Evie Day 453

Good morning, and a very happy Taco Tuesday to you all. Today is 11 June 2024.

Thanks for reading my blog. Seriously.

I get up on my work days and take a few minutes to write a few things down. Sometimes my thoughts wander into politics, and sometimes they wander into more mundane topics, but that’s kind of the way my stream of thought works. Writing is a habit for me – just like incessant barking for no reason is my dog Lucy’s habit – and I’ll never be perfect, but I think it’s important to cultivate habits. Starting the day by trying to drain the emotional pipes might not be such a bad idea.

On the news right now there is a story about four college instructors from Cornell College (the one in Iowa) getting stabbed in China. No fatalities, but still.

I have studying to do today. I was going to check my schedule this morning, but my phone was due for an update, so the update has been applied, and I have yet to unlock my phone to take a look at my schedule… so I unlocked my phone and I see some pretty good study blocks. There is only one real meeting I must attend at 6:00 PM… some days it’s a little different living in a different time zone than most of the company.

Odin has decided to take up residence under my left elbow, and this is not a very comfortable typing position. He must’ve empathized, and he has now moved to the leg rest, his chin resting just below my right knee.

I do love my pooches. I was going through some old pics yesterday, and one from ten years ago popped up, with little Freya in my lap. I miss that girl. Just as I type that one of her girls replaced Odin on the legrest. It’s just funny sometimes.

OK, it might be time to organize my study materials for the day and get my breakfast sorted. It will likely be peanut butter on toast, maybe a touch of artificial honey, and a cup of coffee.

Lucy is now pawing at my leg, trying to get me to lower my leg rest so she can assume her rightful place.

OK, that’s enough for now. Once again, thanks for giving my blog a look. Feel free to comment. I generally approve all of the comments, and I have a filter set up to catch the spam.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 452

Good morning, and a happy beginning of the work week for most of you (except for my friend Dan, who always works on the weekends and Wednesday is usually his Friday). Today is 10 June 2024.

I am bringing a little needed structure into my life this week. I’ve got another certification exam later this week, so I need to create study blocks that fit into my current meeting schedule and try to sneak in sessions with every lab in a course that I couldn’t get to a couple of weeks ago. I need to punch this one out on Thursday, it’s been a goal of mine for some time.

I also need to spend a little quality time in front of the microphone today to record a short bit for work.

We had a good weekend around here, with intermittent rain. Lisa and I both anticipated breaking out the new Father’s Day present she got for me, so the old Woodfire grill/smoker got a final run with a pork shoulder on Friday afternoon and on Saturday night, we broke out the new Woodfire Grill Pro Connect XL with WiFi and Bluetooth. I love looking down, opening up the app on my phone, and checking the internal temperature of whatever I have going on the grill. I received a little gift from work, the intent was “spend this money on a good time with the family”. I picked up some really nice steaks, plugged in the temperature sensors, and hit a perfect center of 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Medium-rare would be 130-135, but 140 was on the low end of medium… and those steaks were beautiful… no leftovers.

I’m going to love this new grill.

Sunday I got together with the guys for a while, and we worked on some characters for a new campaign. The intent is that this will be a little more of a self-serving group rather than a group of good guys. It’s been a long time since I played a thug, but we’ll give it a shot. This new character is just hired muscle, and from his stats and skill blocks, he appears to be rather formidable. We’ll see how this goes.

Well, the studying for this upcoming exam is not going to take care of itself.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 449

Good morning, and happy Friday! Today is 7 June 2024.

I’ve got a meal to plan.

My manager reached out to the West Coast team (I’m the only guy in Kansas, therefore West Coast), and let us know we can spend some money on a good time, just send him the picture. I have this new grill that arrived and I think the stand for it arrived yesterday. This might be an opportunity to break in the new grill and spend some money on really good protein to get the unit christened. Filets will be an option to consider, and I might check on the availability of the Wagyu.

I had the last day of my security class yesterday, and then two other meetings after the class was over. I gave a short presentation on our security training options. I need to spend a little time with Powerpoint Live – I’m not used to working with a shared presentation, as I normally own the show. The slide advance for Powerpoint Live was not where I thought it was, so there’s a learning opportunity. It went alright, I kept things fairly upbeat and informative for my allotted time, and the real-time feedback was positive.

Soon after I finished that meeting, I sat down with some leftover pizza on the couch with my fair bride, and we flipped on the first game of the NBA Finals. Boston is going to be a tough match for Dallas, especially now that the Celtics 7’3″ shooting guard is healthy.

