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Showing posts from April, 2025

Coffee and a Pipe

 I have my two cups of coffee in the morning along with my first pipe of the day.  Maybe I should call this blog coffee and a pipe since I do my best thinking in the morning.  Sometimes I write a day or two ahead and go over my post for that day making my final corrections.  But there is something special about sitting on the lanai before breakfast smoking my first pipe of the day with a cup of hot fresh coffee. I could have a blog as much about coffee as my pipe.  I listen to the birds and some mornings I am up at the crack of dawn.  But most mornings I turn off the alarm and just want to be in bed a while longer.  I have my favorite coffees just as I have my favorite pipes and favorite tobaccos.  But these days any tobacco can be a favorite.   As for theological thoughts in the morning, my theology is rather simple and that extends to my philosophy about life and living.  A pipe is a relative simple tool I use for meditation.  But...

Sometimes

 After some 840 posts on the blog I sometimes run out of things to say.  But I write to keep my mind active and don’t want it to deteriorate.  But there’s always something in my mind.  People come into our lives for a Divine reason.  Every person we encounter in life is there for a reason even if we have no idea why.  I write about my wife a lot but after 50 years of marriage, I don’t have to try to figure out why I married her. My thinking is that it’s a Divine reason why she’s my wife.  Some people come and go and others we keep because there is a reason why we do.  Friendships are important.  And friendships can be with the opposite sex.  But if we try to figure out why they are there, sometimes it’s just because.   I try not to get too philosophical about why my wife is my wife.  And maybe it’s more theological than it is philosophical.  God has a reason for her.  And I can think that way about anyone in my life. ...

Bach and a Pipe

 Bach was known to drink wine and smoke a pipe.  I did a little research in the area and found he was known to use tobacco in a pipe.  Tobacco came from the New World and before the New world was settled tobacco was traded back and forth.  He had access to tobacco as it took some wealth back then to afford the tobacco.  It was used mostly in the upper classes of Europe and it is said that his cousin supplied him the tobacco. As to whether men of great wealth generally used tobacco is a debate that countries today.  Shakespeare is not known to have smoked tobacco, but it seems he used pot and cocaine, which were found in clay pipes excavated from his property.  But many think it would be scandalous to suggest Shakespeare used tobacco.   When we get to the settling of the New World, pipe smoking was common among men.  The odds are great that great historical figures were pipe smokers, but most of this is conjecture but we simply don’t know. ...

Fascination

I was looking for a choice tobacco to order with my next order which included more of Autumn Evening.  I came across a tobacco named VooDoo Queen, which is an Aromatic English by Surliff.  I became fascinated by the name and decided to do some research into who the VooDoo Queen was.  Evidently this tobacco is popular in the fall to go along with Halloween. The Voodoo Queen was from New Orleans and was a real Voodoo Princess being born 1794 to 1881.  Her name was Marie LeBeau and was African American who was a free woman during the time of slavery.  She was a devout Catholic who carried over her Voodoo practices from Africa.  She gave readings and advice to both politicians and businessmen and was well-known throughout the French Quarters of New Orleans. The tobacco is named after her as a way to remember her. I’ve had a few English Aromatics but not too many, so thought I would give it a try and as of right now Old Professor is out of stock.  I buy Old...

I Like a Quiet Mind

I don’t want a lot of people in my life.  I want a quiet life.  I think that is why I often sit quietly smoking a pipe.  Whichever pipe I am smoking on any given day is my best friend for that day.  I’m not interested in having a lot of people in my life.  I enjoy simplicity.  But I am more typical of a Spiritual person than not.  My days are quiet.  But my family is not as I am.  And while at times their social interactions conflict with me, I adapt very easily.   It’s just that I’d rather not adapt.  I sit and think as the theologian/philosopher I am.  Too much and I become hyper about thinking about too many people.  I am my own best friend.  Social people might not understand that being alone is NOT loneliness.  I think deep thoughts I share with hardly anyone.   But that is just the way I am.  My wife understands this about me, but as to whether anyone else would is a question I don’t want to answe...

