It is Tuesday, 28 February 2023.

I’m watching the news, and folks are talking about the weather. It’s been a little (more than a little!) goofy. Last weekend, tornados ripped through the southern Midwest, bringing cyclones to Oklahoma City & Norman, as well as other communities in Kansas and Texas. California has communities that are isolated following huge snowfalls.

People are wondering what could be the cause of such wide-ranging weather differences in such a small amount of time – even here, at our house, we had a coat of ice on everything Saturday morning, while yesterday it hit almost 70 degrees.

Daily CO2 posts that the CO2 levels the other day were at 421.23 parts per million. Compare that to 372.23 on April 10 of 1999. I’m sure some weather expert from my hometown will flex their GED to let me know that CO2 levels were much higher during the Ordovician era or some other ridiculousness (humans weren’t around during the Ordovician era… and not much else from the Ordovician era is around today either – it was 500 million years ago).

I need to start thinking about my work day. We’re going to cover all of the course lecture in the morning, then switch to labs in the afternoon. I have learners this week from all over, including folks from India, Serbia, Poland, and the UK this week. When that happens, we try to tailor the course timings a little bit to make their lives a little easier. If we get all of the class lecture in early, they can either do labs or defer to the morning, doing labs when it best suits their schedule.

I’m going to make a cup of coffee.

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

Peace y’all.

It is Monday, 27 February 2023, and it’s kind of crazy to think that March is a scant two days away. With March comes birthdays, spring break, the first day of spring, and the birth of my first grandchild.

Stuff is going to get very real.

I have a class, cloud administration, that starts in a couple of hours, as we’re teaching on east coast time. I’ll be working with a trainer I’ve worked with before, so that part is a “known”. You never know what kind of learner audience you’re going to have until you get into it, but we’ll adapt.

I have to confess, I didn’t sleep well last night. I’m used to having a nightcap before I go to bed, but I’m taking a break from booze during Lent for religious as well as personal reasons. My mind just could not shut off last night, and it feels like I was up half the night thinking about things that I didn’t need to think about. I’ll be ok – I’ll throw back a protein shake at our first break, then find a way to shut down a bit during lunch break. It also helps that we’re done at four o’clock my time, so I’ll be able to sneak in a late afternoon nap before Lisa gets home from the university.

I probably ought to dedicate part of that non-delivery time to some meditation and make a concerted effort to calm my mind down.

There have been some other things going on in the world, and I’ll think about adding them in tomorrow. Lots of things going in relative to racism and cartoonists, and the ever-changing world of sports.

I’m going to get this wrapped up and shift my focus to the tasks at hand.

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

Peace y’all.

Good morning, and happy Friday to you all! It if 24 February 2023.

And this morning I am going to be political.

The Kansas Senate and the GOP super-majority have proposed some changes to the tax code.

From the Kansas Reflector:

“An individual who earns $15,000 would see just $1 in tax savings under the plan, according to an analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that provides research on state and federal tax policies. Meanwhile, the top 20% of wage earners would receive about 70% of the total $764 million tax cut.”

So, effectively, let’s give the money to those that need it the least instead of those that need it the most.

People wonder why I don’t support the Kansas Republican Party, this is why. They will do whatever they can to divert funds intended to help Kansans to the wealthy Kansans that really don’t need it, but donate to their re-election campaigns.

It sickens me.

Oh, and you can bet they’ll give you a hearty handshake at church on Sunday and boast of all of the great work they are doing.

For people that don’t need help.

I’m done.

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

Peace y’all.

I tell you what, something has my four-legged furballs agitated this morning. I think it’s a new pet medication commercial. Wow…

Good morning! It is Thursday, 23 February 2023. I’m about two days away from my 4th anniversary with my employer. I’m about 3 or 4 weeks away from becoming a grandfather for the first time.

It’s a little nuts.

I resume my class in a couple of hours, and I’ll use that time to review some of the course material. Even with as many years and times I delivered the course material, I still want to spend a few minutes prior to making sure there aren’t any surprise updates.

I have been quite fortunate to have a solid delivery partner this week. It’s my first time delivering with this teammate, and it has been a wonderful experience. Good teammates can make all the difference in the world.

What else does the day hold for me? There are a couple of things on tv later today that I have an interest in. Star Trek: Picard has started their final season, and the first episode was an event last week. After that, the US Women’s National Team takes on Brazil in the championship round of the SheBelieves cup in women’s soccer. I try to support women’s sports.

Two more days of class, and then I’ll get to sleep in Saturday morning.

BTW, when trying to say “I’m empathetic”, make sure you don’t stumble over a syllable. It’s a short trip to “I’m pathetic”.

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

Peace y’all.

It is Wednesday morning, 22 February 2023.

I’ve got some stuff on my mind, and dogs on my lap. I’ll be in my virtual classroom in a bit getting ready for my day. Three topics on the docket today, and I’m covering one, my training partner the other two. It is also Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent for the next 40 days. I gave up alcohol for most of January, and I’m of a mind that giving up alcohol for Lent might be a good idea as well.

It’s an interesting time of year. NFL football season is over, and my favorite team is once again the reigning champions. College basketball season is closing in on post-season, and the Jayhawks have only three games remaining on the schedule before the Big 12 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament – March Madness. I’m not a big NBA fan, nor am I a big baseball guy. At this point, I think I’d prefer to watch soccer or golf.

Not much else going on, really. Lisa is having a meeting after work, and Dane is meeting friends to study and dine, as he and some classmates have the same engineering tests Thursday and Friday. I’ll be on my own for dinner, followed by some gaming online with friends.

