Author: Jason

about to lock up our Franklin house and head back home.reflecting on a great trip. I got to speak some Japanese. Like literally for the first time in 20 years. His name was Ted (san). 82 years old, so gracious and humble, with a glint in his eye and a lifetime full of experience. Immigrated to the US by cargo ship when he was just 20 years old. Didn’t speak a lick of English. Landed in none other than Port Angeles WA which gave us a kick, having lived in Bainbridge island and all. somehow he bused himself all the way to Iowa to work on a cattle ranch and the rest is history. Imagine that kind of origin story for a desperate and bewildered Japanese kid born right after WWII. And then there he was. Right at our dinner table for Thanksgiving in Franklin NC.

Sophia was there. And she looked so beautiful. Julian by my side, fresh off our trip to South Carolina. And then there’s my beloved Steph. What did I do so right in my past life to be so lucky in this. And bringing up the rear, our ever faithful, two weinees, Chai and Remy.

Ted san took our family photos, but, truth be told, the lighting wasn’t so great. So, with all due humility and gratitude, here’s the Japanese inspired, AI rendering of what might as well be our family portrait.

taking off early for Columbia SC tmrw with Jules. It’s about 3 hours from home. No guided tours available so we’ll just tool ourselves around campus. Maybe even get a set of tennis on their courts. I booked us some boutiquey hotel for the night. No drinking beer together though. Looking forward.

Did my first weigh in since I challenged myself to lose 10lbs before Palm Springs.
I haven’t really changed my diet or exercise regimen so I half expected things to be going in the wrong direction.
Official status – down 1.5lbs

While pleasantly surprised, I need to try harder. I’m not going to magically get there at this rate.

As is tradition, we’ll be going up to Franklin this year. Sophia is coming back to town and she and Steph will drive up early. Jules and I will follow along later sometime Wednesday afternoon. We’ll host it at “grandads” (our house) come Thursday. I’m still on the fence whether or not I’ll run the 5k “Cold Turkey” that morning. It’s a fun distraction but I’ll need to get in a few more practice miles before I fully commit. Who knows what menagerie of old folks Steph’s mom will invite this year. They like to eat early. More like lunch than dinner. I ordered some assorted pies from a local baker I expect will be a hit. I can only eat and visit so much though. Thankfully there’s the annual WSOP event at Cherokee casino if I get really antsy.

Things have been eerily quiet on the work front lately. Maybe it’s the push toward AI. Or maybe it’s other service teams assuming more ownership. Either way, it feels like a precarious inflection point in the charter of our Customer Advocacy team. Seven years ago, I was a founding member of an exclusive special ops team under Hans-Jurgen, but now it’s hard to ignore we’ve grown into a bloated, amorphous department with a lackluster leader and a widely diluted brand. We have all the machinations you’d expect of group our size. Administrative minutia, utilization metrics and continuous improvement loops. But who knows how truly valuable we are when rolled up in aggregate. And now, the foundational tool they built our entire processes upon is being dismantled in favor of cost savings and consolidated corporate IT. Pair all this with significant layoffs, the stringent return to office mandate (though there’s no office for me to go to), and I’d have to say this has been my least fulfilling year at Dell to date. I’m going to have a tough time filling out my self evaluation. Might be high time to think about what’s next if I want to evolve my career here.

well…here’s the post I hoped I wouldn’t have to write. Trump won. And by all counts and measures, he won by a lot. The imagery of a red wave is pretty apropos. I hope the kids feel good about voting nonetheless. It sure was a polarizing first experience. So disorientating for steph and I waking up this morn. Not like the loss of a parent or anything. Just like being forced to tune into a channel you never wanted to watch. A massively collective, abrupt reflection of our national identity.

It’s been a quick but really nice visit with Sophia. She’s been sleeping with the dogs upstairs, faithfully brining Remy down at 5:00 in the morning for his ritual pee. Daylights savings time changed last night so it must have felt extra early. Julian went to yet another Halloween party last night so who knows where his head is at. The afternoon was leisurely and all about brunch with the Fickle Pickle crew. Sophia’s first job and still to this day, a meaningful part of her being. Again, I wasn’t crazy about the idea at first but with the help of a little Sunday jazz, we got in the swing of things and put together a solid breakfast for the chef and his family (they have 6 kids!). Now Jules is at work and Phi and Steph are at a Billie Eilish concert. I’m having a much-enjoyed beer while sitting on the patio, thinking how nice, if only for a spell, to have my 4 Reese’s pieces under one roof.

The Owenby’s came for a visit today. Mamoo and Papoo wouldn’t miss the chance at seeing Sophia for the world. They brought their 8lb mini poodle “Muffie”. They sure love that little dog. Just like they love these little grandkids of theirs. It was nice to set the table for six. Just us “Reesenby’s” as it were.

it’s Friday. Day after Halloween. Jules played hookie and seemingly had quite the night last night at Avalons party. this morning, Steph went with him to Dr Rikhter’s office for a mandatory physical exam so he can join the tennis team.bet that was rough. 🤢 Steph went from there down to the airport to pick up Phi. I’m so excited to see her.