It is Tuesday morning, 27 September 2022, and my to-do list has grown as much as it has been reduced.

Yeah, it’s kind of like that on a Monday, right?

Coffee is made, and as soon as I am done with this missive, I’m going to whip up a little chili and eggs to get me started on this day. Office chair issue is resolved for the most part – I ended up taking parts from four different chairs to create one working unit, so I have dubbed my new creation “The Frankenchair”. It gets the job done, but I won’t expose it to any fire.

I’ve got three things I have to get done this morning for work. I also have some voice-over work I need to complete for a friend. I hope my voice is at the right timbre for the project.

One swing of the axe at a time, keep chopping wood.

There’s plenty of other stuff going on in the world. Putin is calling up conscripts to serve in his military… and all of the men are heading for the border to get out of the country. Better to live in another country than fight in an unjust war against well-motivated local residents. Ol’ Vlad really didn’t think this through.

Hurricane Ian is hitting the interior coastline of Florida, with sites set on Tampa/St. Petersburg. I’ve got friends in the are, and I hope they are all safe.

Protests by women in Iran are growing worse. A woman was killed while being held in custody by the “morality police” whatever the hell that is. The men in that part of the world are generally weak when it comes to women’s rights, blaming women for men’s inability to control their more primal instincts. In that part of the world, rape isn’t rape unless it was witnessed by other men. A woman’s word isn’t enough. I would guess a western-style rape kit isn’t going to get close at hand following some sort of sexual trauma. Time to get with the times, y’all. Women deserve equality… get used to the idea.

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

Peace y’all.

It is Monday morning, the beginning of a new work week, 26 September 2022.

I’ve got a to-do list to get going on in a little bit, right after rattling off this little narrative before I begin that part of my day.

The Chiefs did not have their best day yesterday, granting the Indianapolis Colts their first win of the season. There was plenty of blame to go around, between special team snafus, defensive penalties, and a collection of lookout blocks by the offensive line that would make any wannabe offensive lineman cringe in abject horror.

It was pretty bad.

I’ve got a growing to-do list, and the list is growing in my head as I think about it more and more.

I guess that’s to be expected on the first day of the work week… organize my brain, get the task to be done written down, and check ’em off as I go. Drink more water, make smart meal choices, get to writing down the plan, and execute.

Better reach out to the training partners I have over the next couple of weeks, too.

Just thought of something else I need to accomplish.

I better stop thinking or else I’ll never get caught up.

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

Peace y’all.

It is Sunday morning, 24 September 2022.

Today is a good day.

Yesterday there was a gentle ripple in the Force, as it applies to college football here in the states. The University of Kansas defeated Duke in a battle of unbeaten teams, and Kansas moved to 4-0 on the season, the first time the Jayhawks have enjoyed such a record in fifteen years.

So, yeah, we’re having a good time in Lawrence. On the pro side, the Kansas City Chiefs play the Indianapolis Colts in about another hour and fifteen minutes. I’m hoping the Chiefs can get another win as well.

What a day it was.

I watched the game, mowed the lawn, did a little laundry, cleaned up, had dinner, made a cocktail, and watched “Top Gun: Maverick” with Lisa and Dane. After the movie was over, the K-State/Oklahoma game was still in the third quarter, so we stuck around to watch the cross-state rivals beat Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma.

I’ve got family close to Manhattan, Kansas (home of Kansas State University), and a lot of fan support for the Wildcats on that side, so I was happy for them. I have no problem temporarily jumping on a bandwagon when it comes to whoever is playing Oklahoma or Texas. Every game against those two is just a protracted farewell tour until they leave the conference. I grew up with the Big Eight, before Texas and some of the old Southwest Conference teams joined this conference. Texas played bully for years, and both Nebraska and Colorado left the conference in part due to Texas’ growing influence.

Anyway, I ranted. I could’ve just said, “Hey Texas, Hey Oklahoma, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out!”.

