Evie Day 736

Good morning! It’s Friday, the last day of the Western work week. Today is 21 March 2025.

The long and often agonizing Kansas basketball season is now over. Preseason number one the last two seasons, both times ending in abject disappointment. It’s been rough. The Jayhawks have plenty of talent, but they just couldn’t mesh for one reason or another. The 3-point defense certainly played a role in some of the losses this last season.

But, now I’m free of a time commitment to watch the NCAA tournament. My team is out, so I pivot to something else.

In a little bit, I’m going to pivot to work.

Friday, still Lent… so I’ll either go the easy route and have ramen noodles for lunch, or, if the opportunity presents, I’ll make a run in to town and either grab a fried fish sandwich, some fish or shrimp tacos, or if I’m really in a mood, sushi.

Oooh… I need to remember to get the garbage out to the end of the driveway. It’s that day, too.

Other than that, not much else is going on. I’ve got things to get done, and some time to do it. Coffee and breakfast are my highest concerns right now.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 735

Good morning, y’all! It’s Thursday, and the work week is winding down. Today is 20 March 2025.

The weird winter weather we were supposed to encounter yesterday huffed and puffed, but did not bury the house in snow. I guess we were lucky. We did get a little precipitation, which is certainly welcome.

I was productive yesterday, stayed on top of the course I’m reviewing. I also had a pleasant surprise with the offer of a couple weeks worth of work for a training provider, one course on solutions architecture, and another on using a scripting language for administrative tasks. I’m looking forward to it. I also was able to enjoy the company of a lovely young lady yesterday afternoon while her momma, my daughter Gracie, went to the dentist. Evie is always a delight… and the cookies she baked with Gramma turned out pretty good, too.

I got together with some of the guys last evening for some tabletop. Things seemed to be going our way, but I have a hard stop at 10 o’clock as part of my negotiations with Lisa (not formal, but I did tell her that I’d hang it up by 10 on Wednesday nights and 6:30 PM on Sundays). I stepped away, and I’m not sure if we completed the conflict, or if the game master decided to pause. I’m Central Time, and a couple of our other players are East Coast, so it’s even later for them. I’m guessing there was a pause.

Today I will be watching some NCAA basketball. I didn’t take the time to fill out a bracket this year – I try not to get caught up in the gambling side of the NCAA tournament – but I’m hopeful that Kansas can play up to their potential this weekend as we start off against Arkansas (lost to Arkansas in a preseason exhibition game). Arkansas has an injured starter, and I think the Jayhawks are relatively healthy. If Kansas can pull off a victory, then they will likely face St. John’s on Saturday, and the star for St. John’s is a guy who used to be at Kansas, Zuby Ejiofor . When he left Kansas, a lot of folks were a bit mystified. He seems to be thriving with his new team… there have been times we certainly could’ve used him in Lawrence this season.

OK, time to focus on the day ahead.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 734

Good morning! I hope you are well. It’s Wednesday, humpday, midweek… today is 19 March 2025.

I looked up at the clock and saw the time – then realized I had yet to write today.

Yesterday was a good day. I was able to get things done that needed to be done, and made my plan for the day… and yes, I am now an hour behind. I have shifted the time I rise from 5:30 in the morning to 6:30 in the morning, and I’m wondering if I should flip that back.

I wrapped up my admin course yesterday, and today I’m digging into security – I’ll be focused on that for the balance of the week. Next week will be interesting as I dive into a series of basic labs for a fundamentals course.

Had a nice message pop up, asking about my availability to teach a cloud solutions architecture course next month. No commitment yet, but it sure is nice to know folks are thinking about me.

The weather in Kansas is going to get weird today – wind advisory during the day, and the possibility of a blizzard blowing through later. I caught a little video from Bunker Hill, Kansas, and that was definitely a blizzard. It might blow north or south of us between now and then, but it it definitely white, cold, and blowing with some ferocity.

This afternoon, Lisa and I might be tasked with watching a little one for a little while. I do look forward to seeing my granddaughter. Lisa is on spring break, which means she’s only working 60 hour week.

I’m going to buckle down and get focused myself.

In the meantime…

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 733

Good morning – yeah, you know what day it is… there will be tacos. Today is 17 March 2025.

