October 31, 2021: I’m conflicted. On the one hand, I’m upset my 10 year old is resisting the candy tax. On the other hand, I’m proud he recognizes and is fighting against the tyranny of taxation.

October 30, 2021: Well, we got a few things done but overall felt like a pretty unproductive day. And it seemed to fly by. I guess we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

October 29, 2021: Getting ready for a cold and rainy weekend. Not too much planned, so hopefully we’ll get some things accomplished around the house.

October 28, 2021: Sampled both batches of my recent home brew. They’re drinkable, but will probably get better with a couple more weeks of aging. It turns out not putting the second batch in a secondary fermenter before kegging may have been a mistake. There was a good amount of sediment in the first glass. We’ll see how it’s doing in a couple weeks.

October 27, 2021: Why are are our children still wearing masks in school? They’ve pretty much done away with social distancing, which was supposed to be more effective than masks. What are we trying to protect them from? I think we have enough data to show it’s not much of a risk for the children and at this point all of the staff are vaccinated.

October 26, 2021: I know I’m repeating myself a little, but why does MLB insist on starting World Series Games at 8:00 pm? Even the weekend games. Why not play in the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday?

October 25, 2021: I’m sure this is going to get even worse as I age, but the soreness from exercises I haven’t done in a while seems to last longer than expected. I’m slowly working my way back into P90X3 for the winter; a few days a week to start, but hoping to get back to daily workouts in the near future.

October 24, 2021: One consequence of a sustained period of pretty clean eating – I seem to have lost my tolerance for large quantities of fried/greasy food. I had a burger topped with pulled pork, finished half of the same my son couldn’t, a couple chicken fingers the girls didn’t finish, and a lot of fries for lunch. A few hours later I was on the brink of vomiting. Fortunately it passed, but had to skip dinner. Hopefully, I’ll remember this the next time and limit my consumption of junk food.

October 23, 2021: We had some s’mores after dinner tonight. It’s funny how much kids enjoy something as simple as a small fire and roasting some marshmallows.

October 22, 2021: We’ve got a lot of jalapeños growing, but they’re still small and it’s getting cold. I’m not sure they’re going to make it, so I moved the plants to pots and we’re going to try moving them inside.

October 21, 2021: It seems like the most productive days are those right before a day off. Taking a day off tomorrow and I definitely felt very productive today. Good start to the three day weekend.

October 20, 2021: Doesn’t look like there are many days left where I’ll be able to run after work; sunset at about 6:00 pm today. I was hoping I’d be good for another couple weeks until daylight savings, but it might be about time to shift back to the P90X3.

October 19, 2021: Do all boys have an innate desire and ability to make their younger sisters scream? Or is our son just special?

October 18, 2021: Now we’re trying to strategically time children’s vaccinations to account for the expected side effects. Although a fever is an expect and we would know exactly what caused it, it would buy the child into missing school until they have a negative Covid test. So, upon the recommendation of the doctor, we’ll wait to find a school vacation window to get the MMR vaccine. I look forward to the day when we can get past the craziness and again apply basic common sense and reason.

October 17, 2021: Finally made pretzels with my used beer grains. I came across the recipe (here) a few weeks ago and dried out my used grains after my last brew (about eight hours in the oven). Pretty simple recipe and they came out pretty good.

October 16, 2021: Tae Kwon Do Championship today; both kids did very well. Proud of how hard they have worked.

October 15, 2021: At work this week I had the opportunity to do more one-on-one training and what I’ll call tactical planning. It’s helped me realize this is the stuff I really enjoy doing and it’s the type of stuff that energizes me. The week flew by, I enjoyed the work, and I feel like I accomplished a lot.

October 14, 2021: It’s been almost two months since I got hacked and locked out of my Facebook account. Initially I missed it and I do feel like I am missing out on some things. But overall, I think overall it’s been good not being on social media (I never was on any other platform). Still haven’t decided if I’ll get back on, but don’t think it will be anytime too soon.

October 13, 2021: Why does MLB start playoff games at 8pm? I understand the early rounds when you have multiple games and want to minimize the overlap. But when there is only one game, why can’t they start early enough that kids can see the whole game? I think it’s a significant missed opportunity to get and keep kids interested in baseball.

October 12, 2021: Still some time to change my mind, but I think I’m going to shut down the long runs for the winter. I’ll still get out and do some 5k or 10k runs over the next few weeks, but I’m going to shift my focus to strength and higher intensity cardio.

October 11, 2021: I think we just decided to resurrect our Texas trip which was cancelled at the last minute in the early days of COVID. Now we’ll see if I can take advantage of all the work I did or if I’ll feel the need to reassess every decision.

October 10, 2021: I’m curious what type of people are wearing masks outdoors. I saw several today at Ellms Farm. The chances of outdoor (not in a dense crowd) transmission are really low. So are these people who are vaccinated and just really paranoid? I guess they could be unvaccinated people who are be cautious, but I assumed most people who aren’t vaccinated at this point are those who don’t think COVID presents much of risk. So I wouldn’t expect them to be masked up. Not sure if this is another indictor of people not really understanding risk or if other people really don’t mind wearing a mask as much as I do.

October 9, 2021: Decision time – push beyond the half marathon, do another, or shut it down for the winter? It will be difficult to keep up the running through the NY winter, but I could run inside (track or treadmill) at the YMCA. I can probably only get a few more weeks, until daylight savings, before it’s too dark to run in the evening. I guess I’ll see how I feel in the morning and go from there.

October 8, 2021: I thought there was some significance to this date, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then I realized today marks 18 years at my job. I spent the first 11 years in Charleston, SC and the last 7 up here in Ballston Spa, NY.

October 7, 2021: Not as productive as yesterday, but knocked some stuff off the to-do list including getting my car serviced. It always pains me to spend several hundred dollars for this, but maintaining the 10 year old Subaru is better than making payments on a new car. And I was able to save a few bucks by doing some of the easier maintenance myself.

October 6, 2021: Productive first day off; ran a half marathon, brewed some beer, and made a batch of smoked meat chili.

October 5, 2021: Taking two days off in the middle of the week; hoping to have a couple productive days around the house and then one more workday before the weekend.

October 4, 2021: I’m wondering if the media is intentionally ignoring the fact that childhood obesity is unhealthy. I saw a headline about a “perfectly healthy” 10 year old who died suddenly from COVID. From the small headline picture I could easily see she was overweight, but the article made no mention of this and repeatedly talked about how healthy she was. The picture later in the article confirmed she was overweight, one of the more significant risk factors for COVID. Have we become so afraid of “fat shaming” that we can’t acknowledge that a child is overweight and at risk for COVID and many other adverse health conditions?

October 3, 2021: The regular season is over and it looks like I was bit optimistic in my prediction for the Phillies. I was right about Bryce Harper having a big year and the pitching staff improving. But Alec Bohm struggled and the 82 wins were well short of what was needed for the wild card. But they did keep close into the last week of the season; better luck next year.

October 2, 2021: Got to bed a little late last night and it really through me off today. I’ve been consistently going to bed around 10:30 and getting up between 5:30 and 6:30 for months. I stuck with the 6:30 wake up time and I’ve been tired all day. I’m hoping I can get to bed around normal time tonight and get back on track.

October 1, 2021: The Phillies may be out of the playoff race, but the race for the American League Wild Card looks like it’s going to be exciting.

September 30, 2021: I was a little worried, but got my 2011 Outback through inspection today. I’ve had the check engine light come on the last two times I dipped below 1/2 tank of gas. I’m not sure what’s causing it, but it cleared after I filled up. I guess it’s safe now to let it run down and see if it happens again.

September 29, 2021: Five games left and not looking good for the Phillies. They basically need to win the last five games and hope for at least one Braves loss.

