It’s New Year’s Eve in rural Douglas County. Lisa and I enjoyed a dinner out tonight. Kind of weird, with none of our kids around on this night, especially after so many years of skipping New Year’s Eve in favor of Bonnie’s Birthday. I recall that crazy night 23 years ago when my Bonbon was brought into the world, and I knew my life, our lives, would never be the same.

I’m thinking about the last year tonight. I remember the phone calls from last January, where I interviewed remotely with folks at Microsoft after I applied for a technical training position. It was a welcome and frightening experience. After all, it was pretty much my dream job to teach for Microsoft.

In February, I had to make one of the must difficult and anguishing decisions of my life. Do I stick with the training center in Kansas City that has been so good and secure for the last sixteen years, or do I pursue my dream job with the company I’ve worked around for most of my IT career?

I made the call, and had the tough conversations. And I left a great training center for the unknown.

Since then, I’ve passed a few more exams, and taught a few more classes. Next year will be more of the same, with more and more virtual deliveries popping up on the schedule. I’m fine with being in front of the room, and I’m ok with virtual deliveries talking into a microphone and hoping for feedback from unseen audiences.

In August, my dad passed. That was the hardest thing I had to deal with this year, this century, this lifetime. I haven’t experienced a lot of death in my life, at least no one as close to me as my father. Others deal with similar and worse every day, but all loss is unique to the relationship and the people in it. I miss my dad every day. I hope I’ve made him proud.

Bonnie graduated from Kansas with her undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering. She started her PhD program in Materials Science at Ohio State. Gracie made some decisions about where she wanted to focus her attentions, and I’m trying to be supportive of most of those decisions. Dane graduated high school and started at KU in Mechanical Engineering.

I have good kids. They make good decisions, for the most part.

Now I sit with a 12 year old Macallan, watching “The Witcher” on Netflix. I’ve got an hour and a half until 2020. I want to play more guitar, play more golf, lose more weight, and make the most of my time at home in the next year.

I hope today and in the next year, you find out more about your talents and how you can make the world a better place. I hope you laugh. I hope you love. And I hope the world treats you better than you deserve.

I know the world certainly treats me better than I deserve. I know that every day when I see my wife, my kids, my dogs.

I’m going to keep writing. Hopefully something in what I put down has some residual value.

Happy New Year… and

Peace y’all.

It’s Monday night, and I’m just going to crank out a few words before I call it a night. Dane has to go to the train station early tomorrow morning, and I’ve got to get up before the crack of dawn to get the boy to the station so he can spend New Year’s Eve with his girlfriend.

(I’m very happy for Dane. Danielle is a very sweet young lady, and I like her.)

Tomorrow I’m planning on cranking out a protracted blog entry on the passing of 2019 into 2020, and some thoughts on the things that have transpired this past year. There has been a lot.

Today I had a nice lunch with my former manager at Centriq, Jessica. It was a great time, and we had a lot of things to talk about. I needed that, to be frank. It’s been awhile, and so much has happened.

Anyway, I’m not going to drone on about stuff. Today has been a good day, with time spent with friends and family, working in Bonnie’s birthday celebration a day early due to the planned festivities tomorrow.

I’ve got to hit the sack, that alarm doesn’t care what time I go to bed… It’s going off at six o’clock no matter what I do between now and then.

Peace y’all.

It’s a Sunday night in rural Douglas County, and the snow is gently falling after a late week surge of unseasonably warm temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s, with a tickle of 70 on Christmas Day.

Today was a good day for me as a sports fan. The Kansas City Chiefs won their final home game of the season against the Los Angeles Chargers (I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to saying that). That was somewhat significant, but the best part of the sports day was out on the east coast, where the Miami Dolphins, a team plagued by injuries and mistakes this season, pulled off a huge upset win over the New England Patriots. The good news is that win for the Dolphins, loss by the Pats means Kansas City moves into the 2nd seed in the AFC for the playoffs, so the Chiefs get a week off to heal up and prepare for their first playoff game at home.

In other sports news, the KU Jayhawks beat the Stanford Cardinal at their house by 16. It was a good win for the ‘Hawks against an 11-1 Cardinal team, coached by former KU player Jared Haase. The real excitement for the Kansas team might’ve been on their way home when they lost an engine on their plane and had to return to the airport. This’ll delay them a day on their return trip.

That’s about all I have for now, but it has been a good day, and I am thankful for getting to share it with my wife and kids.

Oh, and my wife’s meatloaf was wonderful for dinner tonight. A lot of folks don’t care for meatloaf, but for me, it’s a comfort food. The next day meatloaf sandwiches might be the highlight for this old man .

