"Welcome to my life..."

Wow...is this contemporary for a" non-tech", "fight-change", individual!

Like all of my ventures into our modern cyber world, I'm entering"gingerly"...The turning point came two weeks ago when my youngest brother, Dr. Bill, after publishing three books, "My Patients' say the Darndest Things", I, II & III, showed me how he has switched to this format(http://patientssaythedarndestthings.blogspot.com/), and urged me to try it.  So two weeks later, here goes...

For a number of years before going to bed, I'd write a chapter in a book that I was planning to publish, titled by my middle brother, Jack, "Customer Disservice 24/7"...observations of our everyday experiences written with a comic twist...  In yet another attempt to be modern and go paperless, I wrote it on-line, but I didn't "save" it, and when my computer was stolen, so was a good part of it!  My sister is a psychiatrist and she has told me that writing down frustrations can be therapeutic!

As an architect, I'm visual, and I seem to notice a lot of the good and not-so-good of our world and think that this offers a way to share some of these observations.  Meanwhile, friends have consistently been amazed at the "full" life that I lead, and are always asking how they can add to theirs'. I philosophize..."Rest occurs ultimately"... "Don't end a day without some type of accomplishment"..."Balance (religion, family, friends, work, fitness, giving back, hobbies and interests) even if EXTREME is good"..."Think of Thomas Jefferson (and for a University of Virginia family this is easy to do) as a true Renaissance Man"..."While grounded, live while having a diversity of life-experiences"..."Relate to the Seinfeld "Even-Steven" episode...whenever anything negative confronts, a positive thing should be just around the corner"....and more...

Finally, as a child we were fortunate that our parents put the four of us in the back of a Ford Country Squire and took us on family trips.  Then I left New York for undergraduate and graduate college in Virginia,  with a short exchange to University College, Dublin, Ireland (our roots!).  After internship in Princeton, I settled in Palm Beach County, Florida. Ingrained is the European notion of five weeks (not the US two weeks) vacation.  Coupled with my experience life philosophy, I have been fortunate to travel and see a lot.  Most recently I have used cruises as the travel method (84 in 20 years +/-).  With grandparents of "The Great Depression", a dad with a 30+ year progressive illness, a mother that knew how to stretch a tight budget, and on an architect's income, I've learned how to "find the travel deals" too.  And so in response to other friends' urging, I'll use this format for travel tips!

I hope that you enjoy our commencing adventure...  Ed