September 28, 2021: Why do kids fight sleep so much? It seems obvious that they struggle through the day when they don’t get enough sleep, but then they want to stay up late again the next night. You’d think they would learn from the experience and start going to sleep earlier.

September 27, 2021: Following a 10 mile run yesterday, I’m contemplating whether I should keep pushing to a half marathon or beyond, or if I should wrap it up for the winter and focus on other exercises. As I ran yesterday, I was convinced it was time to wrap it up, but now I’m feeling motivated to keep pushing.

September 26, 2021: When is it okay to lie to a child? Today I was helping my daughter ride a bike without training wheels; holding onto the seat and running along side. She insisted I not let go and, of course, I agreed. But I had to see if she could do it herself, so I slyly released my grip for a few seconds at a time until I eventually had her riding on her own for over 10 seconds. I believe this is okay and probably the fastest way to get her to ride on her own. But in doing so, am I undermining her trust of me?

September 25, 2021: Contemplating convenience versus frugality when it comes to car service. The most convenient option is to take my car in to the dealership a little early for the 90k service and get my inspection done before the end of the month. But the most frugal option is to get he inspection done this week, complete the maintenance I can do myself at home, get my tires rotated at BJ’s (for free), and then get the oil change and remaining service at the dealership in a few weeks when I hit 90k miles. I’m probably going with option 2, but the first would definitely be much easier.

September 24, 2021: Brew Day! I managed to empty both my kegs on the same day earlier this week and, unfortunately, didn’t have another beer ready to keg. Brewed up a red ale is morning; should be ready to go into the keg in about two weeks.

September 23, 2021: Trying to plan some activities for our first Fall weekend. We’re considering apple picking or maybe a day trip to Vermont. It looks like the weather is going to cooperate.

September 22, 2021: New dryer being delivered tomorrow. I still don’t understand why they need a four hour delivery window in the middle of the day. Is it really that hard to figure out how long each delivery/installation is going to take? I can’t imagine there is that much variability.

September 21, 2021: Down to the final couple weeks of the baseball season. The Phillies are going to be well short of the 93 wins I predicted, but they still have a shot at the postseason. The schedule is looking favorable and with a series against the Braves in the last week, they will control their own destiny as long as they stay within 3 games in the east.

September 20, 2021: As the kitchen and basement remodel gets nearer (still several months away) it’s time for the second guessing to begin. The biggest question now – where to put the beer making equipment. The kitchen would be most convenient, but might require a little more work, especially if we try to keep it out of sight. The basement would be out of the way, but less convenient. And it would require some significant work in what would otherwise be a pretty simple basement project. Decisions, decisions…

September 19, 2021: Smoked Meat! Tried smoking chicken thighs for the first time; came out pretty good. I also tried wrapping the brisket. I think I wrapped too early and cooked too long. It didn’t have much of a bark and fell apart a little too easily. But the flavor was still pretty good.

September 18, 2021: We finally got the garage cleaned out. Next step, clean out the rest of the house and prepare for the yard sale.

September 17, 2021: Are all children in some way genetically programmed to annoy their siblings or are we just lucky? They seem to go out of their way to annoy each other. At times I want to blame our oldest (he’s usually the instigator) but then one of his sisters will intentionally go back for more. Oddly, it seems to both us more than the kids.

September 16, 2021: For Christmas last year I got may parents a subscription to Masterclass which came with a free subscription for me. For a while we had been pretty consistent watching, but have fallen off lately. I definitely want to get back into it because many of the classes are really informative and well done.

September 15, 2021: For a couple months I’ve taking magnesium before bed and it really helped in sleeping through the night. I had been waking up fairly regularly throughout the night prior to that. I tried adding another supplement and reducing the magnesium dose, but that resulted in trouble falling asleep (opposite of the intended result). I’ve been back on the full magnesium dose for a few days now and it’s working well. I’m still amazed by the impact consistent good sleep can have.

September 14, 2021: There are some people who just have a knack for sucking up your time. I experience this somewhat often at work; they find a way of either wasting my time with a twenty minute conversation that could be wrapped up in two minutes or tasking me with a tedious activity that provides very little value. It’s very frustrating when this prevents me from completing work that I actually find valuable.

September 13, 2021: It’s been a while since my legs were this sore. I did a P90X3 Dynamix Workout (basically dynamic stretching for 30 minutes) for the first time in a couple months and followed up with a 10k run the next day. I’m not surprised I have a little soreness, but definitely didn’t expect it to be this bad. I’m hoping the 2+ mile walk this evening helps loosen things up.

September 12, 2021: Although not technically Fall, we wrapped up our first busy Fall weekend. It seems now that school has started there are tons of things to do on the weekend in the area. Today we visited three farms on the Washington County Cheese Tour; sampled some cheeses and saw some farm animals.

September 11, 2021: Lucas had his first Fall baseball game of the season. He definitely seems a little more confident being in the older half of the league. He had a couple good swings and got a hit. But most important he’s really enjoying the game.

September 10, 2021: As the end of the MLB season approaches, I’m contemplating taking a weekend baseball trip, but it’s hard to determine if it’s worth it. My wife is all for me taking our son, but we would have to cram it into a weekend because of school. A trip to NYC might be doable to see Yankee Stadium or catch the Phillies playing the Mets. A more ambitious idea is to fly down to Miami to see the Phillies close out the season; this is especially appealing if they are still in the playoff hunt. But I’m not sure we could make it work with a 3:00 start on Sunday; might be tough to make it to school Monday morning.

September 9, 2021: It sounds like the kids had a good first day of school. It’s great that they enjoy it so much; hope it lasts.

September 8, 2021: Officially the last day fo summer break. It’s not too big of a deal for me, but my wife is definitely ready for school to start. Fortunately our kids are all excited to get back.

September 7, 2021: From the Lex Fridman Podcast Episode #211 with Brian Murareska discussing use of psychedelics in antiquity: “If you die before you die you won’t die when you die.”

September 6, 2021: I’m going to try adopting a day-trip strategy I heard about on a podcast today. The idea is to plan out several day-trips or in-town activities in pretty good detail to include making sure any necessary supplies are on hand and maybe even pre-packed. We’ll just keep the list of activities handy and when the opportunity arises we don’t have to waste time trying to plan a day, we can just go do it.

September 5, 2021: As much as I enjoyed the time off and travel, there is something to be said for executing a routine. As I try to transition back to “normal” I sometimes struggle with motivation. Getting up early on the weekend became easy, but I drifted away from that over the vacation and it’s hard to reestablish the habit. Workouts are more difficult after a layoff. But I’m optimistic I will push through and get back into the routine.

September 4, 2021: I did five miles for my long run today. It’s not as long as I had hoped, but felt pretty good and it’s possible I could get up to a half marathon by the end of October.

September 3, 2021: I had the honor of attending a Navy Retirement Ceremony this morning for LT Joseph Dunne. It was great to share in the celebration of his 20 years of service.

September 2, 2021: A few days of intermittent fasting and a couple runs have knocked off most of the vacation weight gain. Another week or two and I should be back on track.

September 1, 2021: Fall is coming in upstate NY. It was in the high 50s this morning and rainy this evening. Big change from the Kentucky heat last week.

August 31, 2021: Another 5k run today; realized basically taking the last week off has set me back a bit. I had been running consistently and maintaining decent distance (i.e. 6 – 8 miles) for my long runs for most of the summer. I’m still contemplating a half marathon in the fall, but I’m going to have to be pretty aggressive to ramp up the milage in time. I’ll have to see how far I can go this weekend and take it from there.

August 30, 2021: First day back to work was better than expected. A lot of catching up to do, but not overwhelming.

August 29, 2021: In almost 18 years, I think this is the first time I’ve ever taken two straight weeks off from work. I definitely feel recharged and I spent very little time think about work, which is unusual for me. But with my return to work in less than 12 hours, I am dreading what I will be walking into Monday morning. Hopefully, it’s better than I expect.

