Larry: 3/3/2007 - 11/29/2021

 Early this afternoon Larry, also called Big Larry, Mister Larry, Larry the Gentle Soul, Larry-Berry, Larry Faithful, and Loyal Larry, passed away peacefully at the pet clinic with his adoptive parents present.

Larry was adopted from the Humane Society along with his childhood playmate Moe on Memorial Day weekend 2007. I honestly thought they were littermates but before I left I was told Larry was three weeks older. Anyway, they got along so well together and they came home together the following Tuesday, where they proceeded to prove that they were not only loving kittens, they were also wild animals.

Larry really enjoyed his pets and was fiercely loyal to his daddy. His favorite stunt was to wait outside the downstairs bathroom door and then ambush me for a pet on the way out. He also enjoyed chewing cardboard, shredding toilet paper rolls, destroying shoelaces, and taught me a very important lesson: it's all about the simple pleasures. Whereas Moe had a serious outlook on life, Larry just wanted to enjoy the most out of it and get lots of lap time with his daddy, as did Moe. He had a loud purr, was well behaved though very playful, and had running fits for the first 13 years of his 14+ year life.

In May of 2020, he had a noticeable weight loss, and he was taken in for an exam. They couldn't find anything but a snoring type of breathing was noticed. It got to where I had to clean his nose frequently, gave him steroids to keep his appetite going, antibiotics which didn't seem to work, and by October a noticeable lump in his face was emerging. A specialist determined it was a non cancerous cyst, which as time progressed became a tumor, and kept growing. His running fits had stopped, but not his desire for getting attention from me. With the WFH situation I was able to have him on my lap a lot more often and enjoy his purring and his company.

His last month wasn't pleasant, yet he kept soldiering on. As recently as this morning he was still wanting attention from me, which he got. But he was noticeably weaker this morning, with him having lost his ability to jump up on the couch as recently as Saturday morning. He ate up a storm on Saturday afternoon, but that was his last full meal. He wouldn't touch his food yesterday morning, and I had my mind made up that I was going to call the vet first thing this morning.

We weren't sure he was going to make it to this morning. He was more withdrawn, aside from the 15 minutes of cuddle time that he wanted. He was weak and was having trouble walking, and I wasn't sure he was going to make it to the vet in time.

His final appointment was at 1215. I had seen the procedure before. First the anesthetic. Then the euthanasia. It's as peaceful as it can be made out to be. I have never seen a cat die (I left the room when Moe had his done) because I was afraid of that being what I would remember the most. With Larry, I had resolved to be there with him at the end. Sheila was there too, and the last words he heard were "your daddy loves you".

This was hard on me. He had been a loyal friend for over 14 years. He was there for me when I was having some rough times. I was going to be there for him. After ten minutes the sobbing and weeping stopped, and it was time to go. I ended up taking the rest of the afternoon off.

A strange thing happened after I got home. I fell asleep in one of the living room chairs. I then felt the shoelaces on my right foot being attacked by a full grown kitten. I shuffled the foot to run him off, and it was Larry down there. The shuffling of my foot woke me up and startled Sheila. I told her it was Larry attacking my shoelaces.

So was Larry sending me a message from Heaven telling me that he had made it all right, and was having fun? I have no sure way of knowing one way or the other, but as loyal and as dedicated to me as he was he would have done such a thing if the Good Lord had allowed him to.

This has been a hard day for me. I am continuing on, though with a heavy heart as I deal with this. Grief is not only natural, it is also necessary, and it must be allowed to run its course.

We will eventually adopt again. I don't know if it will be a puppy or a kitten or one of each. I believe that our animals are a gift from up above and we must cherish these gifts and give them all the love that we can. We will get that back many times over. I am not wise enough to tell you who will get the better end of that deal. But I can tell you that the deal will result in better animals, and better people. 

