Evie Day 673

Good morning, and welcome to the last day of the Western work week. Today is 17 January 2025.

Hey, I got the year right the first time!

There’s a grim vibe in the air. Time to make some changes.

I have been fairly active on Facebook for a number of years, ever since the young lady who looked after our kids introduced the site to me back in the ’00s. These days I read articles, read posts, and watch… and I am not happy with the direction social media is taking to appease the FOTUS. Many of the big tech companies are currying favor – Meta, Google, Amazon – in order to win giant government contracts that the orange one will award based on loyalty. Anyone with a clue knows that he is the most transactional president in US history… if you want something, you have to do something for him first.

Yesterday I was criticized for making reference to the GOPs approach to providing emergency relief to California. The Speaker of the House and a congressman from an adjacent red state have both made comments about “conditions” for California relief in the wake of the largest suburban/urban fire in US history. They want California to adopt some more friendly conservative practices before they will provide the emergency aid they desperately need. I never heard the California representatives say anything about South Carolina, North Carolina, or Mississippi implementing policies favorable to progressives before voting for their hurricane aid. Maybe there’s a different set of standards when there are liberals involved.

I’ll post the links to my blog on FB, but my daily participation in that forum is going to get shaved down. If folks are interested in my opinion, they are welcome to come check out my blog. I’ll continue to write, but I have a feeling that the next four years will turn a lot of social media into a dark place.

Today will mostly be a study day as I prepare to tackle a cert exam again. I panicked the other night and moved it to Monday, but that gives me the weekend to prepare.

Time to get the garbage out to the corner.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 672

Good morning, and a happy Thursday to you all. Today is 16 January 2024.

It was an interesting day yesterday, as there’s some movement on my team at work. The gentleman who has been my manager for the last few years is moving to a different team, and I am getting a new manager, my 8th or 9th since starting in 2019. The new manager is someone that I have worked with in the past, another instructor, so I’m going to remain open-minded.

Class went well yesterday, We sandwiched my section on virtual machines between two modules, one on storage, and the other on application services. My training partner this week did an outstanding demo on Container Instances, and I learned a few things about the developer side of the house.

Last night we did not get together for tabletop gaming online. It was probably a good idea, as we start at 8, and Kansas was pummeled by Iowa State between 6-8. Iowa State is ranked number 2 in the country, and on their home court, there are few teams that are going to give them a game. Kansas tried, but in the end, turnovers and free throws did them in. Missing bunnies doesn’t help either. Kansas hosts Kansas State on Saturday, and with both teams coming off losses, there could be a little fire in the belly.

I had a cert exam scheduled for Friday, but I panicked and moved it to Monday. I want the weekend. I need to pass this exam, and I have more than a little anxiety about it.

That’s about all I have for now.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 671

Good morning, and a very happy Wednesday to you all. Today is 15 January 2024.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. After I wrote yesterday’s blog post, I did my recording for YouTube, looked over a couple of other things before work, and then spent a large portion of my day cuddled up next to a microphone doing my thing. It was a pretty good work day. After that, I sat in my chair with the dogs and did a little reading, followed by a word from my wife that our youngest daughter might be joining us for dinner, so I planned on some queso and a couple of crunchy ground beef tacos for her. My taco run was quick and without complication… no tequila shots, no Dos Equis this month. We had a nice dinner.

Today will likely be more of the same, but I usually get together with the guys on Wednesday night for some tabletop gaming, but it looks as if we won’t be playing tonight – too many other responsibilities with some of the others. That’s ok, I have some more studying to do.

It was announced that my employer is going to layoff some folks, and I’m one that might be in the crosshairs. Not a good feeling, certainly not good for my blood pressure and anxiety levels.

It’s out of my hands.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 672

Good morning, and welcome to the second Taco Tuesday of 2025. Today is 14 January 2025.

Did it again… 2025, Bob.

Yesterday was a good day, albeit closer to uneventful than exciting. My class is on Eastern time, so I go back into my workspace at 7 rather than 8 and finish a little earlier as well. However, yesterday, there was a little post-class organizing that needed to be attended to, so that extended my workday. I spend a little time last evening studying for a certification exam as well.

I’ll head back into my office/workspace/studio/broadcast booth in a bit. I have a little bit of recording to get posted to YouTube. I also had a teammate reach out to me about doing the voice-over for an animation his team is putting together. I have accepted and will get to work on that.