August 28, 2021: We’re back home after two-weeks. There were definitely some hiccups along the way and we learned some lessons for next time, but overall it was an awesome experience.

August 27, 2021: Last day in Louisville. We took the kids to the Kentucky Science Center. This is a great place for kids; tons of activities. It kept our kids (ages 4 through 10) busy for three hours and we could have gone longer. Highly recommend this place if your family is ever in Louisville.

August 26, 2021: We took a trip out to Lexington to visit the Kentucky Horse Park. It was a hot day, but everyone had a good time. On the way back we checked out the Kentucky Capital in Frankfort and had a good dinner before driving back to Louisville.

August 25, 2021: Today we walked across a bridge into Indiana. The Big Four Bridge spans the Ohio river connecting Louisville, KY and Jeffersonville, IN. It’s about a mile walk each way, including the ramps up and down. We got a little treat for the kids on the other side and were able to get back before the rain really picked up. That makes six states on the trip, plus the layover in Georgia.

August 24, 2021: Back in the eastern time zone for the final, and longest, leg of our trip – four days in Louisville. We visited the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green on the way and finished up with some BBQ takeout at the AirBNB.

August 23, 2021: It’s never fun to deal with sick kids, but it’s even worse on vacation. Our youngest developed a swollen eye. Turns out it’s not easy to get into an urgent care at night in the middle of Kentucky. Fortunately I was able to figure out how to make a telemedicine appointment and get her checked out. A few days of antibiotics should clear it up and luckily it’s not contagious so it shouldn’t impact the rest of the trip.

August 22, 2021: The kids, especially Lucas, are definitely feeling the effects of the late night. Fortunately we didn’t have much planned other than getting to our next AirBNB. We should be able to get them to bed early tonight so they can rest up for our cave tour tomorrow.

August 21, 2021: Wedding Night – congratulations to Jake and Meagan! We will probably pay the price today as we travel to our next destination, but the kids had a blast. Lucas was king of the dance floor, Jude loved hanging out with her great aunts and uncles, and they both liked staying up late. Gwen came back and got to bed earlier than the rest, but she will likely be exhausted from running around with her cousins all night.

August 20, 2021: Today was a much needed mid-vacation low activity day. The kids spent some time in the pool with the cousins and we went to a playground in the afternoon. Hanging out in the hotel room before the rehearsal dinner. Some of the extended family is starting to arrive for the wedding. It’s been a while and the girls don’t remember most of them, so it’s good to catch up.

August 19, 2021: We continue to prove checkout times are goals not limits; I think we left the house 5 minutes before checkout time. The drive from St. Louis to Hopkinsville, KY wasn’t bad – no traffic and right around four hours of driving. We drove through the Land Between the Lakes, visiting the Woodlands Nature Station and the Elk & Bison Prairie. The Prairie was a 3.5 mile driving tour which was disappointing until the very end, when we finally came across a group of about twenty bison relaxing by the road. 

August 18, 2021: Started the day with a run downtown past the ballpark and the Gateway Arch. I’ve noticed morning exercise makes a significant difference in my mood throughout the day.

August 17, 2021: MLB Ballpark number 30 in the books. Saw the Cardinals lose to the Brewers 2-0 in the new Busch Standium. I visited the old Busch Stadium in its last year (2005). Definitely a different experience with three kids in tow.

August 16, 2021: If you are ever in Memphis with kids, visit the zoo. And plan to spend a full day there. We’ve been to plenty of zoos and aquariums where the kids blow through in an hour or two. Not the Memphis Zoo; we spend over four hours and could have easily done a couple more.

August 15, 2021: Somewhat rough start to the day – the girls got tired of walking at Mud Island and it took a ridiculously long time for our lunch to come out. But the unplanned stop at the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid was a hit with the kids and dinner at Boscos was great.

August 14, 2021: Made it to Memphis. Despite the elevated stress throughout the trip, it actually went fairly well. There was a long line for security, but it moved pretty fast and they seemed to have somewhat relaxed requirements for families. The kids did great on the planes and our flights were pretty much on time. Found out the restaurant we planned to order from is closed for renovations, but we were able to get food from our backup. Long day, but we’re here and looking forward to seeing the mighty Mississippi tomorrow.

August 13, 2021: Week day was longer than planned, but pretty productive. Another hot run when I got hope and last minute preps for the trip. Fortunately we have time in the morning to get pack up and head to the airport.

August 12, 2021: I was planning to have a day off tomorrow before the big trip, but that’s not happening. Hopefully, I can wrap up what I need to in the morning and be home shortly after lunch.

August 11, 2021: I’ve been spoiled with the fairly coo weather over the last few weeks. My 2.5 mile evening run was pretty rough with the heat and humidity. I guess it’s good preparation for the upcoming trip down south.

August 10, 2021: Good riddance Cuomo! My favorite part is watching lefties accuse Republicans of hypocrisy without recognizing their own (quite obvious) hypocrisy.

August 9, 2021: Just finishing up Season 4 of the Revolutions Podcast which covered the Haitian Revolution. I didn’t know much about the second independent nation in America. The Haitian Revolution was intertwined with the French Revolution and rise of Napoleon. It’s an interesting story and the brutality on all sides is difficult to believe. You have to sympathize with the plight of the slaves, but it is still hard to justify their brutality when they came to power.

August 8, 2021: Our marriage is officially an adult – 18 years! We’ve never really made a big deal about anniversaries, so not much in the way of celebration. But I am lucky to have found someone who is a perfect fit for me, I can’t imagine life without her. Looking forward to many more years!

August 7, 2021: Sent the kids over to Gramma’s for the afternoon and evening. We were able to knock out a good bit of trip planning. I think we have the first leg pretty well planned out and we purchased some new luggage. Feeling a lot less overwhelmed.

August 6, 2021: We decided to watch Goonies with the kids tonight for pizza night. They really enjoyed it, especially Lucas. But we were reminded that 1980s PG isn’t the same as today; hopefully the kids didn’t pick up any new words.

August 5, 2021: Once again, I find myself frustrated by all the options we have; this time it’s luggage. Of course it’s great to have choices, but it would so much easier if there were only a couple options. I’m certain to spend way too much time trying to make a decision and all that time will likely make little difference in how happy I am with the final decision. This may be one of the times I’d actually prefer to just get this as a gift.

August 4, 2021: I recently purchased tickets to an upcoming St. Louis Cardinals game. I’ve always found outfield seats to be pretty good for a reasonable price. I settled on seats about 8 rows up in right field near the Cardinals’ bullpen, priced near the top of my desired price range. When I completed the transaction, I expected a small processing fee, which there was, but I was surprised to see an additional per ticket fee of $5. If you are going to charge an additional $5 for each ticket, why isn’t that part of the price? If the fee is charged on every ticket, it should be part of the advertised price.

August 3, 2021: I decided to shave the beard for the first time in…I’m not really sure. I may have shaved it briefly last summer or the one before. My wife prefers my face shaved, so my compromise is shaving for the summer. Fortunately summers are short in New York and I can usually get away with delaying the first shave. So, it should only be a few weeks until the cool Autumn breeze inspires the growth of a new beard.

August 2, 2021: First day back at work. Silver lining – the day goes by fast when you have a ton of work to get caught up on.

August 1, 2021: All of the sudden it feels like we have a lot of preparing to do for our big summer trip and not a lot of time to do it. It will be the first time flying with all three kids and our longest trip (two weeks). We’re staying in five cities across three states; doing part of the trip on our own and part with my family. We have a pretty good idea what activities/sites we want to hit, but haven’t figured out what we’re doing for meals. There’s a big part of me that wants to plan out every last detail and another part that recognizes a need to be a little more flexible and go with the flow. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it works out.

