You’ve stumbled upon the personal blog of a retired business guy. In 1982, I knew how to use a spreadsheet, an exotic skill then. Every new role and company provided a challenge, new skills, and different cultural exposure.
My final job (retired 2026.01.01) was within a technology consulting company. The founder allowed me to build a global consulting practice inside his existing company. During this time, I wrote two books published by Wiley. I gave hundreds of talks in North America and Europe.
Which brings me to this blog. Based on the idea that I would retire at age 67 and become bored out of my mind if I didn't have projects to work, Heurista is about anything I want to write about.
I'm developing a book trilogy. This project will keep me busy till 2035. This blog and the book writing be my home projects. I hope Heurista and book writing will continue until I’m dead. Hiking, mountain climbing, and long wilderness treks are also activities I enjoy. Another aspiration is to be the oldest person to through-hike the Appalachian Trail. Currently that means doing it at age 84, in 2043.
A recurring dream has me living until I’m 118 years old. If that comes true I won’t die until 2077. By then it should be possible to upload my brain into an AI bot with a body. Well’s see. I’d opt to be something other than human, but with superhuman intelligence. I have a predilection to imagine the future, and then try to make it happen.
Why did I call this blog heurista? An affinity for the word “heuristics.” This word sounds exotic. Most people have heard it but many don’t know what it means. I forget and have to review:
adjective heu·ris·tic | \ hyu̇-ˈri-stik
: involving or serving as an aid to learning, discovery, or problem-solving by experimental and especially trial-and-error methods. //heuristic techniques //a heuristic assumption //It leaves us in a shady universe of tentative hints and heuristic guesses. : of or relating to exploratory problem-solving techniques that utilize self-educating techniques (such as the evaluation of feedback) to improve performance.
My wife will attest, I’m into trial and error. Since the word appeals to me and the domain heurista.net was unregistered, I decided it had to be the name.
I reserve the right to shamelessly brag about my grown children, Erin and Hannah. They both live in Los Angeles. If they had asked me what three places in the United States I would not want them to live, LA would make the list. I spent too many nights in LAX connecting to other places I didn’t want to go. I’m more of an eastern mountain type fellow. I like trees and water. My wife and I live in the boondocks of Georgia about an hour from Atlanta. Now, on to kid brags.
My oldest daughter, Erin, is a freelance director and choreographer who’s been making a living in Los Angeles for a decade. She’s done work with a few famous people like Ed Sheeran, John Legend, and Conan O’Brien. Check out her website for a collections of her short films, music videos, and commercials. My favorite video of hers is this music video.
My wife starred in one of Erin’s early films. She (Biz aka Linda) would shoot me if I provided a link to that work.
Younger daughter, Hannah is also in Los Angeles pursuing a PhD in Computer Science with an emphasis on applying AI toward wildlife conservation. She has published a couple of papers in Nature Journal. An upcoming paper got her an invite to go to the United Nations in Vienna to discuss details of an improved statistical method for estimating wildlife populations. That paper is not available for distribution until after she speaks at a conference in August 2026. I”ll post it here when it’s available. An earlier paper provided insight into illegal wildlife trade.
I’ve been journaling everyday for more than 20 years. The problem with journaling—I don’t edit that writing. Bad habits get honed. This blog makes me edit before I post. I try but, invariably the next day I’ll find dumb mistakes. This blog is an attempt to keep me in touch with writing for other people.
The Photo page has images of family, friends, travel, and local scenery. I may add discrete photo pages for these subjects and others.
The Book page lists my 2026 reading. I read a lot. I love fiddling with notebooks, pens, and technology. I like a good argument, particularly over politics, and I don’t take it personally if you disagree. I…I…I. This is a personal blog. Time to recognize someone.
Thank you to Robert Birming for creating the Bearming theme and all the cool pimping he does with styles, and add-ins. Robert is a blogger with a heart. Check out his site.
You can reach me at dgm187 at proton dot me. Please reach out. I’d love to hear feedback.