Checking in, 8/24/21

I'm not as prolific of a poster here as I used to be.  Way back when, I actually had people reading this blog, and although I still do, let's just say that I'm not exactly making it in the Nielsen ratings.  To be honest, that doesn't really bother me.  Occasionally there will be a post that returns views.  Like deer hunting near Willcox AZ.  Or about that guy who counterfeited nickels.  Maybe I need to lead a more interesting life?  Folks, I've had enough unusual things happen to me. 

That said, it's time to catch up.  

I was contacted by one of my former employers yesterday about a job in Houston.  I'm going to break with tradition, and identify that employer:  Jacobs.  Jacobs is a damn good company to work for, and is one of two that can hold a candle to where I'm working right now.  

I turned them down.  The job would have meant a relocation to Houston, and I'm not in a position to relocate right now.  Even if I were, I can't say that Houston is on the short list of cities I would want to live in.  I could easily find work in Houston if I wanted to......if not Jacobs, then NASA, or Axiom Space, or Lockheed.  

I told the recruiter that I felt that Jacobs is an excellent company to work for, but that I couldn't do it.

I guess this means that I should touch upon where I'm at now.  Maybe one day I will identify this company, but not today.

Work is going mainly well.  I will admit that this job comes with frustrations.  Those frustrations are what comes with the territory, and it is its own unique set of frustrations and can be seen as an improvement over previous collections of frustrations.  I won't get into them in detail.  I will tell you that I won't trade these for another set if I don't have to.

Life.  Well I have that to take care of too.  We've had a heavier than usual rainfall this monsoon season, and the weeds are taking off like crazy.  Each day I go into the front yard and pull out the worst offenders.  Each day I go into the back  yard and do the same.  With the heat it's advisable not to be out there that long.  As we slide into September and get into the equinox, I'll be able to do more.

Also, because it's a fun diversion, I am working a little with wood......something that I haven't done since high school.  I had some shelves outside that needed replacing.  These reside inside of a metal frame.  My recollection is that I put these together in the 2004 timeframe.  Last week I noticed that the pressboard that those shelves were made of needed retiring, after all those years of being exposed to the elements.

I had two choices.  I either buy new shelving, and throw away perfectly good metal frames.  Well, almost perfectly good.  I should paint them.  But for the shelving, it occurred to me that I ought to go to ACE Hardware and have them cut some shelves for me.  You know about ACE, right?  That's the one that Pat Sumrall goes too.  Or does he?  Is he still with us?

I went to the one at Tanque Verde & Bear Canyon.  Paul McCartney is said to have been there several times, back when he and Linda were maintaining a home here on my side of town (I've been by it).  Now I didn't go there because Paul McCartney goes there, but I go there since I like them.  The fine folks there had the shelves cut for me.  I can't say that it was cheap, and I did not select a cheap grade of wood either, but in the long run it's better than buying new shelf assemblies and it was an opportunity to be handy so I took it.

Then I had to learn about weather sealing it.  I asked some knowledgeable people about it, and did some online research.  I have started sealing these with boiled linseed oil.  I have some more to do.  I am thinking of adding another finish on top of that and I may experiment with the scrap of wood that ACE gave me.  I'll admit.....this is fun!  

Now on to radio.  I've been having a lot of fun with that too.  Sunspots and solar flux slid down, but I've been able to get Europe on some evenings and Japan on most mornings.  I'm gloating over getting Bulgaria on the 30 meter band, along with Western Australia, also on 30 meters.  I can get the eastern states of Australia when conditions are right but Western Australia is something of a challenge.  Yes, I'm patting myself on the back for those.  

OK, it's time to sign off and catch up on some other things.  Like supper.

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.

So Some Billionaire Goes on a Rocket Ride

 This month saw not one, but two private space launches that happened because two billionaires wanted to go into space.  Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic made one flight, while Jeff Bezos of Amazon fame made another, and used a rocket that his other company Blue Origin designed and developed.

There's no doubt that both of these events are historically significant and each in their own way contributed to the exploration of space.  Richard Branson came back OK with his passengers and Jeff Bezos came back OK too with his.  But guess which one got a lot of criticism?

