Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

  There may be one or two people who noticed I released the weekly interview episode a day early. I usually release those on Fridays to take advantage of the slow days in case I might show up on a chart somewhere. This week, I was in a pinch and decided to get it out a day early. Without too much detail, our pup, Vinnie had surgery yesterday and I wasn't able to find the bandwidth to make a Coffee Break video. It got me thinking about how we manage commitments when there are challenging times. Some days we just have to push things aside and give our full attention to what in my case should be simple priorities. But it's still difficult to leave work alone. Vinnie's surgery was successful and we're grateful we were able to get help when we did. It was a serious infection. But remembering to include self, family, pet, and plant care in our list of not only things to do, but priorities is an important thing to do. My health continues to be an interesting ride. Things are s

Recently had the pleasure of a trip to San Diego. It was my first time there, and I was very pleasantly surprised how much I liked it. I'm more of a mountain man than an ocean lover, but San Diego had friendly people, warmth and beauty that was very restorative.  The hotel we stayed at was in Old Town San Diego which is a part of town I'd encourage all to see. Wonderful old stucco village with food, shopping and history lessons. One of the history lessons had some personal meaning for me. The Mormon Battalion Museum was right across the street from our hotel. For those who don't know, the Mormon Battalion was a group of men conscripted to march from Iowa to California for service in the Mexican-American War. They left families in the midst of their own trek to Utah and marched the long trail through mountains and desert and every extreme to Southern California. One company went to Los Angeles and another to San Diego. They arrived in California just as a truce had been r