May the road rise to meet you, and I hope the world treats you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Saturday night in rural Douglas County, and I’m enjoying a little downtime today, no need to focus on work-related stuff, nor a lot of things requiring my attention.

I do have a workbench for the barn I probably ought to put together sometime soon, but it’s not currently screaming at me for attention, so it can sit.

Currently watching the LSU Tigers put a thumping on Oklahoma. Into the third quarter, and LSU is up 56-21. I hope that the OSU-Clemson game is a little more balanced. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t have strong inclinations regarding college football – Kansas doesn’t have a powerhouse program. When Kansas has a four-win season, it’s something to write home about, and getting to 6 wins and becoming bowl eligible is the stuff of dreams these days. My oldest daughter, Bonnie, is pursuing her PhD at Ohio State, so Buckeyes it is! I can lean that direction until the end of the college bowl season.

I ordered my mom a Kindle, so I’ll get her set up with the kindle unlimited subscription. Apparently you check out books and turn them back in when you’re done for about ten bucks a month. If it solves a problem, then let’s do it.

Tomorrow will be a better sports day for me. The Kansas City Chiefs play at noon, the last regular season game for the Chiefs, and the Jayhawks play Stanford in college basketball at two o’clock in the afternoon. Something’s gotta give, and that thing to give will likely be the DVR.

Just checked, and both games are on standard satellite, no need to fip back and forth between CBS and ESPN+.

I love it when a plan comes together.

About time to marshal my forces and take to the roads… to get tacos.

I’m a little behind on the month, but I’ll get it squared away over the next couple of days. Hard to believe that 2019 is on its way out in a scant few days, but to be honest, there are a lot of things about this past year I want to leave behind. It’s been a great year, but at the same time, it’s been a rough one, too.

This is the part where I check my word count, and see that I’m about thirty five words short of a double-word-count blog post and find a little filler.

I still need to contemplate the nature of magic in fantasy. What are the differences between high-magic and low-magic worlds, ranging from Game of Thrones to The Kingkiller Chronicles to some others. Research and comparison must be done. Maybe not by me, but heh, heh, I’ll be sure to read it if someone else cranks out something worth reading.

Time to go. I hope all is well in your part of the universe, and that the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace, y’all.

Hey, it’s the day after Christmas, and tonight will be better served as a shorter night rather than a longer one.

I’m just sitting around the house tonight, thankful that the propane truck showed up to add some gas to our tank. I would love to say that my propane company is as prompt and reliable as the US Postal Service, but, alas, I cannot.

I got into a little on-line jousting earlier today. An old high school classmate posted an article from what I determined to be a questionable source, and I posted a note to that end. She was a good and kind person in high school, and I didn’t want to see her get associated with a web opinion site that has permitted/hosted/supported racist writers in the past.

Lo, and behold, here comes her right-wing nutjob brother to put me in my place. His first post was to criticize the mainstream news. Now, keep in mind that this original post benefits from the current administration that has earned the support of a particularly nasty segment of our society that has advanced white supremacist causes.

I don’t like supremacists. Any. They generally disprove their supremacy with the first words out of their mouths.

So we went back and forth. I would cite sources, and he would mock and degrade my posts without a shred of evidence to support his position. The crazy thing – I posted links to several legitimate sources, but deep down I knew that this person thought they were winning. Facts, relevance, references did not matter. He didn’t have to provide any evidence to support his position because he knew he was right.

But he wasn’t. He didn’t back up a sing;e statement he made with a single fact. And he certainly didn’t like it when I pointed that out to him.

I grew up with an expression, “Money talks, bullshit walks”.

Facts are the currency here, and was as bankrupt as Trump has been at least six times.

Don’t talk shit if you can’t back it up. You end up looking like a fool. Better to keep quiet and watch than embarrass yourself.

That’s about all I have for now.

Peace y’all.

Wow. It’s Christmas Eve, and I haven’t been paying very good attention to my writing the last couple of days. Tomorrow will be a day to spend with family and some friends, but tonight, it has fallen quiet in our household. Lisa has already gone off to get ready for bed, and I just don’t see myself cranking out 600 words.

I have been writing. I just haven’t been writing in my blog. Notes to friends and family, other creative projects, even a little bit of work during a time I thought I wouldn’t work. Yeah.. me and work. It’s a thing.

TO that end, I’m going to post a classic:

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads;

And Mama in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap;

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,

Gave the lustre of midday to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

“Now Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!

“On, Comet! On Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!

“To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!

“Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof—

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes — how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up in a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly

That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”

Peace y’all… and Merry Christmas.

It’s a Saturday night, just a few days before Christmas. I’m relaxing in my recliner, catching up on some more recent Star Wars movies before Dane and I go catch the “Rise of Skywalker” on Monday.