It’s Friday, which means it is garbage day. I’ll get the trash out to the corner and clear that off of my morning to-do list. I’ve got some emails to get out, and short note to my manager, and some studying to get done. Lunch might be a chance for a little adventure.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 448

Good morning, and a happy 80th anniversary of D-Day to you all. Today is Thursday, 6 June 2024.

80 years. Amazing.

In Normandy, France, President Biden is about to speak at the 80th anniversary gathering in remembrance. The WWII veterans that are they were teenagers when they landed on those 5 beaches, and now the youngest among them is likely 97 or 98 years old.

The greatest generation. They defeated the fascist regimes of the Axis powers. They put their lives on the line for everybody else. I’ve heard tales of these heroes being demeaned as “suckers and losers” who didn’t ask, “What’s in it for me?”. All that talk does is remind me that some folks just don’t get it and probably just need to go to a corner, sit down, and shut up.

I guess it reflects on the idea of “duty”. There are some things we do for others, and sometimes those things require sacrifice. I have some soldiers in my family history, men who fought during the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. I remember my grandfather on my dad’s side telling me of his challenges enlisting to fight in WWI while being deaf in one ear… they wouldn’t take him the first time, but they took him in the fall of 1918 just as the war drew to an end. He was on his way to basic training when the Armistice was signed. My great-uncle fought in Korea, my uncle Dave served in the Navy between Korea and Vietnam, and several other uncles volunteered during Vietnam. Both of my brothers stepped up, and I tried myself, but in 1985 I couldn’t pass the physical because of a knee operation and a history of cancer.

I am thankful for my friends who stepped up. Friends, roommates, classmates… so many that recognized a need to serve.

Words really can’t convey what I am feeling right now. The folks we recognize today changed the world for the better.

We should all be grateful.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 447

Good morning, and a very happy Wednesday to you all. Today is 5 June 20024.

Last night, there were tacos.

Today, I’ll return to my virtual classroom for the third day of my class. This class is going well, and I think my attendees are getting out of the course what they need. We covered a lot of content, shared some laughs, and got some stuff done.

One aspect of this particular course that has been addressed in the last couple of revisions is the lack of available lab time. The labs we go through for this course take a good hour to get through, and some take considerably longer. In previous versions of the course, we might have one hour to work through two one-hour-plus labs, and that issue has been addressed, and I am thankful.

I have some other labs for another course I need to work through for some upcoming deliveries. Those labs just recently came back online, so I’m hoping to get through them in the next week or so.

Tonight… I’m not sure. We usually have a game session with the guys on Wednesday and Sunday, but I haven’t checked my messages yet. Wednesday has been a little bit of a mixed bag, with some rotation between the three gamemasters. Whatever happens, I’ll be prepared.

Looks like we’ll have some better weather today. I need to get back on the mower this weekend. The rain and the intermittent sunshine have a strange effect on the prairie grass here in Kansas.

In the meantime…

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 446

Good morning, and I wish you a very happy Taco Tuesday. Today is 4 June 2024.

Woke up and started to get some work done. I checked my phone at 5:45 AM, and saw a teammate was looking for a little coverage on a Monday next month. I remembered that I will be teaching a blended learning course with sessions on Tuesday through Friday every week, so I pinged him back at 5:46 to let him know.

The workday can start early around these parts.

Today looks to be another wet day, with scattered showers throughout the day, and maybe a bit of the harder stuff later this afternoon. I judge storms by how many dogs end up on my lap… I might have a three-dog afternoon.

Tonight, there will be tacos.

My first day with the new class went pretty well. The class I have this week is often taught by two instructors, but I’m solo this week. I welcome the workload. One thing I have learned is that from time to time delivery styles can come into conflict – not very often, but it can happen. As a guy that is neurodivergent, I need that structure in my day. I love having milestones throughout a delivery, and it makes it easier for me to identify where we are collectively in the curriculum. If I were asked to deliver a course with some general concepts, my first step would be to create an outline and stick to it so I don’t wander off into the weeds chasing bunnies.

I received an email yesterday. Our training team will be gathering in September somewhere in North America. A location hasn’t been decided upon, but I’m confident it will be a fun place for the tribes to gather. I should kick a reply back to my manager to volunteer to help in some capacity.

OK, time for me to think about my day and get some coffee brewing.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 445

Good morning, and I wish you all a great first day to your work week. Today is 3 June 2024.

Monday…

There’s another trial back in the news. For the first time in US history, the son of a sitting president will face trial on charges relating to his purchase of a gun. The investigation has been going on since 2018, and apparently, there is still the possibility of a plea deal, but if found guilty, Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison.

