I went for a night swim to just relax and look up upon the start. The water was 80 degrees, quite warm but felt nice. Very peaceful and still. I was just floating there and not thinking of anything, just absorbing my suroundings.
It’s good to relax, I really need to do more of this. Just be in the moment and take it all in.
🌤️ 86°F – 56°F 🙂 | #Seattle
It’s been a long time since I have writen on my blog. I miss writing for myself. Typically I write technical solutions for 8 hours at work. It very steril and lacks any personality. I feel like I haven’t grown as a writer, just stagnent.
Enough about that, over the past few days smoke has filled the air in Seattle. The sun is dim and the sky has an oragne hue in the late evening. Hopefully the fires are extinguished soon. I have been wearing a mask to help me from inhailing the smoke that is causing my head to ache tremendously.
I spend most of the day indoors next to an air filter and AC unit to keep me cool on these hot days. Hopefully the smoke will go away and I am able to get back outside and explore abandon mines and forestry equipment in the surrounding mountians. I have researched a few sites and need to get out to check them out.
☀️ 86°F – 59°F 🙂 | #Seattle
I’m not feeling well today, so I stayed home from work and rested. I also spent some time working on my online journal workflow using an Android tablet with an attached keyboard. It’s not as easy as you’d think. My goal of keeping everything as simple as possible, ran into a few snags. I use TextExpander to insert my page template, but for some reason the trigger isn’t case‑sensitive on the tablet the way it is on my computer. This caused the trigger to activate on certain words, so I had to rename it to prevent that from happening. Another issue is that TextExpander only works in some applications but not others. For example, it works fine in Jetpack or Edge, but it doesn’t work in OneNote or Word. It’s just frustrating.
I really want my tablet to be my fun companion that I can take everywhere. My laptop is set up purely for productivity; it’s not something I’d describe as fun or uplifting. That’s the role I want this tablet to play. In the past, I used it for studying Portuguese on Duolingo and for taking notes in Microsoft OneNote. I’ve had this tablet for over a year, and I just need to make this happen.
I miss writing and posting things on the site, and I want to get back into it.
🌤️ 61°F – 39°F 🤒 | #Seattle
Today I began using my Kindle Scribe to write my daily journal. Over the past few days, I’ve been testing how well it handles handwriting-to-text conversion so I can easily post entries online. So far, it’s been smooth—the workflow is simple, and I genuinely enjoy writing with it.
It’s not fast or as efficient as typing, but that’s part of the appeal. After spending 9 to 11 hours a day in front of a computer for work, the last thing I want is more time at a keyboard. Writing on the Scribe feels different, more tactile, more peaceful. It’s thin, light, and the backlight is gentle on my eyes while still bright enough to write outside in the dark. The whole experience is just… pleasant.
Once I’m done writing, I let the device convert my notes to text and email them to myself. From there, it’s easy to copy and paste into my site. Compared to writing on a Surface Pro or Samsung tablet, the Scribe feels more natural. The pen-to-screen resistance is well tuned, something I appreciate as someone who enjoys writing on paper.
For me, writing is a slow, deliberate process. It’s not about speed or efficiency. And that’s perfectly fine.
🌧️ 59°F – 53°F 🙂 | Seattle
It is that time of year again where I evaluate my life. What my aspirations and what I need to do to make them a reality. My position in the company I work for has changed. The company has reorganized and I am no longer a manager. I will be going to the premium support branch as a support technician. I am reevaluating if this is where I would like to take my career. I would increase my income moving there, but will not have a manager’s position. There is not a demand for managers in the technology sector right now with all the layoffs. I was transferred there for not doing a good job as a manager but a shift for the company to move towards services in addition to the hardware we sell. There is no guarantee when the branch grows that they will place me back into a management position. So for now I will make the best of the situation and go through the training to know all aspects of the products we make. This will add to my skill set and make me more valuable once the economy bounces back and the job market improves.
So what I am going to do in the mean time? Going forward I want to create a YouTube channel that shows people to resolve issues themselves. Find the most common issue of the week provide the solution. I can use it at work to step customers through the solution and hopefully even lessen the amount of tickets to solve.
As a manager I was pushing to change the culture of the company. I started a weekly game night afterwork which is gaining traction. I am planning to expand other departments to join. Last week I transformed a large meeting room that get little use and make it flexible so it can be used as a multi-purpose room.