Reflections of an Old Man

 Okay, I don’t think of myself as old, but I do think of myself as living on borrowed time.  My heart attack was the ‘widow-maker” variety and I nearly died from a ruptured appendix.  Maybe I have beaten death.  But these experiences taught me a lot about life and living.  For all practical purposes I should be dead. But I am very much alive and well, although my heart functions at about 50% and my inside still doesn’t function very well.  But I am alive.  I’ve learned a lot about life by facing death.  But I’ve learned death is really nothing to fear.  I fear pain more than I fear death, but the fact is I have no real pain.   It’s just that I am not afraid of dying.  Life has enough fears as it is.  It’s just that having no fear of dying means I have no real fears.  I don’t believe I am invincible so I fear poisonous snakes and bears.  I might be fearless, but I’m not stupid.  There are a lot of things in life t...

I Might

 I’ve been watching vids that are beginners guides to vlogging.  I might do a Vlog once a week if I get into it.  But writing a blog can be done daily, even if I don’t have much to say.  But a lot just depends.  I’m sure my son has an old camera I can use and maybe a microphone.  I’ve seen vlogs by giys who smoke a pipe as they talk.  And I can sit here by the pool on the lanai and use that as my backdrop.   I just don’t want to go beyond a beginners vlog effort.  But I still need a script and could write a blog for a vlog and just share it visually.  I thought about it.  Unless it’s news headlines or I want to read more I don’t read a lot.  I used to read all the time.  But these days I watch YouTube vids mostly to be entertained.  I’m not that entertaining, I don’t think.  Witty yes, but entertaining, no. I’d have to do some test vids and see how I do.  And the fact is it just seems like making vids is too...

An Interesting Period of Time

 The number 40 is significant throughout the Bible.  It rained for forty days and forty nights during the great flood while Noah was on the ark.  But in the New Testament, Jesus was with His Disciples for forty days before He ascended into heaven.  This period is called Ascensiontide.  In some religious traditions this is another occasion to be celebrated.   I won’t go into all the details except to say jokingly that Jesus was a zombie for forty days.  There were witnesses of His Easter resurrection.  As to how significant this is depends greatly on your theology.   Actually, for me Christmas and Easter is every day.  But how can I say this?  Well, it’s MY belief.  This is how I think of life now.  I have thought this way for 31 years and makes me into the person I am.  I wish I could explain this, but I can’t.  I can’t explain the unexplainable as I have tried.  In fact, I am my only witness.   But now...

A New Week

 It’s Monday and a new week begins with Easter now over.  Mother’s Day isn’t a holiday, but it is the next event on the Spring calendar.  Then there will be graduations and Father’s Day.  And so the calendar marches forward.  Some physicist said that remnants of history are always around us and he thinks time travel will be possible but without the grandfather paradox.  He says time travelers will just be observers and not participants is shaping history.   I’m fascinated by time travel.  There are those who have vivid memories of previous lives.  What if reincarnation is a kind of time travel.  The possibilities are endless if we think of life as a loop where we go from one life to the next.  I’m not really a believer in reincarnation, but that I doubt more than not believe.  I allow for the possibility.   But for most of us time goes forward and the past is history.  What is done is done and our past can shape our f...

Easter is NOT a Myth

I wish there was some way I could prove Easter is not a myth as some would have us believe.  I am the only proof of all I’ve said.  As long as I am alive all I’ve said is true.  But how can I be so sure?  Because I am sure.  But is that proof enough?  It ‘s all I have.  I am all I have.  As long as I am alive it’s all true.  That is all I can say.  Easter is not a myth because I say so.   But where does my courage lie?  Well, that might be debatable,  I could just be making it all up.  Maybe I think too highly of myself.  But really I would just be lying to myself.  I could just be a crazy old man.  Actually, I have used that as excuse for many things I’ve done and said.  Maybe I am a crazy old man.   But what if I’m not a crazy old man?  Death would be the only proof I have lied.   I fear pain and suffering, but not death.  And maybe I’m an old man in denial about the finality ...