That would be Jeff Bezos, who as far as can be determined, is the world's richest man.  I perused a lot of online comments and there are a lot of people out there who are angry at him.  He was criticized for spending a whole heap of money on a "carnival ride" instead of helping the poor, and yes, he was accused of not doing his "fair share".  

I can't exactly be described as being a fan of any billionaire who is out there (I've met one of them but won't say who).  It doesn't bother me that they're billionaires and I'm not........I have a great wife and although I suffer from the occasional recurring malcontentedness, I really wouldn't want to trade places with anyone.  King Solomon, in his time, was the world's richest man, and he called it "meaningless".  (Yeah, I know that old joke, money can't buy happiness but it can rent it).  He didn't get to take so much as a clipping off some old shekel when it was his time to go, so what good, in that sense, did it do him?  But let's get back to Bezos and his flight.

It's my opinion that some of this criticism is borne out of envy.  And it wouldn't surprise me if a large percentage of his critics thinks he should sit down and write out checks for $100,000 and mail it to them on the grounds that he doesn't "need" the money and wouldn't miss it.  It's also my opinion that his critics aren't really sincere in their upsetness (is that a word?  If not I just invented it).  I mean, the big rage for a lot of people these days is to go on Facebook or Twitter to gripe about these kinds of things so that their friends will think they "care" about social justice.  In other words, they want to be seen bitching about Bezos.  In their own minds, they think this makes them "important".

But let's look at some cold hard facts here.

When Bezos was raising the money needed for this rocket ride, he didn't send any of his critics a bill.  In other words, he did not confiscate money from anyone out there so that he could do this.  He made money by recognizing early on a business opportunity, transforming an online book delivery business into the giant it is today.  Amazon grew because people used their services.  No one held a gun to anyone's head to make them use Amazon.  OK?  Are we clear on that?

Second, those scientists, engineers, and aerospace workers who made that rocket were paid.  Do any of his critics know that?  Hello?  From the way his critics talk, you'd almost think they were his slaves!  Jeff Bezos did not lock all of his money into some vault somewhere so that he could visit that vault and count what's in it whenever he's bored.  He put that money to work and formed a company, and his company is making it.

Now is Blue Origin a great place to work?  Well I know some people who work there now and a few who no longer work there.  I know what they think about it.  And yes, I've heard stories about Amazon warehouses.  But let's get one thing straight:  neither one of those entities is the Department of Corrections and no one at either place has to be in an orange jumpsuit 24/7.  Would I work at Blue Origin?  I've been contacted by their third party recruiters, but have turned them down for the reason that I don't think I would like living in Seattle.

The fact is, is that Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada are doing some neat things that most other companies can't.  (In case you were wondering, some of the aforementioned our customers of my employer).  Spaceflight ain't easy, never has been, and human spaceflight is even less easy.  Don't believe me?  Get a job as an engineer qualifying flight hardware, and then get back to me.  

Anyway, whatever you think of Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk or any other of these billionaires.........I'd rather have them spend their money on developing space technology instead of paying people to rob liquor stores.

Some Changes to Report

 I know I haven't posted in quite a while and to be honest that was deliberate.  There has been a lot going on and the decision was made to hold off on updating so that I could have time to help make some things happen.  

The big news is, is that my mother is moving to Tucson.  She made the decision to sell the house in San Jose, and that was about one week into escrow when a house four doors north of us on an intersecting street came on the market.  I noticed the For Sale sign one Monday afternoon, and I went over to it to see how it looked on the outside.  I peeked in one window and noticed new carpeting.  There was also evidence of recent paint, and the next day Sheila and I were inside with a realtor seeing it first hand.

My mother liked the pictures, and gave me the go ahead to put down on offer.  I have power of attorney and for the first time I used it.  With the market here being hot as it is in most other places around the country, I made an offer a little (relatively speaking) over the asking price and it was accepted the next day.

Sheila and I returned from San Jose earlier today (we were stuck in Salt Lake City last night but Delta paid for most of the room and $30 worth of dinner) and right now Sheila is over there as that this closed two days ago, one day after the house in San Jose closed.  We were up there to help out with some things and we met the new owners, who are really nice people.