I am in the process of changing my routine to include studying for my new position. My manager setup (computer and home office) is now setup for a technician role. I have archived my todo list, calendar, email, projects, interview process, agent reviews, browser favorites, text expander snippets, … to a clean basic setup.
For my personal life I am once again decluttering my life. I have little time to do this now, so I am will be slowly removing unwanted positions throughout the week and donating them to Goodwill at weeks end.
The key to getting all this accomplished is weekly planning and daily reflections in a paper planner. I am moving back to a hybrid planning system where I use paper and digital planning. It consumes more time but I feel the most productive doing it this way. My new 2026 planner is the larger A4 size. It much larger than my normal A4 size but it is so much roomier. It is not as portable, but it fits in my small travel bag and I can take it to work without issue. If I travel out of state, I will just use my Travelers notebook for the duration of the trip.
Well that is about it for tonight. I am tired but feel accomplished all I have done today. Office is cleared out, spent time with my son and daughter sharing experiences. Not just sitting down and watching tv.
🌤️🌬️ 61°F – 44°F 🥱 | Seattle
I am starting back up my website after a long hiatus. A lot has changed and work has become more manageable. I also have a Samsung tablet with keyboard I am using. It is a device I can carry with me and not worry about losing it or damaging it since it’s low price. I can’t afford damaging or loosing my Surface Pro, hence I don’t carry it with me everywhere I go. It directly contributes on how I make a living. While the Samsung Tab S9 FE+ isn’t the fastest thing out there, it if very versatile and does what I need it to do with enough power to run all my applications I use. I have used it as a second monitor when I am fully mobile with my Surface Pro. I should do a complete review of this device, there is so much things I like about it and how I include it in my workflow. Dex works well and a desktop for android operating system.
It is getting late for me and I need to get some rest for tomorrow. Good night, everyone.
☀️ 86°F – 60°F 🙂 | Seattle
I have been feeling tired and overall not feeling health. I am eating right, but feel sick at the same time. Yesterday I was going to take a day off at work but we had 4 people sick, so I had to work through it. Today is an easy day, just a lot of meetings and little actual work. My sleeping habits are the same but I am not getting the rest I need for some reason. I am tired but I am getting my normal 8 hours of sleep. It’s weird.
Over the weekend, I went for a bike ride with my daughter to look for geocaching. We found 24 that day. It was fun, and we had one on one time with each other. Nobody interrupted our conversation. It was really nice.
☀️ 47°F – 32°F 🤒 | Seattle
I met my new neighbours today while going outside to enjoy the sunset in my backyard. They are a very nice couple with an older son. While watching the sunset I thought to myself that I need a break from work. But it isn’t a good time to do so because I am training two new employees and have another employee on perterity leave for two weeks. On top of that I have another employee out sick for the week and another taking a scheduled PTO next week. Just a lot of things happening. Plus, I vowed not to take PTO unless I am physically sick so I can accumilate my PTO hours to take a minimum of 2 weeks off this week in a row. Plus, I have to go to San Diego sometime in the summer to help my father.
I should be able to hold on until the weekend.
☀️ 45°F – 29°F 🥱 | Seattle
Today went well. On the way to work, I could see Mars bright in the clear and dark sky. I wish I still had a telescope to see it better. The roads were icy in some areas. Once on the freeway, the road conditions were fine. I arrived early and used the time to study Portuguese and plan out my day.
The day was beautiful but a bit cold. I spent some time outside next to the fire reading and observing the birds flying by in the clear sky. There is something relaxing being in the cold next to a warm fire with the sun’s rays hitting your face.
Once back inside, me and the kids played board games while the landry was being washed. We all enjoyed playing The Game of Life. We finished the night playing Uno.
Before bedtime, I read a little more before falling asleep and then waking up abruptly when the book hit my chest with a thump. I wonder if that happens to other people?
☀️ 41°F – 28°F 🙂 | Seattle
I went to Leavenworth over the weekend to just walk around and enjoy the scenery. It was cold but beautiful. I believe the last time I was before Covid hit. A lot has changed. They have closed the street that leads into the vilage. A welcomed change. There were just too many pedestrians to have cars going in and out of the area. I can walk with confidence that no one is going to hit me trying to back up. I hope they level the a road with the curent sidewalk so it is all even.
A portion of the time we walked around and window shopped. Most of the things there are things you can find home. Overall the resturants are good and definitely need to check them out if you are ever here.
The next day everyone was tired so we stayed home and relaxed playing games and wathcing tv.
☀️ 43°F – 28°F 😀 | Seattle
Life in the Pacific NW 