Hey, gang… future grandchildren, and other interested parties. It’s a Wednesday night in rural Douglas County, and Lisa and I are starting to think about calling it a night.

It’s been a long day. Dane left his headlights on, so he needed a ride into school this morning, and Lisa was kind enough to oblige. Gracie went in later. I won’t likely tell her for awhile but I’m very proud of the way she’s dealt with the the adversity of her knee surgery. Sure, she’s been a little more needy, but that’s part of the situation. I was probably a bit of a dick after my knee surgery back in 1982.

I got some more news today about travel plans and sessions. I’ve got some stuff to plan. Looks like we’re adding a day to the trip over to the British Isles, adding in a date on Great Britain prior to the little two-day stint over in Ireland.

I have a feeling that my partner is going to be a bit less anxious than I will be. But, this will be a wonderful test of my travel planning skills.

Main skill – call Microsoft Travel and let them take care of it.

More tomorrow, enough for now.

Peace y’all.

It’s a Tuesday night in rural Douglas County, and a light rain is falling, just enough to say that tomorrow night might nit be a great night to mow.

Colby is being a bit loudish, trying to get a rise out of Lucy and Freya, but that is the nature of dogs. I’m sitting here pondering what kind of sweet treat I can get for myself that won’t mess with my physical state (ketosis), but still satisfy that craving. I’m eyeballing the Quest S’mores bar pretty hard right now.

Had a few meetings today, and I think they all went pretty well. Satisfied a requirement for work by becoming an online proctor for our certification exams. Listened to some, got a little good news from my manager (always nice!) and I have some other labs to take a look at prior to our delivery next week.

I need to get some laundry done. I took some of my nice traditional button-front shirts into the cleaners. Sometimes linen can be a pain in the ass to iron, so rather than burn fifteen minutes of my personal time getting a shirt just right, I’m better off having somebody else do it.

Tomorrow is another day! And it is then that I will write more.

Peace y’all.

It’s Monday night, after a warm and blustery day in rural Douglas County. I’ve been getting stuff done in preparation for some pending classes. I sat in on a couple of meetings, pondered the nature of reality, and turned in a couple of expense reports.

Looks like our team is going to be very busy for the foreseeable future. I’m looking at our what is happening with our team, and it’s very exciting. Folks are hungry for training on Azure, and that is a very exciting prospect.

Gracie is improving, three days after her reconstructive knee surgery. The girl is strong. I hope she does a better job listening to her physical therapist than I did when I went through it. I was too aggressive. I wanted to get back to playing sports or running or whatever it was I was in to at the time.

Colby is being pretty good. He occasionally lets the “puppy” in him come out for a fifteen or twenty minute barkfest, but that’s just something dogs do from time to time.

I’m tired. I know Lisa got up several times in the night with Gracie, and then it just reaches a point where I can’t get back to sleep without her there. Sleep will be a welcome destination here shortly.

Peace y’all.

It’s right at ten o’clock on a Sunday night, Easter night, in rural Douglas County. We’re coordinating our week, with the constant barrage of meetings, lunches, and conference calls that both Lisa and I have to deal with this week, and still figure out which one of us is driving Gracie to her classes or doctor’s appointments this week.

I’m here this week. More travel is pending (more than I previously thought, to be frank!), and I’ve just trying to keep things together. Maybe I’m being a little bit over-dramatic. We’re dealing with stuff.

I’ve been away this past week, spending most of the week in Seattle. I try not to give away when I’m traveling until after it’s over, but to be completely honest, I sometimes feel that I give those things away. I need to be a little more cautious in my online posts so I don’t give too much away (not that I worry too much – Lisa is probably more handy with a household defense weapon than I am… gotta love those Iowa farmgirls).

Gracie is getting around pretty well just two days after her knee surgery. I remember my last knee operation, and they kept me in the hospital for three days after. Long enough that the morphine drip they had me on got a little traction. I remember going through withdrawal after that little episode… and the end result is a guy that will request non-opiate painkillers next time I have to get a few more scars.

Lisa’s tired, I’m tired, and Gracie is hopefully down for the night.

Peace y’all.

I typed that day counter, and found myself wondering whether that number is correct.

I’ll look it up… later. Tomorrow is Easter. All of the kids are home. Bonnie is downstairs, as is Dane, and Gracie is now making the sunroom hers as she recovers from her reconstructive knee surgery.

I’ve been there. I don’t envy her recovery. Granted, huge steps have been taken since I got the big zipper on my left knee some thirty five years ago… maybe thirty six? Wow. Yeah, I hope things have gotten better.

Lisa and I are catching up on “Star Trek Discovery”. It’s hard to keep the two of us away from a Star Trek series.

Oh, and I love pistachios. We’re tearing through a bag of pistachios right now. I love the little nutty wonders. A present you unwrap with your teeth.

Alrighty, then. I’m going to get this wrapped up with the prequisite number of words so I can post this sucker and drag my old, saggy ass off to bed.

I like the dreamers. Gene Roddenberry. Rod Serling. George Lucas. Stephen Spielberg. I like the visions of what they thought they future might be. Other visionaries take me to other places, distant places, and I enjoy every journey. Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore, Patrick Rothfuss, Jim Butcher, Kevin Hearne.

