Latest blog post

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  An Ambitious Journey to Australia 3: Great Barrier ReefSeptember 9, 2026
  Part 1 was entitled “An Ambitious Journey to Australia 1: The Flinders Outback”. This was a 6-day 3-jeep adventure to the Mawson Plateau in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Part 2 was entitled “An Ambitious Journey to Australia 2: Search for Opals.” This was a 3-day trip by car to Coober Pedy, also in… Read more: An Ambitious Journey to Australia 3: Great Barrier Reef
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  An Ambitious Journey to Australia 2: Search for OpalsAugust 4, 2026
  When I was a kid, I heard that Australian opals were mined in Coober Pedy, and other places. At 16 years old, I visited Coober Pedy with a trucker selling gasoline. This was in the 1950s. I was told a lot of folks lived underground. And that, after a rainfall, native people would walk around… Read more: An Ambitious Journey to Australia 2: Search for Opals
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  An Ambitious Journey to Australia 1: The Flinders OutbackJuly 21, 2026
  I was born and raised in South Australia, in a small farming town called Jamestown. I haven’t been back to Australia for seven years. I have three brothers who live there, and lots of nephews and nieces. It was time to return, and my step-daughter Kim, from Kansas, was willing to come along and help… Read more: An Ambitious Journey to Australia 1: The Flinders Outback
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  Dark Matter in the Universe: How to Understand it in Layman’s TermsMay 12, 2026
  This story came to the screen in 2024, as part of the Nova series. It was called Decoding the Universe: Cosmos. I had no idea what the story was about, but had always been interested in astrophysics. My four-year PhD was in space science: how cosmic rays from the sun travel to the earth. I… Read more: Dark Matter in the Universe: How to Understand it in Layman’s Terms
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  What I Learned When They did a Hernia Repair Job on meMay 1, 2026
  The folder on my desk says Presbyterian General Surgery Hernia. Inside it says I have an inguinal hernia on the right side. My first inguinal hernia was on the left side about 15 years ago. I suppose my body wanted to be symmetrical, ha! Hernias form near the groin, near a tunnel called the inguinal… Read more: What I Learned When They did a Hernia Repair Job on me
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  Don’t say These Things to a Person with ADHDApril 13, 2026
  We begin by defining what ADHD is. Later, we switch to a person called Kim who has wrestled with ADHD all her life. She tells about the way ADHD has held her back, from Elementary school to Retirement. Everyone knows someone who has ADHD. It stands for Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder. What does this mean(1)?1.… Read more: Don’t say These Things to a Person with ADHD
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  Lost in a Coal Mine in AlabamaMarch 26, 2026
  Perhaps the scariest adventure of my life occurred many years ago. It now seems like something out of a movie. But no, it happened in real life in the 1990s. I was working for Amoco in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the time. As a petroleum engineer, my area was coalbed methane which meant extracting gas from… Read more: Lost in a Coal Mine in Alabama
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  Simplexity Numbers 5 and 6 – Valuable Tips for LivingMarch 15, 2026
  Simplexity is a new word that means a simple concept, but one that may be complex to put into practice. Here are two new examples. Scroll down to the end to see a list of earlier simplexities. Simplexity No 5. Be Careful.One gift that my father gave to me was, “Take care of yourself.” He… Read more: Simplexity Numbers 5 and 6 – Valuable Tips for Living
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  The Ten Commandments are Sacred – but What if Another One was Added?February 27, 2026
  This week, I spent four nites sleeping in a hospital room, helping an elderly friend who had pneumonia which can be a killer. My friend is home now, recovering slowly. It was a week with a lot of prayer, intense stress, and it made me think about a previous blog I had written, which I… Read more: The Ten Commandments are Sacred – but What if Another One was Added?
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  Arizona Missed the Great January Freeze, and We Were in Scottsdale!February 2, 2026
  Independence, Kansas, recorded 1F degree. And a couple from Minnesota said it was -25F degrees up there. In Dallas the streets were frozen. This was mid-January 2026. But in Scottsdale, Arizona, the temperature nearly every day of January reached 75 F degrees. We missed the Great Freeze, and were very thankful. The country was the… Read more: Arizona Missed the Great January Freeze, and We Were in Scottsdale!

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