There really isn’t that much going on here. Like I said, closer to uneventful.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 669

Good morning, folks! It’s a Monday! Today is 13 January 2025.

2025, Bob… 2025.

I still pop in the old year from time to time, habits being what they are.

I’m working on some new habits. This month I’m participating in Dry January – no booze until January 29, and then I’ll lift a glass to my dad. His go to was Canadian Lord Calvert and 7-up. I like the Canadian whiskeys as well, but have a preference for the sour citrus taste of Fresca or Squirt. On his birthday, I might go a little old school – Dad used to like a Manhattan every now and then as well.

One other thing – it’s not you, it’s me. I’m neurodivergent, and I have attention issues, anxiety, and panic attacks (they suck, by the way), plus a couple of other side effects that can make me a little more challenging to deal with. Nobody likes bad news, but most people can recover, but there is a group of folks that dwell on the negative messages and it’s hard to shake… these folks might very well have rejection sensitive dysphoria – it’s always deeply personal. My point is that if you tell me something and I appear to be distracted, it’s not your fault. I’m just wired a bit differently.

I’m not going to go into textbook descriptions, but it’s not fun. Then again, panic attacks aren’t fun either, just sitting in one spot and vibrating so fast I feel like can pass through solid walls, plus the physical drain of the experience… it sucks. My panic attack frequency has improved, but they still happen. I’ve been getting them for decades, it just took me a long time to figure out what they were.

Today I’m back in my virtual classroom, delivering an admin class with another trainer. This week I’m working with a trainer I have not delivered with before, a gentleman from Montreal. I wonder if he’ll be impressed with may guitars that are from Montreal as well… hmmm.

OK, time to make coffee and get ready for my day. East Coast delivery today, so we’ll start a little earlier, and then I’ll have a little more time tonight to focus on my certification exam prep for Friday.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 666

Good morning, and welcome to the last day of the Western work week! Today is Friday, 10 January 2025… 2025, Bob, get the year right.

I may have shared earlier that my wife and I gifted each other with “smart rings” for Christmas this year. We both have the Oura 4, and we have the software to receive and interpret the data on our phones (I need to get Lisa a new phone… I have a feeling they will soon be going up in price).

We’ve primarily used the rings to monitor our sleep. Some nights we sleep pretty well, other nights not so much. It has a couple of metrics that I find interesting, as the ring can monitor my heartrate and a few other vitals.

I am fairly open about my health issues, and that leads to me having pretty serious thoughts at times about the topic of mortality. (I just realized that morality and mortality are just a letter away from each other). I make jokes about it, but part of my reality is I have high blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat, and anxiety/panic attacks – not a great combination of conditions. Part of how I approach my life is to try and keep my stress levels manageable so I don’t have another little bomb go off in my head. I had one small stroke back in 2008 and recovered fairly quickly, but let me tell you, it changed me. These days I try to practice moments of mindfulness and meditation to try and manage that part of my life, but some days are going to be better than others, right?

I hope I have another twenty years or more, but I’m also realistic. I’ve had friends who passed away far too young. I’m not young anymore, age 61, but I think I’ve got a few good years left. I am also keenly aware that I might get up out of my chair one day and hit the floor never to get back up again. I’m not trying to be morbid, I’m just accepting that reality.

Time to get this in the can.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 665

Good morning, and a happy Thursday to you all. Today is 9 January 2025.

It will be a while before writing “2025” becomes second nature. Knowing me, I’ll have it down on January 3, 2026.

Yesterday was a good day. My class went well, and on my first morning break, I noticed a small bipedal visitor in the living room… my granddaughter, saying “Pampa” when I rounded the corner.

I love being a grandfather.

Gracie and Evie had come over to check on us and pick up some things that they had left while they were here last Saturday before the storm. When she left around later yesterday morning, her car became stuck in a drift. Gracie is pretty resourceful, and she knew who to call to get her car pulled from the deep snow, shortly after she was able to get her car going, a neighbor with a snow plow came through to help folks out. Today we may very well be able to go into town. Dane went in yesterday, and I think Lisa is planning on going into the office this morning.

My commute is considerably shorter. My space heater is already on, and I am trying to get the sunroom up to a manageable temperature.

