OK, it’s Sunday night in rural Douglas County, and it’s been snowing all day, and it’s expected to continue through tomorrow at 6:00 PM.

I’m not much up for writing tonight, so I’m going to do a cut and paste blog entry of some of my favorite words, for one reason or another.

coalesce –

verb (used without object), co·a·lesced, co·a·lesc·ing.

to grow together or into one body:The two lakes coalesced into one.to unite so as to form one mass, community, etc.:The various groups coalesced into a crowd.to blend or come together:Their ideas coalesced into one theory.

zephyr –

noun

a gentle, mild breeze.(initial capital letter) Literary. the west wind.any of various things of fine, light quality, as fabric, yarn, etc.

azure –

adjective

of or having a light, purplish shade of blue, like that of a clear and unclouded sky.Heraldry. of the tincture or color blue.

noun

the blue of a clear or unclouded sky.a light, purplish blue.Heraldry. the tincture or color blue.the clear, cloudless sky.

agile –

adjective

quick and well-coordinated in movement; lithe:an agile leap.active; lively:an agile person.marked by an ability to think quickly; mentally acute or aware:She’s 95 and still very agile.

facetious –

adjective

not meant to be taken seriously or literally:a facetious remark.amusing; humorous.lacking serious intent; concerned with something nonessential, amusing, or frivolous:a facetious person.

sentient –

adjective

having the power of perception by the senses; conscious.characterized by sensation and consciousness.

noun

a person or thing that is sentient.Archaic. the conscious mind.

sanguine –

adjective

cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident:a sanguine disposition; sanguine expectations.reddish; ruddy:a sanguine complexion.(in old physiology) having blood as the predominating humor and consequently being ruddy-faced, cheerful, etc.bloody; sanguinary.blood-red; red.

ansible –

An ansible is a category of fictional device or technology capable of near-instantaneous or superluminal communication. It can send and receive messages to and from a corresponding device over any distance or obstacle whatsoever with no delay, even between star systems. As a name for such a device, the word “ansible” first appeared in a 1966 novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. Since that time, the term has been broadly used in the works of numerous science fiction authors, across a variety of settings and continuities.^[1]

OK, that;s enough for tonight. I stole most of those definitions from dictionary.com. Nothing too fancy.

Peace y’all.

It’s Friday the 13th. Some people believe this is kind of a big deal , the thirteenth day of some random month, and that one should expect. I’m not expecting anything substantial.

It’s a curious time. Looks like Trump will be facing impeachment, and it also looks like the Senate has already determined the outcome of the impeachment hearings, if Mitch McConnell is to be believed.

We’re here. We’re at this point in history.

As I’ve posted time and time again, I’m not one of Trump’s true believers. I think he is guilty of felony wrongdoing in the present tense, and I believe that a semi-vigorous investigation into his past business dealings will reveal he’s pretty much a shit-heel.

And some still choose to defend him.

I don’t get it.

But then again, the same folks that continue to support Trump probably still criticize Obama for his tan suit, hot dog condiments, and ability to stand up to Putin.

It’s late, I’m tired, and I have to get up in the morning and get productive.

I hope all is well in your world.

Peace y’all.

I’m calling it a day, and I’m ready to be someplace other than where I’m at. By the time anybody reads this, I’ll be safely settled in my own bed, and that’s good enough.

I paid a little, very little, attention to the happenings in the capitol today, and it’s really crazy where we’re at. Some folks are trying to maintain some decorum, and some others folks are just being loud. That’s it. They don’t have the facts on their side, so all they can do is bring volume.

There was one rep from Florida that flat out embarrassed himself, and if he wasn’t such an asshole, I’d likely just feel sorry… but the reality of it is, this guy is ignorant and mean. There’s no substance there. He’s vapid.

Others just think they can win be talking the loudest. History will not be treating them very kindly.

I’m not going to digress further on that, but I can’t help but wonder what happened to the GOP. One time I was a member of that party, and now I don’t even recognize it. One retired congressman stated that believed there were full-blown fascists (he used the word “Nazis”) in Congress.

One presidential adviser has white supremacist ties – and this asshole is proposing policy?

FTG.

I’m going to call it, I just don’t have the energy to write down all of my frustrations right now.

Later…

Peace y’all.

OK, to be completely honest, I’m not too focused on writing tonight. It’s my last night here, great folks, great class, but it is the holiday season, and I want to spend as many nights in my residence as possible.

I love my gig. I get to chat with them on a regular basis, and it’s a pretty goof gig. The one thing I miss is the day to day interpersonal stuff.

And just like that I have other things I need to attend to.

Short post, I know, and I know I am now where near me pledge, but the reality is, my time is finite, and a chunk of that time has to go to the gig. They’re paying for my internet access tonight, and I’m in the job.

Peace y’all.

I wrote 200 words today, and it was mostly in a facebook rant on how Trump broke the law.

Here’s my post.