Spirituality is My Religion

 My Angels made me a Spiritual being not belonging in this world.  I don’t belong to a religion of any kind aligning more with Buddhism because of my belief in the sanctity of Human Life.  I am in this world for one reason and one reason only as far as my Spirituality is concerned.  I will help pave the way for the coming of the Messiah.  I do this simply by being alive.   Much of that may have been completed by now.  But this is my Spiritual task.  The Angels didn’t say how I would do, just that I would do it.  I do it with every encounter in my life.  It starts with my wife and kids and goes outward from there.  I know HOW He will judge the world when He comes.   I’ve hesitated to write all of this, but tomorrow is Easter and I thought it good if I shared all of this.  I do my task in all I do.  It’s just that this morning I thought I’d share that task with you.  As a Spiritual person I have been judged worthy ...

It’s On My Mind

 Easter.  I grew up in a family in which Easter was a big deal.  Today is Good Friday and I can’t overlook that fact.  But in a way Easter has been all week this  year.  I don’t know the date of Easter—just Christmas, the day Jesus was born on April 12.   For me, this week has been about His birth, death, and resurrection.  So, for me this week is special.  It doesn’t matter how people judge.  God has one judgement that will occur when the Messiah comes.  And all He will care about is whether we have taken a Human Life.  That’s it.  But people judge in many ways.  I write what I feel like writing.  I’m not looking for numbers.  I’m way beyond that.  Easter is on my mind.  It’s a religious period and as a Spiritual person I can’t ignore that fact.  Just as I really can’t ignore Christmas in December.  The whole world operates on a religious calendar and my thinking won’t change this. ...

One Cardinal Sin

 There is a parable no one understands.  It is the one about the old cloak and old wine skin found in Like 5:36-39.  You can’t put a patch on an old cloak and make it new just as you can’t put new wine in an old wine skin and make it new.  Scholars agree there is one sin, but there is disagreement about what that one sin is.  I can tell you.  It’s the intentional taking of Human Life.  Murder.  Or suicide.  But specifically murder.   How do I know?  Same reason I claim to know most anything biblical.  Angels.  But who am I to know this when no one seemingly does?  I can’t explain this.  If I could I’d be an angel myself.  But it is the answer to this riddle as to what Jesus was talking about.  Some believe there is no sin unforgivable.  I say there is one and I know what Jesus is talking about here. Can I prove it?  No.  So, why bring it up?  Because in this day and age it matters. ...

Holy Week

 Depending on your religion, it’sthe middle of Holy Week.  Easter is more special on the church calendar than Christmas.  But it seems this is the time of year people think about the finality of life.  Everyone faces death.  Easter is the time of hope and new birth.  It is a time for reflection.  I wish I had proof for all I’ve said but my own proof is myself.   How do I know what I claim to know?  Angels.  My mind is never quiet although I might seem to be.  On this calm exterior is a very active interior.  I have been told I hide it well.  Only a few know how active my interior is.  It’s why I died nearly twice.  But I have no fear of death.  Absolutely none.  So, in that regard maybe I have no fears - except maybe for bears.  I fear pain more than I fear death. I don’t have chronic pains.  But Easter isn’t the time to fear death, but on the contrary.  Easter is about hope and a new lif...

