Retirement. That is retirement from any income producing employment. I have selected January 1, 2026.
Why did I wait? Why did I not pull the trigger? The answer is shear inertia. I simply had not thought about it. How many other things do we keep doing simply because?
Carpe the rest of the diems.
It was surreal. They had the best pasta.
It was surreal. The storm knocked the house across the street over.
It was surreal. The guy just started shooting.
Maybe but perhaps a different word. Perhaps “amazing”.
Listening.
Recently a longtime high school friend came to town to experience a grandchild’s graduation from high school. Cheryl and I met Paul and Kathy for lunch. It was a great visit with no particular direction to the lunchtime conversation. Just a chance to catch up.
At the end Cheryl needed the restroom. And for awhile we talked about Cheryl, her disease and where we were in life. Paul asked how I was doing. He was sincere and so was I when I replied that I was okay.
They are very good friends. They both listen. They do not offer unsolicited advice.
Listening is the most important quality in a friend.
Carpe Diem.
Sparingly. Although it does amuse me. Mostly. My immediate life is not driven by my need to read social media posts. I am old I guess. It is much more fun to sit with friends and family, have a beer or soft drink and chat. Face to face. Mano a mano. In close proximity. Body language is part of communication. Social media has managed to strip away everything other than the words.
Words have nuance.
Many years ago I had the privilege of working with my father at a company that manufactured machine tools. Dad and I worked very little together but on one project we found ourselves in many design meetings essentially working for a guy Dad did not particularly like. I could tell that by how my father held himself occasionally while in the meeting this gentleman was talking about various ideas. When I asked my father about it he said that you always have to listen to the other guy even if you think he is a jerk because it is possible that he might have a good idea.
That thought has helped me through many uncomfortable conversations where I might have rejected the other’s opinion or thought simply out of hand because he rubbed me the wrong way.
I could have rejected my Dad’s lesson but I decided to keep it for my own.
What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?
Coffee freshly brewed. Bread freshly baked. Wordle solved. Quordle solved. Love of my life slept through the night peacefully.
That is a math concept that is lost on many people. It is lost on engineers who should be good at math.
Many years ago I was given the opportunity to teach a very basic math refresher style math class in a for profit community college setting. It was very interesting to me as I have an engineering background and my math abilities are strong. I began to think deeply about “Why is this easy for me and hard for these students?” I used that as a mantra when I was trying to explain and help them through the class. My other duties where chief GED instructor. There I discovered that if you can read well, all else is easy (maybe not exactly easy but at least attainable with time).
This was an eye opening experience. One of the forks in my life journey was accept a job in industry or continue my education and teach on the university level. I chose industry and never looked back but teaching these couple classes as an adjunct wizard taught me much about myself and what is important.
Order of Operations is important in math.
Many other things are important in life.
Carpe Diem.
What makes you most anxious?
This writing prompt magically appeared from Word Press. What makes me the most anxious is the fact that some new symptom or behavior will appear with Cheryl’s Parkinson and I will not be able to help her. Coupled with that fear is the anxiety that little techniques that I have developed so far will quit working. And lastly I will have to give in to the fact that I can no longer care for her myself.
Adjunct_Wizard 