I live in Iowa and work with a bunch of 30-something white guy engineers who ought to be in the MAGA demographic. To overhear their conversations about politics, though, gives me hope; they see the corruption of the media and of huge corporate wealth and MAGA’s moral bankruptcy.

One more post for the morning: got a new professional headshot taken last Friday. I remember thinking back in late March when I got the previous one taken that I was looking like I had lost weight; surprising to me how much more significant it looks in this one. (I’m down 60 lbs this year!)

First day of school today for our two college kids! A junior in Mechanical Engineering at South Dakota Mines and a freshman in Accounting at University of Nebraska. Completely up to them whether or not we get FDOS pictures or not. 😂

File under: WTF.

2024 Reads: Do We Not Bleed? by Daniel Taylor 📚

Following up on my insurance post from a few days ago: just got our yearly renewal bill, and they are raising our rates by 25% out of the blue. (No claims! Same house and cars!) Seems that our shopping around has been timely.

Moved kid #2 into the dorm yesterday for their first year at the University of Nebraska. The house feels pretty empty now… just the youngest left at home.

A little personal work news: last week I was approved here at Collins Aerospace as a Senior Tech Fellow for software, with a focus on airworthiness certification. It’s a nice recognition of 25 years of expertise in my (very niche) discipline.

We’ve had the same insurance company for 20 years and been happy with them. But our local office has shriveled and it’s now hard to get a response from anyone. Now have a competing quote that’s similarly priced. Worth the hassle of switching?

2024 Reads: Blue Moon by Lee Child 📚

Somehow Lee Child has turned Jack Reacher into a murderous vigilante. Bleh.