Evie Day 645

Good morning, and a happy Friday to you all. Today is the last working Friday of 2024 for this guy, 20 December 2024.

5 Days until Christmas.

One of the things I’m doing is taking my blood pressure in the morning. Both my cardiologist and GP want regular readings, so we have a little battery-powered cuff here at the house. I ran through my checks earlier this week, and it looks like my BP is still a little elevated, so the next step is to switch up some of my medications, and I’ll be replacing my regular medication for my irregular heartbeat with another medication that addresses the heartbeat issue and helps with the blood pressure as well.

We’re going to take Lisa’s car in for service this morning, and then I’ll run her over to the University. After that, I need to pedal my big butt home to get ready for back-to-back presentations, one on preparing for a certification exam, and another on security basics.

After that, I get to take a look at some other work responsibilities before I call it a year. I’ve got plenty going on the next two weeks, so my focus will be clear.

That’s all I have for you right now. Sports this weekend, Christmas next week, and time with family.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 644

Good morning, and a very happy Thursday to you all. Today is 18 December 2024.

Christmas is in 6 days.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I attended to the things I needed to attend to. I’ll be doing more of the same today as I prepare for a couple of year-end sessions with my fellow trainers as well as internal Microsoft teammates. After that, I’ll be in vacation until January 6th, at which point I will return to my virtual classroom to teach an admin course or security course – I’m not 100% sure which, but we’ll get it all sorted out.

Lisa made some sandwiches last night for dinner, a variation on something we’ve enjoyed throughout our relationship. I remember the first time I tried to make her a cheesesteak-style sandwich (with Philadelphia Cream Cheese, not CheezWiz) and it’s been a favorite for just about 30 years now. Good sandwich!

Last night I got together with the guys. Sometimes, it is just nice to hear the gang banter, and I’ll kick back and enjoy the conversation. These guys have been playing together for decades, and I’m happy just to be in the room.

Relaxing, focusing on my breathing to calm myself before I check my blood pressure for my doctors – the GP and the cardiologist. They want to keep an eye on my blood pressure now that I’m taking a new medication.

That’s about all for now.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 643

Good morning, folks! It is Wednesday morning, the 18th day of December, and I’m in a good spot.

At least I think I am – but I have been wrong before.

I’ve been looking for a project at work that I can sink my teeth into, and I may have found it. It incorporates our existing classes and AI to bring a little more newer technology into the virtual training space. I’ve got work to do.

Last night was pretty casual. We had our tacos, chips, salsa, and … whoops… I just realized that I have an order of flan in the fridge that I forgot to eat last night. Win for me. I think we had a couple of soft beef tacos left over from last night as well, so lunch today could be a notch better than ramen.

I have a meeting later this morning, but for the most part, I have some freedom today. Time to buckle myself into some training. I also have a couple of receipts I need to turn in – the company I work for has a nice program where they’ll pickup the tab (to a limit) on personal well-being expenses. I signed up for some online training through Pluralsight, and I also picked up a couple of things on the mental health side of the house.

Tonight, I’ll gather with the guys online to make Faerun safe for fellow humanoids.

That’s about all I have… oh… 7 days until Christmas.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 642

Good morning, and a happy Taco Tuesday to you all. Today is 17 December 2024.

8 days until Christmas.

I better get started on my Christmas shopping.

Just kidding. I think I’m in pretty good shape to be honest with you. Lisa and I are good, the whole family gift is good. Dane is set, Gracie ought to be fine… Bonnie can be the biggest challenge because we roll through Christmas right into her birthday on New Year’s Eve, but I think we’re set for both of those. Of course, our granddaughter Evelyn has a very impressive pile under the tree (not under the tree yet, but on a storage rack adjacent, just off off the floor), and I look forward to watching her open presents.

Yesterday was a day filled with meetings, but some offered some insight into “what comes next” for us. I’ve been invited to join another team that is focused on incorporating artificial intelligence prompts into the classroom environment. I have a couple of opinions, and I’ll express them at the appropriate time. I may have to step up a little bit for the AI group, as it looks like there might be a need for some organization and direction.

Last week I went for a couple of tacos, and then grabbed an order of fajitas for Lisa and Dane. Tonight be something else along those lines, maybe with some taquitos or something else that comes in smaller portions. I’m trying to cut back the volume of my meals, and improve the quality (and if my cardiologist reads this, yes, I am trying to watch my salt intake).

I’ll be ] in my virtual classroom today discussing AI – more of a productivity opportunity than an integration into one of my existing classes. These sessions are fun and allow me to show people some other pathways to explore. I hope folks have… I know I generally do in these classes.

