Evie Day 123

Good morning! It is the beginning of a new week, and today is 17 July 2023.

I’ve got some work to get to here in a bit.

One of the bits I do for work is a brief daily recap of a change or two to our cloud platform. It’s a shared responsibility, but one of the guys that leads our team is under the weather (more than a little under the weather, but that’s not something we need to share out of respect for his privacy), so I’m trying to pick up a little of the slack, picking up a couple of extra sessions. I probably should have recorded them yesterday, but I have some time this morning to get the sessions in the can.

Of course, the moment I say that or write it down, unforeseen events will reveal themselves and add some complication to my day, right?

I’m watching the news. Looks like the weekend weather messed with some travel, as well as caused some destruction across the country. I was sitting here Friday afternoon when the storm rolled through, and it was nasty looking. I fired up the weather radar, and it looked like Lawrence was going to be directly in the path of nasty storms – it was shaped like a boot sitting sideways – and all of the worst weather was coming directly into Lawrence. The winds peaked around 80 miles per hour, and the rain came in sideways. Fortunately, we didn’t have any funnel clouds with it, just a lot of high-speed winds. Lisa told me that her group on campus was directed to the storm shelter, away from all of the windows. My son was working in an IT lab surrounded by glass (it’s called the ‘fish bowl’), and they were told to get out of three as well.

OK…

I’ve got to get focused on the day ahead of me. I’ve got sessions to record, and a day of internal training with my team. I’ll have to see if I can effectively multitask at times today… not my strongest suite.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 120

Good morning and happy Friday, everybody! It is 14 July 2023.

And because the 15th falls on a Saturday, it is also payday! Woot!

Life is a series of minor victories.

Today is the last day of class this week. I have a two-hour office hours session starting in about two hours, and we’ll go over the week’s content, tackle some of the review questions, and then explore a learning game created by a teammate. I’ll then get some posts into our course channels as follow-up content.

Friday is also garbage day, and I think there’s a bag under the counter that needs to go out before I get settled into my morning routine.

I saw that the Screen Actors’ Guild has gone on strike in Hollywood. That means that both the Writers’ Guils and Actors Guild are picketing the tv and movie studios… and folks that watch TV like me will get stuck watching crap reality tv shows for the next few months while this all gets sorted out. I better find some old series with multi-year runs to binge on because other than Chopped and Forged in Fire, I’m not a real big fan of reality TV. The only bright spot for me, to be frank, is that we’re a little more than a month out from college and pro football season, and as I’ve started to enjoy futbol (soccer), there is always a game on somewhere in the world.

I’ve got to get some gas cans filled up. I’ll be spending some quality time alone with my lawnmowers this weekend.

It’s Friday… we made it.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 119

Hi everybody! Today is 13 July 2023. It’s a Thursday.

I started to watch the US versus Panama last evening in the semi-final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, but I stepped away about 8:00 PM to go game online with some friends, so I just fired up the DVR and am into the second half of the match with the score still tied nil-nil.

We got through our second day of the course without too much of an issue, but there may have been some confusion about the topics who was supposed to cover and when. We had office hours yesterday and some of the content that I’m going over this morning was addressed, but because of the nature of the session, it was not recorded. This morning will have a session that will be recorded, and for folks that attended yesterday afternoon, there will be some redundant information. I’ll be presenting it rather than my training partner, so I hope that my style helps to reinforce the concepts.

In a few minutes, I’ll spend a moment or two creating the scenario I want to present. I’ve got it formulated in my noggin, so it won’t take me long to get it written down.

As I’m watching the match from yesterday rather than the news, I’m not sure if there is anything crazy going on in the world right now. There probably is, the world being what it is.

Maybe now is as good a time as any to get this in the can and get going with my day.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 118

Good morning everybody! Today is 12 July 2023. It’s Wednesday.

I started my new four-week course yesterday, and all-in-all I think things went well. There are still some folks dealing with the challenges of local policies and VPN connections that prevent them from gaining access to some of the tools we use in the class. Some companies really lock things down so far that people can’t even join a meeting being hosted outside their corporate confines. Then, of course, the learners expect us to hack their security so they can join the meeting… but, no, hacking someone’s corporate security policies isn’t a good practice for a trainer to get into.