I was asked why I supported the impeachment proceedings, and I stated that we have a choice – follow the Constitution or not. And then I was challenged about what I meant by that… and my response…

“Well, there was very obvious obstruction of Congress when Trump refused the subpoenas issued by Congress. There was obvious attempts to force a foreign government to influence our democratic process. There was a quid pro quo, tantamount to blackmail and/or bribery by the administration in their dealings with Ukraine, and that was an admission by both Trump’s Chief of Staff and the US Ambassador to the EU. None of this addresses Trump’s lies in his real estate dealings with Russia, nor his hush money payments to Stormy Daniels or Karen MacDougall during the campaign, another violation of federal election law. You’re a trainer – how do you feel about Trump running a fraudulent institution of higher education with Trump University, guilty of fraud to the tune of $25 million dollars, or the fraudulent charity Trump and his kids ran, and then diverted moneys intended for kids and veterans? The guy is a shit. People that defend him are willfully ignorant. “

And so there it is. I wrote it. I stand by it.

The American people deserve better.

Peace y’all.

I am in a pretty good mood, and it’s just because I have a good life, a good wife, some great kids, and a couple of nice dogs.

I also like good news. Things are going well with some things right in front of me and some other things off in the periphery are doing alright as well.

I should be able to sleep well tonight.

I met some cool folks that work in IT of my lobby earlier today, and found they have some ties to some of the work that I do with my employer.

I found out I passed a test, and that’s always good.

Anyway, short post tonight.

Oh, glad a couple of my buds down under are ok. There was a volcanic eruption at an island in the New Zealand island chain. James F. let me know that the island is primarily a tourist destination, with arranged tours. Hopefully the number of lost lives will be a small number. It’s always tragic when that happens.

Tomorrow is another day…

Peace y’all.

It’s been an interesting day, with some good stuff going on and some other stuff that just got my dander up.

On the good news side of things, I found I out I reached a couple of new reward levels with a couple of vendors. That translates to better experiences for me in the short term, and I’ll be able to pass that kind of thing along to family at the appropriate time later on.

The Chiefs played well today, good enough to beat the Patriots at their house, but I have to confess, I had my concerns going into the fourth quarter. The defensive persevered when they needed to get a big stop, and I was pretty darn happy. Based on the texts I got from my mother, she’s pretty happy about it, too. Now we’ll have to see what the Jayhawks do come Tuesday night.

I’ve got class tomorrow.

Lisa was talking with me yesterday about my writing, and she brought up a few points. I am taking her suggestions to heart, I just want to do it my way, and incorporate her suggestions in a fashion befitting my writing style. Might now happen tonight, but it’ll happen. There’s plenty more for me to pass along to my descendants about my folks and family, as well as things we’ve experienced as a family.

I’m not going to dwell on that stuff right now, as there’s a new episode of a show I Like available, as well as a slice of cheesecake.

Peace y’all.

It’s a Saturday night in rural Douglas County, and I am enjoying a little down time. Lisa and I have had a wonderful day with some time to ourselves, some interaction with the genetic inheritors, and some pretty good interaction with the furbabies.

Lisa and I were talking earlier about the problems with business travel and how you have that “on” switch flipped while the travel is on, and business is the highest priority, but one you get home, there’s a switch flip to “off”, and all of a sudden, all of that adrenaline that you’ve been burning all week is catching up with you. I’m weary. I’ll hit the sack early tonight.

One of the things that Lisa and I also talked about was my blog, and she and I realized that, although I have been posting about the day to day stuff that has happened in my life, I should devote a few more posts to the earlier days, pre-blog, and the more memorable events that have happened over the years – the high points. The childhood memories. The sports victories and the academic wins.

I will put more thought into that.

I hope all is well in your world, and that the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

It’s Friday night, and I am on my way home. By the time any of my friends read this, I will be safely in my own bed and snuggled up with my beloved.

I’ve got a lot on my mind right now, with family dynamics, work-related responsibilities, and just some of that nagging stuff that just weighs a person down.

Sometimes I think that I’m not that different now than I was when I was seventeen, and that the only thing that has changed has been my responsibilities, but the fact is… I have changed. I have taken on the responsibilities of being a husband, a father, a team mate, and a better friend, and I hope that I am living up to and fulfilling those responsibilities as best I can.

I probably ought to add “pet owner” to that list as well… I love my fur-babies, too.

In the coming weeks and months there are going to be some decisions I’ll have to make, and some of those decisions will affect others in ways they won’t like. I will likely go through a period of some guilt – I have a conscience. But reality is that way – you have to deal with the tough decisions, and no one comes out disaffected.

I’m going to wrap this up and think about the good things for awhile. I need a little vacation from my own brain.

Peace y’all.

It’s a little weird for me, some days, when I pause to reflect on the last year. Yeah, I know most folks don’t get in to the minutae of my life, hell, my kids probably don’t dig in to my posts the way that some of my professional compadres do, but this last twelve months has been an incredible journey.

To put things in perspective. Microsoft had not had (I hope some of my high school teachers don’t harangue me for that expression) a full-time training force in the field teaching Microsoft Official Curriculum in twenty five years. It’s kind of a thing. No fault to Microsoft… their partner channel is spectacular. I worked with Microsoft training partners for most of my career, the last sixteen with an outstanding training partner in Centriq Training in Kansas City.

I miss my friends at Centriq. It’s a great company, and a great group of people to work with and train. But….

I needed a change. I had become complacent. I was rolling with the changes, as anybody else would do, but I wasn’t pushing myself. I wasn’t setting lofty goals. I wasn’t reaching my potential.

That’s on me.

The people I worked around at Centriq are the best. They care. They want to see everyone succeed.

Their belief in me has propelled me. For that, I will forever be grateful.

OK. Time for me to call it a night, before I get obnoxious and get too emotional.

Peace y’all.