Personal – surfing the universe

2025 Day 23: One, Two, Three – Synchronicity

2025-0123h-3210 Austin, TX

Last night I was going through old photos and I found some pictures I had taken of my journal. This morning, I looked at my journal photos again and decided to post them. Here they are, with transcription. I will save my thoughts on these until another day. The one extra synchronicity I will add is I just realized that I met Carmel on One, Two, Three – more precisely on One, Two, Three, Two, Zero, One, Three. Not in Jan but in Dec – you can do the math.

2016-0227-1019 Brenda’s French Soul Food, SF – Wow! (page 1)

“Wow!”

I texted Carmel from the lighthouse yesterday morning. I had gotten up early to catch the sunrise. It was my last day working at Apple and I wanted to experience the full day and start it off right. Charlie wanted to go too, so I got his leash and some poop bags and we walked down to West Cliff. As we walked along, we came upon the spot where I had taken the picture I used on the cover of Surfing the Multiverse. I looked down and saw a young man and his dog. It reminded me of when I had taken the picture and how I had wished I had known the gentleman’s name so I could acknowledge him.

2016-0229 Lou’s Fish Shack, Fisherman’s Wharf SF – What’s the Chance? (pages 2 & 3)

“What’s the chance?”, I thought to myself. A quick mental calculation resulted in “quite small” as an answer.

2017-0123M-1219 Samsung, Austin TX – Fast Forward

Fast Forward almost a year. I haven’t been writing and today decided that I would get back to it. As fate would have it (or as the synchronistic probabilities of the universe would have it), today was my first day at a new building at Samsung. I joined Samsung last year after leaving Apple. My first day at Samsung was 3/21. Today, being 1/23, I was remembering my start date and also wondering about the universe where I still worked at Apple. As I drove into work, I lost my way and ended up in the wrong office complex. I realized this when I noticed that the offices were Apple’s design center. This coincidence was also notable because yesterday I found myself searching jobs at Apple. I wasn’t sure why at the time and I didn’t look too carefully. Now it is clear to me that I am surfing near to universes where I am working at Apple, especially the Austin design center. I had considered transferring to the Austin design center last year.

2017-0123M-1300 Samsung, Austin, TX – Back to What’s the Chance (page 4)

So where was I in the story of my last day at Apple? Oh yes, I see now as I catch up with you, I was walking along West Cliff in Santa Cruz when I spied someone down on the beach with a dog and it reminded me of the picture I had taken for my 1st book back cover. Well, as odds would have it, the man looked nothing like the one I had taken a picture of, and so I continued walking.

This may be a good time to mention a universe surfing skill I have learned. Just as the wave surfer waits to catch a good wave, the universe surfer can identify conditions that are good for surfing between universes.

2017-0123M-1315 Samsung, Austin – Major Changes Bring Universes Together (Page 5)

When there are changes occurring in your life, then you are in an area of the multiverse in which many different (“far away”) universes are nearby and interfering with each other. This is much different than when you are having a day of habit when you are surrounded by universes very much like your own. As such, you should pay special attention to any thoughts, however fleeting, that cross your mind. These thoughts are from your quantum mind in other universes coupling with your classical mind in the universe you are experiencing classically. So, when I imagine I see the man and his dog from my photo and then quickly realize that it’s not them, I need to pay attention. And I need to pay attention especially so since its a day of high change.

2017-0123M-1320 Austin – Listen to your Quantum Mind (page 6)

As I continued walking down West Cliff, I arrived at the entrance to Dog Beach. There was some safety tape across the entrance for some reason and I paused to ponder why. I was still feeling a pull to go down to dog beach, plus I knew Charlie would enjoy it even if I didn’t manage to surf any universes. As I was paused at the entrance, a man and his dog walked by and I asked the man if he came there often – hoping that he might know the man in the picture on my phone. He waved me away as if he couldn’t be bothered and began walking down the steps to the beach. As he walked down, I noticed his dog looked very familiar. Could it be the same dog in my photo?!

2017-0123M-1325 Austin – In Search of a Dog (part 1) (page 7)

I search my phone for the photo I had taken six months prior. I found it- same dog! Or at least it looked the same from the photo. As my heart stated beating faster, I stepped over the safety tape and made my way down to Dog Beach. As I got to the beach, I looked around and saw no one. I began walking down to the area where I had first taken the photo. As the hidden area of the beach revealed itself, I saw the man and his dog. I approached him and tried to explain how I had taken a picture of him six months ago, had written a book, and had been looking for him. He waved me off as if I were crazy. I persevered and asked for his contact info so I could send him a copy of the book and asked for his permission to use the photo.

