An Eclectic Mind

aneclecticmind.com · American English

Web site and blog for Maria Langer, helicopter pilot, content creator, jewelry artist, boater, and serious amateur photographer.

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Last post: Aug 30, 2026
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Site title: An Eclectic Mind - Web site and blog for Maria Langer, writer, boat captain, jewelry artist, commercial helicopter pilot, and video producer. Blogging here since 2003.
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50 Days with My RAV4 Plugin Hybrid
Aug 30, 2026 · original
A look at the things I like and don’t like about my new car. Earlier this month, I blogged about buying my new Toyota RAV4 Plugin Hybrid . It was a (typically) long post that covered a lot of my thinking about buying a new car and, specifically, a plugin hybrid, to eventually replace two of the vehicles in my “fleet.” The Decision To recap the decision making process, I was interested in four things: A practical car that would serve me (likely) for the rest of my life. (I keep cars forever — or so it seems.) I needed something that was comfortable, could seat 4 people, and could carry stuff. It also needed to be able to handle the two miles of gravel road I live on, which is sometimes very washboarded, and foul weather. A fuel efficient car that would get good local and long distance fuel economy. These days, hybrids were the best option for that. A car that could take advantage of the c
Buying My New Car
Aug 23, 2026 · original
I buy a new car a lot sooner than I expect to because — well, why not? For a single person living alone with no kids, I have a lot of cars. I occasionally refer to them as my fleet . I have my 1999 Jeep Wrangler , which I bought brand new, beat the crap out of, and use as my local around-town vehicle. It’s in decent shape but wouldn’t win any awards at a car show, despite it’s age. A trailer hitch on the front makes it the perfect vehicle for shuffling around trailers in the garage or driveway. My Jeep in its younger days, crawling over rocks in Sedona AZ. It’s on its third soft top now. I have my 2003 Honda S2000 , which I bought brand new and took good care of. It’s my Joy Machine and makes me happy every time I drive it. It’s fast with tight steering and good brakes. The convertible top makes it almost as good as a motorcycle for feeling the air around me — but no helmet required! It’
Writing Tips: Just Write!
Aug 16, 2026 · original
I add a new post to my old Writing Tips series of posts. This one focuses on simple tools to get the job done. Posts in the Writing Tips Series: • Writing Tips • Master the Basics • Avoiding Distractions • Soaking Up Creative Energy • Making the Switch to a Writing Career • Writing Accurate Descriptions • Just Write! When I sat down to write this post this morning, I thought I was starting a new series. But then I looked at my list of about 3,100 blog posts here and realized I already had a series it could fit into: Writing Tips. So with a little bit of editing, I wrangled what I’d written today to fit that series. I do, however, want to start with a new introduction. About Me and This Series I’ve been a writer since I was 13. I was always driven to write, to tell stories. I wrote them in spiral bound notebooks with the Bic fine point pen I preferred. I filled notebooks with my writing a
I’m Back
Aug 15, 2026 · original
I’m done neglecting this blog, at least for a while. Shame on me. After blogging regularly here since 2003, I stepped away for more than 3 months. I can feel the air of neglect here. Understand that my blog has always been a place where I share my thoughts, opinions, and ideas, as well as providing an account of what I’m up to. It’s not as if I have nothing to write about. I do. I’ve been keeping crazy busy this summer, with plenty to blog about: boat trips, new client jobs, writing for hire, exploring artistic endeavors in my studio, and even an unexpected road trip. I’ve been keeping very busy. But what I haven’t been doing is making time to blog about any of it. And that’s a failure on my part. But I’m back and hope to post new article at least once a week. There are three swishing around in my head right now and I’ll likely get started on the first one this morning. This site is huma
On Rest & Relaxation
Apr 30, 2026 · original
After a few busy, stressful months, I finally enjoy a few stress free days on my boat and reflect on how pleasant it is to just relax. I’ve had a pretty busy few months this year. February After a nice two week stay at the Holtville Hot Springs in my camper, with visits to the tubs at least once a day, I started the long drive home. It had been a very mild winter in central Washington State and there wasn’t any snow on the ground. In fact, my housesitter reported that things were already starting to green up. In mid February. I don’t get flats. I get blowouts. So I headed home, with an overnight stop at Death Valley — where the superbloom would not peak for at least two weeks — and some town on the Idaho/Oregon border that I can barely remember. I was traveling heavy, towing my utility trailer behind the truck with the camper on it. I was 56 miles from home when a tire on that trailer bl
