Laptop Lifestyle Resource Center

I didn’t want to spend 30 years paying for something that never made me feel free. I've had a mortgage more than once. A mortgage felt like a trap. An RV, a sailboat, or traveling felt like possibilities....keep reading

I love the beautiful fall colors here in Costa Rica. But it looks just like every other day. There are no orange, red, or yellow leaves changing colors like there were in the North Carolina mountains in the fall. We have plenty of colorful flowers here year-round, and a lot of green to go with the colors. Here are some pictures....keep reading

Learning takes time, effort, and dedication. I sometimes wish things would stop changing, and I wouldn't have to learn anything else ever again. For example, when I was about 10, I had to learn the multiplication tables. I had to stand in front of the class and recite all of them up through the 12s. If I made a mistake, I had to stand up and try again the next day. It was a lot of hard work, but I've been using that skill now for 75 years. That was time well spent....keep reading

In this picture, it looks like a storm is moving in, but you can deal with that. There are always storms in life. John Muir, who founded the Sierra Club and is called the father of the national parks, said, "Who has not felt the urge to throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence?" This quote explains a lot about life. Where would you like to go if you jumped over the back fence right now?...keep reading

It surprises me how wrong AI can be in some situations. I would expect that when it comes to opinions and writing fiction, AI might go off in left field at times, but when dealing with facts that are easy to verify or look up, AI should almost always be correct. But that's not true. Here are some examples where AI was dead wrong....keep reading

Many people view changing your mind about something unfavorably. Whether it's changing your career, moving somewhere different, ending your marriage, or even changing your mind about how you want to live your life, it's not automatically a mistake. But people often view changing your mind as a failure. Often the consensus is, "Why didn't you get it right the first time?" But what makes us think that what we wanted at age 29, 49, or 69 is what we should want now?...keep reading

My new book is full of adventure, mystery, and suspense. All my books until now have been nonfiction, how-to books about topics that you may not have been interested in, but this one is what's called a "cozy mystery" novel. A cozy mystery novel describes a book with no murder, no sex, no drugs, and no violence—just adventure, mystery, and suspense. The best part is that the eBook is free for the next two days....keep reading

"The purpose of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are." ~ Samuel Johnson. One of the most important things I've learned from traveling is that reality is often very different from our expectations. Consider this...keep reading

A lot of people have a bucket list. Some people have their bucket list written down, and some just have one in the back of their heads. And some people just have one big thing on their bucket list. What's on your bucket list? Take a look at your bucket list and ask yourself this one question about each thing on your list. Would you still want to do this if you could never tell anyone that you did it?...keep reading

When I go to the local farmers' market every Friday morning here in Costa Rica, one of the first booths I like to visit is a vendor with fresh coconuts. They chop the top off a green coconut with a machete, stick a straw in it, and I walk around doing my shopping while enjoying my fresh coconut water. A coconut costs less than a cup of coffee....keep reading

To learn more about AI, I tested it in several areas. I found that it was way better at some tasks than I expected, and a lot worse than I expected at doing others. I still have a lot to learn about using AI, and AI still has a lot to learn as well. Here are some examples of what I've learned....keep reading

Hobbies keep your mind active, give you purpose, and make retirement enjoyable. But most hobbies end up costing you money, and some hobbies cost you a lot of money. What if you could find a hobby you enjoyed, and it made you money instead of costing you money? Here's a hobby to consider...keep reading

Clint Eastwood is retiring at age 96. The famous actor announced recently that he had finished all of his projects and was retiring. At the rate I'm going, I won't be able to retire at 96 because I won't have all my projects finished. Maybe if I use AI more effectively, I can be more productive, get everything done, and retire at 96. Here's how it's going so far...keep reading

My friend, Jeff, who is in his 80s, ditched his RV and is now traveling the world. He just published a book describing how he travels around the world on just his Social Security. He spends about six months of the year living here in Costa Rica, and then the other six months living and traveling around Europe, staying one month in each of six different countries. He's done this for the last three years. Here's how he makes it happen....keep reading

Here are a few examples of how an AI app altered images after being given a one-sentence prompt. Using an AI app doesn't get any easier than this. In this article, you'll be amazed at how easy it is to create or modify images using an AI app. Let me show you...keep reading

Don't come to Costa Rica without bringing this one thing. People visiting or moving to Costa Rica pack a lot of stuff, but the one thing almost everybody forgets to pack, or maybe they don't even realize they need it until it's too late, is patience. If you come here without patience, you're going to end up very frustrated....keep reading

When you die, your tombstone will have the date you were born, a dash, and the date you died. That dash is your life. That's where you are today. You're living your dash. What is your dream life? If you picked up a bottle on the beach, and a genie popped out and granted you one wish, what would it be? You might not find a bottle with a genie, but you can accomplish most dreams without a genie's help....keep reading

I want to give you a free copy of my new book. It's a children's book filled with pictures and story starter prompts to help kids use their imagination and get started writing their own stories. The prompts are for all types of stores, such as mysteries, aliens, adventures, fantasy, magic, sports, animals, science fiction, survival, scary stories, and more. This book also teaches kids how to create characters, develop plots, write dialogue, and come up with surprising endings....keep reading

In the famous book and movie, Gone with the Wind, Scarlett O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day." That's a good way to look at life. Some days are good, some are bad, and some may be downright terrible. But tomorrow is always another day. Here's something to consider...keep reading

Here's the trick to maximizing your Social Security payments. I often see articles and videos that advise people on when to start collecting Social Security. However, I believe they all miss the most crucial factor that should be considered. Here's the one simple way to maximize what you get from Social Security....keep reading

Famous author and speaker Charlie Jones said, "Your life will be the same five years from now as it is today, except for the books you read and the people you meet." Think about the five people you spend the most time with. Whether or not you want it to happen, they will significantly affect your future....keep reading

It's true, you can't go just anywhere. You have restrictions when you travel. When you're traveling, there are rules that you have to follow. There are limitations on where you can go. I explain these limitations in this article....keep reading