Record heat waves passing across Arizona, Texas, all the way across the south into Florida. We’re going to get close to triple-digits today, but not the 110 degrees F that some places are going to deal with. In Texas, the Governor eliminated water breaks for state workers… and I think that will lead to road workers dying.

I was debating with some clown in the comments section again about climate change, and he decided to rattle off a few names of climatologists that believe that human beings are not responsible for changes in the climate, the rise in CO2 and methane, etc. I randomly picked one of the names to read about how that particular scientist had been discredited, and that he had some pretty poor positions on certain topics – like the relationship between second-hand smoke and lung cancer.

Hint: If you are going to tell someone that NASA Climate Change and the US Navy aren’t reputable sources for climate information, don’t use discredited scientists to prove your point… because you won’t.

Time to get the coffee brewing.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 117

Good morning, folks! It is 11 July 2023, and it is Tuesday… which means tonight, there will be tacos.

I like a little structure in my life.

Today I get back into one of my favorite “structures”, for my time anyway, as I dive back into a four-week course on cloud administration. I’ll take the reins on the morning session, then pass it all over to my training partner for the afternoon sessions. While I’m talking, he’ll handle questions that pop up in chat, and when he is presenting, I’ll return the favor.

Had a meeting with my work team last evening. Management made a decision on one aspect of our training program, and some folks are being replaced by video and other content. It’s always sad when these things happen, bt they are a reality of working in the tech industry. When we expand, we have a tendency to hire extra folks, and then when we have to contract, some folks get let go. Fortunately, I work for a company that is helping folks transition to another job, either within the company or elsewhere.

The weather is getting a little warmer this week, heading into the 90s today and triple digits tomorrow. We got a break from the heat last week, but July is going to go back to being July. Our weather is manageable – there are a lot of folks out there having to deal with more significant weather and climate issues with flooding (New York state) and heat waves (Arizona, Nevada, Texas).

That’s really all I have today. There’s interesting stuff going on in the world – Sweden joining Finland in becoming members of NATO (that’s going to piss off Putin). There’s still a question about Ukraine eventually joining, but one of the rules about joining is that there can be no disputes over borders, and Ukraine has a lot of that right now. Article 5 of NATO would be immediately enabled causing World War III. We can’t do that.

Anyway…

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 116

Good morning! It is Monday, 10 July 2023.

This feels more like the beginning of the new fiscal year than July 1st did, but there’s a reason for that. July 1 fell on a Saturday, and I took that week off anyway, so this really is the first working Monday of my new fiscal year following a week of vacation.

Might be better to call that a staycation – I don’t get out of the house much.

I did take a day to go see my mom and brother, and I did get a few things done. It was surprisingly mild from a weather point of view, with some gentle overnight rains and temperatures that didn’t crack 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 C) most of the week.

I think it’s funny that in the US, hitting 100 degrees Fahrenheit is a big deal. In Celsius, that’s about 38 degrees… what is interesting about 38? Now 40 degrees C is nice round number, though… and even warmer (hello Texas!).

I’ve got a day to attend meetings and get my ducks in a row for my new 4-week class that starts tomorrow, so that will be my primary focus for the day. I’ll be the primary presenter in the mornings, then I’ll hand off to my training partner for the PM sessions.

It will be a good class. 4 weeks of cloud administration, then a one-week class with a little more traditional delivery schedule.

It’s about time for me to get focused.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 113

Good morning! Today is 7 July 2023, and the last “work day” of my vacation. I’ve still got a weekend to look forward to, but Monday is looming… and that’s just fine.

I’ve got a cup of coffee, and I’m watching the news. Apparently, the special counsel investigating the alternative electors that some tried to implement during the 2020 election in seven states that went to Biden. The Secretary of State for Arizona has been interviewed by the FBI related to that effort by the Trump campaign to commit fraud and overturn a legal election.

It’s a little but nuts, but when Trump is involved, nuts seems to be the status quo.

In a bit, I’m going to head to Clay Center to see my mom. She has a doctor’s appointment this morning but should be home by the time I arrive shortly after noon. I’m grabbing a rental car for the trip – I love Ruby, my old reliable Ford Flex, but every now and then, I’ll grab a rental for a couple of reasons. Ruby is 15 years old and has close to 200k miles. She’s good for tooling about town, but the farthest I’m comfortable driving her these days is the airport. The other reason is to drive cars I haven’t driven. I’m thinking about new wheels maybe September of next year – we’ll shed another car payment by then – and then I might start shopping for my last set of wheels. I’ll be 61, and if I get 15 years out of a vehicle, that gets me to 76, and after that I may not be driving too much. If you stop and think about it, by then there will likely be a number of autonomous driving vehicles, and I just might take a service to drag my butt wherever it needs to go.

