Evie Day 708

Good morning, and a very happy end to the Western work week to you all. Today is Friday, 21 February 2025.

OK… a recap.

Dismissed from the job on January 31, and after a brief bout of depression, got to work. Right now I have some pretty good prospects, with another meeting today to discuss some short-term gig work for a training company. I have a video to shoot for another learning products team and three other training firms that are interested in my experience and services. Things are looking up.

Today I’m expecting a delivery of some new hardware that I’ll implement as part of the presentation/video production setup I’m putting together. I will be curious to see what we can do to integrate my video recording software (too many packages!) and my chromakey backdrop. After that, we’ll get the teleprompter configured as well. This can be fun. It can be a pain in the back, too, but let’s focus on the positives for now. Shall we?

I may have a visitor later today… I always look forward to seeing my granddaughter.

Gaming with the guys on Sunday… one of our buddies won’t be available as he is heading off to Hawaii. I hope he doesn’t have any problems with air travel. That seems to be a bit of a contentious industry these days.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 707

Good morning, and a very happy Thursday to you all. Today is 20 February 2025.

Yesterday was a good day! I had some really positive interaction with a prospective employer/project lead for an education products company. We’re talking about making some training videos, and things are continuing to move in the right direction. I have to record a training demo for them, and with some new hardware arriving tomorrow and Saturday, I should be in a pretty good place to record with or without a chromakey backdrop – a “green screen”.

Last night I was able to get together with a couple of the guys to talk about our game landscape. We were small on numbers, and all things considered, that was probably a good thing – our virtual tabletop software was not very cooperative, running exceptionally slow.

Today I have some running around to do. I need to drop by the unemployment office to make sure everything is set up right there, and I need to run into Shawnee (a Kansas City suburb) to pick up an order from Lowes.

Other than that, not a whole lot going on. Time to make some coffee and a little breakfast.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 706

Good morning, and a very happy hump day to you all. Today is Wednesday, 19 February 2025.

Tacos were good last night. The Jayhawk ladies were good, too. The Jayhawk men… well, I think that dumpster fire they started last night is still burning in Provo. One of the worst losses I have ever witnessed as a Kansas fan.

Today I have some work to follow up on. I have a meeting later this morning with a company that creates training videos, and with some of the new studio hardware I have in place, this could be a pretty productive meeting. I also received a contract from a company to perform training… but the daily rate was not what we discussed, so I need to alter that before I sign it and send it back.

Tonight, there will be some slaying with the guys… I hope. I love getting together with the guys, but there have been some challenges lately, between work, family, and health issues. We’re not kids anymore, we’re getting older, and we have more responsibilities now than when we started gaming in our teens and twenties.

Other than that, I’ve got plenty to keep me focused today.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 705

Good morning, and a very happy Taco Tuesday to you all. Today is 18 February 2025.

Well, yesterday was a nice day. I got a few things done around here, including a small panic attack which compelled me to move my certification exam out a week. I don’t know why I do it sometimes, but I do it.

I was able to organize a couple of things yesterday. I looked at my workspace, and the computers sitting there that I have t ship back to the mothership… although they aren’t my employer anymore, I still call them that. There’s going to be a little vacancy there until I get a new system for presenting and recording in place. I’m looking at a couple of systems, and the financing shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll try to get the most bang for my buck as I shop.

I picked up some roses for Lisa, as well as a card. One of the nice things about having a wedding anniversary three days after Valentine’s Day is that candy and flowers tend to be on-sale. Life is a series of minor victories.

Gracie and Evelyn came over for dinner last evening, and Dane was already here at the house. We grilled some nice steaks and Lisa whipped up (literally!) a wonderful dessert. I also picked up a couple of token gifts… reminders of where we started back in February of ’96, and where we are today. Evelyn was feeling better, not much cough, and she was an absolute delight, but she started getting tired shortly after dinner, so it the visit had to reach a ceremonious ending, with a cute little girl blowing kisses and saying, “I love you, Grampa!” and “I love you, Gramma!”.
That’s the best part of this job.

The snow came down a bit last night, and we’re expected to see some more today.

Tonight, Kansas plays at BYU late. The way the road games have gone for Kansas, I’m not optimistic.

But at least I’ll have tacos…

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

peace y’all.

Evie Day 704

Good morning, and a happy Monday to you all. Today is… a special day.

In 1962, my mom and dad were married during a heavy snowstorm in Larchwood, Iowa. They were snowed in, but everyone was safe, and memories of the day are still talked about at family gatherings.

In 1996, Lisa and I were married at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Hall in Wichita, Kansas. There was barbecue.

Today Lisa and I are celebrating 29 years of marriage. I have a couple of things I’ll gift to her a little later today.

We’re expecting more snow later… yay!

Let’s see, a weekend recap. Kansas can’t get their act together on the road and lose to Utah Saturday night. They have another road game tomorrow night at BYU, and I would not be surprised if KU finds a way to lose that game, too. Great players, but sometimes they just don’t play well as a team.

Evie was under the weather this last weekend. She has some chest congestion and is not on some meds to help out with that.

I was able to join the guys around the virtual tabletop yesterday… it wasn’t the game we thought we were going to play, but we were able to pickup the Wednesday night game and finish a chapter in that campaign.

Today, I need to study and take care of a few things around here.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 701

Good morning, and happy Valentine’s Day to you all. Today is 14 February 2025.

