tennis

Julian has been asking me to play tennis a bunch lately. Better late than never and for a kid who has seldom picked up a racquet, he is getting darn good if I do say so myself. He’s even started taking lessons again and says he wants to try out for Varsity tennis next year. I better start working on my own game if I’m going to have a chance of keeping up with him!

me vs bird

Spring must be coming. The birds are back with a vengeance. Nothing frightened me more as a child than Hitchcocks’s, “The Birds”. That and maybe Stephen King’s movie “Christine”. Or “Carrie”. Man those movies got under your skin back in the day.

Anyway, back to the birds, we’ve got this long covered breezeway running down the length of our house. And every spring the birds make their nests in the warm, tight spaces in the rafters on top of our exposed light housings.

And every year it’s the same shit. Bird shit that is. 💩 They poop up and down the entire length of our corridor. It’s embarrassing. And I can’t stand cleaning it. Something has to be done.

Last year I resorted to spiky metal strips and fake plastic snakes. Neither made a difference. Only served to slice my fingers and scare me shitless when I would later stumble on the snakes I haphazardly threw in the yard.

This year I vow to box them out for good. The saga of man vs bird continues…

presidents day

It’s a bank and school holiday and work is super quiet. So I had a leisurely breakfast at Gracious Plenty, browsed the internet for an hour or two, then decided to come over to our rental on Thompson Place and pick up sticks. One of my favorite pastimes is to work in the yard over here. Build an outdoor fire and burn a bunch of dead wood and pine cones. 🔥

weekend recap

Was a really nice weekend all around. Played pickleball a couple times at a new indoor club I joined. They have 14 courts of open play ranging from all skill levels. I’d say I’m a solid intermediate. My dad could probably hang with the advanced. He plays tournaments at 77 years old. And if that wasn’t enough, he’s even starting another company at his age. But that’s a story for another post.

Back to my weekend, one of our local breweries has this annual thing they do called the Sleddy Yeti. They freeze over the big hill outside their establishment, snow it all in somehow, and turn it into a giant tubing run in the middle of Roswell. The more serious revelers bundle up in 80s garb or outrageous ski clothes, drink a bunch of hot toddy’s and let her rip. Julian even worked it for a few hours and was stationed at the base of the run helping kids (and drunk adults) up out of the tubes and onto their feet. And in case anyone’s wondering, yes, yours truly gleefully took a run for Jules to catch me.


Another highlight was talking to Sophia last night. She’s doing well but needs more mobility. We agree the time has come to focus on getting her license and a car of her own. Sounds like the first DMV appointment she could get is in mid March so less than a month away. I told her I’d come to town and go with her for it. Will be really impactful to support her, buy her her first car, and cherish the important steps she’s making toward adulthood.

The nature of journaling

(this was an old post I never published back from 2016)

I’m starting to miss the feel of writing in an actual book. Tip-tapping on my phone just isn’t the same and though easy to erase and not susceptible to mold, it doesn’t keep me the same company either.

When I discovered one day how my old journals became mildewed I cried inside; crushed by how irreplacible an investment of time on paper can be.

I knew even before the accident that I wanted to start this blog; I’ve owned the domain for over a decade. My kids laugh now but someday I’ll pass it down to them. And perhaps, just maybe, subconsciously, the mold was a catalyst for me to finally build out the site and give steph and the kids a chance to preserve and contribute their own entries as well.

In the end, I’m not saying I don’t appreciate the phone or enjoy this mode of writing; the screen serves as a comforting white page. It’s just I miss the spills and screw ups that give my old books so much character.

Roswell

One thing that has been on my mind a little is whether we should live in Roswell forever. I have a deep connection here for sure. It’s where I met Steph. Where I made some profitable real estate investments. And if you recall, where we left off in Season 1 of 4 Reeses Pieces, I had just angled the family back here from Bainbridge to start anew and build our dream home. Or as Ken calls it in his version of Barbie Land, my Mojo Dojo Casa House.

work

I guess one thing I’ll want to reflect back on here is work. I’m still at Dell. My official title is Customer Advocacy Executive. I’m an I-10 in terms of pay grade. Which basically means an individual contributor at a director level salary with none of the hassle of direct reports. Works for me. I even got a “game changer” award recently which came with some unexpected cash. April will mark my 13 yr anniversary and tenure across the company. Shaped by a rocky but rocket ship start at EMC, our subsequent stint in Seattle with Isilon, and my latest foray post merger with Dell Technologies, I’ve been squarely in this industry for a long time now. And what with the burgeoning hype and data potential of all that AI can tap into, it’s hard to think of another job that would suit me better.