July 31, 2021: It’s good to be back home. Hoping to use tomorrow to recover before going back to work on Monday.

July 30, 2021: Final day of beach week; headed home tomorrow. The kids seem to be getting a little worn down and the adults are about ready to get back home. I’m not sure this is a good sign for our upcoming two-week trip.

July 29, 2021: I got down to the beach early today with my son and climbed to the top of Salt Island. It’s a small island off the coast of Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester, MA. It is only accessible at low tide by walking across a sand bar. Not super challenging, but pretty cool.

July 28, 2021: Two years ago my son (8 at the time) and I were quite proud of climbing to the top of a giant rock at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester, MA. As our return trip to Gloucester approached we were pretty sure my two daughters (6 and 4) wouldn’t be able to make the climb. Today we once again climbed to the top and looked down on the girls. But about the time my feet hit the ground I heard my wife calling my name and it sounded like she was on top of the rock. Lucas and I made our way around to the other side of the rock and discovered a path of stone steps leading up the back of the rock. Turns out getting to the top of the rock wasn’t so hard after all.

July 27, 2021: I decided to mix up my run this morning and tried a barefoot run on the beach. It was a little slower pace, but not too bad. Although, the bottoms of my feet are a little sore from the sand.

July 26, 2021: There are certainly some people who will have trouble producing the ID required to vote by some states. But if they don’t have sufficient ID to vote, they must be hurting in many other ways since an ID is required for so many things in day-to-day life. It seems to me opponents of voter ID could do so much more for the people they claim to care about if instead of fighting these requirements they simply invested their time and money helping people get the necessary IDs.

July 25, 2021: I took Lucas out to do some shopping in Gloucester for upcoming birthdays and we needed to find a place for lunch. Ended up at the same place I took him to two years ago. And we ordered the same meal – clam chowder and Fisherman’s platter.

July 24, 2021: Five or six years ago I learned that sleeping in the same bed as my son (he was 4 or 5 at the time) was a really bad idea. He kicked and rolled around all night; it was miserable. Last night I confirmed it is still not a good idea to sleep in the same bed as him. In addition to the kicking, he now talks in his sleep. He woke me up many times during the night.

June 23, 2021: We got the vacation week started visiting my wife’s friend from high school. Stayed over with her family and she was able to reconnect with some other high school friends. It was a late night and the kids stayed up way too late playing, but I think it was worth it.

July 22, 2021: Today at work I spent over an hour literally having the same conversation back-to-back four times. Each time as I wrapped up, another person or group approached me to have the same discussion. This discussion was repeated again three or four times over the rest of the day…definitely time for a vacation.

July 21, 2021: One more work day before beach week. I’m not the biggest fan of the beach but the rest of the family loves it and I’m definitely in need of a vacation.

July 20, 2021: I hear talk occasionally about “leveling the playing field” or, in other words, doing things to remove the disadvantage some people have because of the situation they were born into. Now I’m not talking about systematic things like groups of people disadvantage because of generations of discrimination, that’s an entirely different topic. I’m talking about things like student loan forgiveness where there is a desire to remove advantages some have because their parents were more able or willing to provide for them and give them a leg up. I understand the sentiment, it sucks that you struggle through life because your parents didn’t give you much. But from a parent’s perspective, I strive to make life easier and better for my children. If we “level the playing field” we necessarily remove, or reduce, my ability to make life better for my children.

July 19, 2021: In general I don’t really see the point of gift giving, specifically reciprocal giving (i.e. we get each other gifts for holidays or birthdays). I guess there are cases where you could find something I wouldn’t find on my own, but usually I’d come out ahead if you gave me the money and I spent it on what I really wanted. And if we’re just going to exchange money, we might as well just keep our own. Where I struggle the most is with spouses giving each other gifts, especially since in my case all our money is shared and if there is something we want we can buy it. So my wife is using my (our) money to buy me a gift that I may or may not want. It would make a lot more sense for me to just buy what I want myself. And I don’t want to buy her something unless I’m sure it is exactly what she wants. But I can’t be sure unless I ask her, which ruins any sort of surprise. As a result we end getting each other either small things we don’t really need or unexciting stuff we know will get used (e.g. coffee, beer, etc.). Maybe I’m being too ‘logical’ but I don’t see how my wife and me giving each other gifts makes any financial sense.

July 18, 2021: We had a little heavy rain on the drive home, but otherwise not a bad drive. Now I’ve got a four-day work week before our first vacation of the summer – beach week.

July 17, 2021: We decided to head over to Philadelphia and visit the Please Touch Museum. The kids had a good time and we stayed out of the heat. Although they were dragging a bit from last night; trouble settling down and getting to sleep. They’re not used to all sleeping the same room; there’s always at least one who feels the need to keep talking or otherwise annoying the others.

July 16, 2021: It was good to see the kids after a week with my parents. Just hanging out today and still trying to figure out what to do tomorrow in the heat.

July 15, 2021: Starting the three-day weekend tomorrow with a drive down to NJ to pick up the kids. Looking forward to a hot and rainy few days.

July 14, 2021: Our youngest is staying with Gramma and PaPa tonight, so it’s just the two us. We were able to get a little trip planning done, but mostly just taking advantage of the opportunity to relax alone.

July 13, 2021: I took my three-year old daughter (actually, almost four as she constantly reminds us) out for a dinner date. She didn’t do a great job eating, but we had a good time anyway. Finished up with some yummy ice cream.

July 12, 2021: I read an article about the ‘need’ for baseball rule changes to make the game more engaging for fans. I tend to be a traditionalist, so I’m not too keen on things like pitch clocks, starting a runner on 2B in extra innings, or the NL DH. I think I could get behind moving the mound back a bit because that won’t change the nature of the game but could generate some more offense. I’d also support rules to limit shifting, like keeping two infielders on each side of 2B.

July 11, 2021: Our oldest two kids are headed down to NJ for a week with my parents. We’ll get to spend some quality time with our youngest. It’s only been a few hours, but she’s already proving to be quite a handful without her big sister here to keep her occupied.

July 10, 2021: We’re approaching harvest time for our first batch of carrots, beets, and onions. This is our first try at the home garden, so we’re not exactly sure when to start pulling stuff out of the ground. I guess there’s just going to have to be some trial and error.

July 9, 2021: Watching the Phillies play the Red Sox in Boston; I think I’m overdue for another trip to Fenway.

July 8, 2021: I’m finding my motivation to workout dropping off a bit lately. Not sure the cause-and-effect, but it also coincides with a little less discipline with the junk food and my weight creeping up. I’m not too concerned right now, but at some point soon I’m going to have to kick it back into gear.

July 7, 2021: I read a good bit, but generally only non-fiction. Recently I’ve started reading some science fiction novels recommended by one of the podcasts I listen too. I’m not sure how long I’ll continue, but I am finding them pretty enjoyable.

July 6, 2021: I’m watching the Phillies game and the commentators are talking about the jump in offensive performance since they started inspecting the pitchers for foreign substances. Most people will draw the conclusion that this is proof pitchers were getting an advantage from foreign substances before the inspections began. While this is certainly possible, maybe even likely, it is also possible the jump in offense is a result of hitters believing the pitchers were cheating and are no longer able to. So much of hitting is mental that this belief could be enough to result in a significant improvement.

July 5, 2021: I have trouble carrying enough water for my long runs (over 10 miles), especially in the summer. I use a belt that carries two 250 ml bottles. Sometimes I’ll carry another water bottle with me, but I’d rather have my hands free when running. My wife got me a Camelbak for my birthday and I gave it a try yesterday for an 8 mile run. It definitely took some getting used to and I should probably do some research to figure out the optimal way to wear it (i.e. how high on the back, etc.). I did get used to it by the end of the run and it provided more than enough water.

