Starting exercise class yesterday along with planting the trees left me physically exhausted so we took today off and did inside stuff. I’m happy that we got the plants in but boy, I forgot how much work it can be. Oh well, it’s nice to take time and do nothing. Back at it tomorrow.

I’m not sure why but even though I’m in between jobs, I’m always happy it’s Friday. I guess that’s fine as I still have the Sunday blues even though I have no reason to dread Monday’s at this particular point.

It looks like I’m going to be helping out my old job with some simple integrations and I’m super happy to help. I’ve also been finding great positions with the WGU placement app Handshake. Now I just have to work on being able to craft the resume to the individual posting. It won’t be long once I actually commit to going back to work. I love not working but the pay sucks.

A young lady I worked with 3 jobs ago is dying. I accepted a friend request from her maybe 9 months ago and was a bit shocked to find out she was undergoing chemotherapy. At the time I didn’t pay much attention, she was young (a couple or so years younger than I) and was undergoing treatment. Was posting about her son’s acceptance to college, and you could tell how proud she was.

Then today, she announced she entered hospice and directed all correspondence to her husband stating she couldn’t rest properly with the social media distractions, and that the drugs wouldn’t allow her to answer anyhow. As Sandy works in hospice, I know you don’t go on hospice unless your caregivers have determined that you only have 3 to 6 months to live. While I sit here contemplating the eventual demise that will come at some future indeterminant time, someone is preparing to die. I don’t know what I would do, and as horrified as I am to imagine what she must be going through, my thoughts also are with her husband and son. While death is unavoidable, this situation just feels… I want to say unfair, but nobody ever said life was fair. And no matter how you try to spin it as part of the natural order, it just feels sad.

So the internet is more than just news and new stuff. It’s a great archive of old stuff as illustrated by the Portal to Texas History hosted by the University of North Texas.

As I was perusing the Fort Worth Gazette newspaper of Monday, June 22, 1891, and came across this gem:

So crazy has been going on for a long time and it seems it has always been reported but I’m guessing now, with our ability to see everything, it seems a little overwhelming.

So now that I’ve decided that I’m running with my degree, I need to craft a version of the resume to that end. I’ve got a generic one and one geared to TCC admin but not one showcasing data science credentials. I’ll have to work on that tomorrow.

Spent part of the day working with the site and although I’m getting the hang of it, I’m running into a wall with the site icon and logo. I’m bad with graphics and I’m leery of using a free site for it. I should have it professionally done but between jobs just isn’t a place for that. I guess I’ll use a free generator for the time and change it up when I can afford professional.

Did make my active goals today, tomorrow is supposed to be nice so we’ll see if we can’t get out on the bikes, maybe go for lunch. Loving life today.

52 years old today. That number seems so large now that I see it in type. Today was the typical pseudo melancholy that attends these events. Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly thankful for the life I live and the people in that life. I’m blessed beyond what words can express but in the back of my head, there’s a voice whispering ‘this too shall pass’. I guess it’s something that we all confront.

Sandy and I went to the gym and then we had a birthday lunch at Outback. It’s been a nice stress free day. Got the canister purge solenoid for the Xterra today, it took all of 10 minutes to put the part in. I reset the code and am hoping that was what was throwing it although the old part didn’t seem to be broke from what I saw on YouTube. Time will tell I guess. I need to also get the TPMS looked at before I get it inspected. Oh yeah, I need to fix the horn too.

I was up and at the gym at 6:30am this morning. Not really a particular reason other than the fact that I was awake. I will be working on getting myself back on a real schedule and working out is a fairly important part of that.

Later in the day Sandy and I went and walked the mall since it was raining and had Chic-fil-a for lunch. I feel a bit old because I found myself complaining that 2 meals at a fast food place was $23. I feel like it was rare that I spent over $5 for a meal at fast food joints but that was longer ago than I think I’m sure. Ahh, more of the joys of getting older.

While yesterday was nice weather-wise, we’re back in the cold today. I guess that’s Texas winter for you. Had I been in Erie it would have just been cold.

It’s mom’s birthday today, she’s 82. Exactly 30 years and 4 days older than I. We’ll be getting together tomorrow for lunch to celebrate both her and my birthdays at Saltgrass. That should be nice.

Got a haircut today. It’s short and the weather is cold, I should have thought that one through but honestly, it looks so much better. I remember having long hair in school and I wore it well but I don’t think my hair grows the way it did, takes forever to grow in and looks like a mop when it does. To prove that here is my PA driver’s license from back in the day.

I had almost forgotten that part of being an alumni from WGU gets me unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning. One of the classes they have is on WordPress and while I’ve been using it for years, I’m far from being an expert. So I started taking the classes associated with WordPress and I’m a little excited about it. I haven’t really touched my six-monitor Windows 11 development computer since I left ThinkTalent four months ago. That computer was only ever used for work so it feels odd to be on it without doing TT work on it. I’m slowly making it my own again. I do need to do a thorough cleaning and backup of the information. But wow it’s nice to take a class on the dev computer. Six monitors and no waiting. Windows 11 has a built-in SSH client and with WinSCP, it’s almost like being on a native Linux box.

I haven’t spent much time in the last 4 months on a computer. Heck, half that time has been spent on the road in places that rendered the phone a bricked camera due to lack of signal. I was getting worried that I’d lost my addiction to computers, but I spent half of today sitting at the desk in front of the 10 monitors and it felt good. Missed being in the captain’s seat:)

Made it halfway through the week and it warmed up a bit, that’s subjective since it only made it to 42 but it beats 22. Lab tests are back in and I’m fit as a fiddle, not a new shinny one but one that will be around for a couple more years. The only thing that was slightly elevated was glucose because my sweet tooth has been in full effect and getting the sharing size as opposed to the family size of Heath bars just wasn’t a big enough concession. I can fix that.

Birthday meals will be on Saturday. Mom, sis and Ron will come over here and I’ll drive us to the Saltgrass Steakhouse for a late lunch and then back here for cherry cheesecake. Cortney and Sandy are going to something called the veggie fest this Sunday. I’ve rarely been happier to not be invited someplace.

Sandy and I managed to make it to the gym today, did half an hour of cardio and even a little bit of running. It was nice to get out of the house and move a bit.