2017-0123-1330 – In Search of Dog (part 2) (page 8)

He said I could use the photo but he didn’t want a copy of the book, and he went on his way. I felt like there must have been a reason why I had thought about meeting him, and then had met him. Certainly today was when we were supposed to meet and become connected. As he walked away, I thought about how close I was to knowing how he was and how I wanted to acknowledge him in the book credits. I decided to follow him and try again. He walked down to the lighthouse and then out to the cliffs where the surfers jump into the sea. The sun was rising or had just risen as I approached. I began to engage him again.

“Excuse me, …”, I said.

2017-0123-1340 – “Move it! You’re in my View!”

“Move it! You’re in my View!”, he yelled at me. I was startled by his passion.

“Stop following me! I don’t want to talk to you.”

Wow, I had not expected that. I thought I had been universe surfing according to the book. I had been noticing “days of change”. I had been paying attention to “fleeting thoughts” and to “unexpected events”. I had made choices which I thought would increase my chances of experiencing classically the universe I desired. Unfortunately, I was only solo surfing. I was not tandem surfing. I realized as I walked away that I needed to understand and write about tandem surfing. And I already knew the title of the book –

“Move it! You’re in My View!”

2025 Day 20: RIP Carmel

2025-0120M-2219 Austin, TX

Monday night before 10:19pm, I got a call from the one good friend who knew me when I met Carmel.

“Have you heard from Carmel?”, V asked. “I saw a post that she died.”

In that moment, I felt myself in between realities. One in which the post was true and the other in which it wasn’t. I found it difficult to accept that Carmel was dead. I had just exchanged birthday greetings with her a few months ago.

It’s now Tuesday as I write this. I have had time to verify from her son D that Carmel decided to leave this world. I am both in shock now and also in acceptance. Carmel impacted my life greatly during the time that I spent time with her. I met her a couple of months after my divorce in Santa Cruz. The first page of my Surfing the Multiverse book (https://surfingtheuniverse.com/2015/11/23/surfing-the-multiverse-increasing-your-happiness-one-universe-at-a-time/) was written while I was with her at UCSC. On my birthday in 2015, I wrote about her father’s death (https://surfingtheuniverse.com/2015/11/27/page-56-death-in-the-multiverse/).

Carmel summarized herself as “too complex and whimsical to summarize”. She loved variety, spontaneity, new adventures, learning new things, physical activity, fresh air, and meeting new people everywhere she went. She was best when improvising in the moment. She had an almost obsessive drive to squeeze the juice out of life and live life to its fullest. I just imagined Will Ferrell playing Gene Freckle in the famous SNL skit, More Cowbell.

Carmel loved to remember funny parts of a movie “just cuz I love to laugh”, she said. One of her favorite movies was Get Him to the Greek. This was guaranteed to satisfy her love of laughing.

Carmel, I’m grateful for all of the adventures we shared and happy memories we created. You continue to inspire me to live life to its fullest. RIP Carmel.

Santa Cruz Lighthouse, 6:53am, Dec. 8, 2015 (Photo Credit: surfingtheuniverse.com)

2025 Day 11: 4 miles in 44:26

2025-0111S-1515 Austin, TX

Over the holidays my cousin was in town with her husband, who happens to be a runner. Five years ago, I took up his challenge to run 3 miles with him. I blogged about it then: 2020 Day 10: 3 miles in 27:20. When I was writing yesterday’s Day 10 post, I reread the one from five years ago. I felt a bit guilty that I hadn’t run in a while. This morning, when I awoke and began getting dressed, I chose a running t-shirt. This was despite that it froze last night and was still quite cold outside.

Bird Bath Reflections of Sun on a Wire, 2025-01-11, Austin TX (photo credit: surfingtheuniverse.com)

“Am I really going to do this?” I thought. I don’t remember the last time I ran – maybe a couple years ago. Swimming has been my recent exercise of choice. Today is not the ideal day for swimming. Then I remembered my post yesterday: 2025 Day 10: Roll the Dice! So, I decided to just do a quick 15 minute run down to the neighborhood park and back. I rolled the dice. When I got to the park, I saw about 25 people all running around the park. My naturally running path led me into the middle of them. They were all spread out. I continued running with them as I noticed they were all exiting the other side of the park.

“Am I really going to do this?” I thought again. I rolled the dice again and continued running with them out the other side of the park. A man with a one-year old in a stroller ran up next to me and said hi. We started talking and I learned this was a running group like I suspected. They had started at a coffee shop and were running a total of 10 kilometers. I ended up continuing to run with him all the way to the coffee shop (Praxis, I think). My left knee started hurting around mile 3. As I arrived at the coffee shop, I stopped my watch timer and it had been 4.01 miles.

After 10 minutes of yoga, and grabbing some coffee, and meeting new people, I walked back home in the crisp sunny weather. I’m grateful that I decided to roll the dice multiple times today. It was a good reminder of the unpredictability of life. It also felt good to do some cardio. My recent focus on computer work has not been good for my physical health. After the run, I checked my bp and decided to just take a half dose of bp medicine and monitor it. I have a theory that daily cardio might be a healthier substitute than medication.