Last night I jumped online to do a little gaming with the guys, but we were missing a couple of critical team members, so we ended up chatting for awhile, and then calling it a night for gaming. I retreated to the living room to watch the Kansas-Arizona State game. Kansas was down by 6 at the half, then recovered to defeat the Sun Devils by 19. I could go back and watch that second half again.

I don’t have much more to share, really. I pop into my office and virtual classroom in another hour and a half, but between now and then, I get a little me time. My wife has been up longer than I, so that means my me time includes her, four dogs, and the 2005 version of “Pride and Prejudice”, one of my wife’s two favorite movies… the other stars Jimmy Stewart.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 664

Good morning. Happy Wednesday. It’s cold outside. Today is 8 January 2024.

We might be snowed in here for the fourth straight day. I think Lisa and Dane might try to get out. Dane’s car and my Flex have the best clearance, and they both have all-wheel drive. Being snowed in means we weren’t able to go to Cascada La Golondrina for our usual Tuesday night taco run, but Lisa recognized the problem, got out some masa to warm up, and we made our own tortillas last night. That tortilla press I picked up for her last year has been a wonderful kitchen addition.

My second day in the classroom went well. The engagement I’ve had this week might be the best I’ve experienced with this particular course. There have been some really great conversations.

I’m probably not going to dwell on this post too long. I have some work to get done before my class, so I need to hit the gear shift and make a hard 90 degree turn.

One other thing. The Oura 4 ring is very interesting. I just need to remember to put it back on after I shower (looks down at finger). I’ve received interesting feedback about my sleep habits as well as my cardiac health.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 663

Good morning, and a very happy Taco Tuesday to you all. It might be my first Taco Tuesday post of the new year, but Tuesdays will not change anytime soon. Today is 7 January 2025.

That also means that yesterday was January 6, the anniversary of one of the darkest days in US history. There were plenty of stories about it, and plenty of comments by folks with short memories claiming it was a peaceful protest. I watched the whole thing unfold on TV. It was not peaceful. People died. Anybody that claims it was peaceful is an absolute ********** idiot. It’s as if some of these morons only ever saw the Tucker Carlson cherry-picked cut of the events, edited at Putin Studios.

I started my first class of the new year yesterday, and the first day went very well. We had a good class, with abundant interaction and a few jokes to serve as the cherry on top of the parfait. Or banana split. They are both good.

Today, we’ll continue. I’ve got my little space heater already working to warm up the sunroom. I probably ought to get my diffuser/humidifier going this morning as well. The cold can take a lot of the moisture out of the air, and I don’t want to get freeze-dried.

Last night Lisa and I found some new episodes of “Outlander” on STARZ. They weren’t showing up last week, but for one reason or another showed up yesterday when I was nosing around. It’s a fun show, not for kids… lots of adult interaction, both violent and sexual.

OK, time for me to contemplate the rest of the day…

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 662

Good morning, and welcome to my first full-time working day of 2025. Today is January 6, 2025. I almost want to call it “Insurrection Day”.

Today will be a good day not to watch the news other than the weather.

We received about 16 inches of snow between Saturday and Sunday. It started Saturday afternoon with sleet, which ended up creating about a 1/4″ of ice, followed by the snow.

I went back into the sunroom first thing this morning and started up my little space heater to warm up my office. I have a security course starting at 9:00 AM Central Time. I also have some emails to crank out this morning, as it is a full work day. It’s funny. I took time off over the Christmas/New Year’s holiday break. The first week I was messed up with a pinched nerve in my back, and then the week of New Year’s, I was focused on that dreaded certification exam that did not go as well as expected – I got very close, but still came up a little short. I’ve already rescheduled my next attempt.

Other than the weather, the weekend was pretty uneventful. Lisa, Dane, and I went in Saturday morning and met Gracie and Evelyn for breakfast at First Watch. We picked up a few supplies to prepare for the coming storm, and then we tried to relax a little bit.

Relaxing is something I can’t do right now. I’m worried about some changes on the horizon with the economy and my work. My employer tends to react quickly based on real and perceived economic changes, and like many large businesses, they lay folks off. I worry that it could happen to me. That doesn’t do much to help my anxiety, let me tell ya.

OK, time for me to focus on what comes next today.

Coffee… breakfast… water… morning meds.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.