Big sale on online courses!

Udemy is offering lots of courses for only $9.99 through tomorrow. They offer courses on many subjects including arts and crafts, photography, music, business, health and fitness and more!

I purchased three courses: Design a CPU, Learn Assembly Language by Making Games for the Atari 2600 and Building Alexa Skills for Home Automation with Raspberry Pi. The only course I've really looked at so far is Design a CPU...it includes a link to a program called Logisim which allows you to simulate the various logic gates and to combine them together until you actually have a simulated computer!

Anyway, I thought it was a great value and thought I'd share it with you. If you decide to buy some courses, let me know which ones you picked. I'd like to know what interests you.

Interesting days

Today - Tempura Day, I’m Not Going To Take It Anymore Day, Harlem Globetrotter’s Day, Bobblehead Day and Old Rock Day

Tomorrow - Bubble Bath Day, Earth’s Rotation Day, Argyle Day, Show & Tell At Work Day and Joy Germ Day

Next Tuesday - Dress Up Your Pet Day, International Kite Day, Organize Your Home Day, Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day and Poetry At Work Day

February 7 - Send a Card to a Friend Day, Wave All Your Fingers At Your Neighbors Day, Working Naked Day, Wear Red Day, Bubblegum Day and Ballet Day

Happy #WeighInDay

Apparently, today is Weigh-In Day. According to Days of the Year, Weigh-In Day is celebrated (?) on the first Monday in January:

So, Christmas is officially over, and so are both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. You’ve slept off any hangover you may have had, relaxed, and now you’re ready to face the new year ahead of you and all of the challenges and opportunities it will bring.

Unfortunately, due to the amount of food and drink consumed during the holiday season, chances are you may have gained a bit of weight during the holidays, so Weigh-In Day is a great time to set your first new year goal: start eating better and exercising more regularly so you can not only shed that weight but improve your overall health. After all, what could be more important than your health?

I'm going to celebrate by weighing myself and then making a plan to burn off about 20 pounds by Memorial Day. My actual goal is to get my body fat below 25%. The last time I weighed myself was on the day after Christmas...my weight was 181.1 pounds, my BMI was 24.6 and my body fat was 27.7%.

I read somewhere that for a man my age my body fat should be below 25% to be in the healthy range. And right now that's looking like a weight of about 160 pounds.

I haven't really done any walking since before Thanksgiving, so I'm going to start doing that again and making sure I burn off at least 500 more calories per day than I take in. It's also time to drink more water and to start taking vitamins again.

I'll let you know how it's going from time to time between now and Memorial Day.

Interesting days

Today - Cuddle Up Day, Weigh-In Day, Three Kings Day, Shortbread Day, Apple Tree Day and Bean Day

Tomorrow - Tempura Day, I’m Not Going To Take It Anymore Day, Harlem Globetrotter’s Day, Bobblehead Day and Old Rock Day

Next Monday - ticker Day, Rubber Duckie Day, Public Radio Broadcasting Day, Make Your Dream Come True Day, Skeptics Day, Peach Melba Day and Clean Off Your Desk Day

February 6 - Frozen Yogurt Day and Lame Duck Day

The month in review - December 2019

The week ending December 6:

Monday - "How To Fall Asleep Fast With A Warm Bath Tonight" From Dr. Michael Breus.

Tuesday - "How to make use of this blog" It's not all fun and games. 

Wednesday - "What is a prompting?" My presentation topic next week.

Thursday - "Ten things to do on weekends to make your Monday more productive #TBT" These are some good ideas.

The week ending December 13:

Monday - "The Seasons of a Man’s Life: An Introduction" The first of a three part series from The Art of Manliness.

Tuesday - "The Seasons of a Man’s Life: Early Adulthood" The second of a three part series from The Art of Manliness.

Wednesday - "The Seasons of a Man’s Life: The Mid-Life Transition" The third of a three part series from The Art of Manliness.

Thursday - "How to Generate Endless Blog Topics #TBT" Being a blog post content creator, this really resonates with me.

The week ending December 20:

Monday - "How to Find Your Calling in Life" From The Art of Manliness.

Tuesday - "Assault Your Assumptions Through Red Teaming" More from The Art of Manliness.

Wednesday - "We Tried 8 Methods of Cooking Bacon and Found an Absolute Winner" Bacon Day is coming up on the 30th.

Thursday - "The 12 days of follow up #TBT" If you're in business, follow up is extremely important.

The week ending December 27:

Monday - "BuJo - Faster than a speeding bullet (journal) #MBM" It's the perfect time to begin journaling.

Tuesday - "Start a Journal" More on journaling, this time from The Art of Manliness.

Wednesday - "Merry Christmas" I hope everyone had a good holiday.

