It was for me, anyway. I have been writing these best year ever posts off and on for a while. The reason for them is an exercise of positivity and optimism. …

It’s the little things that have the biggest impact. — One of the most memorable things from the 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, besides the line “something vexes thee?” is Kevin Costner using arrows as a metaphor for stacking the deck.

My goal is to pass my pt test as if I were still in the service, but before I start working out, training, or whatever you want to call it, I have to lose the weight first. Now, you may think, along with most people, that exercise is the primary…

65 pounds overweight and in the worst shape of my life, yeah, I think I have. — Just last week, I climbed into my attic to hang some uni-strut for a project. I needed to balance on the rafters while squatting down and drilling some holes. I could barely do it. …

The importance of being physically and mentally prepared. — I recently took a long weekend to Colorado to visit an old Air Force buddy of mine, Jay. Jay and I spent the weekend fishing, eating barbecue, drinking beer, and, most of all, telling stories. We’ve told each other so many stories over the years that we tend to preempt…

Why Trump has got me casting a ballot for the first time in sixteen years. — In October of 2004, I abruptly packed up my stuff and headed off to Iraq for a year, leaving my house, my car, my National Guard Unit, You Know Who, and my ability to vote. I didn’t have time to file for an absentee ballot. Regardless, George W. won even…

Hint: It’s not intimidation. — Guns are for killing, period. Before you puff out your chest and say something to the contrary, let me debunk some common arguments. I use my guns for target shooting — You’re practicing killing. I use my guns for hunting — That’s killing. I collect guns — You collect killing tools. Don’t get me wrong…

Your statistics don’t mean squat — Over the past few days, I have seen some posts from people touting that the statistics of police officer-involved shootings are evidence that #BlackLivesMatter protests are a sham and unnecessary. They claim that the fact that the police in the U.S. shoot more white people to death than black people…

The day I realized I was homeless. — When I finished my twenty-year commitment to the military and hit the road for a little traveling, I began to notice a trend. Everywhere I went, I saw an abundance of homeless people. Tucson, Sedona, Boulder all had what seemed to me, more than their share of homeless people. It…