Friday we had dinner with former coworkers from the big tech company. This past year that company has had multiple rounds of layoffs, accelerated retirements and voluntary severance programs. My old coworkers are coming out of the woodwork now that their time isn't consumed by their day job.

I enjoyed the dinner. Between volunteering and family their new free time has rapidly filled up. One is organizing and singing in a choral society. Another has volunteered for a reading program. She works with a school to read together with children.

A side note to job seekers-- if your manager ever starts talking with you about PIPs or VSAs, then get your resume in order. Start looking for your next job ASAP.

Reflecting over my time as a people manager, I’ve become much less judgmental about those who have been fired or laid off. You are not a bad person if you lose your job. Perhaps the business did not have an opportunity for you at that time. Maybe they really needed fewer employees. Maybe management was bad. Or, maybe your skills were not a great match for that role at that time. Don’t fight for your old job. Don’t wallow in self pity for too long. Move on quickly. Use that time to find your next role.

What about writing fiction, short stories specifically, as a hobby? itis not just shaping the prose, but designing the plot lines and thinking out the characters, Roderick

I'm flattered that you suggest this. I may still try it, but I won't make you read it. 

Back at home, the fall rains have set in. The clouds frequently clear out in the afternoon so we will go for a long walk with what little sun we can get. 

Travel note. My husband and I are preparing for a big trip-- Antartica. We leave this coming Tuesday. This trip needs more preparation than our regular trips. It's not like we can drop into a local store if we forget something. I have no idea what internet will be like while we are away. 

 Months ago I mentioned that my father was taking care of a feral kitten. Dad fed the kitten every day but did not allow it in his home.

This past weekend, my brother adopted the kitten. It’s doing well. It’s already learnt to use a little box. 

In our yard, the Soft Caress Mahonia has bloomed. It’s one of the last blooming plants of Seattle’s growing season. The bees flock to it when the sun is out. I sit in the sun and watch them hop from bloom to bloom. 

I recall a story where two kids track down the location of a beehive. They place out a small bowl of sugar syrup and follow the bees that visit. This sounds a little fictional. I look it up and it turns out to be possible. When a bee is ‘full’ it flies straight back to the hive. By timing how long a bee takes to return, you can determine the distance. With triangulation, patience and helpful weather you really can track down beehives.

On impulse I go to the local library and check out “Following the Wild Bees: The Craft and Science of Bee Hunting.”

For years I’ve had an urge to  bee keep. I stay away because I don’t need that much honey. Hunting for wild hives sounds less committed. Dip my toe without going all the way. 

I do this. I have impulses to try something new. Things that could be a hobby but then peter out. Sometimes it's fun to learn something new and challenging. It’s fun to research and buy new equipment. But then... it is just an impulse that costs money for no real return. I end up with junk in my house.

I once spent hundreds of dollars on a telescope for stargazing. Seattle is not the best place for stargazing.

Music-- I had keyboard lessons in high school. We bought a keyboard during COVID. At some point my learning slowed down. Then I developed a pinched nerve in my shoulder, so I stopped keyboarding and never restarted. We sold the keyboard when we moved to our current home. I may pick keyboards up again. I have friends who have offered me their keyboard which has not been used in years.

Bicycling-- I’ve learnt how to maintain my bicycle. I’ve investigated how to turn it into an e-bike. I’m one idle month away from doing so.

3D Printing-- I would love to buy a 3D printer, but do I really need more plastic crap in my house? But I could 3D print drawer organizers and lamp shades... 

Drawing-- This would not be a bad hobby to pick up. It’s not expensive and if I became good (big if) I’d be more inclined to keep the drawings than the hundreds of pics we take from our cell phones.

I start looking around at the local bookstores for “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.”

Social calendar...

Saturday dinner and games with QJ, C7, WY & DA

Sunday lunch and a walk around the Fremont Market with Evan and Allen

Sunday Dinner with W&J

This much socializing tires me out. It's hard for me to explain how or why. All I can say is that after a certain point I have a craving for silence, for downtime. Two long days with so many extraverts is exhausting. 

Monday. Hike with Clem. I enjoy hiking and I need to do so more often. Clem and I agree to hike again next week. Tuesday, Clem will have surgery to have some Basel cells removed. 

Clem is 72 and this is the first time I've seen him act 'old'. He needed to use trekking polls to deal with the steep parts of our path. He had to work hard and carefully to pull off some deep knee bends. Sigh. 

RFC for the SOP on this B L O G

This blog is now 25 years old. Thank you, dearest readers. You are an exclusive club. 

Many years ago I kept a private journal, then my hard drive died. At that point I was deeply involved in building internet software at a big tech company. Blogs were beginning to be a thing. Rather than start a new journal on the new hard drive, I decided to make a blog, this blog. In a fit of madness I it public.

My rules of thumb for this blog... I see they are more aspirational than rigorously enforced...

First and foremost, this blog is for me and to remind me of what I once did and what I was thinking of at that time.

Second, lead with the facts and the present. I want this blog to be centered around what I am actually doing in my life on that week. I don’t want to run on and on with future plans or a rehash of past memories.

Third, stay away from speculation, gossip and venting. This can be very hard to do when I need to provide context for how I’m thinking things through.

