Life Optimized
W. Scott Westerman, Jr., the man I’ve always called “The Real” Scott Westerman, passed away peacefully early in the morning of April 18, 2018, on what would have been my mother’s 93rd birthday. She would want me to remind you that she left us on Dad’s birthday nearly 13 years…
After 8 years, 3 months and 17 days of living the Spartan Life, Colleen and I are headed back home to Florida. On January 1, 2010, we began our MSU Alumni Association adventure at the Alamo Bowl. Since that time, we have lived and loved the MSUAA lifestyle. Michigan State…
By Scott Westerman It’s been a week off the grid recentering with my family and a time to ponder some of the things that that the world needs now. When I see the often overt hate speech that proliferates so freely in the pseudo anonymity of social media I feel…
By Scott Westerman I’ve been at a conference of my alumni peers this week. On the last evening, one of our valued colleagues announced her retirement, telling the crowd to “Drink, Steal, Swear and Lie”. I was a bit taken aback… until she explained.. Drink daily from the cup of…
By Scott Westerman Can a police department gain a positive national following by engaging on social media? Here’s the story of one that did. I’m a huge fan of the Newport Beach, California, Police Department. Not only do they protect and serve their community with professionalism and class, they are…
One of the things that’s most alluring about amateur radio is the ever expanding variety of communication modes at our disposal. From the dots and dashes of morse code to the digital packets that can carry everything from voice to data, there is truly something for every interest. Hams prefer…
My good friend, Dan Romanchik recently wrote about his disappointment to learn that WV7G, who posted a plan for a single tube transmitter had passed away and his web page describing the project had seemingly passed on with him. Enter W5RST, who referenced the Internet Archive, where web content seemingly…
The great thing about a hobby like ours is that there is so much diversity that you can pick whatever niche suits you. From a public perspective, though, there is one branding message that should unite us all: We are the Communication Experts. During Hurricane Harvey, I saw amateur radio…
Being a podcast fan, I’ve loaded my podcatcher with a variety of fascinating ham radio podcasts. My three faves: ARRL’s The Doctor Is In, Cale Nelson’s Ham Radio 360 and Bruce, N9WKE’s DitDit podcast. Bruce, at this writing, is one of the relative newbies to the the podcast constellation. His program…
By Scott Westerman I recently spent some time with Dacher Keltner, a perpetual student of the art and science of emotional wellbeing. He reminded me of one of its great prerequisites: Gratitude.