Video: Lifting a Ranger Tug off a Trailer and Blocking it in a Boatyard
Mar 22, 2026 · original
Another boating video made especially for folks who don’t hang around in boatyards. I towed my boat from home to its summer home in Bellingham on Friday. It was a stressful, time-consuming non-event. The road over Stevens Pass was wet, but not icy. A landslide closed the northbound lanes of I-5 just south of my destination, so I had to take a detour with an oversized load in tow. Fun times! Anyway, shortly after arrival, they lifted my boat off its trailer and blocked it up in the boatyard. I need a bit of bottom work done so it’ll be on the hard here for about a week. I’ll be living aboard — yes, on blocks — for about 10 days. As they were working, I used my phone to record the process on video. Here’s that video, edited for length — the process took about an hour — and narrated. I think it’ll give most folks a look at something they’ve never seen in real life. Here’s the video and desc
Video: What’s Under the Waterline on a Ranger Tug R-29?
Mar 17, 2026 · original
I share some narrated video footage of what’s below the waterline on my boat, which is currently parked inside my garage, waiting for a trip across the mountains. At the end of the boating season, instead of leaving my boat in the water (in a slip I pay for regardless of occupancy), I bring it home for safekeeping. After all, it is trailerable and I have a trailer and truck to move it. I also have a cavernous garage where the boat fits snugly with whatever other stuff I cram in there. This is infinitely better for the boat than leaving it in the water all winter for stuff to grow on the bottom and moisture to grow mold and mildew on canvases. Honestly, how could they expect me to leave my boat there when I have this option? Having the boat at home before the season also gives me a chance to do some maintenance, especially on the bottom. This year, I’d planned to do some touch-up paint on
Tovala
Mar 15, 2026 · original
My experiences with a meal kit service. This winter, I spent some time with my friends Jan and Tiff in their Arizona home. I’ve known them since 2013 when I swapped my old golf cart for a towable helicopter landing platform. Back then, they owned a helicopter flight school in Mesa AZ. I got to be good friends with them and their partner, Woody. In those days, Jan and Woody were airline pilots for America West, which was eventually gobbled up and merged into US Air. Now they’re both retired and still living in Arizona. They sold the flight school a few years ago. Enter Tovala Anyway, neither Jan or Tiff cook so they basically eat out or order in all the time. I’ve become used to it when I visit with them and often pick up the tab (when I’m fast enough) when we eat out. But this time was a little different. I noticed that they had a fancy toaster oven on their countertop. Long story short:
Boating: My Unexpected Fifth Career
Mar 8, 2026 · original
I am pleasantly surprised that my boat experience and captain’s license are paying off with some fun, often challenging gigs. A lot of folks criticize me for (or are in awe of) the number of “irons I keep in the fire.” Simply said, I have a lot of interests and when something really strikes my fancy, I dive in headfirst and do what I need to do to become an “expert.” That’s how teaching myself how to use computers in the early 1990s paid off with a career as a computer how-to book author, speaker, and educator, freeing me, once and for all (at age 29), from the 9 to 5 grind of corporate America. That’s how learning to fly helicopters and eventually jumping through the hoops required to get a charter (AKA Part 135) certificate got me a third career as a helicopter pilot, which started climbing to its peak in 2012, right around the time people stopped buying computer how-to books. That’s h
A Look Back at this Winter 2025/26 Travels
Feb 16, 2026 · original
I take a quick look back at the nearly three month trip I took to Arizona, New Mexico, and California. As regular readers know, I go south every winter. I love my home but I don’t like winters here. It isn’t the cold as much as it’s the dreariness. So I go south, usually to Arizona and the desert southwest, although I did spend two winters on my boat on the Great Loop in mostly Florida a few years ago. This year, I left on November 27, 2025 (Thanksgiving Day) and returned home on February 12, 2026. I have an excellent winter housesitter, which takes a lot of the worries out of leaving home for so long. He’s a skier and he likes the proximity of Mission Ridge and Steven’s Pass, two local ski resorts. He was not happy about the lack of real winter weather this year. But that lack of winter weather is what got me home early; I was supposed to come home at the end of February. I thought I’d

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