Christmas 2021 - Wife Keeps Upping Her Game

 After much Covid exposure and waiting for test results, after hoping the airline does not cancel their flight, we are expecting the #1 clan to be arriving in just a few hours and truly be having family for the holidays. But for Christmas morning it was just Wife and I...spending a lot more time getting the house ready for guests (creating sleeping areas primarily) than celebrating. But since it is usually just the two of us, the holiday tends to be on the quiet side anyway. 

I was anxious, however, to see what Wife was going to get me for gifts. After really upping her game for my birthday with the now infamous self-heating mug, who knew what she would be doing for an encore. 

Well damn if she wasn't at it with more technology!

Behold the Meater!

 

 The Meater is a wireless meat thermometer That You Can Control From Your Phone With An APP! 

Damn!

You all know how much de-I loves app controlled devices. I spent about 45 minutes getting this device paired with my phone (oops first you have to upload the current software update) (Oh oops before you can actually pair it you have to agree to a bunch of registration things such as giving all your meat cooking data to an international Woke Vegan organization). I am pretty sure I've got the thing connected. Can't wait for the fun to see if I can actually make it work.

 But then there were the decidedly, non-tech Meater Mitts.

These are supposed to allow you go right into the oven, grill or smoker and manhandle (or womanhandle...or some other non-gender specific handle) your large piece of meat

You can see all the specs for these below

However!

It is the instructions below that took this gift to another level.

One should always appreciate sound advice like this.

Omens On Christmas Eve

 I was trying to get a hike in this morning time pressured by a very busy schedule and impending inclement weather. I was rewarded.

May holiday joy carry over and be the foundation of your year going forward

The Sun Sets On A Dream And Rises On Another

 For years now, Wife and I have been exploring how we might experience living in another country for an extended period. Much of this was motivated my my long, long held desire to repeat the feeling I had as a college student of living in another country...an experience much different than being a tourist, even tourist such as we who get off the beaten path. 

We explored the golden visa programs, programs that would allow you to have permanent residency in a country for the price of an investment, often the purchase of a home. It was important if we were going to do this to be in an area we really wanted to live. The Mediterranean was always the place we said we would love to stay if we were going to go someplace for a longer period. Among European Mediterranean destinations, Greece had the most attractive golden visa program.

Covid restrictions put a crimp in our planning. Delayed us. We continued to explore Greece. But ultimately decided that at our age, it was too big a commitment of money, requiring too long a commitment of being in the country. Then we heard about 'digital nomad' visas. These were shorter visas that required significantly less financial commitment. There was one in Portugal that seemed particularly attractive.

We began to research this in earnest. At first it seemed that the cost of health insurance might be an issue. But with the permanent residency, you would be able to get the insurance at an affordable price in Portugal. Through our many contacts we found a number of people who had resettled in Portugal and got referrals to professionals who could help you facilitate attaining the necessary visa and other requirements to attain a temporary residency permit. 

We had a meeting with one of those people today. And we found a requirement that (for us) was a deal killer. This particular visa required you to stay in Portugal for 6 consecutive months. That might not seem such a bad thing to most. But I can tell you that in the 27 years I've lived in Albuquerque, there is not a single year (excepting the Covid shutdown year of 2020) that I spent 6 consecutive months in town. And with my Theodora Project, the need to travel to either Ghana or the U.S. was a high probability during any long-term stay. Both Wife and I felt it was a deal killer. We very briefly looked again at a golden visa option in Portugal (which has an inconsequential minimum stay requirement), but the cost is just too much. 

So, BOOM, one dream down in flames.

But Wife and I had already thought about alternatives. Plan C so to speak. Plan C is us staying at various places around the world for 2 to 4 months at a time depending on visa requirements. This is opening a bunch of other options. We've loved some of the places we've stayed in Southeast Asia where you can get a house with staff for a very economical cost. And it will open us up to exploring more of the world as we have always wanted to. One thing on our radar already is returning to Cefalu if we could get the same apartment we had which was near perfect for our objective of being in a town near the ocean where you could walk to just about everything.

So a door closes and another opens. In many ways, I think Wife and I are finding this a bit freeing as it does not require the major commitment as a true expat change would require.

OM - Returning To The State Of Quiet

 We are again in the time of craziness.

The world is coming to an end.

     The pandemic rages

        All around you are infected

            Hide! Runaway! Flee!

                Find a cave. Block the entrance. Shit! Forgot to put in food and water.

Ignore all that is around you.

    Party like nothing is wrong

        Go into the room with tens of others and spew all you microbe filled water particles

            As you laugh talk and have a good time

                Nothing could possibly happen to YOU

It is time to seek the quiet within.