I don't have much more to report.  The transition to Tucson is still being worked out.  Our family is indebted to Mark and Elizabeth H of San Jose, about who I can bet my mortgage on when I say "great is their reward in heaven".  

As for San Jose, I don't know if I've made my last trip there.  We still have some people we are close to but things are changing.  Chip and Gabriela want to leave CA (I hope they come here).  

What was once a great state has long been unlivable.

Amazing Stories

 Amazing Stories was an early science fiction magazine that began publishing with its April 1926 issue.  It was started by Hugo Gernsback, for whom a prestigious science fiction award is named.  I know I've heard of this magazine before and I may have read reprinted stories that first made its appearance there.  As it is, I stumbled upon an archive with this magazine (and many others) and now there is one more thing, among many, that I like to do.

For some time now I've been reading archived copies of QST magazine, and I finished with the June 1922 issue last week.  I'm fascinated with ham radio history, well all radio history for that matter, and one century ago things were radically different with radio.  I then read the first two issues of Radio News, which was also published by Gernsback, and I decided to do a little bit of research on him.

I learned that not only was he a prolific publisher, but that some of his publications were of the "pulp" genre.  That might sound derogatory to some folks, but in my case I had a curiosity about them so I found a "pulp" magazine archive on the net.  I then downloaded the first two issues of Amazing Stories onto my Kindle, and you can now guess what I'm doing on some evenings.

I have read some compilations of the early science fiction stories that were assembled by Isaac Asimov.  I have enjoyed reading them, with a favorite being "The Jameson Satellite" which was written Neil R. Jones in 1932.  The story is about a professor preparing a satellite in 1958.....within one year of Sputnik, no less.  I won't give away what this satellite was about but I guarantee you that you'll enjoy reading it, and you don't have to be an aerospace engineer to understand it.

I am almost finished with the inaugural issue of Amazing Stories.  (I'm also a little late in exploring the Kindle that Sheila helped select.....I've had it for at least six months.)  I did jump ahead to read the conclusion of a Jules Verne story that was in the May 1926 issue, and that one was a fun read.

I plan on going back to the radio magazines.

For the time being, it will be early science fiction.

Things as They Are on 3/28/21

Last Wednesday or so Governor Useless, excuse me, Governor Ducey, lifted Arizona's mask mandate.  He also further stipulated that a city or county can not contradict his lifting of it.  He is allowing individual businesses to require masks if they want to, but from what I have observed since then I'm not seeing any businesses enforcing it.  Quik Trip still has signs up saying it's a county thing, and Safeway is asking that people wear masks.  But I'm seeing some customers not bothering with them and I think the percentage of those not wearing will go up.

Meanwhile, Mayor Regina Romero of Tucson is upset about this, and is insisting that Tucson's mask mandate is still in place.  The thing of it is, that her enforcement of it is limited.  The Tucson Police Department is short at least 150 officers and they are losing ten officers per month.  Morale within TPD isn't the greatest.  We are thinking more and more that we're going to leave Tucson in a few years and either end up outside city limits or in Marana.  I love this city and have loved living here, but I'm thinking that a major change will be made.

I can tell you that my job is continuing to go well, in spite of our program headcount being one third of what it should be.  The customer has been slow in approving funding and I've heard some chatter that their customer is not happy about it.  We haven't laid off anybody aside from four or five being terminated for performance issues and others leaving for reasons I'm not aware of.  We have open reqs and I see my department expanding.  I'll eventually have anywhere from six to nine engineers supporting me, but until then I'm a one man army when it comes to my program's test organization.  

I don't have too much else except some sinus issues and so I'm going to make this entry short.

End of February 2021

 Here we are at the end of another month.  It didn't seem that long ago that January was ending.  When was that?  I want to say that was about fifteen days ago.  I know, it's been longer than that.  But it doesn't seem like it was longer than that.

