Cleaning out my last couple of desk drawers on my last day at this job. I’m excited about the new job I’m starting next week, but it’s still a bittersweet thing to pack up after working here for more than 26 years.

(Also: how did I accumulate all this stuff?)

2026 Reads: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami 📚

Pretty heavy handed and a little too on the nose for my taste.

After a long dalliance with lazily streaming music, I’m working through cleaning up tags and cleaning out the cruft from my personal 30,000-track MP3 library. Doing some random listening and enjoying albums I’ve forgotten I had. This afternoon: “Passenger Seat” from Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors.

A little personal news: this week is my last week at Collins Aerospace after nearly 27 years here. It’s been a good long run, but a new opportunity awaits. More about that next week. This week is for tying up loose ends and saying some goodbyes.

2026 Reads: God After Einstein by John F. Haught 📚

Very disappointed with this one. Tedious and repetitive. Not enough science to be science-y, not enough theology to be theological.

Ah, here’s the January weather we’d been missing in Iowa.

-3F, feels like -23F this morning.

Couple of warmer (20s) days this week, then multiple nights at -10F or lower next weekend. Oof.

2026 Reads: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd 📚

Saw Chris Thile play tonight at The Englert in Iowa City. That guy is the real deal. Wowza.

A man in a light suit on stage playing a mandolin

The plan for today:

Gym ✅
Work
Record a podcast
Dinner with my wife at a new (to us) restaurant
Go hear Chris Thile play the mandolin

Last night: vestry. Tonight: library board!