July 4, 2021: We took the kids to see a Tri-City ValleyCats minor league baseball game. Lucas really enjoyed it and they all loved the post-game fireworks. Late in the game I hopped in the long line for ice cream. When I saw the ball leave the bat, I immediately knew it was headed in my direction along the first base line. As the ball neared it seemed to be headed right for me. I drifted slightly to get under it, extended my arms, and made a bare-handed catch. I finally caught a foul ball and, back in their seats down the third base line, my family missed it.

July 3, 2021: Semiannual retirement savings review and rebalancing in progress. I guess it’s a good sign I haven’t found a need for any significant changes. A few tweaks and we should be good to go for the rest of the year.

July 2, 2021: Birthday challenge complete: 4.3 mile run, 43 pull-ups, and 43 pushups. It took a few sets to get all the reps (two for the pushups, five for the pull-ups), but I got there.

July 1, 2021: Looking forward to the four-day weekend and hoping we can finish planning our big summer trips. As usual we don’t really have a plan, but I’m also hoping to do some work around the house and fit in some family fun time.

June 30, 2021: I decided to push my intermittent fasting a little further; skipped lunch and made it all the way to dinner for a total of 23 hours. It’s not too bad when I’m busy, but i’m definitely feeling the effects. I don’t plan on making this a regular thing, but it was interesting to try.

June 29, 2021: I may have pushed a little too much with the run in this heat. I planned to go a little farther than the 5k I ended up running, but cut it short and walked the last mile home. I feel fine now that I’m hydrated, but I was dying out there.

June 28, 2021: Short run today. I need to play it by ear this week with all the rain in the forecast. I’ll get the runs in when I can and plug in other workouts on the rainy days.

June 27, 2021: Fired up the smoker today: one fail, one close call, and one success. First the fail – to finish off the pork belly I added some BBQ sauce and raised the temperature to 350 for the last 10 minutes. About 8 minutes later I came out and found the smoker reading 800. It looks like something caused a flare-up resulting in charred pork belly; edible but not great. The close call came when I decided to use a stick to shift the charcoal around in the hopper. I was staring straight down into the fire as it grew from the increase in oxygen. I lost a bit of my eyebrows, but no permanent damage. And the success was the pulled pork. It turned out great.

June 26, 2021: I’m doing some research on retirement planning and I’m surprised to keep seeing seemingly knowledgeable people providing rules of thumb that don’t make much sense. One example is the idea that you need to save 8 (or some other number) times your income for retirement. Your income is irrelevant, what matter is your expenses. Someone who haves $100k and spends $90k needs more money for retirement than someone who makes $100k and spends $60k. I wonder if these “experts” don’t understand this or if they think we are incapable of estimating our expenses.

June 25, 2021: First day of summer vacation, first day trip. We took the kids up to Fort Ticonderoga. It was about a 90 minute drive and the kids definitely didn’t fully appreciate the history. But we all had a good time overall and got to spend some time together outside on a pretty nice day.

June 24, 2021: Today was the kids’ last day of school. We’re trying to mentally prepare ourselves for all the summer travel; trying to make up for lost time. If we can ever finish planning, we should have some greta adventures.

June 23, 2021: I extended my mid-week run to 5.25 miles; I’m thinking I might regret it tomorrow.

June 22, 2021: I can’t believe we have a ten year old – Happy Birthday Lucas!

June 21, 2021: It’s surprising how much work it takes to throw a small at-home birthday party for a ten year old.

June 20, 2021: Despite the difficult trip down, the unexplained flight change, and a loss of air conditioning, it ended up being a good trip to NJ. We had a good time with the cousins on Saturday and of course everyone enjoyed the weekend with my parents and sister. And I got my email from American Airlines on Sunday, so we’re all back on the same flight for our August trip.

June 19, 2021: My wife received an email from American Airlines notifying her of change to a flight in August. The departure and arrival only changed by a couple of hours. It wouldn’t be a big deal except that all five of us are flying on that flight, but we’re on two separate reservations. So far only her and the girls are changed. I tried calling for more info, but gave up after being on hold for 40 minutes. After a little research, it looks like the original flight no longer exists, so hopefully our second reservation will also be changed. I guess I’ll wait a bit and see.

June 18, 2021: Quite an adventure getting down to New Jersey; felt like we were ignoring some pretty strong signs. First, we had to hope for a negative COVID test for one kid yesterday. This morning she was definitely on the upswing, so we weren’t too concerned. Then about a half hour into the 4+ hour ride, our son asks us to stop so he can go to the bathroom. False alarm, but he definitely wasn’t himself, his stomach was a little off, and he has a history of car sickness. After about 15 minutes of hanging out in the Target parking lot, we decided to roll the dice and keep going. Twenty minutes later, he was puking into a Dunking Donuts bag in the back seat. We seriously considered turning around, but he insisted he felt great and really wanted to keep going. Despite two more fits of vomiting along the way, he was in good spirits and we made it. Let’s hope the rest of the trip goes a bit better.

June 17, 2021: To continue yesterday’s rant, the school doesn’t allow parents to send in homemade snacks for birthday celebrations. All snacks must be prepackaged to protect against COVID. I thought we figured out a while back that food wasn’t a signifiant risk factor in transmission. And I would think passing out prepackaged snacks would be just as “risky” as passing out homemade snacks.

June 16, 2021: As things “return to normal” it’s difficult to ignore some of the useless, or at least not very useful, things that are still in place. For instance, why are my kids still wearing masks in school? And why are we forcing kids to get a COVID test when they have any one of the dozens of COVID symptoms? If it’s COVID they can’t come to school for two weeks. If not, it’s likely they have something that’s actually more dangerous to children, but it’s okay to come back to school.

June 15, 2021: As I struggled through the second half of my half marathon run on Sunday I was 100% sure I would be taking a break from long runs for a while. Now, only two days later, I seem to have forgotten that pain and am seriously considering pushing even further.

June 14, 2021: There seems to be growing talk of a wealth tax. I suggest anyone interested in this take a quick look at the US Constitution; it’s pretty clear to me that such a tax would be unconstitutional.

June 13, 2021: Fought my way through a half marathon around the neighborhood this morning. Total time 1:51:39 for a 8:31 minutes per mile pace; knocked two minutes off my time from last Fall. I struggled through the middle of the run but I’m glad I pushed through, despite the soreness I’m already feeling. Now I guess it’s time to to figure out what’s next.

June 12, 2021: Adding on to my thought from yesterday – I wonder how much we could accomplish if we stopped assuming the worst of the “opposition” and instead focused on our common goals. For the most part, we all want the same things, we just have different opinions on the best way to achieve them.

June 11, 2021: I listened to Tulsi Gabbard on the Joe Rogan Podcast today. I’m sure I disagree with her on quite a bit of policy, but I was impressed by her opposition to the corporate media and the corruption and dishonesty of the major political parties.

June 10, 2021: The Phillies have been a little disappointing this year, but last night was a great game. Zack Efflin pitched a great game, and you can’t beat that ending. Luke Williams, in his first career start, hits a walkout 2-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 9th.

June 9, 2021: The Spring Baseball Season came to end tonight. Lucas struggled a bit being in the younger half of the league this year. But he worked hard, improved over the course of the year, and really enjoyed himself. Proud of his effort and enthusiasm.

June 8, 2021: Our coffee maker is either possessed or has some sort of electrical problem. In addition to the scrolling numbers on the clock, it occasionally turns itself on. This morning it decided to start brewing a second cup in my travel mug; good thing I caught it before it overflowed. Trying to figure out if there is any way I can fix it or if we’re going to need a new one. As I research new ones, I’m again overwhelmed by the number of choices and difficulty sorting through reviews.

