Looks like I’m going to need to buy a new suit for some work events. Last one was 60 lbs ago and cheap off the rack at Kohl’s. Think I’m ready to invest a little more this time. Not a fan of the shopping process, though…
Wow, Jannik Sinner, the 1 seed at the US Open, dropped his first set to unseeded Mackenzie McDonald, and is already down a break in the second set. Feels like a little karma after his failed doping tests.
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.
Bullet Points for a very hot Monday Afternoon
- First day of school today for our two oldest kids… both at college so we won’t get chalkboard pics this year.
- Back to a full work week; the summer grind seems to set in here in late August. I think our European friends have the right idea, just taking most of August for vacation.
- A friend pinged yesterday to note it had been a year since a retreat we attended. That got me reflecting. It’s been quite a year.
- Turns out some combination of time, therapy, improved habits, loving family, and patience can produce good results, even in the midst of sadness and chaos.
- How am I old enough to have two kids in college?!?
- I’ve been umpiring rec league softball again this year and tonight is the end of our tournament. Forecast heat index: 115F. Oof.
- Once we get past Labor Day, life speeds up… a lot of business travel this fall.
- Related to a couple of these bullets: time to shop for a new suit. Think this time I’m gonna invest a little bit and not just buy whatever I can find cheapest off the rack at Kohl’s.
- I keep thinking that if my life gets too slow once the kids are out of the house, I could get certified and start umpiring high school softball. Feels like one of those things that you would have to jump into with both feet and make a fairly exclusive hobby during the summer.
- Picked a book up off the shelf for book club yesterday and had forgotten just how good that book is. Time for a re-read, maybe. I don’t re-read too often.
- If I stop and think a moment, I kinda wonder what things will look like a year from now when I look back on the (currently upcoming) year. Life is wild.
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.
Feels like sort of a bittersweet weekend coming up - our middle kid’s last weekend at home before heading off to college. They’re feeling these “last times” pretty keenly. I am, too. Where did the time go?
Henri Nouwen: An alert and aware spiritual life
Currently reading Henri Nouwen’s Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life. What a wonderful little book! This bit in particular hit home today:
Not too long ago a priest told me that he cancelled his subscription to the New York Times because he felt that the endless stories about war, crime, power games, and political manipulation only disturbed his mind and heart and prevented him from meditation and prayer.
That is a sad story because it suggests that only by denying the world can you live in it, that only by surrounding yourself by an artificial, self-induced quietude can you live a spiritual life. A real spiritual life is exactly the opposite: it makes us so alert and aware of the world around us, that all that is and happens becomes part of our contemplation and meditation and invites us to a free and fearless response.
As timely in 2024 as it was when Nouwen wrote it in 1975. And I both understand the plight of the priest in his story and desire to have, as Nouwen says, a free and fearless response to all that happens around me.
2024 Reads: The Midnight Line by Lee Child 📚
Sometimes you just need a cheap, easy, entertaining read. Jack Reacher novels fit that bill.
The view from the piano at Christ Church this morning…
2024 Reads: The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness by Mark Solms 📚
It’s entirely possible that this book is brilliant and that I’m just very much not the target audience for it. But I was fairly lost.
Hey hey, finished a 5k run below 30 minutes. Feels good to be getting a little bit of stamina back.
2024 Reads: I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger 📚
As my friend Amanda said, more a vibe than a story. But a beautiful vibe. What do you do when the world falls apart? Love your neighbor. And your enemy. And look for hope.