Modern World Life Hacks Summer Storm-Podcast 677

I think it is fair to say we’re living in a completely different time than just a few years ago. Messaging, alerts, constant interruptions. People complain they’re working twenty four hours a day because they have to be available around the clock. In Modern World Life Hacks Summer Storm-Podcast 677 I share my hacks to stay sane. What are yours?

Maintaining Composure

Especially relevant is the need to stay in a positive state of mind. This can be difficult when you’re responding to text messages, emails, clients or bosses at three in the morning. Content creators and creative people can find the need to stay connected constantly the most difficult.

Enjoying A Summer Storm

My contribution to your peace of mind? Sitting on the porch during a summer storm. What about the things that interest me. Excite me. Keep me in a positive, productive and creative state of mind? Hopefully my list will spur you to think up your own list. Things that really keep us going. In Modern World Life Hacks Summer Storm-Podcast 677.

Nobody Ever Said It Would Be Easy

Life is not easy. Turns and shifts happen without warning. Sometimes these changes are welcome. Sometimes not. People leave. Jobs end. Companies are sold. Plans shift. There are times when the changes are good. Finally, shifts and changes that are later looked upon as a ‘blessing’.

My Hacks

Travel is a big hack. A great way to shift my thinking. I don’t even care where I go anymore. Just going is half the battle. Especially road trips. Going to exotic far away places is also good. There are times though, when all you can manage is a weekend getaway.

The famous Bob Davis News Cleanse changed my life. It brought the realization that I did not need to maintain a twenty four hour news watch and freed me to create content outside of the confines of ‘the news’. Reading, walking, sitting quietly, or doing anything that shifts your thinking even short term are great for hacking the madness that is modern life.

The Old World Is Never Coming Back

In conclusion, we live in a great age. As we modernize we live among the trappings of an old world. Some of the old things are still around, but the pace of life will never go back to what it was. There are new pressures. New ideas. While we adjust to these new approaches its important to maintain our balance.

Sponsored by Brush Studio in The West End Saint Louis Park, and by Ciro 3D Motorcycle Products and Accessories

Modern World Life Hacks Summer Storm-Podcast 677

2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 2-Podcast 658

Seeing a complete solar eclipse at the point of greatest totality is a peak experience. Getting there might be a challenge. But it’s worth it. I take you all the way through it in 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 2-Podcast 658.

Path To The Eclipse

We start about 40 miles south of Chicago, Illinois. Taking Illinois 1 all the way down to US 45. Then onto the Shawnee National Forest. Our target is a place called Makanda. This is the location for the longest point of totality for the solar eclipse of 2017. This is a town very close to the southern border of the Land Of Lincoln.

Little Town At The Edge Of Illinois

Lots of talk about about Carbondale, Illinois as the point of totality. Truth is, the longest period of totality at a little more than 2 minutes occurs in Makanda, a little town about twenty miles south of Carbondale. During Part 1 of the eclipse podcasts we talked with some locals and spectators. In 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 2-Podcast 658 we experience it.

A Peak Experience

With all the media these days it seems like people want to experience everything through media. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to actually go to an event and experience it in person. In 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 2-Podcast 658.

Eclipse energy is a real thing

On the trip and at the event we saw people struggling with pre eclipse issues. We were pushing so hard to get everything perfect it made for a very stressful trip. At one point my friend Steve said, “We’re in the path of totality now, so it really doesn’t matter where we see it”. Twenty minutes later we found the perfect spot.

Hope To See Everyone Again

Especially relevant is the real feeling of camaraderie we experienced with all the people in this little town, who came to experience the total eclipse of the sun. I think it’s fair to say we all want to come back in 2024 for the next total solar eclipse. In April of 2024 the path of totality runs through Makanda, again. In 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 2-Podcast 658.

Sponsored by Brush Studio in The West End Saint Louis Park Minnesota

2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 2-Podcast 658

 

 

 

2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 1-Podcast 657

Seeing a full solar eclipse is an amazing experience. This was not an easy trip. It was not a short trip. There will be two parts to the eclipse podcast. The night before. The Day Of. We’ll start with the night before the solar eclipse in 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 1-Podcast 657.

Long Wait For This One

A long time ago my best friend Steve and I set up telescopes and special projection devices in his back yard for an annular solar eclipse. We decided to recreate that experience in 2017 for this very nearly one-of-kind eclipse. Traveling down Illinois 1 all the way south to the Carbondale, Illinois area.

Searching For Totality

We’d heard this was the point of totality. That is, a line across the US where the eclipse would be total. We didn’t realize how lucky we were until we discovered we had landed in Makanda, Illinois. Find out why this is important in 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 1-Podcast 657.

Sometimes You Luck Out

Two guys in an ambulance. Not really an RV. Primitive sleeping arrangements. A tent for Steve. Hammock inside Mobile Podcast Command for me. We rolled into a camping area. Asked some questions. Learned it was a specific place, which cost a lot more than what we thought initially.

Travel and Adventure Means Meeting Great Random People

Traveling you meet random people. Sometimes it’s good. In this case we meet Bud, who arranged for this park, in this town, for this eclipse. He turns out to be an historian, a businessman and a good guy. He joins us for 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 1-Podcast 657.

Part II On The Way

Heading back to the Chicago area as I write this. Part II will be up as soon as possible. As a teaser to that podcast I will simply say I have heard a lot of people say, “I’ll watch the eclipse on TV”. With all my equipment and all of Steve’s telescopes and cameras, ham radios and special glasses, this is something you just have to experience. It was amazing. More on that later.

See You in 2024

The good news? Another eclipse goes right through Makanda in 2024.

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 1-Podcast 657