Every post from OldDogZeroTricks in one place – the raw, the real, and the stuff we rarely admit out loud. This is the blog.
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December 2, 2025When You’re Great at Your Job But Awkward at Office Parties
I can stand in front of 30 students and teach with total confidence. But put a beer in my hand at a party, and I crumble. Why do competent professionals still feel awkward socially?CONTINUE READING -
December 6, 2025The Mirror Doesn’t Lie (But We Sometimes Do)
I caught a reflection in a shop window and saw a stranger with gray hair. It took a second to realize it was me. Here is why accidental reflections tell the brutal truth.CONTINUE READING -
December 7, 2025What Daily Practice Changed Your Life?
Forget the perfect morning routines. I want to know the real habit that quietly transformed your days. What is the one thing you would miss if you couldn’t do it tomorrow?CONTINUE READING -
December 9, 2025Still Learning Balance After 50 (What’s Working So Far)
For years, we try to keep all the plates spinning. But after 50, balance is about knowing which plates to drop. Here is why balance is a verb, not a destination.CONTINUE READING -
December 4, 2025Are You Too Comfortable? A Question To Consider
It is easier to teach English than to care for a parent with dementia. Sometimes we choose the service that feels good over the service that actually costs us something.CONTINUE READING -
December 9, 2025When You Get Good at Things You Never Felt Passionate About
I used to think passion had to come first. But after 505 days of Japanese practice, I realized I had it backwards. Here is why competence creates passion, not the other way around.CONTINUE READING -
November 25, 2025What Would You Do If Money Wasn’t an Issue?
Strip away the mortgage payments and the grocery budget anxiety. What remains? What would you actually choose to do with your days if survival wasn’t part of the equation?CONTINUE READING -
November 30, 2025When AI Summarizes Your Life (And You’re Not Sure If It’s Being Too Kind)
AI analyzed my life choices and I wasn’t sure if it was being too kind. From helicopter pilot to Japan teacher to farmer – do my decisions show purpose or drift?CONTINUE READING -
November 25, 2025Is Everyone Real or Are Some People NPCs/Bots?
You do not get mad at a vending machine for not listening. So why get mad at people who cannot connect? Viewing unresponsive people as “NPCs” might be the secret to your sanity.CONTINUE READING -
November 25, 2025What Do You Hope Heaven Is Like?
I left my cat Simon behind when I moved to LA. My roommate said he used to call for me in my empty room. I hope he is the first one to greet me on the other side.CONTINUE READING -
December 5, 2025The Long Road: What Five Years of Breast Cancer Taught Me About Life After 50
Before cancer, I lived as if I was immortal. Now I know I might die soon or live another forty years. Here is how facing death taught me to stop wasting time.CONTINUE READING -
November 25, 2025Spiritual, Open-Minded, or Just Crazy? (The Things We Usually Keep to Ourselves)
I needed 3,000 yen for groceries. As I watched a car drive by, three 1,000 yen bills literally materialized from under it. This is my story of unexplainable coincidences.CONTINUE READING