I’m going to get this in the can and get going on the rest of my day.

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

Peace y’all.

Good morning, folks! It is Tuesday morning, 21 February 2023, and all is pretty good in my little corner of the world. I succeeded in passing my certification exam yesterday, Kansas avenged an earlier season loss to TCU, and there is leftover barbecue for lunch.

Not too shabby…

This morning I’ll jump into my virtual classroom for a bit. Yesterday was a holiday, so my four-day class runs Tuesday through Friday this week. I’ll take the lead in the mornings, as my training partner is two hours behind on the west coast.

Had a nice conversation with an old friend last night before the Kansas-TCU game.

There’s stuff going on in the political world this morning, but I’ve been asked to try and avoid politically-related topics in my blog.

Not much else to talk about really.

I’m going to get this in the can. Some days I’m a little more motivated than others. Just kind of hitting a wall this morning. Maybe I should have a chatbot complete my blog this morning.

Some other time, perhaps.

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

Peace y’all.

Good morning friends, relatives, and grandchild expected in the next month… crazy that Lisa and I can become grandparents any time. It is 20 February 2023, a federal holiday, Presidents Day.

I won’t be taking the day off… I have a certification exam this afternoon, so I’ll be doing some cramming this morning until the bell tolls at 1:15.

The old anxiety… there was a time that so much of my career and employability depended upon staying ahead of my peers when it came to earning new certifications. I still have a need to stay on top of my certs and renewals, but some of the pressure has subsided… some.

I’ll step back into my virtual classroom tomorrow morning with a four-day central time zone delivery for cloud solutions architecture. My training partner is based out on the west coast, so I’ll try to carry the mornings until she gets a chance to get a cup of coffee or four.

This last weekend was great. Lisa and I went out to dinner Friday night to a better local restaurant. I ordered a 12 oz KC Strip (good, but not as good as the 5 oz filet mignon I had on Valentine’s Day). Lisa had some chicken thing, and ended up taking most of it home, as well as a couple deserts that we’ve been enjoying the last couple of days.

Right now the news is reporting that US President Biden has made a secret, unannounced visit to Ukraine. That’s gonna rub Putin’s rhubarb. I have a feeling there will be plenty of opposition commentary, especially from Putin’s minions in the US Congress that are lobbying for a complete reversal of Ukrainian policy.

6:11 AM and my mind is starting to turn to the task of the day. It’s not the end of the world if I don’t pass… I’ll just take it again later, but it would be nice to get it done. My manager is looking to schedule me to deliver this course in June before the end of the fiscal year. I don’t think that will be a problem.

Time to hit the books.

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

Peace y’all.

Good morning! I’m off to a little later start today on this 17th day of February, which is also our wedding anniversary here in rural Douglas County.

I’m thinking about my mom today as well, as today would’ve been her and my dad’s 61st wedding anniversary. Love you, mom! Miss you dad!

I wrapped up my class yesterday afternoon. I had a couple of learners hang around a little later to talk, and those few casual moments helped to reinforce my career choice. A gentleman from New York said some very kind things about my delivery style, and that made me feel good.

Today I have a few meetings, including a 1:1 with my manager. I’ll be spending most of the day focused on a pending certification exam.

Right now, I’m thinking about eggs, Canadian bacon, chopped peppers and some American cheese in a skillet,

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Hey, I’m going to go tend to my ratkillin’.

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

Peace, y’all.

Another day in February, another day to closer to becoming a grandfather. Today is 16 February 2023. Tomorrow, my wife and I will celebrate 27 years together, and my mom and dad would be celebrating 61 years together. I know it’s going to be a tough day for my mom. Dad’s been gone for about 2 and a half years now.

I’m on the final day of my security course. The last day typically has the least lecture and the most labs, and today will be no different. Some talk about monitoring and logging, defensive tools, and supporting hybrid deployments. After that, we’ll have a closing with tips on the certification exam and getting an available discount.

Watching the news, the issues surrounding a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Folks are not happy, and I have a feeling the chemical spill will lead to some very negative outcomes. Now the talk is about air brakes, required updates that were rolled back under a pro-business administration, and pointing fingers.

I’m going to get this in the can and get to work on the necessaries. Lisa is starting the day working from home, as there is a sheet of ice on the roads following a bit of an ice storm, and the university has pushed back the start of the school day.

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

Peace y’all.

Good morning, folks! It is the 15th day of February 2023, and I’m just getting started. Today I’m discussing security for containers, storage, apps, and some platform-as-a-service topics.

I’ll take a few minutes to review here after I pound this out. Last night, I tried to stay focused on my wife.

For those of you unfamiliar with western holidays, yesterday was Valentine’s Day, and I had to show that I still had a little game. Lisa and I don’t go all out for the Valentine’s Day holiday, as our wedding anniversary is just three days later. It makes our anniversary a little more fun, as we can pick up stuff on sale for our celebration a few days later.

We had a couple of perfectly seared filets, some small potatoes, and some other veg, as well as a nice Bordeaux to go along with this tiny feast. We also had turtle cheesecake for dessert. Dane was up on campus studying with friends – he has several tests this week – but he came home and thoroughly enjoyed the leftovers from the evening’s meal.

After that, Kansas traveled to Oklahoma State for a men’s basketball game. OSU has often been Bill Self’s kryptonite, but the Jayhawks took a road victory, and now end a two-game road trip to tackle the Baylor Bears on Saturday back at Allen Fieldhouse.

Not much else going on in my corner of the world.

TIme to get focused on the rest of the day.

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

Peace y’all.