Yesterday was a productive day with only one delightful interruption. I spent most of the day going through labs, and it was after I’d wrapped up my third lab in the morning that I decided to refill my coffee cup, and I heard a small voice coming from the kitchen… “mix, mix” the little voice said.

I do love being a grandfather. Gracie had some work to address, and with Lisa on spring break, we’re an easy choice for keeping an eye on our granddaughter for an hour or two. I didn’t even know she had arrived – she was behind the island in the kitchen with Lisa when I heard her. She is a delight.

After a brief break, I went back to work and got stuff done. I still have a little wrap-up on the first class to address, but then I’ll move on to two other courses, one on security, the other, on fundamentals

The NCAA tournament starts today. I’ll take a look at the schedule and see if there are any games that catch my eye. Today will have some play-in games. Let me take a quick look…

Looks like two 16 seeds match up in the First Four – St. Francis versus Alabama State at 5:40 my time, then a different point of view – two 11 seeds – North Carolina and San Diego State – will play the late game at 8:00. That second game could be very interesting, as both of those programs have been in the Final Four in the last few years.

OK, time to realign my antennae and think about that first cup of coffee.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 732

Good morning, and a happy Monday to you all! Today is St. Patrick’s Day, as well as the birthday of my youngest nephew, Keegan! It is a great day!

Yesterday was a great day, too. In reality, we started celebrating Evie’s second birthday well before the given day. Friday afternoon was great, with Evie and Gracie coming over for a bit. I had a couple of breakthrough moments with Evie, as she grabbed a book, then handed the book to me, crawled up the little steps the dogs use to get on the couch, and climbed into my lap all on her own for the first time. I was moved. She’s pretty clingy to her momma (I joke that it fits our Star Trek fan family that she’s a Klingon), but I thought it was pretty sweet that she wanted a little book time with Grampa. The scene repeated itself a little later. I am a blessed grandfather.

Saturday was wonderful, and the birthday party at Gracie’s yesterday was a lot of fun as well.

We also let her run around in a new battery-powered kid car with a remote control. She giggled the entire time.

The weekend was pretty good. After the windstorms that cam through the end of the week, I reached out to my wireless internet provider to let them know my antennae dish was out of alignment. He came out and got me back connected, and we started talking about steps we can take to improve our speed and reliability. He’s helping me, and we’re looking at a difference type of dish that allows the wind to pass through.

I have work to keep me busy today, so I better get my ducks in a row and pay attention to my day.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 729

Good morning, and a happy Friday to you all. Today is 14 March 2025.
Evie turns two on Sunday.

We have a plan – Evie’s birthday will be a two-part event, with dinner on Saturday night and a party on Sunday. Saturday we’re going to a local teppanyaki restaurant. This is for an interesting reason – when Gracie turned two, we met my mom & dad in Topeka for a dinner at a Japanese restaurant, and we all remember the way Gracie reacted to the show with the knoves and the fire.

Last night was a bit meh. We watched the KU-Arizona basketball game. Kansas beat Arizona on their senior night game last Saturday, and Arizona was not in a good mood for the rematch last evening. Arizona beat Kansas by 11, and that ends KUs Big 12 post-season tournament. We’ll have to wait for selection Sunday to see if and where Kansas will play in the NCAA tournament.

I’ve got some work to do today. I need to get the garbage out first – Friday pickup. The trash is all in the can, but there are some boxes that need to go out, too. I need to place those in a good spot, as we are supposed to be in a wind alert.

One more thing. I write this to try and keep track of my thoughts for my granddaughter and any other grandchild I might have down the road. One thing I want to convey for posterity. I am not a fan of the current president. I think his sabre-rattling foreign approach to our allies is reprehensible. I have friends in Canada, and they are very good people. His reckless talk about making Canada a US state looks terrible, but it demonstrates how far he will go to stir stuff up. He’s unfit for the White House, and never should have been elected in the first place.

Oh, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average might drop again today. The market was above 45000 late in the Biden administration. Today, it might drop below 40000. So much winning.

I could go on, but it’s unproductive. I live in a state where so many residents support Trump and wonder why I can’t get behind our government realigning friends and foes. I will never look at Putin as an ally, and I will always look at NATO, Canada, and Mexico as allies, not new territories for conquest.

In the meantime, I’m going to get started on my day.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 728 

Good morning, folks! It’s Thursday, and there are only a couple more days until my granddaughter’s 2nd birthday. I might even have a chance to see her later this morning! Today is 13 March 2025.