Just remembered – I have a bit of recording to do this morning. I better focus on that right after I get coffee going.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 641

Good morning, and happy Monday to you all. Today is 16 December 2024.

My granddaughter is 3 months away from turning two years old.

Saturday morning was the recognition of the fall graduates, so Lisa had to head to the university early, full regalia in tow. I received a phone call shortly after 7:30 in the morning with an offer of breakfast with my youngest daughter and my granddaughter, and it was an offer I could not refuse. I spent a wonderful meal with great company, crunchy breakfast tacos, and a deftly colored piece of artwork created by a 21-month-old little girl. We had a good time. First Watch doesn’t skimp on breakfast, and I brought home my spare breakfast taco for Dane.

Kansas rebounded from two straight losses on the basketball court to beat NC State by fifteen. The Chiefs started a very rough sequence of games (3 games in 11 days) with a win against Cleveland, 21-7, but Patrick Mahomes went down with an ankle injury late in the game. I hope he’s ok, but with pending games against the Houston Texans on Saturday and a Christmas Day game against the Steelers, I do have concerns about the quarterback’s well-being. He’s not getting as much help from the offensive tackles as his fans would like to see.

After the game, I enjoyed a few hours with the guys online, making Faerun safe for good-natured humanoids.

This week is a study and work week. I have one day in the virtual classroom delivering a course on Artificial Intelligence, and the rest of the time is devoted to new classes and certification preparation.

I better do a review of my Christmas gifts and make sure I have all of the bases covered.

In the meantime, I’ll get some coffee going and forage for some of breakfast leftovers.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 638

Good morning! It is the last day of the Western work week! Welcome to Friday! It is 13 December 2024.

Oooh. Today is Friday the 13th.

I don’t have to worry about any black cats out here at my place. We’re more concerned with small canine beasts that warn of all possible deliveries from UPS, FedEx, and Amazon.

I wrapped up my four-day class yesterday afternoon. The last learner I had working on labs is from Estonia. I don’t think I’ve had anyone from Estonia in my classes before. When a person teaches online to an open-enrollment audience, there will be a few surprises. This week, Estonia, as well as others from Tunisia, Paris, and the strange and exotic land of Philadelphia.

Later today I have a couple of talks to focus on. I’ll be talking about a teammate’s project to trainers and other interested parties at 9, and then I’ll be working on a couple of other talks, one for Monday and another for next Friday. Next week I only have one full day in the classroom, so I’ll have a chance to get caught up on some other responsibilities.

Lisa and I decided to gift each other health reporting rings for Christmas this year. We have been properly sized, and the rings are wrapped up by the Christmas tree already. It will be interesting to see how they turn out.

Oh, one follow up note – while we were not impressed with the burgers from What-a-Burger on Wednesday, I had also ordered a salad to have yesterday for lunch. It was a grilled chicken salad with apples, grapes, and a balsamic vinaigrette, and it was pretty good.

OK, time for me to think about getting all of the trash out to the corner, make a pot of coffee, and contemplate a couple of eggs with cheese and leftover chili from last night’s dinner.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 637

Hey everybody! Welcome to Thursday! Today is 12 December 2024.

Lots of twos in today’s date.

Yesterday was a good day. My class went fairly well as we dove into topics related to application and data protection, as well as other aspects of secure network design. Today we’ll wrap up the lecture component, and we’ll see how many folks have an interest in working on labs this afternoon.

Last night we ordered some GrubHub from a newer place in town. What-A-Burger now has a location in Lawrence, on 23rd Street close to Lawrence High. We ordered a few burgers and a few fries and I have to admit that we weren’t that impressed with the food or the delivery. I was watching our delivery guy on the map, and he took a couple of wrong turns after missing the exit for our place on K-10. The food was cold, and the fries were very unimpressive. We talked about the meal, and we all admitted there were better burgers available, and I think Five Guys might be our next burger adventure.

I jumped online about 8 o’clock to hang out with the guys, and Daniel, a longtime trainer, was able to commiserate with me about training. Sometimes we get a room of eager, engaged learners, and other times you can get a room full of folks who are multitasking and more focused on the holiday season than the course itself. I guess it just reiterated my need to hang out with the guys and slay some big bads to get it out of my system.

I continue in the odd moments of moving books and other personal items around my workspace. I have another small shelf to put together to hold some computer components – UPS and external hard drives – and I look forward to retiring the ugly red chair that currently serves as the temporary solution.

That’s all I have. Time to get this in the can get started on the main part of my day.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 636

Good morning, and a happy Humpday to you all. Today is Wednesday, 11 December 2024.

