Evie Day 161

Good morning, and a very happy Thursday to you all. Today is 24 August 2023.

I delivered my course yesterday with no real problems. Two more modules today, and we can get this class in the can. This class has gone OK, not the best I’ve ever had, and certainly not the worst. I remember the worst… and we’re not doing that again.

For dinner last evening, I took the easy way out. Jason’s Deli can put together a pretty good sandwich and a pretty good salad, so that was my escape route. That nutty, mixed-up salad is my go to, although I wish there was a keto-friendly raspberry vinaigrette to compliment the meal. I went with jalapeno ranch, but I think there are better dressings out there that are a better contextual fit.

I had a gaming session last night on Fantasy Grounds with the Wednesday night/Sunday afternoon gaming crew. After watching a brief recap of last evening’s GOP presidential debate, I’m very thankful I had something better to do. The only thing that I have been convinced of is the fact that I don’t want a single one of them picking a Supreme Court Justice. The court has gone too far to the right, and corrections need to be made.

At this point, it’s all a dog and pony show, as the former guy is leading the polls, and today he has to turn himself into the Fulton County District Attorney. I don’t know how anyone with a functioning brain cell would think a twice-impeached rapist under indictment for espionage, fraud, and racketeering has any business holding the most important political office in this country.

As a reminder, I will be closing my Twitter account after tomorrow’s post. You can find me here, of course, at https://www.bobsterism.com . That’s not going to change. I’ll still post to my Facebook page and my Mastodon account at The_Bobster_LFK@mstdn.party . I’ve had enough of Musk’s jacking around with the platform, and the right-wing trolls are taking it over. I’ve got better things to do than create content for that jackhammer.

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

peace y’all.

Evie Day 160

Good morning! Happy Hum Day! Today is Wednesday, 23 August 2023.

One of the things I look forward to on Wednesdays is the time I get to spend with the guys playing around a virtual tabletop. I look forward to this evening’s session because by gaming I avoid television and the Republican Presidential Candidate debate -1. The minus one, of course, is the twice-impeached rapist currently under indictment for espionage, fraud, and racketeering. He likely will duck all venues that are not 100% under his control until he has no choice but to show up.

More folks in the Trump circle have turned themselves into the Fulton County (Atlanta, GA) courts system for arraignment. One of them was smart enough to ditch the Trump PAC paid-for attorney and got his own attorney, then immediately refiled his testimony to correct several lies that he told during his initial statement. Funny that… when Trump provided an attorney, he lied, and when he got a simple public defender, he was advised to (gasp) tell the truth.

Class is going OK this week. I’ll take a little time to go over my talks here in a bit. Security is an interesting topic, but sometimes we can find ourselves grinding on a topic. These topics can make a guy feel the grind sometimes.

And, Elon Musk, if you are reading this (because I’m sure you have nothing better to do) you have turned Twitter into a flaming pile of trash. More and more neo-Nazi content showing up in my feed, and you are normalizing it, sir. You have told folks that you are taking away their ability to block people that could be harassing others, and now (brilliant move here) he’s going to remove news headlines from posts because he doesn’t think they look good. Idiot.

That’s enough for now. If you want additional info on my future posts, connect with me on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Mastodon. On FB, I’m Bob Reinsch, same on LinkedIn, and my Mastodon handle is @The_Bobster_LFK@mstdn.party. I will be canceling my Twitter account after I post my blog on Friday.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 159

I still think it’s kind of cute that I get Evie all to myself on her half-birthdays.

It is Tuesday, 22 August 2023. I wish you peace, happiness, and tacos… because they are all kind of the same thing, anyway.

First day in the virtual classroom went OK. This class is one that I have not been teaching with an incredible amount of frequency, so I’m still working on “telling my story” with the content. I’ll have a chance to focus on that a little bit more today as I deliver a couple of modules, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. I think it takes a few deliveries to get comfortable with any new content. I’ll get there, but part of it depends on the frequency of deliveries. I won’t get much better if I have to wait another six months before I deliver the same content again.

I’m trying a different approach to staying a little bit more on top of my mental game. I’ve read books, practiced meditation, and done a few other things to stay focused on self-care. I’m trying something that I have tried before with some success. If I decide to grind out a post about it, it will be around October 9. That’s when I should have some results of this little experiment.

Dane and Lisa had long days yesterday up on campus. I hope today goes a little better for both of them.