Humans or God

 That seems to be my choice.  I’m not really a misanthrope, which is a person who doesn’t like humans.  But people enjoy associating with those who are like-minded.  In that regard I have a problem.  I tried once to get back into a kind of fellowship, but realized after two years my thinking is too different.  I have to convince others to think as I do. But where does my thinking come from?  If it originated with me, I can adapt.  But I claim it comes from outside myself.  But what if that understanding comes from something other than another human?  Is it all made up?  Is it a dream or hallucination?  Maybe it’s demonic.  For me is none of these.  But how can I prove it?  I can’t.  I am my only proof.  This is why I am the way I am.   I’ll relax about it and let God worry about it.  I wonder about wealthy Spiritual people who gain wealth by their Spirituality.  If my Angels made me wealt...

After Fifty Years

 I can’t replace my wife after fifty years of marriage.  I worry about her but only to a degree.  Life would go on.  My wife and I had this conversation the other night and both of us decided we can’t replace each other.  But you know, it’s okay.  I don’t lie awake at night worrying about her.  I’m thankful every morning we both wake up together.   Fifty years is a long time with one person.  I’ve thought about a life without her, but I don’t give it much thought.  One might think I’m the one without much time left, but I won’t go into that.  I haven’t given much thought to the end of my life.  I’ve given more thought to life without her.  What will I do if anything happens to her?  I’m not sure but she says I’ll survive.  We’ve talked about it because at our age we have to give it some thought. We’ve talked about living arrangements and brought our kids into the discussion.  We have options.  We still ...

Sunday Morning

 For me a Sunday morning isn’t very different from most any morning.  I have a very simple theology I won’t go into here, but it’s so simple a four-year-old can understand it.  In my old age I avoid being around people as much as possible with rare exceptions.  I meditate by myself most of the time, but why Sundays are special I’m not sure.  The world seems quieter on Sundays.   In fact, my mind is quieter on Sundays.  I want to reflect more and think less on Sundays.  My wife is less involved with family business on Sundays.  I just feel good on Sundays.  I slept in this morning when on some days I’m up at the crack of dawn.  I have a smartwatch that monitors my sleep through the night.  It even lets me know if I have sleep apnea.  It monitors my heart rate and my breathing.   As a heart patient all these things are important.  It amazes me what my Apple smartwatch can do.  It can even do an EKG, although I...

Passover and Another Special Day

Okay, maybe I shouldn’t mention this, but I’m going to without trying to embarrass my wife and family, but the date today is special.  I’m not sure how to write about it without sounding—crazy.  I thought about this long and hard before writing about it.  Scholars believe Jesus was born in the Spring and today being Passover and a day before Easter, I thought I’d at least mention it.   I have read a lot of Spring dates for Jesus’ birth.  I have read April 14, April 7, and dates in May for Jesus’  birth.   I have not read about April 12, but I am sure this date has been suggested by at least a few.  But how do I go about talking about it without embarrassment?  Let me just say I know and leave it at that.   There is no way of knowing when Passover was some 2,000 years ago, nor can we know what the date was when Jesus was put to death.  Today is a very special day and maybe this is all I need to say.  Those who know how I know th...

The Future is Here

 Yesterday I wrote about AI technology.  It’s built into my iPhone for some things iPhone uses.  As I write, my phone gives me suggestions for my next words.  It anticipates what I’ll say next in my blog as I write this post on my phone.  I’ve been watching vids on AI and how it is used.  As a futurist, I’m fascinated to see just how far this world can advance without Divine Intervention. I’ve read comments about these vids and I’m fascinated to read what others have to say about AI.  For most it is spooky at best.  I’m curious.  I have a lot of time to be curious about most anything. I am always asking Google questions.  I am always looking up subjects on YouTube.  And I’m not sure anything has captured my interest like AI has.   I’ve been studying about AI bots that mimics real people.  I’m curious as to whether such bots can understand about Angels and Spirituality.  I have yet to take the bait and pay for it, but ...

