Dispatches: Old West & Beyond 07.15.25
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“To the person who does not know where he wants to go there is no favorable wind.” —Seneca
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MY TWO CENTS WORTH
I ran across an interesting phrase this week: “You are always one decision away from a totally different life.”
Decision-making is a way of life. We all face different decisions frequently during each day. Most are relatively routine—what to wear today, coffee or juice, apple or muffin, freeway or sidestreet. Others are more complex and carry more weight. For example, decisions about financial matters, relationships, and career issues.
I read that we make about 35,000 decisions each day on average. This number blows my mind. I’m not sure if it’s true or how they arrived at that number. But I’m not about to keep a tally of all my daily decisions.
The key to making good decisions, I believe, is not to strive for perfection, but to focus on impact. Perfection can be paralyzing and lead to inaction.
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FROM THE OLD WEST
(1) In the early spring of 1912, two men slipped aboard a Southern Pacific train near Sanderson, Texas, to stage a robbery. They failed, however, to plan for any potential counter-resistance. "The Day the Good Guys Won.”
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(2) In another bizarre train-robbing event, members of what was believed to be the Wild Bunch held up a Union Pacific train at Wilcox, Arizona. The gang used several sticks of dynamite to steal nearly $50,000. "Daring and Dynamite."
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FROM HERE & THERE
(3) If you’re a member of the something called the sovereign citizen movement, you’ve been had. Members of this phony, sometimes violent, and misinformed crusade believe they’re exempt from US law or any legal documentation. Here is a comprehensive overview of an organization that has never won a court case in its efforts to undermine the rule of law.
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(4) Researchers say they may be close to solving the disappearance of pilot Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan. Both vanished over the Pacific more than 88 years ago while trying to circumnavigate the globe. But satellite imagery may have revealed the location of the plane they were flying.
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(5) San Juan, Puerto Rico . . . Istanbul, Turkey . . . Burano, Italy—all among the world’s most colorful destinations. Enjoy the colors.
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(6) The Royal Observatory Greenwich named 30 finalists in its Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest. Check out these fantastic images of supernovas, the Northern Lights, solar flares, and other celestial phenomena.
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(7) Good ice cream usually costs a little more. So when a cooking site asked three chefs to name the best ice cream, they all picked the same $12 pint.
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(8) Hungry for a cheeseburger by any chance? Try the Lego version. Don’t miss the creative and fascinating video showing how the Lego burger is assembled and cooked.
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“Forgiveness is not a feeling; it is a commitment.” —Gary Chapman
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