(As of today, I’m leaning towards a small pickup – maybe a Ford Ranger)

Dane is downstairs laughing at something. I love that sound.

OK, time for me to get going with the tasks of the day.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 112

Good morning! It is Thursday, 6 July 2023. Today is the 4th workday of my vacation.

I got some things done yesterday. I went to NFM (Nebraska Furniture Mart, for the unindoctrinated) and picked up a dumbell rack that I had ordered, then worked in a side trip to Costco to get my membership card. I didn’t do much shopping, just picking up a pack of protein shakes that I sometimes have for lunch instead of a sandwich.

Today I’ll get some guitars moved downstairs and make some room for the new rack. I also have some real work to do today as well – I need to work on my schedule with my training partner for our 4-week class that begins next month. Nothing really serious, just have to hammer out a couple of details for the first week at least.

Coffee is percolating, and my mind turns to breakfast. A couple of eggs and a little bacon would hit the spot, as would throwing a couple of eggs in with a little frozen chili brick and whip up a little chili and eggs.

Breathe, Bob… just breathe.

The stretch for me from July 1 through December 31st is typically a “notch down” on the intensity schedule. I have been in a habit of front-loading my schedule for the calendar year with very few, if any, days off, and then I’ll have all of my down-time scheduled for the second half of the year, this week representing four vacation days and one holiday on my reporting. That still leaves me adequate time away from work for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year.

OK, time to grab a bite, and another couple glasses of water.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 111

Hi folks, it is Wednesday, 5 July 2023.

I slept in a little bit this morning, my second vacation workday this week – yesterday was a holiday, not a vacation day – it’s important to recognize the difference.

Later today, I am going to get out of the house. I saw Nebraska Furniture Mart had a nice sale on a dumbell set and rack, and it’s too good to pass up, to be honest. 100 lbs or Weider dumbells and a rack for under a hundred bucks, new. While I’m out, I’ll grab a little lunch at one of the restaurants in the Legends. I could take a look at the movies that are playing over there as well… today is a good day to goof off.

It’s a gray day outside. Normally, I would be thinking about ways to be productive here, but I think I’ll focus on the indoor stuff rather than the outdoor stuff. It rained a bit last night, so mowing today may not be a practical choice, I have diesel for the tractor, but I need to get some regular gas for the riding mower.

I think I’m going to make a few changes back in the sunroom. I’ve got too many guitars out (What? Impossible!), and I’m going to loosen the strings on a few and get them in cases. I figure there is a downstairs bedroom I can use to store stuff, and that will make a little more room for the dumbell rack in the sunroom.

That’s about it, really. I like slow-moving days when I have time to catch my breath. Add in a little rain for ambiance, and it’s the kind of calm day I kind of need, and following a weekend of fireworks and loud noises, the dogs could use a quiet day as well.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 110

Hi folks! It is a national holiday in the United States, as today is the 4th of July.

A long, long time ago, my seventh great-grandfather, Benjamin Harrison V, signed the Declaration of Independence. I’d like to shake his hand for that, then kick him in the nuts because he thought it was normal to enslave human beings.

Yesterday was a good day. We spent family time in the pool together, let Bonnie’s dog destroy an inflated ball, and generally had a good time. We did our tabletop gaming thing for a while, then went outside to watch what we thought would be fireworks. The fireworks at the county fairground started at 9:45, but we didn’t get outside until a half-hour later, and by the time we figure the show was over… that show, anyway. We sat around the pool, and after our eyes adjusted, we got a different show – all of the fireflies were out and they were quite active. It was modest entertainment, but entertaining nonetheless.

I’ve got a brisket and a pork butt on the smoker right now. Later, I’ll get some beans and corn going, but I’m not sure I’m going to have room for the trays on the smoker rack… I might have to go for a shorter cook on the grill instead but at a higher temperature.

I need to go out and check my temperature on the smoker. Might be a good time for me to get my wifi meat thermometer set up so I can keep a close eye on my temps.

In the meant time…

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

Peace y’all.