Yesterday was a productive day. I dove into labs first thing and stayed on focus most of the day. Today will be more of the same. I think I have my system in place, and we’ll stay focused on the work. I’m going through hands-on labs and checking them for accuracy and timing, and offering some suggestions on how they might be improved.

Last night I jumped online for a little while, but we were a little short on numbers. Two of the guys, Dan and Greg, were talking about playing a game online, and I backed out, as Kansas was playing Central Florida in the 2nd round of the Big 12 Basketball Tournament. Kansas ended up winning in overtime, and the Jayhawks will have another late game today when they play Arizona at 8:30 tonight.

Yesterday was a very nice day, with springtime temperatures and a lot of sun. Today, we’ll have more of the same as the temperatures might approach 80 degrees Fahrenheit today.

OK, time to focus on what comes next. That might include coffee and yogurt.

I hope the world is treating you better than deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 727

Good morning, and a happy Wednesday to you all. Today is 12 March 2025.

4 more days until my granddaughter turns two.

OK, so yesterday I phoned it in a bit, not a real long post due to the status of the index finger on my right hand. After I posted that, I decided to take a little action on my index finger band-aid. I broke out a small set of sheers and trimmed away much of the bandage material from around the tip of my index finger, and that has given me a little relief. I am typing much better.

I have a full slate of activities today. A little lab review and some additional paperwork to fill out. Full day today, fully day tomorrow, and half a day on Friday committed to administration labs. Next week I’ll look at some security labs, followed by some fundamentals content.

IN the world, things are getting a little more contentious, as reporters try to explain to the White House Press Secretary how tariffs really work and she responds with an indignant doubling-down on a lie.

Tonight, I’ll get together with the guys online. We’re not sure who will make it – we really never do. I know one guy is often involved with school-related theater projects (his career), another member has been traveling lately, and others have things going on their personal lives that are prioritized ahead of a night playing games on a virtual table top. The way our game has gone, we usually wrap up by 10:00 PM, and that will work out for me tonight, as Kansas plays in the Big 12 basketball tournament tonight, and I’ll likely be able to watch most of the second half.

TIme to make a pot of coffee and get focused on the day ahead.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 726

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

This will be a rather short post. I cut my index finger preparing dinner last night, and typing is a little more challenging than I care for. Running the mouse over the pad has its challenges, too, with the index finger bandaid creating an obstacle.

Today will be a good day.

And tonight, there will be tacos.

In the meantime, I will focus on some other things including coffee and breakfast.

Yeah, clicking is not going well this morning.

So, as I said… short post. I was hoping the cut would clear up a bit over night, but when I took off the bandaid this morning, the cut opened back up. It’s a little deeper than average.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 725

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

6 more days until my granddaughter’s second birthday. Woot!

I’ve got a day ahead… I have a little recording to do, some reading, some writing. Last week I signed a contract to do some work for a company, and tomorrow we’ll have a meeting about it. One of the things I noticed about the work to be done – I will not be alone. A nice aspect of this is that I’ll be working in conjunction with a couple of other trainers that have long been acquaintances. That adds a nice positive twist.

The weekend was a good one – first of all, an apology to those that were looking for a post on Friday. I had some things going on Friday that required a little bit more attention, and I got to those tasks early, and just spaced off writing. It happens from time to time, and it’s primarily just me being selfish and focusing on my stuff. Sometimes I don’t feel like writing… and that’s ok, too.

As I was saying, the weekend was a good one. Kansas won at home on Senior Night… Kansas doesn’t lose on Senior Night, or at least they haven’t in forty years. Kansas beat a ranked Arizona Wildcat team, and they needed the win. This week Kansas will play in the Big 12 Men’s Tournament in Kansas City. Their first match will be on Wednesday, when they take on the winner of Utah and Central Florida.

Yesterday we had a pretty good group for our scheduled online gaming session. One of the guys was missing, his dad had just had a heart attack, so we were all sending the positive intentions to Marcus’ dad. I hope Marcus is able to join us on Wednesday night – he’s been a great addition to the group.

Other than that, it’s time to make a pot of medium-roast Tanzanian peaberry, and cut a slice off the savory breakfast pastry Lisa made yesterday morning while I was crashed out adapting to the time change.

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

Peace y’all.