I ordered a gift for Lisa’s birthday this Saturday. Nothing ostentatious, but I think she’ll like it. I could mention it here, but I know she reads my posts from time to time, so I won’t ruin the surprise by writing about it here. Hi honey!

Tonight, there will be tacos.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 158

Good morning, and welcome to the beginning of a new work week. Today is 21 August 2023.

I’ll be back in my virtual classroom in a couple of hours. I’ll be delivering a security course with another trainer, and I think we have a third tagging along for the experience.

Odin, my big boy at 28 pounds, just noticed the Chewy box sitting by the window in the dining room. I don’t know if it’s the box or something that he smells inside the box, but he was pawing at that cardboard unit with enthusiasm and zeal.

As many of you all know, I share the link to my blog on several forums. I have always shared my updates on Twitter, and lately, I’ve added Facebook and Mastodon to the mix. I am getting more and more discouraged with Twitter (now X). Over the weekend, Musk announced that he was going to get rid of the ability to block predatory accounts. The easiest way to evade predatory accounts is to not be on the same forum. I’ve been disturbed by some of the posts that have shown up on my feed promoting some pretty evil points of view. Add in the change to Tweetdeck, the only tool that makes Twitter worthwhile for me, and it looks like this week might be my last on Twitter. I won’t pay for something I’ve been using for free for the last ten years. I’ll continue to post on this site, but be aware that my participation on Twitter is likely to get curtailed real soon. I won’t say “I’ll never be back”, but the changes Musk has made to the platform are just not good business decisions.

Time for me to get the coffee brewing and get going with my day.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 155

Happy Friday, everyone! It is 18 August 2023.

I made a mistake last night. I thought I’d get out ahead of it, and I moved some of the garbage out to the drive for pickup later this morning. Either the neighbor dogs, a coyote, fox, or raccoon decided to do a deeper investigation into the contents of a big trash bag. I’ve got a mess to clean up later.

I’ve got a day ahead. First meeting at 9, the second meeting at 11, lunch with Dane at 12:30, then I have a renewal to take care of that I’ve been putting off – no real fear of the renewal, just procrastination. Lisa and I will have dinner by ourselves this evening, as Dane will be going out with friends. I hope he’s careful driving around Lawrence tonight – the rest of the college students have started arriving in the dorms, and the Greeks will likely be out testing their new fake IDs at the “Barmuda Triangle” (The Hawk, The Wheel, The Bull).

I may have to make a trip to the company studios in October to shoot a training video for a document classification and governance product. That could be fun. Fly up on Monday, in studio Tuesday and Wednesday, then home on Thursday. I have some familiarity with the product, but between now and then, there will be some deep diving.

There’s other stuff going on, some things that I might write about later, but for now, I think I need to ponder on them a little longer.

This weekend, there will be much reading and mowing.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 154

Good morning, folks! It is 17 August 2023.

This week is going pretty well. I’ve been getting some things done in my workspace, and planning for some pending changes to the layout. I’m also looking pretty hard at clearing off an entire wall and pondering a paint job, making the whole wall a chroma key green so I can use some broadcast software that provides some interesting visual effects.

Had a short chat with my manager yesterday, and will have another talk today. I’m thinking about setting up a page or a file of “unsolicited advice” where I can share some things I’ve figured out in just about 30 years as a technical trainer and 45 years of working with computers. I think I can offer some insights as well as some more irreverent commentary about what I’ve experienced and an avenue for cracking a joke or two.

Working with dedicated time blocks seems to be working out pretty well. To-do lists are fine for a lot of folks, but I think dedicating time for getting certain things done works better for me. That reminds me… I need to dedicate a little time to the renewal of my Cloud Solutions Architect certification.

Yeah, I’m kind of boring this morning. Maybe a cup of coffee is in order to get me dialed in a little better.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 153

Good morning, and a happy hump day. Today is Wednesday, 16 August 2023.

More video is coming out of the Hawaiian island of Maui, and the devastating wildfires that have ravaged the island. Over 100 people have died in the fires there, making the Hawaiian wildfires some of the worst fires in US history. It’s going to take a long time for the island to recover.

There’s more news in politics as the Atlanta Distract Attorney announced more indictments against Trump, who is now facing over 90 felony charges relating to his crimes. It’s getting hard to keep track of the fraud in New York, the classified documents espionage case, the attempts to coerce the Georgia Secretay of State into committing election fraud, and defamation suits by poll workers.