This week, I had the weekend off.  I spent a good chunk of it in pursuit of the ham radio hobby.  I was on the air yesterday and having a lot of fun with RTTY.....that is, radioteletype.  I was hoping that some DX would be rolling in but it didn't.  This afternoon I heard Cuba on 17 meters, and it would have been great to have gotten him.  That said, I've worked Cuba plenty of times.  I haven't started tracking Cuban provinces and that's something I should consider doing.  I track Mexican states, Japanese prefectures, Chilean regions and provinces, Spanish regions and provinces and Argentinian provinces.  Ham radio will teach you plenty about geography.  

On the work front, I am glad that last week is behind me.  I took the weekend off but was on call in case program management needed me for something.  I put in a full day tomorrow and I'm taking Tuesday and Wednesday for round number 2 of the surgery.  They are not charging me PTO either.  They are allowing me to flex hours from the last pay period into this one as that I was not paid for those hours.  That's nice of them.

I was going to say more, but I've been itching to try my hand at tikka masala curry, and I think it's time to sign off and get that going.  

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.  

One Down, One to Go

 Yesterday was round one of my surgery.  I can already tell that a discomfort that's been plaguing me for over three years will soon be a memory.  There is one more round coming up and that is next week.  Originally these were going to be separated by a few weeks but the sooner I get this second one done the better off I will be.  I won't go into details other than to say that what technology can do these days is simply amazing.  One thought I had this morning when I was getting my post-procedure followup is that this would not have been as likely if we had been on a single-payer system.  The current system encourages those skilled specialists to be the best that they can be.  I drew one of the top people in the state, and not for the first time.  If the government ever takes this segment over, American exceptionalism in the health field is over.

At work, it's been super busy.  I was drafted onto a proposal team to develop a lucrative contract that is again related to going back to the moon.  I had only limited experience in proposals and I got rapid training in how to write good cost estimates.  That meant writing a lot of prose to justify how many engineering hours of labor it would take to develop several different kinds of tests.  I had a tough deadline and I very nearly worked myself into exhaustion.  I met my deadline, but not by much.  I checked in this afternoon and learned that the program management didn't change very much of what I wrote.  They did adjust my numbers, which I'm good with, because some of that territory I was in was not charted.  I had never been there before.

Getting back to surgery, round 2 is next week.  I was told that I might be more tired after this one than I was today.  Last night was a bit rough.  It took many hours for the wooze to wear off.  I wasn't put completely under, but I was in a "don't care" conscious state.  I needed assistance in walking for the first few hours.  The next few?  Well I was able to walk but had to do it slow as that the floor would tilt up five degrees, then level, then tilt down five degrees.........coming up the driveway the tilt was 15 degrees.  Or so it seemed.  I woke up this morning with a barely mentionable discomfort from where they cut and my mind had returned to me.  I shouldn't have gone back to work this afternoon.  I should have taken my boss's advice and rested some more.

Anyway I lived to tell about it, not that I had any doubts about that part of it.  But some things could have gone very wrong and I'm grateful to the Good Lord that they didn't.  

Time now to sign off.

The Passing of Rush Limbaugh

 Like several tens of millions of Americans today, I am saddened by the passing of Rush Limbaugh this morning.  We knew a little over a year ago that this was coming and the fact that he had lasted this far is amazing in and of itself.  That is, in my view, reflective of his passion that he had for being the best at what he wanted to be.  

I had heard of Rush Limbaugh in 1990 but I didn't know who he really was.  I wasn't into listening to the radio on the drive in to work or the drive home.  I had a cassette player in the Celica that I owned at the time and I was listening to BTO or Creedence or the Smithereens.  I didn't really listen to the radio all that much.  That was soon to change.

In May of 1992, I flew out for a wedding that in a small town in Wisconsin called Kewaunee.  I was driving somewhere near Green Bay one morning, I think it was a Saturday, and I had the radio station tuned into a talk show host.  I was liking a lot of what he was saying.  He went on to use the term "feminazi", and I thought wow, this guy had the guts to actually say something like that!  I wanted to hear more.