Today is going to be a good day. I’m not going to let the bastards get me down – “Illegitimi non carborundum“.

Yesterday was a good day, but I apparently overlooked a delivery from FedEx that required a signature. The parcel arrived when I was in my class, and I didn’t hear the doorbell. I might look into getting a new doorbell. I told Dane about it, and he’s going to pay attention to deliveries today. He has some stuff going on, parts for a new computer build, and he often has his meetings on the main floor. The internet in the basement leaves something to be desired, even with the mesh satellite downstairs. I need to think about updating our mesh network – this reach of my current mesh doesn’t get the signal as far out as I would like.

Tacos were on the menu last night, as well as a serving of steak fajitas. After dinner, I deposited myself in a chair and started looking over my content for today’s delivery, and then spent some time studying for an upcoming certification exam. I’m trying to close out the year on a positive note – I earned a cert last month, and I’m trying to squeeze in one more, maybe two more, before the end of the calendar year. It’s challenging – my brain doesn’t have the elasticity it used to. I wonder if there is some sort of nutritional supplement that can add a roll of Bounty paper towels to my brain, so it can become a quicker-picker-upper.

Tonight, the dice will roll, at least online. I do look forward to my Wednesday evening gatherings with the guys. I’m not sure which campaign we’ll find ourselves playing in, but they’re all good. I get to spend time back in the sunroom (my workspace) and I’ve got some books to put away on some bookshelves that we recently put together. I’m trying to keep it neat and appealing to the eye, and bookends can make for an interesting visual accent. I had a new set of bookends arrive yesterday – blue agate from Brazil. They are beautiful.

It’s time for me to finish my second glass of water and start breakfast. Today I’m thinking about a bowl of Greek yogurt with some granola added for a bit of crunch.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 635

Good morning, and a very happy Taco Tuesday to you all. Today is 10 December 2024.

Lisa and I have created a new habit in the mornings… we start off by reading or playing a game on our devices – I write on my laptop, and she’s currently playing Wordle. We used to sit and watch the news in the morning but to be frank, I have a hard time watching the news. Some things, some people, I just don’t want to see. It’s going to be a long four years without the morning news, but we’ll manage. He wants everybody to look at him, pay attention to him, and hang on to every deceitful word, but I’ve better things to do.

Yesterday I jumped back into my virtual classroom for a four-day delivery, the first time in a few weeks, and the last time for this calendar year. Next week I have a one-day delivery, and then a few more days to focus on some other projects.

Odin just crawled up to the couch and he’s now lying across my legrest, using my right leg as a low perch while he watches Lisa in the kitchen.

My workspace has improved significantly in the last few weeks. I talked to my daughter the architect/designer and she had some ideas on making my space more work-friendly. My standing desks were moved from one side of the room to a corner looking out the windows, my guitars now hang on the north wall, and a couple of bookshelves stand where an old piece of furniture used to stand.

This morning I have a little recording to get done before I start my day in earnest. After talking into a microphone for 8 hours yesterday, I was a bit worn out. Today will likely be more of the same.

Tonight… there will be tacos.

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

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 634

Good morning, and a happy Monday to you all. Today is 9 December 2024.

I need to remember to finish up my networking recertification… that’s due in the next day or two. I should move that to the top of my to-do list and make a plan.

The weekend was a weekend – KU volleyball had a high and a low as they won their first match in the NCAA tournament against Colgate, but fell in the second round to Florida. The KU men’s basketball team followed up a bad game last Wednesday against Creighton with an even worse game against Missouri yesterday. The weekend ended on a sports high note, as the worst 12-1 team in the history of the NFL won another game, this time over the Los Angeles Chargers to seal the AFC Championship, and it was done by doinking a field goal off the upright and through the goal posts as time ran out for a two-point win.

The personal stuff went well this weekend. Lisa and Gracie unpacked Christmas decorations, and the house is quite festive. Gracie had some help, as Evelyn was attached to her pantleg, the toddler equivalent of a remora. I also was able to spend some time playing silly grampa games with Evie.

This week I am back in my virtual classroom to deliver a four-day course for a private customer. The course has been revised a bit, so I’m excited to see how this delivery goes. I have a four-day class this week, one one-day delivery next week, and several smaller presentations scattered about.

After class, I have a recording to finish and a re-certification to attend to. Then, I’ll get back to studying for another upcoming certification exam.

Nothing else really comes to mind, other than some prayers for the innocent folks in Syria. I’m glad Assad was run out of town. There will be some chaos. At times like this, I think about my first college roommate, Joseph, from Syria. He was a nice guy. and I hope he and his family are safe.

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

Peace y’all.