Here I am thinking about my online Python class, and then I start writing, and thinking to myself, “Python? I ought to be taking a class on typing instead!”.

I am not the most digitally dexterous when it comes to my typing abilities. I tried. I took typing for almost a week in high school. I think I lasted until the last day before withdrawal taking a typing class in college. The reality is that spending some time working on that skill will likely improve my productivity… so there’s that.

So, add to to the list. Hey, if a guy my age is going to keep moving towards self-actualization, I’m going to have to keep on learning. Maybe spending twenty minutes a day working on my keyboarding skills is another step in the right (write?) direction.

I head back to the eye doctor tomorrow for an annual appointment. TIme for another mysterious snap shot of my optic nerve… that always sems to be the highlight of my checkup. My optic nerve is unusually large, which explains some of the things I see that others don’t. Yeah, I know, it’s kind of weird.

Anyway, that’s a day. I’m still not feeling so hot, but I’m hoping that my vitamin c consumption and the over-the-counter medications can get me over the hump with this dose of whatever I’ve got.

I’ll get over it. I always do. I better… I’m not ready for the alternative.

Peace y’all.

It’s been a rather quiet April Fool’s Day on this first day of the fourth month, but I’m not complaining about the lack of pranks.

I had a couple of calls today, stepping in on one overseas consult as well as a first time communique with my direct report. I think both went ok.

Lisa and Dane have been under the weather for the past few days, and I think the crud they’ve been afflicted with has worked its way around to me. My nose is now a magical refilling snot receptacle. I’m going to keep choking down as much Vitamin C as possible to try and beat this thing into submission. I have a feeling, though, that this thing is going to drag me down for a few days.

I have some deadlines I have to deal with in the coming weeks, so I need to lock down and study to get some of these pending exams out of the way.

My nose is full of more snot again. Ugh. I need to get into the night time stuff here after bit or else I’m going to have a terrible night.

And I look down, and I have eight more words to write to get to 200.

Peace y’all.

“I have a feeling the doctor isn’t going to make it through to the end of the movie. “
And that’s the way Sunday night is going.

I said I’d take a little more time to get some writing done today, and here we are. I only wrote seventy or eighty words this morning, trying to make up for yesterday’s lack of an entry. But, I had a very good reason. Robert, my best friend throughout high school and well into college, was passing through the area, and we spent considerable time catching up. There may have been whisky involved… ok, maybe there may have been more than a little bit involved.

I backed off the diet for today, with my wife making fresh cinnamon rolls and an incredible lemon cake last night. That cake might’ve been the best non-chocolate, non-carrot cake I’ve ever had, and that’s saying something because I really, really love chocolate cake and carrot cake.

Tomorrow I have a couple of important interactions with the world, the first a conference call with another part of the world, and the other with my new direct report manager. I’ve got a few managers over me, and first and foremost is my direct report. Everything is going to be fine. I shouldn’t worry, but I guess I’m conditioned a particular way. It’s our first meeting, and I’ve already turned in some notes I wasn’t asked to put together, so hopefully I’m ahead of the game on the front.

The Final Four is set now after this afternoon’s games. Texas Tech and Virginia punched their tickets yesterday, and today it was Auburn and Michigan State. In as much as I’m no fan of Auburn’s coach, Auburn may have pulled off the most impressive suite of wins I’ve ever witnessed as a basketball fan, knocking off Kansas, North Carolina, and Duke in consecutive games. That’s pretty darn epic no matter who you ask.

Anyway, I’ve reached my writing goal for yesterday and today, so I’m going to call this good, and wrap it up, and just chill out and get ready for the day ahead.

One thing I’ll get down before I close. I am very blessed with the family that I have. My kids are wonders. They are all good people, and they consistently make good decisions. I have a better family than I likely deserve. Thank you, God.

Peace y’all.

Didn’t write my blog yesterday. My best friend from high school came to visit. I’ll write more about it later. In the meantime, cinnamon rolls and coffee.

I owe you another 160 words or so, and I’ll make good on that later today.

Peace y’all.

It’s been a Friday here in rural Douglas County, in a place some maps call Noria. It’s been a wet, thunder & lightning filled day. One of the strikes was close enough to kick some of the utilities out temporarily, and some of the outages have affected out internet access here, and that’s always a cause for consternation.

But, that didn’t keep me from having a productive day. I had a couple of meetings, got some things worked out with a couple of classes I’m teaching the end of the month, and worked a few other things out for work. With some of the internet stuff going on, it was best for me to head into town and find a quiet corner of the world to get some more work done, and there are a few options for that in a college town.

This weekend an old buddy from high school is coming to visit. I look forward to seeing him. Already picked up some steaks for the occasion, and we’ll get the rest of the meal sorted out tomorrow.

I’m kind of watching basketball, too. Not really into the NCAA tournament now that the Jayhawks are out of it. Some of the big name teams are already out of it, and there are some teams moving on that I really couldn’t care less about… usually coached by guys that I just don’t have a great deal of respect for.

Anyway, that’s enough for tonight.

Peace y’all.