    What will be will be

        Seek to live and not to kill oneself by imposed isolation

            But be smart. Observe. Seek the way of reduced risk 

Live but be smart

OM

I Am Warming Up To It

 What am I warming up to? Well my self-warming mug. Ha, Ha...Did you really think de-I could resist a pun like that?

You will recall I posted a picture of the box when I reported on my birthday. I unpacked it and was filled with a bit of trepidation. My concerns were:

1. Would the size aid me when I wanted coffee upstairs while I'm working?
2. Would the metallic cup affect the taste of things?

I am happy to report that I have found keeping my coffee warm throughout a meal like breakfast is pretty wonderful. And that I have not experienced any metallic tastes. It is also good for bringing tea up in the afternoon to the office. So all in all a pleasant addition.

Our Self-Warming Coffee Cup Waiting for Action

 But before we leave the subject of the self-warming cup, we need to address the app the controls the device. What you say, why an app for something as simple as coffee cup. Well you have to understand that there are a host of variables that you need to control to make this relatively simple device function. 

First, you have to control the color of the LED display that shows if it is charged or charging.  Whew, glad I've got that. Wouldn't want to be stuck with an indicator light whose color didn't match what I was wearing that day.

Second, the app allows you to set the temperature you want maintained. That's pretty important. Don't want our coffee too hot or cool. 

And then there is...wait...Oh...there isn't anything else. I just put another freaking app on my phone so I can change the temperature (within 15 degrees) and change the light color. THANK YOU APP DESIGNERS. I LOVE YOU.

Who Really Cares - A Birthday Story

 Let's have a little Final Jeopardy type quiz. Two questions. Please remember to write your answers in the form of a question.

1. KLM Airlines, Aetna Insurance, my dentist, Turkish Airlines
2. Daughters #1, #2, #3

Please play appropriate music for final Jeopardy.

Answers:

1. Who are those from whom I received a birthday card today
2. Who are those who gave me a sickly look and a "Oh shit", when I reminded them that today was my birthday

 You all know the gastronome I am. Many years I cook my own birthday meal because I can be sure of getting exactly what I want. So when Wife (who is a bit overwhelmed with projects at the moment), with a sad and hopeful look (as in please don't say yes) asked if I wanted her to cook a meal for my, I found that I actually had a craving for something much easier - TAKEOUT CHINESE!

It has been years since we've had it. I don't know why. It just fell out of our behavior pattern. But I had a craving for a particular dish (Singapore My Fun) that a local take out place has. So I told her, she could just go pick it up. (Huge Sigh of Relief). I ended up really indulging myself because I wanted a variety of flavors. We will be eating it all week!

Massive Amounts of Chinese-America Food 

Sure I like authentic but I am happy with Chinese-American as its own genre

Including spare ribs, fried dumplings, Home Style Tofu, Singapore My Fun, Egg Fu Yung, Stir-fried Vegetables

Wife also out did herself with gifts

I mean who can call themselves an international business mogul if they don't have a self-heating coffee mug that can be controlled by an app from your phone?

Seriously, a part of my mind chided me. You are supposed to be this guy championing helping the disadvantaged in developing countries. Is this what you really should be having. 

Oh well, we are complicated, we humans.

Trial By Pitch Deck

 I am beginning to understand what Sisyphus must have felt like pushing that boulder up the hill for eternity but always falling back to the bottom at the end of his day's labor. For it appears that my task of drafting up the pitch deck needed to go after the investment money Theodora Project requires will go on forever. 

What, you ask, is this thing, this 'pitch deck'? Great question. A pitch deck is the vehicle used by those seeking investment to present their case to potential investors. It is written in PowerPoint. Have you ever worked in PowerPoint? Have you ever tried to create something that gets meaningful information in a persuasive way? I have not.  

Back in the day, when I was in the investment banking business, I put together many of a pitch to induce buyers to pay up for the clients I represented. In that far back period, after hunting a mammoth for the family dinner, I would put that pitch in a word processing app. I used writing techniques that allowed me to create a quick hard-hitting summary allowing the reader to get the gist of the argument quickly but having all the backup material at hand in the document to answer the deeper questions. 

I gather that the purpose of the pitch deck is to achieve that first goal. But it leaves no easy opportunity (or even not easily) to provide the backup you know people are going to want to see. Plus I find PowerPoint extremely difficult to use due to the fact that too many words create a messy, non-visually impactful slides. 

Add to this that we started with one resource helping us create our deck that then bailed, having changed our sales pitch strategy twice, and having key people unavailable, it has dragged and dragged. I am hoping I can get something done by the end of the year which is essential because I have people who have indicated interest in investing and are just waiting to get our 'deck'

I will prevail.