Oklahoma regularly won the conference football championship. I doubt they’ll win as regularly moving to the SEC. Might be a decade or more before they win that conference and qualify for the BCS.

Texas… well, bye.

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

Peace y’all.

Good morning! It is Friday, 23 September 2022.

I need a new office chair.

Yesterday afternoon I was wrapping up my cloud admin delivery and wishing my learners well in their continued pursuits, all the while with one of the floofs in my hand – and two of the stems of my office chairs snapped off sending me tail over teakettle. Rosy was not hurt, as some sort of instinct kicked in to protect that little furball. My learners were amused, as all of this happened on camera – I think they were mostly concerned about the pooch. I can’t blame them – after all, she wasn’t the one that broke the chair, that was all on my fat ass.

The new chair arrives tomorrow.

I have the old one here yet, as it has a couple of parts I want to try and recover – mainly the slightly longer gas piston that allows the chair to go up and down. I’m about 6’1″ (used to be closer to 6’2″, but who am I kidding, right?) and I like sitting a little higher in the chair.

My wife will be busy today – it’s kind of a “take your niece to work” day, and Lisa will be shadowed by our niece. I’ve reached out to my sister who will be handling to the drop off and pick up to see if she wants to get together for lunch or coffee. I took a look at my schedule and had one meeting that I was supposed to handle, but didn’t have anything new to share, so I took it upon myself to move it back a week.

Today will be a good day to get caught up on some of the peripheral stuff.

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

Peace y’all.

It is 22 September 2022. Looking at the clock, I spy the time to be 6:06 – ok, not quite as satisfying as 8:08 or 11:11, but we’ll get to those after a bit.

I’m having a good week. Working with a training partner, I have one more module to cover first thing this morning, followed by our closing close to lunchtime. Our goal is to get done talking by noon Eastern Time so that our learners have the balance of the afternoon to work on labs.

Tonight Lisa and I get to kick back and enjoy the start of our autumn. Cooler temperatures for the next few days will add that snap to the air letting us know the change of seasons is upon us. Fall isn’t just about shutting down the swimming pool. Leaves will need to be raked, and the lawn will get mowed once or twice more before we shut down the winter.

Class wraps up today, meetings tomorrow, and a non-delivery week, I’ll have a chance to prep for my October solutions architecture delivery (one course spread out over four weeks).

The last quarter of the year is coming up quick, and that means a little less time in the classroom. As I have mentioned before, I front-load my annual schedule so I have time in the fourth quarter to enjoy the holiday season a little more.

It’s about time for me to focus on breakfast… a cheese and sausage omelet.

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

Peace y’all.

It is Wednesday morning, 21 September 2022. Woke up with the Goo Goo Dolls’ song “Name” running through my head… and that’s OK. If I’m going to have some sort of earworm digging through my cortex all day, might as well be a good song.

Entering the third day of my cloud administration delivery. It is good to do co-deliveries – it gives me a chance to assume a support role, shoveling URLs into the chat as learners pop questions up from time to time. It’s kind of a tag-team approach, but alternating modules seems to be going OK.

My son was under the weather yesterday, fall allergies really getting him down. It was causing some serious congestion issues for him, and I hope he’s better today.

My mom has been under the weather as well. She is up to date on her shots, but still caught a wild bug that really got to her, and it was bad enough to put her into the hospital for a few days. She’s home now, and I hope she returns to her best self soon.

Summer is over for us here… the pool has been closed on our90 degree day yesterday. Checking the weather, it was the right move, as a cold snap is heading our way.

I need to spend some quality time with a lawn mower this weekend. The yard is getting a bit bushy.

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

Peace y’all.

The sun has yet to peak over the eastern horizon on this Tuesday morning, 20 September 2022. Today is the birthday of several friends and family, including my sister, so I wish them all well.

