likes to make sure the water is flowing well from the snow runoff. Scott spent a fair amount of his time yesterday patrolling the gutters with his ice chipper in hand. He would make conversation with the neighbors as they strolled by or made their way to their cars. He seemed very content just to be outside and making a contribution to the neighborhood. Our neighbors right behind us are selling their house and moving to the country. The home has been on the market for a number of months but yesterday there was a considerable amount of traffic as people circled the home to check out the yard and garage. In our close lots of kids were outside playing and their voices could be heard as I hammered away on my project. There was a fair amount of positive energy in the neighborhood yesterday (probably related to the spring like weather and a feeling of optimism that winter is starting to recede)  and it was nice to be part of it.....

Yesterday I caught up with a friend from work whom I sailed with last year. He has been gone for the winter living down south. It was good to catch up with him and find out how he "wintered". 

Interestingly to me I have fallen back into my overcommitment way of approaching projects and responsibilities.  It kind of crept up on me with a full realization I have too much on my plate hitting home on Tuesday. I felt I really had a handle on all this in Q4 2008 with positive trends towards sorting out the priorities and staying on course but for some reason my focus must have slipped in 2009 and I am all of a sudden finding myself not too happy with the status quo.

It was a beautiful spring day today...very warm in the sun-birds singing. A great all round day to be outside!!! I spent all day out there and have nearly finished my shed. Put the floor in, finished hanging the door and built the large shelf for sorting and storage. I am pretty happy with the results. Now I need to start moving boxes in so I can free up room in my garage. 

Yesterday the couch discussion with my wife revolved around a potential road trip in the fall to Utah to spend more time exploring the desert around Moab. Three weeks have been marked off on the calendar "on speculation" that the trip might happen just to ensure no professional or personal obligations get booked during the time period.

A friend and I started discussing his pending retirement on the weekend. He is a professional with a successful career on many fronts who is stepping away a few years earlier than mandatory retirement. On my books I would consider him to be the person most likely to make the most successful retirement transition of anyone I know. He has lots of outside of work interests and has kept physically fit and maintains a heathy curiosity about the world. He has actually started his transition by declaring his last day of work and has starting to daydream about possibilities. 

Last week I wasn't feeling too great about the shear volume of "stuff" I had committed to and was struggling with to get under control. At the time I viewed the situation as a giant chess game requiring that I make one strategic move before another move could be made-I think there is an order to the project list that must be followed?  I started to feel frustrated that the "pile" of unfinished work was somewhat large and I was still slugging through it but not really feeling I was making progress. Then I saw some people riding their bicycles in the warm spring sun and became somewhat jealous that I was not out there with them?

On Easter weekend we caught up with some good friends and their adult children. It has been a while since we talked to the kids as they were not around on previous visits. Their son is a journeyman tradesman and for some reason he and I got into a discussion about high school English classes and how he didn't enjoy having to study poetry. This interchange was interesting as he was adament that poetry was played no part in his life and was for the most part a waste of time.

Last night I defaulted to non-productive web surfing. One search led to another etc etc and after a few hours I was shaking my head and asking why did I bother? I went to bed frustrated and in many ways disappointed as  I considered my time wasted? 

I use my Ford Ranger truck as a work horse and many times I am hauling around "stuff" in it. The vehicle is equipped with a canopy that has a window at the back that is supported by struts. The window has to be opened in order to load things in and out or to open the back tailgate.

I visited some good friends last week that had just returned from a wedding celebration on the coast. By the description they gave it sounded like a wonderful celebration, lots of enthusiasm and love with all the details handled! A good time was had by all...

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day and I was inside my house all afternoon doing tax related bookkeeping and filing. I was able to disconnect from my desire to be outside by convincing myself the best thing for me to do was to get the work done and the files to the accountant before I leave on vacation next week.  I started working on this project in mid March and got off to a real good start but for some reason I "stalled" and got distracted with other pursuits and now I find myself crunched time wise. 

I have been selling items on E-Bay for the last few months. I have selectively chosen items that I believe have some value to someone that I no longer desire to be in my pile of possessions. I have sold 14 items so far and in some cases I have been very surprised at my financial return! The great thing is "dormant" items are going to new homes to be enjoyed, cherished and I guess potentially resold again? 

Yesterday I started seriously looking at a camcorder purchase. I have toyed with the idea of getting one for a couple of years and now seems to be a good time to make a move. Of course like any other electronic purchase there is a wide variety of options and price ranges to be considered. 

In a few days I will be leaving home and heading to Maui for a few weeks vacation. Previous trips have only been a week so I am thinking 2 weeks should really provide an opportunity to experience the island in an un-rushed way. The timing of my travel adventure seems perfect as it has started snowing again here so the opportunity to escape the weather seems very appealing . Hopefully by the time I return in mid May "spring" will finally be here?

Yesterday I created some art cards with family and friends for trading. We had a pot luck and set up tables with lots of art supplies and materials. I got lost in the process (hardly saying a word to anyone) as I moved the paint around and created the small works of art....

I am sitting at the kitchen table listening to the birds sing-a cool tropical breeze gently flowing through the open patio door. It is 6:35 a.m. and my family members are out walking the beach. I have been focusing on being in the moment but finding even more difficult to practice here than at home for some reason. I continue to pause and focus on my breaths-there have been some fantastic moments of flow also which adds to the experience. There are less tourists here than normal which is interesting. According to the newspaper I glanced at yesterday visitor traffic was down 28% in March compared to the same time last year.

Of course beach time occuppies my focus. Early morning strolls, swimming, playing in the waves (GREAT FUN) and just relaxing. The sun is very intense here and I ran into a bit of a problem on my first day with overexposure. I covered my head and put on sun screen but not enough it seems. My back is a bit red but I am managing exposure now and treating my skin to bring back some moisture.

My Flip camcorder flash drive died yesterday and I lost about 35 minutes of capture which is very disappointing. The malfunction caused me to come to grips with loss and my ATTACHMENT to technology to capture key moments. I had attachment to the images which I had to refocus-a vacation spiritual moment? My son and I went through the sequence of events and it looks like I may have contributed to the problem but using the auto delete function on the camera. Plus our laptop has moments of instability so I think the combination of the two caused the problem. From now on I will be focusing on a more holistic approach to managing the data with regular downloads, computer backup and no "auto delete". If the camera malfunctions again then it will not be used again on the trip.

Today's events include a jungle walk in the early afternoon. We are starting to plan activities that keep us out of the direct sun during the most intense part of the day...