Jay Gaulard

A Personal Blog

Archives (page 3 of 6)

Chilblains

It wasn’t until moving to Maine that I experienced what many refer to as chilblains. I did a bit of searching around and I believe these things are also called pernio. Have you ever had chilblains? I’m sure you have. If you live in the north and if you’ve ever walked around outside during the winter in Crocs or cold boots with no socks on, I’m certain of it.

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I Wanted to Die When I am Loving Thee

Reading For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway has taken longer than expected. It’s been a slog, to say the least. As I’ve mentioned dozens of times, if I love a book, I’ll read chapters each night. If it hasn’t exactly picked up yet, I’ll read a page or two and fall asleep doing so. Apparently, evidenced by my falling asleep so quickly after opening this one, I’d say it’s yet to pick up. I’m hoping it will. I’m more than halfway through so something’s bound to happen. I mean, it’s just got to happen, right?

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What’s Maine Like in December?

I better get on with this post as December is nearly at its end. As I sit here and type, a bitter cold breeze is blowing. What we’re experiencing right now is a far cry from what we experienced at the beginning of the month. This year, December came in like a lamb and will go out like a lion.

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Today’s Most Common Grammatical Errors

I’m not sure of how many times I’ve written this post. Each time I enter the internet though, I’m compelled to write it again. I swear, the world is against me in this regard. It teases me and taunts me – all because my mother was an English major during the final two years of her college career. Much of my young life was consumed with grammatical correction and since I surely can’t wander around the depths of the seemingly dark web commenting on the grammar of people who would lambast me for doing so, I’m relegated to the writing of my thoughts on this very website. I apologize for putting you through this, but it’s something that needs to be done.

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Our Maine Christmas Tree

Since arriving in the state, Laura and I have engaged in a few “Maine” activities. I think this one might take the cake though. There aren’t many that are more Maine than cutting down one’s own Christmas tree. In the forest. In a whole bunch of snow.

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Bored Old Man Syndrome

The older I get, the more concerned I become with what I’ll do with myself after I reach retirement age. I suppose that age is 65, which, to me, is rather arbitrary. As of this moment, I don’t plan on acting any differently the moment I reach my alleged retirement, but the more I look around at folks who already have, the more I worry.

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VYM vs. VOO

In today’s post, I’d like to discuss a very simple topic. The topic is investing. The topic many financial advisors would lead you to believe is incredibly difficult to wrap your head around. Of course, if you’ve got loads of money and many options for living and retiring, things can quickly become complicated, but if you’re a regular middle class guy or gal and you’d like to live a bit easier in your later years (45+) and not have to work until you’re 80, you may want to continue reading. The entire thing is very straightforward. It’s a favorite subject of mine, this investing is, but trying to get people to listen to me is a chore unto itself. It’s probably for this reason I chose to write this post. Maybe, just maybe, someone will read it.

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BJJ Purple vs. Black Belts

By far, the people who read the most Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu related posts on the internet are white belts. They’re followed by blue belts, but blue belts trail behind by quite a bit. Once a student reaches purple belt, that student doesn’t care about articles and videos nearly as much as he or she did back when they first began. Why? Because when a student first begins training, the BJJ world is one huge unknown. By the time the student reaches purple belt, there’s not much left to the imagination. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that white belts know virtually nothing while purple belts know virtually everything. Well, everything within reason. There’s always something new to learn, even as a brown, black, or coral belt.

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Car Inspections in Maine

I hate to admit it, but there was a time I was against motor vehicle inspections. I always thought they were a waste of energy. For me, anyway; they got in my way. The fact that they existed forced me to do something I didn’t want to do – an extra and irritating chore. And honestly, they still do get in my way, but that’s because of the simple fact that I know how to perform my own vehicle maintenance and repairs.

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Whiskey: The Perfect Cold Remedy?

The good folks of Maine were stricken by some sort of disease last month. None of us knew what it was, but nearly all of us were affected, me included. At first, I thought it was a simple head cold induced by some dust that was cast into the air by a propane heater fan. Dust has been a trigger for me for most of my life. In fact, back in 2012, I trained Muay Thai at a club in Connecticut that used forced hot air as its heat source. The heat used to run while we were in class. That year, I caught seven head colds in the one season due to the dust spewed from the system. It was terrible.

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