Wow. It’s a Thursday afternoon, and the storm is waxing outside the window to the office. It’s a lightning filled afternoon in rural Douglas County, and the last bolt of lightning was right outside the window. Wow, that one was really close.

I’ve got an online meeting here in a few minutes, but I’ll get this little entry pounded out in just a moment or two.

Had some news from work today. Due to an oversight, my name was put on an account, but another person got the invite to work on the call with the account, so I got flipped to another account. No big deal, really, but now rather than planning travel to the continent, I’m going to the isles instead. I look forward to the journey.

It’s opening day for the Royals, today. If this storm keeps moving east, I have a feeling there may not be a complete game at the K. Dane is likely to be a little peeved about having to take the garbage down to the end of the road as well with the rain… well, looky there, the rain has subsided quite a bit. Still , lots of thunder in the background.

That’s all for now… meeting soon.

Peace y’all.

It’s a Wednesday night, and I’m tired. I’m watching old episodes of Star Trek, and Lisa is working on something (probably something important… it usually is). I’ve had a good day, meeting with clients, and preparing to take on some classes next month.

Reminder: I need to follow up with that French company.

OK, so meanwhile, yeah, it’s been a pretty good day. I feel pretty good about the direction things are heading in, and I’ve done a pretty fair job staying on top of the tasks headed my way.

I need to stay on top of my communications. I’m going to have more and more emails inbound, and I need to stay on top of keeping things organized.

And then I get back to writing, I have to confess, tonight is one of those nights that I’m just not feeling it.

Tonight I made dinner, and basic spaghetti sauce, but I subbed out the pasta for spiralized zucchini. I have to admit, if a guy can’t have pasta, subbing in some spiralized veggies isn’t a bad option, and zucchini has such a neutral taste, it can go pretty well with just about any sauce. It’s not the same, but it works on my diet.

Tomorrow, back to bacon and eggs for breakfast. I’ll zave my zero carb sawdust bagel for Friday.

That’s all for now.

Peace y’all.

It’s a beautiful spring evening in rural Douglas County, and I’ve been hacking people off on social media.

Somebody I know from way back when reposted a ridiculous internet rant about counties and acres and square miles of land that was populated by Trump supporters. Yes, the post was accurate when I came to the total number of counties and the square miles of land controlled by the ranchers and the farmers that by and large voted for Trump.

Land ownership doesn’t effect the vote. You don’t have to own land to vote. You don’t have to be a farmer or a rancher or own five acres out in the country. You have to be an American citizen, over the age of 18. In some locales, you can’t be a felon. But it comes down to one person, one vote. People need to realize that there are some parts of the country where the population density is significantly higher than LaBette County, Kansas. I’d venture to say quite a few. LaBette County has a population of between 20,000 and 21,000. It covers 653 square miles. That means a population density of about 32 people per square miles. People want to compare that to Manhattan Island? Cook County, Illinois with a population of 5.2 million?
OK, to be fair… Cook County in Illinois is bigger than LaBette County, by about a thousand square miles, leading to a population density of about 3,180 people per square mile – almost 100 times the population density of LaBette County. I guess Rush Street gets quite a draw.

Enough for now, I need to get off to bed.

Peace y’all.

It’s a Monday night, clearing skies after a gray day. Lisa is home safely from her induction ceremony into an honorary organization for professionals in her field. She’s on the phone with Bonnie right now, otherwise I would ask her and get it clarified. American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. She’s a Fellow of the organization now.

So, yeah, I’m proud of my wife.

I spent some time coordinating some things with my new manager. Technically, up until last week, I was answering to managers one or two steps above her, but now we’re getting things settled in, including getting some meetings scheduled to clarify goals and metrics.

Coordinated a little more with my old best friend from high school. Rob is coming in from Utah for a few days to see some friends from Emporia State as well as spending part of the weekend with me here. We traded a couple of jokes online earlier today in anticipation of the weekend.

Other than that, I’m hanging out and reading, going over curriculum, and taking some additional courses on some more advanced content relating to Azure.

I’m going to wrap this up. I might make it an early night tonight.

More tomorrow…

Peace y’all.

OK, it’s a Sunday evening in rural Douglas County. Lisa is traveling on business, and I’m just kind of hanging out with the dogs, chilling out and reflecting on the day.

On the historical side, the Attorney General provided a four-page summary of the Mueller Report to members of Congress. I’m no genius, but it seemed to me that there were no real conclusions, and that the Mueller team kicked the can down the road… leaving an opportunity for the full report to be released to the public.

Over the next few days, there is going to be a lot of assumptions and false conclusions. I have no idea what’s going to happen other than the investigation taking the next step, that being Congressional hearings in the House.

I’m not real clear about the prosecutorial powers of the Robert Mueller as a special investigator. That’ll be clearly defined in the historical context when my grandkids (you?) read about this some time in the future.

Meanwhile, here in this spot on the time/space continuum, folks on one side of the debate are screaming victory and vindication, while folks on the other side are pointing out that this is no exoneration. I have to be somewhere in the middle… waiting for the next page to turn, because in as much there were no additional charges levied, there was also nothing in the summary that exonerated Trump or any member of his family.

The reality is that this whole thing is far from over.

Peace y’all.