My father's breakfast is always oatmeal, a banana and a vitamin pill. Lunch consists of a ham sandwich (no mustard or mayo) and a honey sandwich. Whole wheat bread.

Sometimes he doesn't even make the sandwich. He eats a slice of ham, then eats a slice of bread. 

For his main meal, he might have a chicken breast with boiled potatoes and maybe canned vegetables. Dessert is either a pudding cup or a slice of pie.

He eats out regularly. which adds some variety to his die. Though a hamburger and fries aren’t a major improvement.

How do you talk about healthy eating to a man in his 80s who is otherwise fine and takes care of himself? Maybe you don’t. I hope I I have his vigor when I'm his age.

I sometimes look to my uncles and aunts to try and see what the future holds for my health. My grandparents were all prolific. I have about twenty uncles and aunts to learn from.

So what is the impact of my genetic and familial predispositions? The smokers all died younger. After that it's murky. Some have died in their 70s. Some in the 80s. Others are still going strong in their 90s. Some have died from cancer. Some of heart attacks or strokes. A couple of dementia-- dementia concerns me the most. 

Looking over it all, there are no real strong correlations amongst my relatives deaths. I will die sometime in the future. Maybe of cancer, or maybe a stroke. 

Today, my father, a cousin, and I went to a farm show. It was fascinating. The technology and scale of farming equipment have grown tremendously since the 1980s when I grew up on my dad’s farm.

The 100-acre family farm is a thing of the past. The 1,000-acre business farm is the way of the future.

Massive, highly automated tractors can be yours for $500K—though you’ll need a few of them to tend your 1,000 acres, along with an understanding bank. The money required to run these farms is just as massive.

One of my high school friends is grappling with the future of his large farm. Business is good, but he’s also facing recurring cancer. Surviving cancer once is a victory; surviving five times changes your life plans. So, what does he do with his farm? His children are too young to take it over. What does his wife want? These are tough questions.

As I catch up with old friends, I realize that everyone has a parent or family member facing similar challenges. The real trick is learning to thrive and find happiness when these problems inevitably come your way.

If you’ve figured that out, please let me know how.

My Canadian friends have asked me many questions about Trump. The locals are curious. In response I've expanded on Tommy's idea. Remember "Twin Peaks" or "Lost?" Those crazy TV shows with so many twists that their plots only became more chaotic and confused over time. How do I feel about Trump? I feel like I'm watching Twin Peaks-- get some popcorn, watch the chaos unfold, then turn it off and try to get on with my life.

I told this to a cousin. She shot back.... "Hopefully it will be like Dallas and we'll wake up to discover last year was only a dream."

U.S. politics are not intimidating the locals. They are concerned. No one is expecting this to be easy. They are showing pride in Canada in a way I have not seen years. They are preparing to defend themselves-- elbows up! From what? Who knows. U.S. politics are so crazy that it's foolish to predict. Instead they are strengthening themselves and their ties with others. They are making plans to deal with the worst. They are pulling together. After all, peace, order and good governance are the Canadian way. 

I’m visiting my father and extended family for a week in the Ottawa valley. It’s snowy and sunny here. Pleasant for a March. 

 A have a cold. I've be laying low. Since I work from home, it will be a regular workday. 

Today is gorgeous. It's sunny and pleasantly warm. I'm working outside, sitting in the sun.

C2 has been in the dumps of late. I listen to him patiently. He bristles quickly if I offer any advice. He's been unemployed for the past few months and he's just moping about it. He wants to work, but he hasn't applied for jobs. Having said that, his niche is contract work for the Military-- a sector that's been hit hard by the new administration. 

Much rain over the past few days. Over the weekend, our dog was sick and threw up several times. She hasn't done so today, though she is sleeping more than usual. 

 

My husband and I had a lovely Valentines dinner. For that, I did some prep work to have a long conversation with him. Usually I'm quiet at our dinners. We'll talk about work and the day, but nothing deep. For Valentines, I found "36 questions that lead to love." We had a good time walking through the questions.

My husband is visiting his mother when he can. She has several long-term and terminal conditions that don't get better as you age. Over the past few months they have become acute. She has been in and out of the hospital several times, fighting to find a cure. Only recently has she started to consider that the doctors are doing all they can and there is no lasting solution for her situation. 

My mother-in-law has started to think through how her sons will execute on her will. Her finances, unfortunately, are not simple. So she is ensuring that both her sons will have access to her accounts, bankers and lawyers. This involves paperwork and driving around to different banks and law firms. 

My husband is the kind of person who gets in there and gets things done even if it means dealing with paperwork and bureaucracy. My brother-in-law shy's away from these tasks. Perhaps his job doesn't give him as much flexibility. Unfortunately, it has left my brother-in-law in a situation where he feels like my husband is taking over, and will have complete control of their mother's money. It's caused some tension between them. I can't feel sorry for brother-in-law. 90% of success is showing up and he is not.

