Gathering ideas to do the next phase of work...
I just finished a mask sketchbook that I've been working on since March 2025. There be some gold in it. There be some crap. It's the 14th one I've done... I think. Earlier this year I had a sort of mini-crisis where deep down I know I need to draw and make more of these. There's constant tug to keep creating more. I finally understand The Rainbow Connection by Kermit. I used to post my drawings on…
First week of work post vacation went as well as could be expected. There was a surprise leadership change. Things that weren't an emergency when I left were now a big deal. Received an aggressive timeline for a software change that I don't know how I'm going to accommodate it. But overall, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I was able to deep dive into a couple of projects where we desperately…
Today I saw the latest DC Super-hero movie - Supergirl. I had high hopes for it because it has one of my favorite comic book characters of all time in it - Lobo. He's crass. He's violent. He's a good counterpoint to any of the Super-characters. I'm able to brag thatI have almost all of his comics in my collection. I have 3 or 4 action figures. Needless to say, his appearance was the highpoint of…
I've been way over the line of burnout for awhile. This week off has helped me recharge. I have managed to reduce some of the work stress, But I know it will back by 10 am Monday morning. I was hoping to be able to pull back and assess the work situation during this vacation. Being able to sit down yesterday and write here was the start. I did start sketching out a tentative workplan... just an…
I'm almost at the end of a week long vacation. Have I rested? Yes. Have I rested enough? Heh. This morning I made a batch of blackberry financiers. Financiers are my favorite pastry. There's a lovely heaviness to them, and they are exotic to my taste buds because the recipe starts with almond flour. I love that sweetness. In this case, I really wanted a tart fruit so blackberries fit the bill…
New beginning. I struggled with the 2025 word of the year. I couldn't focus on being a polymath because of urgencies and emergencies. I've come to the realization that I'm not being as effective as I possibly can be and my skills are not being utilized enough. This is why I want 2026's word of the year to be wonder. I want to slow down and look at the nuts and bolts of processes and ideas to…
IGrowing up on a farm in dairy farm in Kentucky, I learned early of the value of hard work. I learned to persevere and keep on doing every day. The rewards would eventually come. Keep the goal in mind and learn from mistakes. But keep pressing on. Keep doing the work. What wasn't communicated through all that sweat and hard labor was sometimes hard work wasn't enough. You have to know when to…
It took me 20 years of my career to move from being an individual contributor to a leadership role. Part of this time was due to my personal life. Part of this was due to a lack of coaching and mentors. Part of this was due to me not understanding my value within the organizations I worked for. I longed for this promotion. It appeared to be the only way for me to rise to the salary level that I…
Professionally, one of the items that I am continuously working on is communication. I work with complex data sets and concepts and with colleagues of many different skillsets and backgrounds. I spend alot of time thinking about the right metaphor or picture to help convert my mind map of a concept to my partners' in the work. I collect the tools that I think would work best (and are easiest to…
I've been working on fixing cool projects of mine that I let just kinda fall apart. I took advantage of some surprise time off to put together a new music server so I can have access to my entire music collection everywhere. I purchased a new mini-pc to be the main service, installed Plex, dug out some old passwords for my Synology NAS, and fiddled with it all until it came together nicely. The…