Thursday - "Culture You Can Heft #TBT" Vinyl records and books made out of paper, these are a few of my favorite things.

Interesting days in review

Your weekend guide to interesting days - December 7, 2019

Your weekend guide to interesting days - December 14, 2019

Your weekend guide to interesting days - December 21, 2019

Your weekend guide to interesting days - December 28, 2019

Your weekend guide to interesting days - January 4, 2020

This week

Sunday - Tick Tock Day and Pepper Pot Day

Monday - Bacon Day and Bicarbonate of Soda Day

Tuesday - New Year's Eve, No Interruptions Day, Champagne Day and Make Up Your Mind Day

January will be Hobby Month, Be Kind To Food Servers Month, International Brain Teaser Month, Oatmeal Month, Brainteaser Month, Creativity Month, Get Organized Month, Hot Tea Month, Celebration Of Life Month, Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Clean Up Your Computer Month, Soup Month and Get A Balanced Life Month

Wednesday - New Year's Day, Polar Bear Swim Day, Bloody Mary Day, Commitment Day, Euro Day, Copyright Law Day and Z Day

Thursday  - Science Fiction Day, World Introvert Day, Buffet Day, Motivation and Inspiration Day, Personal Trainer Awareness Day, Happy Mew Year Day For Cats, 55 mph Speed Limit Day and Creampuff Day

Yesterday - Festival Of Sleep Day, Chocolate-Covered Cherry Day and Drinking Straw Day

Today - Trivia Day, Spaghetti Day, World Braille Day, Fruitcake Toss Day, Hypnotism Day and Pop Music Chart Day

Month long celebrations:

November 28 - December 31: A Blue Christmas

Next week

Tomorrow - Whipped Cream Day and Bird Day

Monday - Cuddle Up Day, Weigh-In Day, Three Kings Day, Shortbread Day, Apple Tree Day and Bean Day

Tuesday - Tempura Day, I’m Not Going To Take It Anymore Day, Harlem Globetrotter’s Day, Bobblehead Day and Old Rock Day

Wednesday - Bubble Bath Day, Earth’s Rotation Day, Argyle Day, Show & Tell At Work Day and Joy Germ Day

Thursday - Apricot Day, Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, Static Electricity Day, Play God Day and Balloon Ascension Day

Friday - Cut Your Energy Costs Day, Houseplant Appreciation Day, Bittersweet Chocolate Day and Peculiar People Day

Saturday - Step In A Puddle And Splash Your Friends Day, Milk Day, Hot Toddy Day, World Sketchnote Day, Heritage Treasures Day and Learn Your Name In Morse Code Day

Next month

January 29 - Puzzle Day, Cornchip Day, Curmudgeons Day and Freethinkers Day

January 30 - Inane Answering Message Day and Croissant Day

January 31 - Backward Day, Fun At Work Day, Gorilla Suit Day and Inspire Your Heart With Art Day

February will be Bake For Family Fun Month, Cherry Month, North American Inclusion Month, Library Lovers’ Month, Hot Breakfast Month, Vegan Cuisine Month and Bird-Feeding Month

February 1 - Serpent Day, World Read Aloud Day, Car Insurance Day, Baked Alaska Day, Ice Cream For Breakfast Day, Lace Day, Take Your Child To The Library Day and Decorating With Candy Day

February 2 - Yorkshire Pudding Day, Dump Your Significant Jerk Day, Candlemas Day, Tater Tot Day, Groundhog Day, Lung Leavin' Day, World Play Your Ukulele Day, Crepe Day, Marmot Day, Hedgehog Day, World Wetlands Day and Sled Dog Day

February 3 - Carrot Cake Day and Golden Retriever Day

February 4 - Homemade Soup Day, Thank A Letter Carrier Day, Stuffed Mushroom Day, World Cancer Day and Sweater Day

Week long celebrations:

January 25 - February 1: Cordova Ice Worm Festival Week 

The week in review - January 3, 2020

Monday - "11 Reasons You Can’t Sleep And Are Struggling to Stay Asleep - part 1" Part 1 of a 3 part series. "That’s why this week I wanted to give you a quick rundown of the 11 major reasons you may be having a hard time getting a good night’s sleep."

Tuesday - "11 Reasons You Can’t Sleep And Are Struggling to Stay Asleep - part 2" Part 2 of a 3 part series. "The first three reasons plus the introduction were covered yesterday. We'll continue with reasons 4 - 7 today."

Wednesday - "11 Reasons You Can’t Sleep And Are Struggling to Stay Asleep - part 3" Part 3 of a 3 part series. "Let's start off the New Year by wrapping up this week's series."

Thursday - "The 12 days of follow up - Day 4 #TBT" Follow up is important to your business. "A lot of people try to stand out from the crowd and send either a Thanksgiving card or New Year's card."