I had a dickens of a time looking up my days this morning. I was a little hung up on the date and I kept putting in February instead of September, the 14th instead of the 16th. I got it right, but I did a little turn on the dance floor with my brain.

Today will be a busier day for me, with three phone calls about work-related opportunities. The first is with some gentleman in the UK – I love working in Europe when the opportunity presents itself. I think I’ve delivered in Europe 9 or 10 times in my career, mostly in Germany, but there have been jaunts to London, Manchester, Dublin, and Galway. You never know.

The second call is a bit nebulous – I think it’s somebody selling franchises.

The third call is the one I am most excited about – a larger training company that creates their own video content. This one could be a more interesting transition. I was an internal referral, so that can’t hurt.

Sometime this morning, I will be on the receiving end of a visit by my daughter and the cutest granddaughter in the world, with a little Valentine’s Day kiss for grampa.

Lisa made cinnamon rolls first thing this morning. I am a blessed man.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 700

Good morning, and a very happy Thursday to you all. Today is 13 February 2025.

I probably ought to pick my wife up a Valentine’s Day card… then wait for the good stuff to go on sale, and pick it up for our anniversary on Monday.

Important dates… today is Evelyn’s 700th day in the world. Monday would be my mom and dad’s 63rd wedding anniversary. Lisa and I were married on the same day as my folks, so we’ll be celebrating 29 years of marriage on Monday as well. Lisa is an incredible woman, putting up with me as long as she has.

I jumped online last night about 8 o’clock to join the guys in a little virtual tabletop. We slayed some stuff then thought better about proceeding – we know there’s a big,bad, evil guy in the next room, so deferring until Sunday or Wednesday when we have a bigger group is not an unwise decision.

I have my a conversation with a potential employer today. I looked over what they are looking for, and I’m not it. They need somebody with more Sharepoint experience. I have two more conversations tomorrow, and I will admit that I”m pretty excited about one of them, making educational videos for a larger business-education group.

It’s time to make a pot of coffee. I think I’ll skip the toast this morning and go for a bowl of yogurt with a couple of scoops of granola in it, maybe half a handful of blueberries in there as well.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 699

Good morning, and a very happy Wednesday to you. Today is 12 February, 2025.

And the snow is coming down… we are currently in a winter storm watch, with an expected snowfall of four to six inches. I looked outside and it appears we have a half an inch on the ground already. I’m glad I prodded Dane into bringing in some extra firewood yesterday in anticipation of the colder weather. Lisa and Dane will work from home today, as the university has closed the main campus with the winter storm.

I ordered some takeout from the Mexican restaurant on the edge of town, Cascada la Golondrina. I ordered a little extra in anticipation of the storm. We won’t have to scramble much for lunch.

Kansas played Colorado last night in college basketball, and the game went about as well as I thought it might. Colorado put up a good fight, but they’re down this year. Kansas brought home a twelve-point victory.

I did get to spend some time yesterday morning watching my granddaughter. She was in a bit of a mood for a couple of hours. Oh well, that’s going to happen at her age. She turns two next month, and she turns 700 days tomorrow.

I’ll be online gaming with the guys tonight. Other than that, not much else to add.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 698

Good morning, and a very happy Taco Tuesday to you all. Today is 11 February 2025.

Tacos for dinner. That gives me something else I can look forward to today. But first things first…

After I finish writing my blog, I will make a pot of coffee and see if there is any corned beef hash leftover from Sunday morning’s breakfast. If so, that’s a great start to the day. If not, I’ll throw a couple of bread slices into the toaster oven and have peanut butter toast to start the day. I’ve always liked the way peanut butter and coffee go together.

After that, my day begins in earnest, as I will make the 18-mile jaunt to my daughter’s house, and I will spend a few hours watching my granddaughter while Gracie takes care of some personal business. Muahahaha! I get to be Grampa!

Reminder to myself – reschedule the oil change on the Flex.

Tonight, the KU Jayhawks will host the Colorado Buffalos at Allen Fieldhouse. On paper, Kansas should have a pretty easy game of it. In reality, Kansas will win, but I fear that the game will be way too close for comfort.

Other than that, not much else is going on.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 697

Good morning, and a happy Monday to you all. Today it is 10 February 2025.

The Chiefs lost the Super Bowl, and I’m OK with that. It’s not as if the Chiefs did much to deserve a win – the quarterback isn’t going to complete many passes while he’s on his back.

I need to block out my week. I’m going to retake my certification exam next week (I missed it by a little bit last Friday), so I’m going to lock down, go back through the course labs, and then sort through the practice exam questions again. Hopefully, I’ll be able to glean enough info so I can get over the hump. Then I’ll have the entire security suite in my certification list… which will last until the end of May because rather than upgrading an existing cert, the old cert is simply being replaced – I normally would have been rolled into the new cert, as it moves from the 400 to the 401 revision, but it appears as if that is not going to be the case with this revision. A bit of a bummer.

Tomorrow I get to watch my granddaughter for a few hours while Gracie takes care of her business. The upside about having time on my hands is that I get to hang out with my kids more and my granddaughter even more.

Other than that, not a whole lot to report. Lisa and I are keeping an eye on what is happening at the federal level – she has some work with the National Institute of Health that is a bit up in the air right now. but that’s the case everywhere. There’s so much chaos and disorder. It is hard to see anything positive coming out of the mess that has been created. The common man will take it on the chin, and the wealthiest man in the world will get his tax breaks.

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

Peace y’all.