2015-02-28 Saturday - Warren Buffett - Annual Berkshire Hathaway letter to investors

http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2014ltr.pdf

2015-02-25 Wednesday - Win, Lose, or Draw

This is my 6th week working with a new client in the Internet TV / Digital Media space  - and it has been such a welcome and joyful change... Every day, learning something new, challenged, hands-back-on-code, working with bright and interesting people - a team of highly skilled, seasoned, and oh-so-experienced people.

So, my favorite new hangout is a bar in Seattle near the waterfront - at the Four Seasons, about 1/2 way between the office and the condo on my walk home in the evening - where I enjoy looking out over Puget Sound, watching the ferries departing from the docks just down the hill, and the Seattle Ferris Wheel is big-and-large-and-in-charge in the floor-to-ceiling windows

I'm having a a light dinner and a vodka martini as I write this - unwinding after a long day - celebrating the small victories of this week...

Win, Lose, or Draw...I have lived a good life. I have drunk deep from the cup and relished every moment of my existence on this wonderful spinning blue marble.  

I have risked it all on tosses of the proverbial coin...with both wins and losses both accounted for in the ledger of life.

I have but a few regrets...

I am loved, I have deep long lasting friendships that span decades, I have the most precious of physical possessions (my treasured library of books) - and I have my health.  

Life is good. 

If Death were to take me this night - I would count my life as well lived. 

Filled with adventure - and filled with both the highs and lows - that have provided the spice and flavor to this spirit as it has wandered upon this material plane of existence.

(Tolkien, J.R.R. 1974. The Return of the King. Lord of the Rings, Collector’s Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin: 308):

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate;
And though I oft have passed them by,
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

I am the captain of a seaworthy vessel that can cross oceans.

I am, the Dread Pirate Roberts...

2015-02-20 Friday - Tidal Forces

Inertia grows as the years accumulate... Against the hands of Father Time, a constant struggle to maintain... A battle that is doomed to failure... But still, the spirit whispers, "not yet..." Resisting change is to stand as a stone in the middle of the river... to be worn down by time and circumstance. To embrace change is to accept the forces and find a rhythm within the changing tides... To be carried by the river is to find sustenance to endure until the morning light comes yet once more...and in the end, to be rejoined with Mother Ocean.

2015-02-19 Thursday - Pondering Life and Rhythms

Life has settled into a comfortable rhythm...

For the remainder of this year I will continue in this rhythm...and then we shall see what the future may hold...

This is a year to refresh my hands-on technical skills, to step into a more hands-on role - necessary from time-to-time to renew and resharpen my technical skills.  Titles mean nothing. Knowledge, Ability, and Skill are the ultimate coin for achieving security and prosperity.

To regrow my network of contacts in The Emerald City...

To explore new technologies...

To explore more of this beautiful area of the country...

I am keeping my eye out for a small sailing dinghy...

I discovered a very good thrift store on Mercer Island that has a somewhat better-than-average collection of donated books for sale...

I also discovered that the Mercer Island Community Center offers a $5/day pass for access to their facilities...and they have meeting rooms that can be rented for a very reasonable fee...

I've located useful service providers within short walking distances of my place downtown: USPS, dry cleaners, shoe repair, a Macy's, a Target, Subway sandwich shop, several Japanese sushi places, a convenience store, a barber, a local funky bar, two restaurants, etc.

Within the next few weeks I will begin seeking out opportunities for community service and volunteering again...

It is good to be back in my city.