Yes, it was my first experiencing hearing Rush Limbaugh.  As I was to hear him say several times later on in life, he would say that you would always remember the very first moment that you heard him.  He was right.  He criticized feminazis, environmentalist wackos, the Clintons, and a whole host of other things.  I sensed that he enjoyed teasing his opponents and I liked hearing him do that.  He had this way of making whatever he was talking about interesting.  He did it in his own entertaining way.  And I am one of those who is convinced that he had a lot to do with the Republicans winning both houses of Congress in 1994.  

His influence was such that I believe that he singlehandedly saved the medium of AM radio from dying.  Others have said that.  With over 600 radio stations carrying his show, he undoubtedly had an impact.  There is no denying that he cleared the path for Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck, and others.  It was demonstrated that a nationally-syndicated talk radio show could make it in the daytime.  He changed radio history forever.

Since that day I first tuned in to him, whenever I'm out driving around I listen to talk radio....whether it's local or national.  (At night, when I'm trying to tune in those distant radio stations, it's whatever is out there.)  

The history of AM broadcasting has had a lot of famous people.  William K. Henderson.  John Brinkley.  Wolfman Jack.  Donald D. Rose.

Rush Limbaugh, in his own unique way, added to that, and reached a bigger audience.

Goodbye Rush!  You will be sorely missed!

Five Years Ago Yesterday

Five years ago yesterday I returned home to Tucson after a 14 month exile in Las Vegas.  I have not been back to Las Vegas since and if I never see that place again I'm fine with it.  I really hated living there, and if you've been a longtime reader of this blog you'll know that my pet name for that place is "Trashcan".

Anyway, some good came from that, although some of that good wasn't realized until much later.   I might not now have my present job if it weren't for my being up there and working where I worked.  That company went out of business almost a year ago, and I could spill some beans, but I won't.  I've got co-workers where I'm at now who were my co-workers up there, and those who were let go last March got letters threatening them with lawsuits if they said too much.  I never got that letter but I'm not saying very much as it is.  I don't need to.  The reputation of that place is forever trashed.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying my job and I can't remember ever enjoying a job this much.  The people that we have are what makes this.  The culture is that everyone goes out of their way to help everyone else, and what this does is create a feedback loop to where success is the rule and not the exception.  I can't understand why more companies don't see this.  My first employer here in Tucson runs anyone 55 and over out of the company (they do keep a few older dudes for tokens).  A major aerospace firm that you've heard of but I won't name runs people out when they hit 35.  Big tech?  Almost all of the companies in Silicon Valley has that kind of practice.  Well, enough of that.

Weather here in sunny southern Arizona has been very good lately.  I sometimes take the company laptop out on the back patio and work there during the afternoons.  In a few weeks the evenings will get warmer and I will likely be out there longer.

On another front, I think I might be going thru a second childhood.  I spent the past few weeks learning some of the advanced features on my 2 meter (ham radio) handheld.  I knew it could function as a scanner, and I started playing around with that some.  Before I knew it I was programming aircraft and business channels into it and learning the memory bank features.  I even started, just for grins, spotting aircraft, looking up their tail numbers online, and spreadsheeting them.  I then did some online research, found that Uniden/Bearcat had discontinued an analog model last year, but you could still get some new from some dealers that had them still in stock.

I placed an order, it arrived this week, and now I'm learning how to use this radio.  It too is a handheld, but does not transmit.  The Yaesu FT60R (handheld) will scan some frequencies that the Bearcat won't, and vice versa.  They each have different sets of bells and whistles too.  

Now I find myself wanting a digital scanner, as well as a handheld digital ham radio.  I use 2 meters to chat with some local friends, but in the digital realm there are three different systems.  DMR, or Digital Mode Radio, System Fusion by Yaesu, and D-STAR by Icom (and now Kenwood).  D-STAR, from my research, is the most difficult to program.  System Fusion is easier, but I'm not sure of what the repeater infrastructure for that system is.  With DMR I might have to set up a hotspot.....the radio would link with the hotspot, the hotspot to other hotspots, and then talkgroups with other ham radio operators.