Didn’t have a great sports fan day. Kansas lost by one to Villanova in Philadelphia. Rough loss. Out best defensive player went out of the game early with a sprained ankle. Other moments were more forgettable. Needless to say, the Jayhawks will no longer be number one in the country come Monday, and that’s just fine. The only reason to declare a team number one at this point is to paint a bullseye on their backs. I’d rather be number ten right now if it means we might be number one after the first weekend in April.

Lisa is about done wrapping things up for the day. She and I went out and did a little shopping for Christmas earlier today. She also decided to tack on a little extra Christmas present for me, and for that I am truly grateful.

Chiefs play tomorrow night against the Chicago Bears. I’m hoping we continue to win. It will be interesting to see if our new acquisition at defensive end comes through.

Other than that, not much else to share. I hope the world continues to treat you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

It’s Friday night, and I’ve been a bit remiss in my literary obligations the lost couple of days. Bonnie has made it safely home for the Christmas holiday, and her birthday on New Year’s Eve.

Tomorrow I’ve got some last minute Christmas stuff to get resolved while we still can. Seems like Christmas is sneaking up on quicker this year than any other Christmas in the past. Might be the travel, might be the fact that Thanksgiving came around so late this year.

I put “White Christmas” on the tube for Bonnie and Lisa. Apparently, it was soothing enough to put Lisa to sleep.

Bonnie is doing some needlework to chill out and relax on her time away from her PhD studies. Dane wasn’t feeling so hot, so he took off and went downstairs until he’s feeling better – likely tomorrow sometime.

Pausing to take a bio-break and grab something to drink. Be right back

(Queueing Jeopardy Theme Music)

OK, I’m back. Good thing I got up, too. Several boxes on the front porch that needed to be brought in, including one for work.

That means I’ve received three packages from work this week – one package with two boxes of business cards, a book I requested from the Microsoft Library, and another box of materials for me to distribute at my training deliveries.

I also received a package for my mom for Christmas as well.

Ordered a Christmas present for Lisa to give to me. I’ve always been a fan of the Casio G-Shock Watch series. Sturdy, solar-powered, with atomic time. No need to recharge the thing, due to the solar-charging. Anyway, the new watch is an updated, more professional version of the same watch. That, and it was better than 50 percent off.

That’s enough for now. I need to crank out an extra hundred words or so tomorrow, but that will happen. Heaven knows that there will be plenty to talk about in the next few days to round out the year. Goal for the month, 6200 words. After this post, that means… well, it means I need to stay focused ad keep writing.

One of these times my post will be something to the effect, “I wrote 2000 words today for a book idea, and that’s enough for today.”

Or, I keep doing this, ever-sharing a little bit in hopes of sharing something that a future generation can learn from.

Peace y’all.

Looks like I got off track again on the number of days I’ve been alive, or I’ve lost time due to an alien abduction. I’m going to guess that my math is the likely problem, but, to be fair, it hurts sometimes when I site down.

It’s a Wednesday afternoon. I’m proctoring another round of certification exams a little later, and then that’s it, time to head home. Skipping lunch right now, but there’s a Jimmy John’s on the way home, so an “unwich” will be in order, a low-carb alternative to their standard breaded fare.

Last trip of the year. I’ve earned my status with my preferred airline, and I’ve reached pretty good status with my preferred hotel chain. Avis is giving me upgrades on my car rental, although I have to admit, I’m not real happy with the Jeep Compass I rented for this trip. The display has gone out of the media console, so I’m charging up my Bose QuietComfort II headphones so I can listen to book 8 in the Expeditionary Force series.

I’m going to take a little downtime over the next few weeks, and focus on getting my head right before embarking on the next great adventure in 2020.

I’ll save a little of that for later. In the meantime…

Peace y’all.

Well… that was weird. I had about a hundred words written into tonight’s post, and all of a sudden, it just wasn’t there anymore. Makes me wonder if there was some sort of divine intervention letting me know I needed to change the subject.

I guess that’s as good a hint as any.

I’m looking forward to my kids all being home for the holidays. I’m looking forward to the noise and the quiet, the moments that pass and the moments that we’ll remember for a life time.

I’m just going to kick back and let ’em happen.

I’d love to say I have a lot on my mind and that I’m going to wax poetic and get deep and a lot of other deeply philosophical crap, but that’s just not where I’m at right now. This holiday season will be special, but for some difficult reasons. First Christmas without my Dad. It’s going to be rough for Mom. It’s going to be rough for all of us.

Too much to think about in that space, and maybe I’m not quite ready to go there.

I’ll give it a little more thought. There’s a lot of things I need to think about. Some family related, some holiday related. Some just having to do with being a human being in this world we live in today.

Peace y’all.