It is Sunday evening, on this, the 7th day of May, and I have to tell you, some folks really kind of amaze me. A high school classmate of mine who rarely posts decided to endorse a voter suppression plot. Of course, it was under the guise of preventing illegal aliens and felons vote, but when posed with the question of frequency, that classmate demurred. Folks want to create solutions to problems that don’t exist.

We just had the most secure election in history. All of the states certified, multiple states audited and recounted votes, and nothing changed. The election was safe and secure. Sure, there were plenty of accusations that there was fraud, but sixty plus court cases later there has been no proof. The accusations are just that, words floating on air with no gravity, no footing.

Right now, the party that lost the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives is trying to force through a bunch of laws at the state level to try and suppress the vote and gerrymander districts. This is the cowardly way of doing things. If the losing party is serious, here’s an idea: Push better policies. Be the party with the best ideas for everybody, and not just ideas that help a small but very wealthy groups of constituents.

It wont happen, though.

That party would have to step back and change their whole philosophy, and I don’t believe that will happen. For that to happen, the real power at the heart of that party would have to have a change of heart. They would have to give up some power. They would have to put the needs of all above the needs of themselves, and I don’t think that is within the realm of possibility.

I’m back in the virtual classroom tomorrow, betting back to teaching an Azure admin course, what has become one of my comfort food courses. Two weeks of Azure admin, a week of prep, then two weeks of Solutions Architecture.

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

Peace y’all.

It is Thursday night, the 4th of March, and Kansas just eked out a win against the Miners from UTEP. It was not a fun game for the most part, with the Jayhawks down by as many as fifteen at times, but they ended up rallying and pulling this one out.

My class for the week has completed, and I feel pretty good about the result. My students seemed to have a good experience, so I’ll consider that another addition to the minor victory column. Tomorrow, I’ll get my head on straight and think about my good spots and my weak spots and try to build out from there.

I love what I do. I wish more people were as happy doing what they do as I am doing what I do. I learn stuff, and I tell people what I learned. Folks ask me questions, and I do my best to answer them, and I do my best to refer them to the content they are looking for.

Azure is such a dynamic environment. I love that it is contantly changing and that there is always something new to master, or at least something new to pursue competence in.

The puppies are chasing each other around the kitchen table, it is so much fun to watch, especially when Mama Freya joins in on the fun to show them how to really take the fun to the next level.

That’s about all I’m good for tonight.

Tomorrow, my meditation session, focusing non my mindfulness, then a review of my class, and an isolation of weaknesses. Everything is going to be fine.

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

Peace y’all.

It is Sunday night, and it has been an interesting weekend. I’ve been laid up most of the day dealing with the after-effects of another GI problem, but I am feeling much better now. The only lingering negative is the strain on my abdomen from the protracted cramps from the GI issue. Those things can hurt.

Right now both Lilly and Rosy are sitting between my legs here in my recliner. Lisa is asleep and has been so for the last hour and a half. I am thankful for the moments when she can sleep well.

I’m going to endeavor to do the same here shortly. I have some butter pecan ice cream beside me that keeps drifting back into my peripheral vision, and I have not been good at resisting temptation. It’s not that bad, though, as it’s Rebel Ice Cream and it has a scant 4 grams of carbohydrates in a pint.

Just rubbed my forearm across my tummy… it’s still pretty sensitive. I tell you what, those cramps can be pretty damn wicked. I’ve dealt with it four times now over a couple of decades, but when I think that women have to put up with that pain every month for 40 years? Respect!

I’m back in the classroom again next week, with a solo delivery of AZ-104 for an open -enrollment class. I’ll be busy this week. Monday is always the hardest day, with all of the check-in and lab setup stuff.

Other than that, I think I’m going to get things wrapped up and get my backside off into lala land. Might check my office first, but I think I’m going to fade pretty quickly tonight.

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

Peace y’all.

It is a Thursday night, the 25th of February, and I am relaxing and watching sleepy puppies.

We finished up our Azure class today, and I am once again reminded of the things I can do to become a more effective instructor. I learned some lessons in professionalism this week, and I am grateful for it. My training partners taught me some valuable lessons about classroom comportment and depth of knowledge.

I’ve got some room for improvement.

Tomorrow I’m going to go through the classroom curriculum and put together a road map for myself. I’ve got some topics to dig a little deeper into in the coming weeks… but that is the way of things.

I’m bone weary tonight, and I’m going to keep this one short. Lisa is going to be up awhile working, so I’m going to take care of the other things that need to be taken care of before calling it a night. I still need to remind myself to take out the trash tomorrow.

So much stuff going on. I’m glad that I don’t have to commute or head to the airport on top of everything else.

I’m good…

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

Peace y’all.

It is a Tuesday night in February, a warm day for this time of winter. Spring is still a month or so away.

I didn’t write yesterday, as I wasn’t feeling well. Had some issues with the ol’ gastro-intestinal tract that kept me sidelined a big chunk of the day yesterday and a portion of the day today. The issues sorted themselves out, I am feeling better, but my stomach is still a little sore from the experience.