I don't know enough about the talkgroups to know if I really want to venture that.  Yet, radio is a neat thing, and I like the idea of owning lots of radios.  Yes, they're toys, and I like my toys.  Oh, and there's a portable shortwave I'm looking at too.  It's all good and it's all fun.

Anyway, I haven't forgotten about my surgery.  I have a few more days before I get the COVID test and I find myself getting out of the house at least once per day before I test.  Quarantine isn't exactly my idea of fun, but the toys should make it more bearable.

Jingle Bells, Santa Smells, Surgery's on its Way........

 .......Oh what fun it is to ride in a beat up Chevrolet!

All right.  This afternoon I was over at the specialist for a couple of hours.  I came home a bit woozy and it wore off an hour or so ago.  The surgery will occur in 2 to 3 weeks, pending approval from Evil Private Insurance Company.  Once Evil Private Insurance Company approves it, we set it up, and I go in.

I will be out of commission for the day of the surgery and the day after.  But it won't be over.  I have to go in again for another surgery, which I'm sure Evil Private Insurance Company will approve.  My co-pay on this one will be a few bills, maybe $500, and Evil Private Insurance Company will pick up most of it.  I don't know why this company is evil, but the prevailing narrative is private insurance is evil.

OK, I have my issues with them from time to time, but I want to stick with Evil Private Insurance Company.  I know, I'm evil.  I have private insurance from Evil Private Insurance Company and I have been known to shop at Evil Walmart from time to time.  I'm sure I was born that way.  

In other news, most of all else is well.  I am somewhat concerned over a few people leaving my employer.  I don't think it's the business outlook.  Funding from the customer on my project has slowed down, but I see this as temporary.  They are now popping some money for some special testing that we want to do, and the official position six months ago was that this testing wasn't going to happen.  I figured back then it would be, because part of this design doesn't have flight heritage.  Developing flight hardware isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to do.  Materials have to survive all sorts of cosmic radiation, varying pressures and temperatures, in addition to being shot up there on a rocket.  We have to know that it will work before we fly.

That is going to be it this evening.  Life is busy these days.

It's what I get for being evil.

Remaining Positive When Some Don't Want You To

 There has been quite a bit to digest over these past few weeks.  I feel like I'm in some sort of alternate universe, watching theater that Tom Clancy himself couldn't have imagined putting into one of his novels, and wondering what's next.  I can guess at what's next but again, I am not in the prediction business, even if I might have a better batting average than Sylvia Browne did.

Casting all of that aside, I have been concentrating on my blessings.  Many are the times when Sheila and I are upstairs laying on the bed, and mentioning how blessed we are.  We've had an expensive plumbing repair here.  I will be needing some surgery soon for one issue, and I'll know more about that in a few days.  And we are extensively blessed!

My job is going well.  I'm more entrenched into the quasi-management position of Lead Test Engineer.  My direct report is to program management and the program chief engineer.  I know that they're glad that I am on board, but I can't take that for granted.  Every day I have to do something to make them glad they hired me.  Every day I have to go to bed a little bit less ignorant.  Right now I have a hot project, but I also have help with it. 

What has changed is that we're no longer putting in overtime, and I have spare time again.  I've been spending it on ham radio, listening to distant AM stations at night, listening to air traffic on my 2 meter handheld (it can also function as a scanner) and I've been doing some reading as well.  

I also have been doing some cooking.  I have a weakness for curry dishes and there is more than one type of dish that I do.  Sometimes it's a golden curry from scratch and other times it's based on a red Thai curry paste, or butter chicken, or korma curry.  I also do chili from scratch, which always manages to taste better on the next day.  

As for COVID, we're getting a spike here in Arizona.  To my knowledge the curfew has been extended but I haven't seen anything on the local news that says it has.  I am remaining home to the extent that cabin fever will allow and even if I do go out I don't go out far.  I personally know people who have been exposed to it and I already know a fatality.  Uncle Joe's going to need all the luck he can get on this one.  

That's pretty much it.  I have no complaints.  Yes, I could invent a few, but today won't be the day for that.