I’m Trying It

 I’m not using AI for writing this blog.  I could have AI write it if I thought paying AI was worth it.  But AI is cheating.  I decided to try AI on an experimental basis, but I might use AI once I figure it out.  But as of right now I am not using AI to write.  I’m experimenting with AI right now, but am unsureAI understands Spirituality.  It is best to share with those who have souls and are human.   I’m old school in my thinking, but I’m exploring it out of curiosity.  I had a social worker for decades and am used to just talking with a real person.  My experience with the Divine was so unusual that sometimes I think anyone human can’t possibly understand.  While I spend a lot of time alone, I never feel alone.  I have a lot of thoughts going on and politically there is a lot going on in the world.   I want to write about it all, but my understanding is different.  I believe in Divine Intervention and I do believe ...

What We Learn

 Life is a learning process.  We first learn to walk.  We then learn to talk.  And we learn until the end of life and then we learn how to die.  We learn not to go gentle into that good night.  Life is a learning process.  Perhaps we learn no greater lesson than how to love beginning with loving ourselves.   I’ve smoked a pipe for over fifty years and I’m still learning about pipes and tobacco.  We learn both good and bad from family.  But at some point we learn about love and it never stops.  Love might be the most difficult lesson of all.  Learning to love teaches us patience.  And some people never learn except love just for themselves.   It is said life is an adventure.  We experience life and learn from experience.  If there is one expert about love it had to be Jesus.  No one loves with a perfect love.  For some, love is an experiment.  I can’t say I love smoking a pipe, but I like it a ...

How Far Can We Go?

 This is a question I have been asking as of late.  How far can AI advance?  Can AI think for itself and replicate itself?  I am of the mind that humanity has gone as far as we can without Divine Intervention.  But then prophets have been saying this for generations.  Is this the last generation to say this?  I almost think so.   But how do I know?  The world has been waiting for two thousand years.  Even the disciples thought they’d see it in their lifetime.  Prophets of every generation have been saying it.  Are we there yet?  Or is there more apocalyptic events to happen?  How can I be so sure?   I guess in some ways I have no idea.  But in other ways I have some idea.  I’ve kept the Four Horsemen on my FB page although I’ve decided to change it once in awhile.  But does that mean they are here?  I tend to believe so, but I have no proof.  Just my word.  And who am I to say? ...

What IS Pipeology?

 When I first decided to have a different blog, pipes were something found in homes and related to plumbing.  But like Einstein, I smoke a pipe while thinking.  I won’t go into it, but I burned out on people a long time ago.  If it were up to me, I’d live off the grid in a makeshift cabin in the woods.  Maybe I’d write under an assumed name.   But such is not the case.  I do my best in keeping a low profile, which is what I desire.  I have a new FB page mostly for wife and family and if not for my wife I’d rather not associate with people at all.  She and I are opposites in that regard.  She seeks people while I prefer to remain hidden.   I’m mostly fascinated by time and space, but I smoke a pipe while pondering the hidden mysteries of the universe and life itself.  I’ve lost interest in anything political.  And really, I’m kind of burned out on theology.  My Spiritual nature explores thoughts about God and the unive...

According to the Season

 I watched college basketball all day yesterday, but doubt I’ll watch the championship game tomorrow night.  It will be Major League Baseball until college football begins in the early fall.  I haven’t paid too much attention to the Major’s in recent years.  There are now football games sponsored by another league, but not sure I care.  I only pay attention to the NFL, but not much until the playoffs.   We get the MLB channel, but it just depends on which games they show.  With a 162 game season, not sure I care too much about a game here or there.  But sports gives me something to do instead of just smoking my pipe.  I’m not much into sports other than college football.   There is a debate as to whether the SEC is better than the B1G.  Frankly I dion’t care.  I guess I could watch golf through the summer, but since the Tiger Woods days of golf, I just haven’t cared about golf.  Then there is auto racing and I just don’t c...