The part that roasts my chestnuts is Trump’s claim that it’s all political and that he did nothing wrong. That is a hard sell for anybody that has been paying attention. From my perspective, Trump has entered the “find out” stage.

I’m working on some stuff for work, preparing my presentations for next week, and working in an occasional audiobook, or executive book review (I like alternating between full-length books and summaries). Add in some interaction with learners from past classes on social media (mostly LinkedIn) and the day can get full pretty quick. I’ve got a meeting today with my manager, and another with him tomorrow, each meeting for a different purpose.

Time to get the coffee on and think about grabbing some breakfast.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 152

Hello. It is Tuesday, 15 August 2023.

Today is going to be a rough day. I find myself thinking about snappy things to say, and funny anecdotes to fire off… yesterday I was listening to an executive book summary on how to stay focused, and I’d tell you more, but I got distracted. …but it’s not the right time to try to be funny.

Friends of mine will be having a service later today for the son they lost eight days ago.

I’ll watch the service online.

This kind of thing is never easy.

I’ve got the news on, and there are stories about things happening in the world. Maui has been torched. More charges have been filed against the former guy. A small town in Kansas had their newspaper raided by the police, and it appears to be politically motivated.

Right now I’ve got to call for, “Shield’s up!”. Too much debris coming at me all at once.

I’ve been trying to improve my focus. I wasn’t joking earlier about losing my focus while listening to an executive book summary on how to stay focused. I’ve been listening to a collection of books focused on ADHD and neurodivergence, and maybe it will help me created better habits. Note to self: Listen to a summary on creating better habits… or skip the summary and listen to the whole book.

If you have a second, send some prayers and positive intentions to my friend, his wife, and their surviving son. Right now they are going to be surrounded by a lot of caring people and a lot of support. Next week, they’ll try to get back to their professional lives, and at times, the silence will be deafening. It’s in those moments that I hope the universe touches them and reminds them that they are loved.

Time to get on with my day.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 151

Good morning, folks! Today is 14 August 2023.

I didn’t post last Friday. If I recall correctly, I think I posted something to that effect the day prior, on that Thursday morning. I was in transit to Utah to help a friend deal with a tragic situation at his home.

My friend, Rob, and his wife, lost their 23-year-old son last Monday. It was an accidental death in their home. Rob was the first on the scene. He reached out to me last Monday, and we had a longer conversation on Tuesday about the passing of the young man. Initially, Rob thought the service would happen on Saturday, so I arranged to travel out with a Sunday return. After I booked my travel, I found out the service was scheduled for Tuesday, but I made the choice not to adjust my plans. Instead, I went out to Salt Lake City on Friday morning early, and spend a couple of days with them, helping with errands related to the service.

I’m glad I went. Rob’s wife, Danette, had family and a close network of friends right there, and I wanted to make sure ROb had “people”, too. I’m glad I went to do what I could.

The service for the young man will be tomorrow, and it will be broadcast on Zoom. The link is to the obituary, and it does have a link to the service.

That’s all I’ve got for now.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 147

Good morning, today is Thursday, 10 August 2023.

I didn’t sleep well last night. So many things that are just vibrating around my brain, including one dream of a small dog, Lily, running around with my breakfast jalapeno bagel with cream cheese – the cream chees was on the bagel, not the dog.

This happens from time to time. Some things happen in my life, or in the lives of people close to me, and my brain gets a little overstimulated. One thought triggers another, and turns into a cascade of thought after thought… sometimes I have a good idea, but I’m so wrapped up in trying to sleep that I don’t get up to write it down, which is fine, because by the time I would get up, get conscious enough to write a thought down, that thought has grabbed three others and ran out the back door looking for the next party.

I may not have a blog entry tomorrow. One of the things hanging around my head is the anticipation of unexpected travel. I’ll be on a plane tomorrow morning at this time, heading out to check on a friend and his wife. They’ve been through a rough time this last week. I might expound on the circumstances in a later entry, but for now, it’s just about getting myself by them as a friend. There might not be much I can do, but I need to be present for whatever for a couple of days as a show of support and love.

Today is the last day of my four-day administration class. It has been a great week, and my training partner brings it every minute. I hope one day I can bring as much professionalism and energy to my deliveries as he brings every single day. There are some types of praise I rarely toss around about people, but I can say in all honesty that working with Chris this last week has been an absolute blessing at a time I needed it.

I’m going to get this into the can.

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

Peace y’all.