Lisa and I are watching the KU Jayhawks play basketball at Texas right now. Currently down 2 with under 4 minutes left to play.

We let the pups out of their crate for a few minutes before we head in to the bedroom for the night. I think it’s good to get ’em a little work out before trying to settle in.

I’ll be back supporting my class in the morning. Called in sick for the first time in a long time today. One of the things that has always been important to me is being reliable, and I’m glad I’m shadowing this week rather than a primary instructor. I hate letting folks down.

Well, that’s enough for tonight. 200 hundred words is a nice goal, but I’m realistic enough to realize that I’m not going to hit that mark everytime I start cranking out a blog post.

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

Peace y’all.

It is a Sunday night, the 21st day of February, in the year 2021. I am relaxing, enjoying a cocktail before I call it a night and head off to bed, but first, a reflection on the last day or two.

I did pause to check out the iamrobmartin.com website to verify the number of days I have been alive on Earth, so the current number should be accurate. I’m doing a better job of late keeping track of that.

College basketball is doing OK… KU won their fifth straight game the other day, and I hope that trend provides momentum going into the last part of the season. Some things definitely seem to be going their way.

I’m shadowing a class this week. I have passed the requisite classes to call myself an Azure Cloud Solutions Architect, but, ironically, I have yet to take one of the classes associated with that certification. This week I shadow the design course, and I am looking forward to taking the class with a couple of my more experienced teammates.

I have completed my High Performance MindSet course, and I am about eight straight days into my HeadSpace meditation training. Mindfulness is important, and I’m making a commitment to that moment on a daily basis, focusing on my mental health. I’ve done OK over the years… I always wonder if my heart condition diagnosis as a young man helped me focus on managing my stress level.

I’m a work in progress, but you know, some days I feel like I’m making a little more progress than others.

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

Peace y’all.

It is Thursday night, the 18th of February, and we have puppies on the floor. Lilly and Rosy are running around, angering Lucy, and being rounded up by their mom, Freya. Odin is not enjoying his third day in the cone, and he has another 10 days of it while his body recovers from his radical orchiectomy.

I didn’t write last night. I was focused on celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, which means we had a great meal, a couple of great bottles of wine, a college basketball team with our guys coming out on top of the scoreboard, and somewhere along the line, I fell asleep in my chair, Lisa fell asleep in hers, and it was almost midnight before we realized we had both fallen asleep.

Yeah, it was a really good dinner. And that dessert might have tried to induce a diabetic coma.

I’m back laughing at Lilly as she runs back and forth underneath the couch. All of seven and a half weeks of puppy. Rosy is a round fluffball.

Tomorrow I’ll have my last prep day for the week, and I’m shadowing a Azure Design class next week in anticipation of teaching it.

I probably ought to be paying closer attention to the little girls. Lilly and Rosy are cracking both of us up. We need a nice chuckle before we call it a night.

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

Peace y’all.

It is Tuesday night, the 16th of February, and there are puppies crying to get over to their momma, trying to get a little more of the good stuff before they get completely weaned off.

Lisa and I are sitting here listening to the town hall meeting on CNN with President Biden. There are times that he came across as a bit rambling, and other times he made complete sense, far more sense and honesty than what I ever expected.

He’s signing off now, and there will be copious amounts of criticism and over-speculation on “he said this, but what he really meant was this…”. Certainly, lots of food for speculation by the QAnon crowd.

He had some opportunities to throw the previous administration under the bus, and I’ll just say he didn’t do them any favors.

I’m going to get this wrapped up. I suspect there will be more to talk about in the morning.

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

Peace y’all.

It is Monday night, February 15, in the year 2021. Today has been an interesting day. Had to start off the day taking Odin into the vet…the time has come, and today he lost two of his closest friends, but that’s what we do with male dogs to make sure their behavior is a little more manageable and they don’t feel the need to pee on everything in the house.

We picked him up late in the afternoon, and that look of defeat coming from within the cone of shame is a sad sight. Two weeks with the cone, then the stitches come out.

I don’t think Freya minds this abrupt change in the boy’s attitude.

The two little girls spent a little time outside their crate earlier today, but the time is coming to play with them so they can go back to sleep later. Gotta get ’em worn out a little bit.

Took Lisa’s car in as well today for new tires. We were going to pick it up this afternoon as well, but she didn’t feel comfortable driving. The snow has been coming down most of the day. I might even have to fire up the snow blower… well, not so much “fire it up” as “plug it in and keep more slack in the extension cord”. Kansas doesn’t normally require the sort of snow blower than folks require in the UP or International Falls, Minnesota. An electric snow blower with a decent width is normally enough.

OK, time to call it and ply with the little ones before bed.

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

Peace y’all.

Yeah I might’ve skipped an entry this month. Sorry.

It is Valentine’s Day, 2021.

My wife has gone to bed.

I am going to join here.

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

Peace y’all.

And that’s just about all I have been finding myself obliged in a post for a while, now.

I will endeavor to do more. But right now… it’s Valentine’s Day and I have something better to do .

Peace y’all.