Dan the man

What is something others do that sparks your admiration?

Show empathy, be kind. I think in today’s world especially it’s difficult to find someone that doesn’t have a hidden agenda or motive, after all we live in a world where likes and views carry more weight than actual facts. Our behaviors are cultivated by our parents, they’re the ones with the burden of raising decent human beings and lord knows how challenging that can be, but if you’re lucky enough to have parents who are loving, caring, patient and supportive you will share those values with others usually unconsciously. I work hard to be those things and more, mostly because my parents didn’t instill in us those qualities and because of that I have had to recreate myself into the person I want to be. That doesn’t mean I had bad parents it just means I didn’t want to be like them. So you can tell me anything, all your great accomplishments, you can tell me all the wealth you’ve accumulated, you can tell me how generous you are with some but not all people. I watch not to judge, but to see that one person that does great things for others with nothing but a kind heart, warm embrace and loving touch. That’s the person I strive to be.

Do you ever see wild animals?

Living in southwest Florida and working outside I get to see alligators nearly every day. Now since the building boom that won’t go away I’m seeing wildlife of various species that were never seen before, coyotes can be seen just walking down the streets roaming through neighborhoods looking for food. Nighttime was when you could see wild boars foraging for food and destroying your lawn. Florida panthers were never seen, bobcats, deer all these animals can be seen often now. In our neighborhood there is a big rabbit population, it comes in waves, every six, eight months the population goes from many to few. Mostly because of the hawks, falcons and other birds of prey. Rabbits and squirrels are expendable in the folds of natural selection. Others are protected like the eagles, osprey and pelicans and all the big cats dolphins and manatees are protected and can be seen every day if you’re out on a boat. The problem is us, mankind with our big brains and stupid ideas and the endless need to destroy nature.

What are your feelings about eating meat?

Nature provides us with all the nutrition we need, protein is a big one. According to “ those who know” beef is the best source of protein then chicken and pork. I believe we know our bodies better than “those who know”, I’m a weight lifter so I need more food to stay strong over the years I have tried all the supplements so I can maintain lean muscle mass, some work some don’t. I don’t like beef, and rarely eat it that leaves me with chicken and pork and eggs, lots of eggs, but I feel better after eating 8-10 eggs than eating a steak so it’s a no brainer. In a world that is inundated with junk food, alternative food or stuff that’s not even food it’s important to listen to your body give it what it needs to function at its best. Everyone is different what’s good you may not work for me. I find the cleaner I eat the better I am.

What are your two favorite things to wear?

Sunglasses and flip flops. I just love living in southwest Florida. The tropical climate touches my soul like snow never could. I do miss the fall season of New England and some years we travel there to see the foliage, but we quickly return home where we work as little as possible play as much as possible and enjoy a sunset at the beach nearly every night. And what dumb luck I had meeting my wife who’s from Thailand over 8 years ago and am able to enjoy the tropical climate there as well. So I wear my two favorite things there as well. Long pants, boots, long sleeve shirts have been out of my life for well over twenty years and I don’t miss any of it. I have the same pair of jeans that I brought with me when I moved to Florida, I do make an effort to wear them once maybe two times a year if we’re going out for a nice dinner. It’s also nice to know I still fit in them.

What technology would you be better off without, why?

I would say I’m anti technology, but I am typing this on my IPhone in Bangkok so there’s that. When technology began to influence our lives I wasn’t very receptive to it, but I do believe that the one place where it’s done the most good is in the medical field. Other than that I think it’s made people lazy, all the safety features on our cars today is to prevent us from hitting something or someone while we’re on our phones or IPads or laptops for that matter. Social media I believe was meant to bring us as people together, but in actuality it has driven us apart. Gone are the days when we as humans were more in touch with ourselves and able to communicate face to face pushing aside any anxiety we had, we were stronger than our feelings we had to be, we faced rejection all the time and overcame our fears and insecurities, basically we manned up got over it sucked it up and moved on, and that was before dinner. NASA developes and using technology although I don’t see the point of space exploration I don’t think it hurts anyone. I do think that kind of money would be better spent on our planet, maintaining a man with nature life would the ultimate success.

If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?

Seeing as how I’m not a regular sleeper, I would have to come up with stuff to do at different times of the day. For instance, this morning I was up at 3:00am so clearly I cannot be tromping around the house, the gym is closed and going for a run that early isn’t on my to do list. Mornings like that I would write as much as possible, the act of writing is like reading it makes me sleepy. On the average days I would have do develop a vampire lifestyle because I do normally sleep until 4:00-4:30 am, but now with all that free time I would have to work very hard at not going insane.

Who are your current most favorite people?

At the moment my wife and her family. Only because we came to Thailand to visit her family and sightsee and honestly if anything happens I’m not completely sure I can make it back home. Since we’ve been married 8 plus years she has always taken care of the bi- yearly trip to Thailand, I never question it because every trip has been perfect really no problems or setbacks whatsoever. I do love it here for many, many reasons and my plan is to retire in just 3 short years and spend the majority of the year here in Thailand. We bought a new house a couple of years ago and her my and sister live in it, it’s more than big enough to accommodate all of us when we go there. Even now as I’m writing this blog from my living room in Bangkok I question whether I should retire now. I could live on my social security alone let alone my portfolio an I could find work if I wanted, but we enjoy traveling within the country so much I see no reason to stop.

What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals?

Breakfast Lunch and Dinner!! All kidding aside in my house nearly every meal is memorable, my wife is from Thailand and they do not use different foods for separate meals, for instance she will make breakfast with five soup with crispy pork and canned mackerel. She’ll cook and serve bacon like it’s a pork loin, omelette with mussels is a favorite and of course papaya salad as hot and spicy as you can handle with barbecue chicken or pork. Thai people have an amazing relationship with their food, and to be part of that is a privilege I take seriously.

What’s the first impression you want to give people?

Kindness, but typically that is the last impression I give. All my life I’ve been misread pretty much my entire life, I am a bigger guy having spent the majority of my life in the gym and I imagine the intensity of my workouts reflected on my face so people would avoid me and I was good with that, I figured the people who understood me would be okay with it. During the dating phase of life most women would shy away the ones that didn’t were very surprised at my demeanor. All these years later I still try to emote kindness, it’s in my heart, but now I keep it closer to the vest to keep it safe.