June 7, 2021: We seem to learn the same lessen each Spring – get the mulch down early. Unfortunately, when the next year rolls around the procrastination wins out and we repeat our mistake. It would really save a lot of time and effort if we got the mulch down before the weeds and grass started coming up. Maybe next year?

June 6, 2021: Twelve mile run complete; I guess the electrolyte mix worked since I didn’t have a headache and I felt pretty good throughout the day. Last couple miles were pretty rough, but still a better pace than my half marathon time last Fall. I’m going to shoot for 13.1 miles next weekend.

June 5, 2021: I’m planning a long run tomorrow and I’m going to try out a new electrolyte mix. Long runs in the heat have been giving headaches and an electrolyte imbalance from sweating may be part of the problem. We’ll see how it goes.

June 4, 2021: I didn’t realize how much damage a tennis ball could do until it struck a six year old girl in the face. Now I’m sure it did hurt a bit, but the crying continue well beyond what was warranted.

June 3, 2021: Why don’t kids go to school year round? The summer break doesn’t make much sense to me and seems to wipe out a lot of the gains made during the school year. I’m not necessarily in favor of more school days, just spreading them over the whole year with several one to two week breaks. Aside from the educational benefits, it would be great to be able to take family vacations outside of July and August.

June 2, 2021: I might have accidentally pushed it a little too hard on my five mile run today. It was supposed to be an easy run following the 10 mile race on Sunday. I was making an effort to take it nice and easy, but when my run tracker gave me an update at 5 minutes I was moving faster than usual. Of course, that provided motivation to keep up the pace and I ended up with my best 5 mile time yet. The legs are already hurting a bit.

June 1, 2021: Travel tip – you can get lower fares by purchasing plane tickets in smaller groups. I saved $50+ dollars by buying two tickets and three tickets in separate transactions instead of one group of five. It took a few extra minutes, but a pretty easy way to save a few bucks.

May 31, 2021: We’re finally making some progress on the big summer trip; worked out the basic plan with my family who will be doing a portion of the trip with us. I continue to be unable to make decisions in anything resembling a reasonable amount of time. Hopefully, we’ve built some momentum and can start checking things off the planning to-do list.

May 30, 2021: Ten-mile race complete – 1:20:41. Officially my pace was 8:05/mile, but my tracker had a distance of 10.13 miles with a pace of 7:58/mile. My previous best pace at this distance was 8:14/mile.

May 29, 2021: First time doing pulled pork on the new smoker; the ability to hold a steady temperature made a big difference in the cook time. Everything was ready plenty earlier and came out great. Tomorrow I’ll find out if a big barbecue dinner was a good idea the night before a 10 mile race.

May 28, 2021: I had my physical today; I guess I didn’t realize how much weight I have actually lost – 41 pounds in less than 2 years. And I’ve also gotten my cholesterol well within normal levels. There’s definitely been some hard work and sacrifice along the way, but nothing too extreme and nothing that can’t be replicated by just about anyone.

May 27, 2021: Sometimes I wish there weren’t so many options. We’re trying to plan a summer vacation and are repeatedly overwhelmed by all the options for everything – flights, airbnbs, rental cars, activities, etc. And it’s not only finding the option that works best, but you also have to consider when to reserve things because the prices seem to change every day.

May 26, 2021: Many years ago we bought some hair clippers and I haven’t paid for a haircut since. I wonder how much money I’ve saved over the years.

May 25, 2021: Finally read Scott Young’s Ultralearning. I heard him on a podcast months ago discussing his MIT Challenge and Year of No English. It’s amazing to think about what you can learn in a relatively short period of time with the right focus and dedication.

May 24, 2021: So, it looks like I’m going to be getting $800 a month from the U.S. Government starting in July, for no reason other than the fact that I have three children. I’ll gladly take the money, but this makes absolutely no sense.

May 23, 2021: Just finished the nine episode “Saylor Series” interviews on the “What is Money?” Podcast. It’s a deep dive into the origins and current state of money with a focus on Bitcoin. Michael Saylor and the host Robert Breedlove are both big proponents of Bitcoin and I think they make a really strong case. Ultimately, I think it could be a strong store of value and a secure asset. My concern is the current volatility and the risk of government interference. I’m not quite ready to start buying up Bitcoin, but I definitely have a much better understanding of it and think there is potential it could be very powerful in the future.

May 22, 2021: I’m preparing for the 10 mile race next weekend, so I decided to do a relatively short Sunday run tomorrow (10k). I know it makes sense to take it easy this week to prepare for the race, but I’m finding it difficult to fight the urge to get out and do a long run.

May 21, 2020: Why are our children still wearing masks at school? Their risk of a severe reaction to COVID is extremely low and the teachers have been vaccinated; so who are we protecting? Early on we were concerned about them taking it home to higher risk family members, but at this point practically everyone who wants to has been vaccinated.

May 20, 2021: Planning a vacation for the summer and it seems like securing a rental car may be the limiting factor. As of now we can’t get a minivan in our preferred arrival location. So do we add some driving to trip to get a minivan or take our chances squeezing into a car? Or do I cross my fingers and hope the rental car companies increase their inventories in the next couple months?

May 19, 2021: Sometimes I wonder if the people who design products actually use them, or even understand those of us who do. I use the MLB TV app, primarily on my TV, to watch Phillies games. They have an option to hide scores, which I find very useful because I often watch games after they are over and I don’t want to know the result. This year they’ve “upgraded” the interface; when I open it up the home screen displays the menu for today’s Phillies game overlaying a photo of the starting pitcher. What I found out when I went to watch a game from earlier in the day is they update the photo with a shot from the game, for example the team celebrating a winning hit. What’s the point of hiding the score if you show me the celebration! I now hold a pillow in front of my face, blocking all but the tiny corner of the screen as I navigate to the start of the game.

May 18, 2021: It’s important to keep your mind engaged when making margaritas. Getting the two-to-one margarita mix to tequila ratio backwards makes a big difference.

May 17, 2021: Glad to see NY lifting the mask mandate for vaccinated people. But I don’t understand why it doesn’t go into effect immediately; why wait two days for it to take effect? You’re saying it’s safe for me to walk around without a mask on Wednesday, but I better not go mask-less on Tuesday. Just one more illogical action that undermines trust in the government.

May 16, 2021: Took the family and in-laws on a brunch cruise on Lake George. I reminded my son that it isn’t an “all-you-want-to-eat buffet,” it’s an “all-you-can-eat buffet.” He accepted the challenge…and had no problem eating dinner a few hours later. I too accepted the all-you-can-eat challenge…and I’m regretting the decision.

May 15, 2021: First long cook on the new smoker (Masterbuilt Gravity Series 560) – country style pork ribs. Very easy to maintain and adjust temperature; I can even monitor and adjust from an app on my phone. There have been many times on the old smoker where a cook took much longer than anticipated because of trouble maintaining temperature. But I think those days are gone.

May 14, 2021: Day one of a four-day weekend. Wasn’t too productive, but I did get some daddy-daughter time with my youngest. And of course Friday family pizza and movie night.

May 13, 2021: I wish we could apply some common sense to the mask policies and move a little quicker to remove requirements. I work on a federal site covered by President Biden’s Executive Order. So even though nearly everyone I work with has been vaccinated, we are still required to wear masks. This is recognized as absurd by all of us and undermines the respect for this or any future mandate. I’m not sure if the powers that be understand the damage they are doing to their own legitimacy by leaving in please a completely useless policy. This could have a serious impact on compliance in the event such measures are deemed necessary in the future.

May 12, 2021: Pushed my intermittent fast to 4:00 pm and followed up with a 5 mile run. The run was a little slow and definitely didn’t have as much energy as usual, but overall feeling pretty good.

May 11, 2021: I saw an older gentleman the other day on the golf course, by himself, on a warm sunny day, wearing a mask. How did we possibly get to the point where someone thinks they need a mask in the situation?