2025 Day 10: Roll the Dice!

2025-0110F-0800 Radio East, Austin TX

My grandfather would buy lottery tickets regularly. I lived with him when going to college. He shared one of his biggest regrets in life was not taking more chances. In my mind, he did take chances in his life. I was told he once started a uranium mining company. He also was a traveling salesman. I wish I had asked him about any particular dreams he had that he had not pursued

My daily blogging practice is an example of rolling the dice. It involves taking action. The result of the action is unpredictable. There are a large number of outcomes of various probabilities. I can write about some of these possible outcomes now and increase their probability of occurring. I can take other actions to increase the probability of these outcomes occurring. I can re-roll the dice as many times as I wish. I get to choose which dice I roll. I get to choose the some of the faces of each die.

A researcher investigating a hypothesis is rolling the dice. They design an experiment and the outcome is unknown. They conduct the experiment and document the outcome. Now, the dice has been rolled and scientific knowledge has been captured. Repeating the experiment in the same way will not be re-rolling the dice. They would need to have an unknown outcome to be rolling the dice again. As I write this, I am questioning myself if this is a good example. Nature knows the outcome of the experiment and so proving whether an hypothesis is true or false is not really an unknown outcome. So, the scientific result itself is not a face of one of the dice. However, what follows in the future for the researcher as a result of the experiment is a possible outcome. So, if the researcher is the first one to be successful in proving a major discovery in a scientific field, this could lead to the researcher gaining additional research grants, or even winning a Nobel Prize.

An entrepreneur pitching their business plan to a potential investor is rolling the dice. The investor deciding to invest in the entrepreneur is also rolling the dice. The employees who join the entrepreneur and execute on the business plan are also rolling the dice. Skill, experience, and hard work are a factor in the success of a business. A certain amount of luck is also part of the equation.

Two best in the world and equally matched athletes, or athletic teams, are rolling the dice when they compete. The winner is unpredictable. One athlete or team is often believed to have a higher chance of winning. But there is still an element of chance in the competition.

Going on a promising date is rolling the dice. Even if both people are excited about the possibility of finding their soulmate, there are many possibilities. Even if they have a great first date, each successive date involves continuing to roll the dice.

Inviting an estranged friend to reconnect is rolling the dice. The consequences of this action are unknown. Accepting an invitation like this is also rolling the dice.

Smiling to a stranger is rolling the dice.

Getting out of bed is rolling the dice.

Roll the dice!

2025 Day 6: Memory Problems with Humans and AI

2025-0116M-0830 Austin, TX

This morning I was started my day listening to a Robert W.B. Love podcast with Dr. Dale Bredesen about Alzheimer’s Disease.

Actually, my day started earlier with a short clip from this Nate B Jones (@nate.b.jones) video about AI having a half-trillion dollar memory problem:

Both of these topics are on my mind right now as I struggle myself with memory and focus. So, starting my focus practice this morning by not watching these videos now and instead writing.

One of my first thoughts on watching the AI half-trillion dollar memory problem was to buy more Micron Technology ($MU). I was apparently not the only one with this idea. The market cap on open rose over 9% from $100B to $109B. I bought some more anyway to remind me of this moment. My stock portfolio of mostly technology stocks is up about 58% over the last three years. It looks now like it’s either about to fall off the cliff are shoot higher. Learning to hold both of these conflicting possibilities and be with them is my practice.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day in silence. I ecstatic danced with a few hundred people and shared a few hugs. I talked to brother B for a while, breaking my silence for the day. I also talked to a couple other friends. Otherwise, I stayed focused on trying to solve a programming bug in a toy program I created for my learning.

I hesitate to go into it. But then, maybe it will be helpful for anyone who reads my blogs to help them sleep. I’ll say this much. I had spent over 12 hours the prior day pleading with OpenAI ChatGPT-4o to help me fix my code. When I finally put AI to bed and wrote the code from scratch myself, the code worked. Of course, as all programmers know, then I uncovered a new bug! But, at least I had the fundamentals working. The new bug seems to be beyond my current abilities to debug. Actually, I have the abilities to learn, so that statement is not really true. I feel like I just finished a 2048 piece puzzle and want to wait before starting the 8192 piece puzzle.

Going Deeper: Here is an analogy for the puzzlers on my struggle to add tiling to my matrix multiplication code. My current code is a naive approach. A family of four with each family member working on their own corner of the puzzle. Everyone is grabbing a random puzzle piece from a single shared box of pieces. They check if it fits in their corner and either place the piece or put it back. Everyone can work independently but it wastes times because many pieces are grabbed repeatedly by different people. The new code I am working on is a tiling approach. The analogy for the new code is the family of four work together. They all focus on a smaller section of the puzzle and first find the pieces for that section. Then they finish that section of the puzzle and repeat for new sections. This is more efficient!