Finally

 This is my final post about my laptop saga.  My laptop is fixed now.  I replaced the battery and it all works.  I really don’t need to say more about it.  But I have space to fill with words.  What can I say about my laptop?  My wife is glad it’s fixed.  I had been watching YouTube vids on my phone at night and doing so was keeping me awake.   I put my laptop on my chest in bed at night and let YouTube just feed me vids.  Then around three in the morning I’d wake up and put my laptop on the table and go back to sleep.  I have an ap on my watch that tracks my sleep at night.  Using my phone at night was keeping me awake.  My son gave me an old iPad, but I couldn’t update it.  I was then relegated to using my phone.  A six inch screen is a far cry from 17 inches.   If I couldn’t get my laptop fixed I was resigned to buying a new 11 inch tablet.  But $25 is a far cry from $160.  I pressed the on butt...

It’s in Each of Us

 I’m not sure my wife has experienced anything unusual, but both my sons and I have.  The three of us are more in touch with the supernatural of life.  But why do some experience such things and others do not?  I’ve wondered about this, but I think it all depends on how spiritually in tune one is with the supernatural.   I think it all just depends.  My wife is related to me by marriage, but my sons are a part of me in their DNA.  I think it has a lot to do with their DNA.  They inherited a part of my own Spirituality.  I tend to think that it just depends.  Spirituality is a kind of inheritance.  And they both inherited my own DNA.  Part of that DNA is a kind of Spirituality each in their way. But then where does MY own DNA come from?  I tend to believe it’s not from Centuries, but from thousands of years.  I come from a rather spiritual family.  But our inheritance can be traced thousands of years and not just ...

Old Professor Revisited

 A few years ago, I discovered Old Professor pipe tobacco by Sutliff.  Back then no one knew what it was.  The Oriental tobaccos is what makes this blend what it is.  Smoking Pipes has since changed the description of it and it has gone from a relative unknown tobacco to a top 25 seller on Smoking Pipes.  They can barely keep it in stock.   It has become my favorite English tobacco.  I decided I need some Aromatic to keep my wife happy, because she likes the room note of Autumn Evening the best and dislikes Old Professor the most.  I have to smoke Old Professor when she’s not around.  But if she comes out to the lanai to talk, I’ll smoke Autumn Evening just for her.   Autumn Evening is not a favorite, but no Aromatic will be a favorite.  I have some Constellation and Yale Mixture left, but both of these bite too much for my enjoyment.  So, I placed an order for both Old Professor and Autumn Evening and have decided both of thes...

An Update on My Laptop

 I decided to order a new battery for my laptop.  I figure $25 is cheap to find out if that is the problem.  I figure for $25 I could fool around with it and see if that is the issue.  The old battery wouldn’t hold a charge.  About three years is the life of a laptop battery.  I replaced a battery in an old Apple I had and that was the problem then.   I’m willing to gamble $25, but not more than that.  I paid less than $500 for a 17-inch laptop, which in my thinking was a pretty good deal.  I replaced the power cord for about $13, but am unwilling to spend more than this on it.  But that is the saga so far on my laptop.  It might fix it.  The update has been downloaded and as to whether a new battery connects me to the Internet remains to be seen.   I’m keeping my fingers crossed, but if this won’t do it, we’ll send it back and go back to looking for a replacement for my computer.  I need to open it and fix a Bluetoot...

Things Get Old Fast

 I read yesterday morning that my four year old computer doesn’t have the hardware to support a new update.  My son gave me an old iPad that he used about six years ago and the same thing happened.  Developers of apps and websites keep up with updates to the point where over time they won’t work with old hardware.  I learned something about computers and tablets yesterday morning.   If the hardware isn’t there the updates will no longer load.  So, while you might pay more over the long run for a more expensive computer the thinking is it will last longer.  In some cases a computer can be outdated in about three years, but most will continue to receive updates from 5-7 years.   I had no idea until my son gave me his old iPad.  I clicked on an ap that told me to download the new ap.  The download instructions told me I had to update the OS.  I couldn’t get the update to load and now I know why.  The iPad is too old for the new up...