May 10, 2021: I can get a pretty good look at drivers when I’m running, compared to the brief glances I get when driving. I continue to be surprised by the number of people wearing masks while driving solo. While I wonder why anyone would ever do this, it doesn’t present any real danger to me. But what does really bother me is the young women who was staring down at her cell phone as she was driving within 4 feet of me at 50 mph. Most drivers are pretty attentive and move over to give me room, but this isn’t the first time I’ve seen someone staring at their phone as they zoomed by. I have to admit I’m not always the best at ignoring the phone while driving, but please people put the phones away while driving.

May 9, 2021: Happy Mother’s Day! I know I don’t adequately express my gratitude for everything my mother has done for me, but everything I have achieved in life is a direct result of her love, caring, support, and sacrifice.

May 8, 2021: Decided to put the smoker together and live with the dents. As usual it took longer than advertised, but it’s ready to go. Hopefully, I can cook up something simple tomorrow to test it out.

May 7, 2021: So I got the replacement parts for my new smoker. Unfortunately one of the parts wasn’t exactly what I needed. I got what I needed to make it functional, but it doesn’t take care of the ‘cosmetic’ damage. So, do I contact Masterbuilt and get the right part, delaying the smoker assembly another week? Or do I just live with the dents and get the smoker fired up this weekend?

May 6, 2021: Silencing people who “offend” teaches others to self-censor for fear of the consequences of inadvertently offending. This limits dialogue and eliminates opportunities for learning. How many people today bite their tongue because they fear saying something that will get them “cancelled?” Think of all the unpopular speech in history that we now celebrate; how many of them would have been silenced if they lived today?

May 5, 2021: Listening to Jonathan Zimmerman discuss the importance of free speech on the Joe Rogan Podcast. It’s really highlighting to me the importance of listening to different (and even unpopular) viewpoints. The increasing hostility to opposing views and the ever expanding cancel culture is extremely destructive to our society. We should not be shutting down those who disagree with us, even if we find their speech upsetting or offensive. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions and make assumptions about what their words mean, but instead we should engage in dialogue and seek to understand what they truly mean and how their life experience has led them to this point of view. Social media does a great job of funneling us to content that reinforces our beliefs or to the extremes of the opposition. We need to seek out rational well-meaning people on the other side (and yes, they do exist) to expose ourselves to different points of view. Even if we don’t change our mind, these diverse viewpoints can help us grow in our understanding of the issue.

May 4, 2021: Getting home late after Lucas’ first night baseball game. A little late for a school night but a good experience for the kids.

May 3, 2021: Two new home-brews kegged yesterday – an Imperial Cream Ale (8.7% ABV) and a Honey Brown Ale (6.1% ABV). Investing in kegs has turned out to be a great decision; so much easier than bottling five gallon batches of home-brew. Next step is to remodel the basement so I can move the kegs out of the refrigerator and into the new bar.

May 2, 2021: Accidentally ran an extra mile today. I’ve been progressing towards an eventual half marathon sometime this summer, adding a mile each week to my Sunday long run. After planning out my runs for next week yesterday, I got it in my head that this Sunday’s run was supposed to be 9 miles. Only after I finished the run did I realize I was only supposed to do 8 miles this week. The run was a little tougher than I had expected, but I survived and am one mile closer to my ultimate goal.

May 1, 2021: The kids’ hard work paid off; they both took the gold medal in their Tae Kwon Do competition this morning. I never did martial arts, but I’m very happy with the positive effect it’s had on the kids.

April 30, 2021: Small hiccup on day one of the productive three-day weekend. The new smoker has a significant dent and some other minor damage. Good news, getting support from Masterbuilt was easy and replacement parts are already being shipped. Looks like the first cook on the new smoker will be delayed until at least next weekend.

April 29, 2021: Starting a three-day weekend tomorrow. I’m hoping to make it productive – smoker assembly, garden prep, cleaning up the yard, and maybe some family fun time.

April 28, 2021: I’m not a fan of the post-dinner workout, but I had a long day at work and can’t skip two days in a row.

April 27, 2021: First day in a long time (at least five months) that I haven’t worked out. After completing a circuit of P90X3 a couple months ago, I intended to scale back to four or five days a week. The scale back never happened, but there’s just too much going on now to keep it up. I’m hoping I can maintain the motivation even without the daily workout streak.

April 26, 2021: Not sure which is worse. It looks like someone used my identity to apply for unemployment benefits. But I just got a notification on Saturday that I need to confirm my unemployment between January 31 and February 6, 2021. So not only was someone able to submit a false claim, but if it was legit it would have taken NY State almost three months to act on it.

April 25, 2021: It looks like Democrats are going to push to remove the cap on deductions for State and Local Taxes. While I’m all for lower taxes and would personally benefit from this change, this would not make the system equitable. This would effectively result in the rest of the country subsidizing the high tax states, preventing residents from feeling the full effect of their tax rates.

April 24, 2021: Taught my son to play “Run the Bases”, an old game from my childhood. I honestly have no idea if this was a widespread game or if we made it up in the neighborhood. It’s basically just a baseball rundown with multiple runners, but is good exercise and lots of fun.

April 23, 2021: I’m taking advantage of a free year of M1+ (normally $125 per year). The “Spend” account has a 1% interest rate so it’s a good spot to stash savings for upcoming home improvements. It also gives me access to custodial accounts, so I’ll be setting up investment accounts for each of the kiddos.

April 22, 2021: Garden box is built; should be getting the soil this weekend. Now we just need to decide what vegetables to plant.

April 21, 2021: There should not be snow on the ground right now, but there is. It makes it hard to find the motivation for Spring activities – running, yard work, baseball. Hopefully, the Spring weather will be here soon.

April 20, 2021: Signed up for a 10 mile race on May 30th. I’m pretty confident I can improve on the 10 minute mile pace from my first (and last) 10 mile race almost 20 years ago on the beach and boardwalk of Sea Isle City. I had never been a runner, but my Aunt Dolly convinced me to do it. It was my first race, first time ever running that far, and it was pouring during the race. Despite all this I finished the race and have been running (off and on) ever since.

April 19, 2021: My wife told me she started playing Hang Man with our six-year old. I let her know I was concerned about this for a couple reasons – hanging someone is problematic and why does it have to be a man? It’s a perfectly fine game, but I prefer to call it “Suspended Person” – for some reason she found this quite amusing.

April 18, 2021: Solid 10k run this morning. Not my best time, but considering the cold and that I’ve only been back running consistently for a few weeks it felt pretty good. Definitely on track for a half marathon this summer and I may even push it a little farther.

April 17, 2021: “We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.” – Ayn Rand. I suspect we will soon learn the truth of this as we deal with the consequences of our collective actions over the past year.

April 16, 2021: It wasn’t as rainy as expected today, so I shifted my workout plan and went for a run. I was feeling pretty good, picked up the pace a bit, and ended up with a new personal best 5k.

April 15, 2021: A new post about sleep habits – The Power of Waking at the Same Time Every Day.

April 14, 2021: “The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody ha decided not to see.” – Ayn Rand.

April 13, 2021: Our society would benefit greatly from increased understanding of risk, statistics, and basic probability. We spend a lot of time and energy worrying about very low probability risks and often seem very unconcerned by relatively high risk activities.

April 12, 2021: As I was listening to Ryan Schiller, founder of Librex, on the Lex Fridman Podcast, I found myself wondering if he was a liberal or a conservative. At some point during this pondering, I realized what I was doing and was quite disappointed in myself. I was trying to put him in a box so I could apply a filter through which to evaluate his ideas. But his ideology should not matter; his ideas should be considered and judged independent of his ideology. I was also upset because I defaulted to assuming he needed to fit into one of two ideological boxes. The reality is most people don’t fit neatly into these two ideologies and we do them and ourselves a disservice when we assume they do and judge them and their ideas based on this assumption.