The other thing that caught my ear… over the weekend Trump did an interview where he claimed he never said “Lock her up”. That was followed by an edited montage of Trump saying “Lock her up” during his 2016 rallies. It’s kind of amazing how he forgets things. Someone might question his memory at a minimum, or his honesty.

It was damp around here all weekend. It never really dried up enough to get on the mower. I might find myself having to mow some spots in the early evenings after I’m done with my class.

I’ll be returning to my virtual classroom in another couple of hours. This week, I’m back on the security track, digging into practical cloud security feature implementations. Today we’ll be focused on identity services. After I get done with my course today, I’ll have a bit to record for a team that I am on. Time to put these vocal chords to work!

It’s about time for me to explore my breakfast options, and get a pot of coffee brewing. Lisa made a great breakfast casserole yesterday, and I’m hoping there are some leftovers. The coffee will be my usual, medium-roast Tanzanian Peaberry.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 442

Good morning, and a happy last day of the work week to most of you… Normally my garbage pickup is on Friday, but during Memorial Day week, it gets pushed to Saturday, so I know those folks have another day after this one. Today is 31 May 2024.

It was an interesting day yesterday. I handled my 8:00 AM presentation pretty well, and then got focused on studying for my certification exam that might happen – Schroedinger’s Certification Exam – if I pass, it happened, if I don’t, it didn’t. I’ll get a few good hours of study in before it is scheduled to happen.

There was other news yesterday, and it was historical – for the first time in US history, a former president was convicted of a felony charge, and in Trump’s case, it was 34 felony charges. I’m sure we’ll hear from him later about how it was a rigged case with a rigged jury and a rigged judge, but it doesn’t change the fact that he was found guilty by a jury his team helped select. 34 down, 54 charges yet to go.

Lisa and I watched a little NBA basketball last night. We’re generally a bit more interested in college basketball here in Lawrence, Kansas. Still, after March Madness, our eyes occasionally wander over to the NBA to get a little hoops fix. The Dallas Mavericks closed out the Minnesota Timberwolves last night, and will now prepare to take on a very dominant Boston Celtics team. It could be a very interesting series.

We kicked back and had pizza last night. When I went to go pick up the pizza, I saw a nice couple waiting on their order. I complimented the gentleman on his D&D-themed t-shirt, and that sparked a brief and pleasant conversation. I didn’t have a business card on me, but I told him he could contact me through my blog.

Oh, and I got my TLS (SSL) certificate on the site renewed. Thanks to my friend Daniel for spotting that! Hopefully, the links will start working again. I might need to flush my DNS cache to refresh my cached certificate.

Alright, time to get serious about coffee and breakfast.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 440

Good morning, and welcome to Wednesday! It is 29 May 2024.

Last night I had tacos. I didn’t bring it up yesterday, but I thought I would clarify for those of you that were worried.

Not feeling great this morning. My right shoulder has been causing me some trouble for a couple of weeks now, and I’m thinking that a trip to the doctor might be in order. It feels like my shoulder just isn’t sitting in the socket quite right.

I had a productive day yesterday day, as I prepared for the weeks activities.

I’m sorry folks, but my head is just throbbing.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 441

Good morning, and a happy Thursday to you all. Today is 30 May 2024.

I tried yesterday, I really did. I wrote a blog post, boring and short as it was, but when I went to publish the post to my blog, the “Publish” button wasn’t being very cooperative. I hope there are better results this morning.

I had a bad day for part of yesterday – I woke up with a headache and it took most of the day to get over that. It just put a cloud over my whole day. It was pretty rough until the middle of the afternoon, and then I started to feel a bit better. By the time I got together with the guys on Wednesday night’s gaming session, I was in pretty good shape, and the orcs made for pretty good target practice for my ranger.

I’m in my virtual classroom in a bit for a one-off session on a friend’s project. I’m presenting his work to a group of folks that want to learn more about cloud technologies, and I want to lend my support as much as possible.

We just had a 3-year-old perma-puppy (Lily) sneeze. I never knew a dog sneeze could be so cute.

After I finish my course blueprint session, I will return to studying for a certification exam I have tomorrow afternoon. I’m not feeling as much anxiety as I have in the past.

I might be spending a little time with the cutest little girl in the world a little bit later. Gracie has a dentist appointment, and that means somebody has to keep an eye on our granddaughter.

In the meantime… coffee + cinnamon rolls.

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

Peace y’all.