Giving you the "so what" to some of history's greatest lessons.

Idiocracy. Some days it seems I am surrounded by uncouth idiots. When I complain out loud, Shelly reminds me of my manners. She also reminds […]
Greg Note: The latest scientific term for short term memory is “working memory”. No matter which definition you choose, remember that we as humans suck […]
Jerry Parr grabbed and pushed an old man out of the way of a hail of bullets, yet most people will never remember his name. […]
Snow business. The wet bulb reads 23 degrees at 0900 this morning. That’s 29 degrees warmer than the start of my day just five hours […]
“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.“ Unknown Eyewitness news. Perspective is hugely important […]
Heartburn. Each year, my adopted home town of Gunnison, Colorado hosts the Cattlemen’s Days Rodeo. It’s the oldest rodeo in Colorado and the longest continuous […]
Stan. I was no stranger to “Stan’s,” I often found myself sitting on a flight line at Karshi Khanabad reminiscing about past jaunts through Uzbekistan. […]
This episode of Lessons Learned will argue that ‘At-Bang’ training is too late in the game. Further, I’ll discuss that your choice of training matters […]
Perhaps you had a chance to catch a podcast or read a Lessons Learned last week during the 2020 Election ‘End Game’. I advised everyone […]
The film was rated Aaaargh. The 2009 kids’ film Labou is about three very different kids growing up in Louisiana who are forced to work […]
The Storm. There was a storm brewing in this kid’s life from the day he was born in 1994. His parents must have had ESP, […]
Emergency plans should prevent emergencies. My wife Shelly and I make a good team. This morning is a fine example. It’s exactly 3.6 miles from […]
Teachable moments are those amazing opportunities that occur when you catch someone doing something wrong or more importantly doing something right. You can many times step in as the teacher, coach or mentor and offer a moral or lesson to exemplify WHY the behavior you witnessed is important to that person's personal or professional growth.
Die Fledermaus-mann. I was waiting patiently for the coffee counter to open at a hotel in Nashville last week when I remember life tilting to […]
Monkeyshines. Hollywood producer Arthur P. Jacobs was tinkering with the idea of remaking the 1933 film King Kong when he came across a memo stating […]
The Swagman. Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson wrote the famous Australian bush ballad “Waltzing Matilda” in 1895. Most people know the tune or at least know […]
Fans. The word fan comes from the Latin word fanaticus. Fanaticus literally means insanely but divinely inspired. The word fan (fanatic) is used today to describe […]
Sometimes agencies choose toys over training...
I’ll give you a couple of examples of what I call Projectors and Magnets. These are people, events, or vehicles that seem to be at the center or just preceding situations that present life-changing choices.
Midnight. The next time you listen to the Rolling Stones song ‘Midnight Rambler’ know that it was about Albert. As Mick Jagger belts out, “I’m […]
Good advice. I was recently reminded of some good advice that I wish to share with you. Be a patient listener. Never be untidy. Never […]
Walt Whitman. Whitman wrote and recited many original works about life, death, and dying. His seminal work, Leaves of Grass, may have been his best-known contribution […]
Lincoln County Range War. If you drive east along I-70 from Las Cruces New Mexico towards St. Augustin Pass for about 15 miles you’ll see […]
Love is a drug. I think I owe my good friend Shon Clemons a ‘piece of the action’. Our conversations, texts, and emails back and […]
Order. Our CEO Shelly Williams is probably the most predictable human I have ever met. She’s also so detail-oriented that she can find an episode […]
Now I lay me down to sleep. In his mid-twenties, Randy Stair gave abundant warnings of his intentions through his Facebook posts. In current parlance, […]
Dreams of the west. My good friend Brian Marren regales me with the history of Ireland and the Irish no matter where we are, what […]
Meet Joel Rifkin. On 28 June 1993, Joel was driving a 1984 Mazda pickup truck on the Long Island Southern State Parkway in New York. […]
From Muskegon, I had an hour and a half drive to Lansing, Michigan. There, I was scheduled to teach a street survival seminar to students, faculty, and security at Michigan State University later in the week.
This morning, Marren and I are appearing on the Distinguished Savage podcast. The ‘liner notes’ say that this podcast was created so that the host could, “talk to those who understand that the world can be a very dangerous place and how they go about facing that uncertainty and the story behind their choices”.
Practice makes.  I try to see a challenge in everything. Whether I am reading, writing or out for a lonely walk in the yard during […]
It’s funny what will query your human RAM (random access memory)… Memories and fingerprints. I’m putzing around getting ready for a 5-hour long Zoom video […]
Tactical freeze. So, to finish a thought from the previous Lessons Learned #054 What comes after; I call a “Tactical-Freeze” and ask you to ponder […]
Sage advisor Shontel Clemons visiting Colorado in 2019. 6 feet under is keeping with the 6-foot rule, but it shouldn’t be your ‘going in’ proposition.  […]
“April is the cruelest month…” April showers. In 1563, after the Council of Trent recommendation, Europe switched from the Julian Calender to the Gregorian Calendar. […]
Mission Creep: “a gradual shift in objectives during the course of a military campaign, often resulting in an unplanned long-term commitment.” I was being sent […]
If you create time and distance from bad news and couple that with physical exercise and mindfulness practice you will overcome this event and future events. Simply put, training changes behavior.
“Whenever we were losing, we would put you into the game and there was always a sudden, violent change."
  Mobtown. My friend Eric Collyer was leaving the inner Baltimore harbor. He hopped on the “2” heading south across the Patapsco River, using Hanover […]
Portmanteau. I love using and saying words that are both fun and descriptive. This morning I’ll start with portmanteau; (which is also a piece of […]
Another trip, another crappy hotel. I wish that the online or website postings for hotels were more accurate. The best ‘glamour shot’ photos of the […]
What occurred next was nothing short of an international incident!
In Hungary they’re called the ‘Carpathian Boar’ or Sus Scofa Attila. We landed at the Ferenc Liszt Airport in Budapest, Hungary. The airport named after […]
I got the idea for this Lessons Learned during a brief hog hunt discussion with my neighbor Lany while I was plowing the snow at […]
BLUF. BLUF stands for Bottom Line Up Front. Today’s BLUF is simple. I would speculate that more than 50% of your daily activities are routines. […]