Interesting days

Today - Festival Of Sleep Day, Chocolate-Covered Cherry Day and Drinking Straw Day

Tomorrow - Trivia Day, Spaghetti Day, World Braille Day, Fruitcake Toss Day, Hypnotism Day and Pop Music Chart Day

Next Friday - Cut Your Energy Costs Day, Houseplant Appreciation Day, Bittersweet Chocolate Day and Peculiar People Day

February 3 - Carrot Cake Day and Golden Retriever Day

The 12 days of follow up - Day 4 #TBT

Today's blog post was originally published three years ago:

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a good, but safe, New Year's Eve celebration and a great holiday season, whether you celebrated Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice or some combination of the above.

And the holidays are a great time to follow up and even though the holidays have passed it's not too late.

A lot of people try to stand out from the crowd and send either a Thanksgiving card or New Year's card. But if you prefer sending a holiday card, you can stand out by sending one now. It's still the holiday season but you'll stand out because most holiday cards have arrived by now and may have already been put away.

A great tool you can use for sending your holiday cards, as well as any other cards you want to send during the year, is SendOutCards. I'll be glad to work with you to get it setup. It's ideal for all of your card sending needs whether business or personal.

And yes, I am a distributor for SendOutCards, in case you didn't know it already. But it is great tool and you can get started for free. Just click on the link above and download the app. You'll be able to send your first 3 cards for free. If you need to send more cards, let me know and I can show you other options.

And if you haven't downloaded the SendOutCards app, go ahead and do so. It's free and if you're not already a SendOutCards customer or distributor the first three cards that you send are on me!

Only your first card is free now

Here are the links to the posts in this series on the 12 days of follow up:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12

Interesting days

Today - Science Fiction Day, World Introvert Day, Buffet Day, Motivation and Inspiration Day, Personal Trainer Awareness Day, Happy Mew Year Day For Cats, 55 mph Speed Limit Day and Creampuff Day

Tomorrow - Festival Of Sleep Day, Chocolate-Covered Cherry Day and Drinking Straw Day

Next Thursday - Apricot Day, Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, Static Electricity Day, Play God Day and Balloon Ascension Day

February 2 - Yorkshire Pudding Day, Dump Your Significant Jerk Day, Candlemas Day, Tater Tot Day, Groundhog Day, Lung Leavin' Day, World Play Your Ukulele Day, Crepe Day, Marmot Day, Hedgehog Day, World Wetlands Day and Sled Dog Day

11 Reasons You Can’t Sleep And Are Struggling to Stay Asleep - part 3

Part 3 of a 3 part series based on a blog post by Dr. Michael Breus.

Let's start off the New Year by wrapping up this week's series.

8) Exercise

Exercise helps you sleep, but not within an hour of going to bed. The heavier the exercise you do, the farther away it needs to be from bedtime.

9) Your Phone

The blue light from your phone is a natural stimulant. You shouldn't use your phone within an hour of bedtime. That also goes for TVs. And limiting the amount of light overall before bed is a good idea. If you can't do that, then use blue blocking glasses.

10) Naps

Our bodies are designed to take an afternoon siesta, but you don't want to sleep too long or too short. The ideal is either 20 minutes. Or 90 minutes. Anything else makes it too difficult to wake up.

11) Insomnia

If you have insomnia and you've tried these techniques, it may be time to see a professional.

Interesting days

January will be Hobby Month, Be Kind To Food Servers Month, International Brain Teaser Month, Oatmeal Month, Brainteaser Month, Creativity Month, Get Organized Month, Hot Tea Month, Celebration Of Life Month, Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Clean Up Your Computer Month, Soup Month and Get A Balanced Life Month

Today - New Year's Day, Polar Bear Swim Day, Bloody Mary Day, Commitment Day, Euro Day, Copyright Law Day and Z Day

Tomorrow  - Science Fiction Day, World Introvert Day, Buffet Day, Motivation and Inspiration Day, Personal Trainer Awareness Day, Happy Mew Year Day For Cats, 55 mph Speed Limit Day and Creampuff Day

Next Wednesday - Bubble Bath Day, Earth’s Rotation Day, Argyle Day, Show & Tell At Work Day and Joy Germ Day

February will be Bake For Family Fun Month, Cherry Month, North American Inclusion Month, Library Lovers’ Month, Hot Breakfast Month, Vegan Cuisine Month and Bird-Feeding Month

February 1 - Serpent Day, World Read Aloud Day, Car Insurance Day, Baked Alaska Day, Ice Cream For Breakfast Day, Lace Day, Take Your Child To The Library Day and Decorating With Candy Day

Week long celebrations:

January 25 - February 1: Cordova Ice Worm Festival Week