I am grateful for the inspiration.

Good night.

Peace y’all.

Hey, gang, it’s me, the old fat grampa you know and love.

Well, a guy can hope anyway.

It’s Friday night. Gracie has had her knee surgery. Bonnie had her honors banquet. I’m now sitting here enjoying about three finger of a Glenlivet that’s old enough to vote, and just trying to crank out my obligatory two hundred words before the weariness of the day catches up with me.

I started off early, getting packed up and checked out of my hotel at 6:30 or so. I will stay at that hotel again. I was at the Aloft right there close to camps, and I was happy with the service and the location.

I’m tired. And sore. Those airplane seats are not intended for a man my size. I know I’ll get status back in time, but man, I really want to get back in to the more comfortable seats in the front of the plane.

Tomorrow will be a work day. A jeans and flannel shirt kind of day. I’ve got plenty to do, though. I need to get my smoker cleaned out. There are brisket and pork loins out there that need my special attention.

I’ve got the steel wheels set aside to grind off the crap built up on the inside of my smoker.

Peace y’all.

I have so much to be thankful for, so I’m going to digress on that little subject tonight. Yeah, I know, I’ve done it before, but some things you can never really stop being thankful for… we’re on the gratitude train, and it’s on the express track all the way to happy town.

God, that was a stupid thing to write.

Hey, I’m thankful that I can look back at things that I’ve written and recognize when I’ve written crap.

I’m thankful that I don’t butcher my scalp when I get up and shave my head in the morning.

I’m filled with gratitude that I’m not the worst guitar player on the face of the planet. No where near the best, but at least a notch or four about the worst.

I’m thankful for some more important things to. The way my folks raised me. The way my wife continues to raise (and tolerate) me. The way my kids look at me and feel like they’ve down well overcoming my parenting style. (OK, my kids are great. I credit my wife. Only thing I should get credit for is knowing when to get out of their way and let them figure some things out on their own).

I’m thankful for my dogs.

I’m also thankful that I have been able to keep this blog going for as long as I have with a pretty consistent attendance by yours truly.

Peace y’all.

OK, normally I start off with something like, “It was a quiet Wednesday night in rural Douglas County” or “The weather went through all four season in rural Douglas County”. Tonight, I can’t say that.

I’m not in Douglas County. Oh, I’ll be back soon enough. Reality, at least my reality, requires a little bit of business travel, and tonight I’m not in Lawrence, or even in the same time zone. (Truth be known, by the time you read this, I likely will be back in the 66040-47 zip codes, but that’s really nobody’s business)

Although it’s within the realm of possibility that my internet stalker is taking note of my blog and plotting some sort of imaginary trial against all of the Liberals that have offended him over the years. Hi Kevin!

It’s been a pretty standard day around here, though. Answering a question here and there, trying to connect person one with person two. Pretty standard fare for Azure Technical Training team. Course and lab timings, “where can I find these lab files”, and when can the Bobster be available to teach a class in Atlanta, or a local class in Kansas City, or “How do you feel about Frankfurt in June?”.

I love my life. I am a blessed man. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the support of my wife and kids. If any of them had told me to back off one way or the other, I would’ve. I got pushed instead, and for that I am most grateful. I hope they get the same support from their spouses and family when the time comes. Until that time, there’s me, and I’m going to be there to look out for my wife and my kids.

It’s a “Papa Bear” kind of thing.

Peace y’all.

Tuesday night in rural Douglas County, and I am grateful for the safe return of my wife from her trip back east.

Won’t be long til I’m the one packed up and heading out the door for another trip. Gladly, I’ve already made arrangements to have dinner with some of my internal friends (ok, that could sound weird… internal friends meaning friends of mine that are longtime internal full-time employees at Microsoft).

It feels good to be on board. I spent a long time on the outside looking in , and now, here I am, almost coming up on two months with the mothership.

I am a happy man. So many things are going right in my life, and very reassuring when my wife, my kids, my friends, and my professional peers reassure me that I belong. I’ve worked hard to get where I’m at. For me, it was a meandering journey, when for so many their careers have been the shortest distance between two points. My career path more closely resembles my golf game. When I pay for a round of golf, I’m there to admire the beauty of the course… every square inch of it.

That’s enough for now. A little family time, then an early night. Got to get up early in morning.

Peace y’all.

I hope I got that date right… anyway! It’s the fifteenth day of April, a day that will live in infamy. Hey, in the US, most April 15ths are lived in infamy.

I’m jut chillingout here at the house, wondering if I can crank out a complete 200 word blog entry in under seven minutes, becaue, what the hell, I’ve never tried to do that before.

I have tried to crank out a blog entry while I needed to go pee… I have to admit I think I got up before I finished that particular missive. I’ll try to do better next time.

Gracie is out. Dane is downstairs, Bonnie is in at her schol hall, and Lisa is in Baltimore.

There has been some discussion as to who was going to pick Lisa up at te airport tomorrow, but I think it;s come down to Gracie. She was originally going to perform the pick up, then chaos, and now we’re back to Gracie picking her up.

I’ll worry about making dinner and packing for my trip very early Wednesday morning.

Almost there. Four minutes left, but I only had to worry about gettin another twenty words in, and I think I’m about to breach that plateau.

Peace y’all.