Over time I’ve added a fourth rule-- this is not Facebook. I don’t want to share low-effort posts for the likes and smilies.

I want these posts to be valuable, at least to me. In return I put that effort into other blogs, especially those of bloggers that read mine. I will read them thoughtfully. I will stay caught up.

I’ve also discovered that I enjoy writing. Now that I have more time, I’m putting more effort into that. I still want the blog to be a record of my life, so I am thinking about alternating posting styles, with some posts being just an outline of my life events, interleaved with longer essays.

Bullet hole memorial from Union Station in KC

 

We are still in KC.

We’ve toured the WW1 Museum, the Berlin Wall exhibition plus the Harry Truman museum and library. It’s exposed me to much history from that time from different perspectives-- the rise of the U.S. as a major military power, the dynamics leading up to WW1, WW2, the Cold War, the rise of nationalism and the rise of civil rights....

Some things stand out. First, Seattle doesn’t have museums that cover military or political history like this. Seattle could up its museum game.

Second... history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. The rhymes of today make me uncomfortable.

Good news on the dog front. Her diarrhea went away.

We are now in Kansas City. The city has done a great job preserving its older buildings.

We have a surprising number of accidental connections to KC. My friend Clem grew up here. My dentist is from here. My husband worked here and still keeps in touch with his old coworkers. My brother-in-law earned his degree here. His grandkids reside here. Also my husband's sponsor from AA retired here.

They all have conflicting opinions on who has the best BBQ in Kansas. I’ll stay out of that debate. 

Wednesday evening we had dinner with one of my husband's old coworkers. She has family here. She and her husband found KC to be far more affordable than the West Coast and moved here for retirement.

We spent Thursday catching up with my husband's old sponsor. We've known her for long enough that I also consider her a friend.

We still have much to see in KC… museums, river walks, haunted houses. For some reason KC has a small industry in haunted house attractions. I don't know if I'm looking forward to that.

We are headed out for a week to visit friends in Kansas City. The night before our departure our dog developed diarrhea. As my husband and I travel over the next year, this is the kind of challenge that we will need to manage through. Should one of us stay home? Should we foist more obligation onto our dog sitter?

In the end we decided to inform the sitter and instruct him to cut back on the dog's diet until the symptoms calm down. We also collected our stash of diarrhea medications (does every dog owner have a stash of diarrhea medications?) and put it someplace conspicuous. We shall see if this is enough to prepare the sitter.

We took our aunt out for dinner at a highly recommended local restaurant. It was at a working fisherman's wharf in a rundown older building. The crowd there looked worn down. Fishermen? Homeless? Looking around, everyone was drinking wine and eating plates of gorgeous sushi. The contrast between the ambience, the customers and the food made me smile. 

The food and drink were wonderful.

We talked to our server about the history of the restaurant. Apparently there is a good culinary school down the road. The restaurant is run by one of the instructors and partially staffed by the students. 

Kismet’s Landing. Well worth the visit. 

The fog ebbs and flows around the beaches and coves near Florence. For a few moments the sun will be out and the sky blue. Ten minutes later you are walking in a misty dream. 

The area is a tourist and retirement heaven. I can see why my husband’s aunt settled here— gorgeous beaches, golfing, fishing, nice restaurants and a healthy retirement community. 

 

We are driving down the coast to Florence Oregon to visit my husband’s family. A friend suggested just I say we are traveling to Florence as it sounds more exotic.

Florence Oregon may not be Florence Italy, however the beaches here are beautiful. I’ll let the sunset speak for itself. 

 

Happy October all.

Fall is setting in. The clouds and drizzle have returned though there are still plenty of sunny breaks in the afternoon.

Wednesday we had a video call with A&E. Some happy news from them. A month ago they took in a foster dog. More specifically their son, who lives with them, took in a foster dog. This dog had been neglected and was untrained. It didn’t know to potty outside and had never been on a leash. Fortunately, the dog was smart and trainable. After a month of patience, the dog is now friendly, cuddly, leash trained and goes to the bathroom outside. A permanent owner has been identified. Soon he will be in a new home. 

I slept 8 hours last night. Hallelujah!

Weather wise fall has set in. Much cloud. Occasional rain. Temperatures no longer reach the 70s. 

Sunday was a social day. Lunch with Evan, Allen, WS & PT. We have all been traveling of late and shared our experiences. WS & PT also caught colds while traveling in Europe. This marks seven people that I know who, in the past two weeks, have caught travel colds. Thankfully this cold is more of an inconvenience than anything. You cough. Your nose runs. You are a little more tired than usual. No aches, pains or nausea.  

Dinner was with my brother-in-law. We haven't seen him in months. All is going well there. He plans on retiring in two years. He has grand-kids in KC. We will visit them in a few weeks.

We received a frustrating call about a friend. Apparently the friend has flaked out twice about meeting with the caller. The caller had the feeling that more is going on with this friend than just being scatter brained.

I've been worrying about this friend for sometime. If this were work,  I'd characterize the problem as "Executive Disfunction." He has problems prioritizing and keeping commitments without being managed.

Thankfully he doesn't use drugs or alcohol. 

I have to proceed carefully. I must bring this topic up in the right way at the right time.