We are having a cold snap here in Seattle. On the plus side the days have been sunny. 

At work, some of my team have flown into town. One young, green employee didn't bring his credit card. He only uses Apple Pay and tap. As a result the hotel refused to give him a room. We had to scramble to fix that up.

This has turned into a dark time of the year. One year ago, my mother died on Feb 7. I just received the news that my sister-in-law's father died early in the morning on February 8.

My husband's niece and sister-in-law are in town for the weekend. They are paying my husband's mother a visit, and catching up with family.

My husband's brother passed away years ago from alcoholism. I think this was the first time my husband and his sister-in-law discussed the grief she felt at the time of his passing. Addiction raises all sorts of complicated feelings. This weekend brought them both some closure. 

And we are back in Seattle.

Friday, our last day, was wonderful. There was a layer of fresh snow that makes snowboarding more enjoyable.

Late Friday afternoon, we did Whistler's apres-ski scene. I'm was taken aback by how post-COVID it is. We went to a bar with a fantastic band. The bar was packed, cheek to jowl with people dancing on their chairs at the tables and singing along to the music.  

For me it was a wonderful experience seeing hundreds of people have a great time. My husband was anxious and he dropped a few hints as such. We left after about 15 minutes, walked around the village, passed many other packed clubs, and then met up with our friends for dinner. 

It’s my husband’s birthday this week so we are up in Whistler for the celebration. The weather is gorgeous. 

We have also invited a couple friends along. These friends, like my husband, are all in medical sales. Work conversations frequently pop up. 

Interesting trivia… The sales reps know which nurses are racist and which are more inclusive. They tweak their salesforce and their sales pitch to build relationships with the nurses regardless of their thoughts on race.

While I mostly work from home, I'll drive into the office one day a week. 

Over the holidays my day-job moved our physical office. The old office was vast and underutilized. We moved to an office that was more appropriately sized.  

The new office is nice but still a work in progress. There are some construction issues such a blocked sink drain and coffee machines that are not working All stuff that can be fixed. Overall the space is pleasant. Smaller, but not too constrained.

I chatted with an employee whose whole career started after the Covid lockdown. As such she was accustomed to either working from home or working in our old, large, office space. She found it a bit weird, but not uncomfortable, to be working physically right next to someone else. 

Afterwards, we went out for drinks. It was good to catch up with my co-workers in a more relaxed setting. My VP attended. He commented "I really enjoyed this. We should do it every month." I had to bite my tongue. We do go out for drinks every month. He is always invited. He rarely attends. 

I carpooled home with a coworker. As much as we enjoyed the evening get together, we do not miss working from an office. We do not miss the commute. We both have at about two more hours per day when  working from home. 

Over January is busy for my husband and he is traveling a lot. Business is busy for him.

It's given me a good chunk of time alone. I've been reading more, working on a jigsaw puzzle and catching up with a few old friends. 

Saturday one of those friends, Clem, and I went on a good hike. Clem is almost 70. We share some of his challenges. 

Clem has always been extremely social and more active in the gay party scene. He frequents bars  and attends all night dances. We discussed how staying engaged and having a normal life is difficult for retired gay men. With so much more free time on their hands, retired gay men can fall into the trap of sex and drugs. He busies him self by volunteering, traveling and working part time jobs. He delivered packages for UPS over the holidays. He will deliver flowers over Valentines. 

Tommy wrote: "I believe that for my generation, if people were actually truthful with themselves and the rest of the world, retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The real achievement in life is the 'achievement of business.'"

I agree with this, and I’m trying to figure out how it applies to me. The phrase "achievement of business" really stands out. It’s easy to think of it as financial success, but I see it as more than that. For example, your work in public service is also a kind of achievement in business, just a different kind.

I’m not sure what my calling is growing into. For years, my career has been about helping big companies get a little more efficient. It’s been rewarding financially, but I’m finding it hard to feel excited about doing this for the next few decades. At the same time, the idea of making a big change feels scary. Still, I’m starting to see that the cost of not trying might be even greater.

Figuring out what my "achievement of business" means to me seems less about sticking to the usual path and more about finding a new idea of success—one that I can really look forward to.

We are in the airport waiting for our flight back to Seattle.

This past week has been wonderful. The New Years week has felt like hanging out with old friends, catching up, playing games, reconnecting. 

Owing to when we met in University, these friends were all born in 1970 and started our careers in Toronto in 1995. There are many similarities in the overall narratives. 

It feels like our lives are transitioning. For my friends who have kids, the last of their children are off to college or finding full time jobs. Our parents are aging. Some have passed away. Some need full time care. And some are making the best with the few years they have left.

Without saying the word “retirement” a few of us are thinking through our post-career life. We are considering jobs that have less stress, but still keep us active.