For us here in rural Douglas County, it’s the last day of our summer, as the pool service folks will come by later today to shut down our pool for the summer. Lisa got good use out of the pool this summer, but my ears had some fits with water persisting in weird cavities I apparently have in the channels up and around my ear drum. Hopefully next year I can figure out how to keep the sensitivity to a minimum.

Last night we had a little excitement as a neighboring cow somehow wandered into my backyard. I called the sheriff to report it, and while the cow’s owner wasn’t available, his neighbor was able to offer some guidance on how to get that beast back over on their side of the fence.

I’m on for most of the day today, with two of the three modules being covered falling to me. Lots of networking to discuss, and it is a favorite topic of mine.

That’s about all I have to say this morning. Time to finish my water and grab a cup of coffee.

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

Peace y’all.

Good morning! It is 19 September 2022. Today is expected to be a bit warmer, with temperatures into the 90s (Fahrenheit… over 35 for those of you that prefer Celsius). Most likely, today will be the last day that our residential swimming pool will be open, as we scheduled our pool closing for tomorrow some time ago. Just about right – highs in the 90s early this week, then a severe drop off as autumn imposes her will on the change of seasons.

I’m back in my virtual classroom in about an hour. This week I’m teaching with a teammate from Baltimore, and our delivery is on east coast time, so an hour earlier start, but an hour earlier finish.

Time for me to get back on my mealplan. I took a break for the last week+ (call it 9 days, a week with bookend weekends). I need to get back to eating right… I feel a little thick. I’ll wait another week before I step on the scale again. I don’t think that little appliance will give me a friendly review of my situation for a few days.

No real changes to the landscape here. Time for me to get focused on the day ahead.

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

Peace y’all.

It is Sunday morning, 18 September 2022, and I’m thinking about books.

I read. I love books, whether the big is on paper in hand, or an e-book reader (Kindle, Android or Windows tablet), or in an audiobook format – although I will admit, when I’m listening to an audiobook, I prefer just a narrator and the story, you can leave all of that other-the-top radio production stuff out – I find it is more of a distraction than an enhancement.

These days I’m lucky if I have one or two fiction titles in play while I have a dozen or more technical titles in play as I continue my ongoing professional pursuits. I don’t think I have to worry about any of the technical titles I work with being banned by local libraries, but I have a real problem with this growing trend of banishing books because they don’t “fit” conservative populations.

Here’s the reality that conservatives don’t like to admit… our kids are going to be different than we are. Some children that come from conservative households will continue that to form a multigenerational trend. Some other kids are going to go their own way, and some of those kids can probably benefit to read stories about kids like them. Some of our kids are going to grow up in households with single parents, some with same-sex parents. Some of those kids are going to grow up feeling differently about gender and sex, and we as a society have a responsibility to let those kids know they are going to be welcomed, loved, and accepted for who they are. Conservatives can pray all day for that reality to change, but just wishing for something does not make it so.

It’s a proven fact that those who favor book banning and book burning are never on the right side of history.

Go read a banned book.

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

Peace y’all.

Good morning, it is 17 September 2022. As some have noted, yesterday was my birthday, as I rolled over into the last remaining year of my 50s. It’s going to be an interesting year, as I will have some more significant life changes – Lisa and I will move one more year closer to retirement, and we expect our first grandchild in the spring.

I haven’t posted in the last few days, as that is kind of my plan when I travel. I’m not really big on informing the world about my travel plans, as it could endanger any potential home invaders. I might be prone to negotiate, but I think other family members might be more likely to take defensive action and ask questions later.

The leaves are shimmering and waving in the early morning sun, the wind, and just enough dew present on the leaves to reflect the light coming down.

It’s halfway through September, and the arrival of fall is being announced by the crispness of the morning air. Lisa and I are going to get out a little later – she has her eye on a shirt for me, a belated birthday present, and who am I to turn her down?

OK, time to attend to this cup of coffee and the breakfast that has arrived at the table.

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

Peace y’all.