April 11, 2021: So it turns out, at least for me, the Covid vaccine was worse than the virus itself. Not that it’s been too bad; pretty much just a little achy and rundown. But I only had mild symptoms with the virus.

April 10, 2021: Fairly productive Saturday – 6 mile run, J&J vaccine, picked up lumber for a garden box, and spent the afternoon with the wife. It looks like the rain is going to hold off tomorrow, so I guess I’ll be spending the day working in the yard.

April 9, 2021: Maybe there are aliens out there and the reason we see so little evidence of their existence is because they live on a very different time scale. One of the arguments of skeptics is that if they were out there and visiting us, why wouldn’t they make contact more frequently and directly. This argument assumes a conception of time similar to our own. But what if there was an alien species with a 100,000 year life span? For them visiting Earth once every 1000 years would be like us visiting Europe once a year. From their perspective they could be visiting us frequently, but no one is around long enough for them to establish a connection.

April 8, 2021: Just finished listening to Rep. Dan Crenshaw on the Joe Rogan Experience. One of the things I really like about him is how he tries to understand the perspective and ultimate goals of the other side. He uses this to help craft solutions acceptable for all parties and to better explain his own positions. He also repeatedly stressed the importance of being able to explain policy positions and the necessary trade-offs. Too often politicians focus solely on the often exaggerated upside of a proposal, ignore the consequences, and attack anyone who questions the policy. Regardless of how you feel about his policy views, I think we should all do what we can to elect more people who behave like Rep. Crenshaw.

April 7, 2021: If voter ID laws prevent people from voting because they can’t get IDs, shouldn’t the solution be to make it easier for them to get IDs? There are so many things in life that require ID, it seems like our time, money, and effort would be better spent on IDs for everyone than on fighting against voter ID laws.

April 6, 2021: I’m glad I didn’t stay up late for the game; disappointing ending to a pretty good NCAA Tournament. I picked Gonzaga, so the loss dropped me down to the 95th percentile. Still, the best performance I can remember.

April 5, 2021: Can someone explain why the NCAA chooses to play their national championship game at 9:30 on Monday night? I understand they can’t start too early for the west coast, but I’ll be lucky to make it to halftime.

April 4, 2021: Went for a 5 mile run today. Spent some time looking for races (5k, 10k, Half Marathon), but there isn’t much in the area in the Spring/Summer. Looks like there are a few options in the Fall; with that much time to train maybe I should go for my first full marathon.

April 3, 2021: It’s funny how confidently wrong a six year old girl can be when it comes to her fashion decisions – shirt, pants, and socks with a variety of colorful stripes. And she couldn’t be any more certain that it looks great.

April 2, 2021: Saved $100 with some DIY car maintenance. The minivan was due for some routine maintenance which included, among other things, changing the cabin and engine air filters (~$130). I have limited experience with car maintenance, but with about five minutes of research on YouTube, another five minutes to order parts on Amazon, and ten minutes to install I was able to get it done for a total cost of $22.

April 1, 2021: Tomorrow will be my last day in my current position at work. I’m making a lateral move, so not a huge change, but I’m excited to be moving on to new challenges. Wrapping up with one final 5:30 A.M. drill set.

March 31, 2021: A couple baseball predictions before tomorrow’s Opening Day: The Phillies will finish 93-69 coming up short of the NL East title, but securing a Wild Card spot. Alex Bohm and Bryce Harper will throw up big offensive numbers and the pithing staff will be much improved over last year. Their playoff run will end with a nail-biting loss in Game 7 of the NLCS to the eventual World Champion San Diego Padres.

March 30, 2021: First blog post in a while – Forty Years Ago… An Odd Presidential Streak Is Broken.

March 29, 2021: The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is down to the Elite 8. Despite watching less college basketball than most years and spending less time than usual researching my picks, my bracket is in the 99^th percentile. And of course, this is the first year in as long as I can remember that I didn’t enter a pool.

March 28, 2021: Another victim of student loan forgiveness – those who never went to college. Taxpayers who, for whatever reason, did not attend college will be asked to subsidize loans for people with college degrees and the benefits associated with them.

March 27, 2021: With all the talk of student loan forgiveness, I wonder what message this sends to all the men and women who don’t have student loan debt – those who worked hard to earn scholarships, chose work instead of loans, buckled down and paid off their loans, or chose a school they could afford. These people who made responsible decisions and paid their own way are now being asked to subsidize those who did not.

March 26, 2021: When you’re in a situation (let’s say, hypothetically, a job) for many years, how do you know if it’s time to make a change? Is the “comfort” because the job’s a good fit or have you just become numb to the negative aspects. Is the grass actually greener on the other side? Is it worth the risk to try something drastically different; especially when you have a family to consider? Not that I’m planning to make a change any time soon, but it’s interesting to contemplate future possibilities.

March 25, 2021: Despite the temperature getting into the 70s today, but we still have piles of snow in the yard.

March 24, 2021: I’ve been using intermittent fasting for a few weeks now. On work days I wake up at 5:30 and have a glass of water. I drink about 20 oz of black coffee over the course of the morning. I eat lunch around noon, sometimes an afternoon snack, and dinner around 6:30. Usually have a small dessert shortly after dinner. On the weekends I eat normally, including breakfast, a bigger dessert, and beer. While I try to eat “healthy”, I’m not on any type of restrictive diet. I’ve noticed a significant improvement in energy levels throughout the day, overall my weight is trending down, and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on any of my favorite foods.

March 23, 2021: We’re considering a couple family projects. The first is starting a small garden in the backyard. The second is learning a language as a family in anticipation of a possible future vacation. I’m planning to check out Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career by Scott Young for some ideas on rapid language learning.

March 22, 2021: Made a couple updates to my Referrals and Personal Finance pages.

March 21, 2021: It looks like it’s warmed up enough to start a somewhat consistent running program. Found a half marathon training program by Hal Higdon that looks pretty good. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find an in person event this year, but I’m going to start training just in case. And if all goes well, this may be the year I pull the trigger on a full marathon.

March 20, 2021: I’m finding my original constraint of exactly one sentence a day to be too restrictive. I’m going to give myself the freedom to expand to longer daily entries.

March 19, 2021: Successful dinner of smoked meats for the Birthday Girl; also squeezed in a workout and brewed another batch of beer.

March 18, 2021: Prepped the meat for tomorrow; smoking brisket, pulled pork, baked beans, and a steak for the Birthday girl.

March 17, 2021: As I fill out my bracket, I realize how little I’ve paid attention to NCAA Basketball this year; sadly it probably won’t make much of a difference in the accuracy of my picks.

March 16, 2021: I’m hoping the snow will melt enough by this weekend to fire up the smoker; and on a related note, I’m seriously considering investing in a new smoker (check it out here).

March 15, 2021: Congratulations to our new Yellow Belts; all three kids continue to work hard and develop their Tae Kwon Do skills.

March 14, 2021: I’m hoping to get some momentum going with my first new blog post in almost two months.

March 13, 2021: Early birthday date with my favorite soon-to-be six-year old at the Wishing Well; good food and better company!

March 12, 2021: First 5k run in a while today; not sure if I should set my summer goal as a half marathon or shoot for my first ever marathon.

March 11, 2021: The kids are about three months into Tae Kwon Do and they’re still going strong; making good progress and really enjoying it.

March 10, 2021: Having trouble wrapping my head around the concept of the temperature reaching 61 degrees tomorrow when I still have 5 foot high piles of snow in my yard.

March 9, 2021: Not sure if this is frugal or cheap, but I’ve gotten in the habit of waiting for the kids to “finish” their dinner, scraping what’s left onto my plate, heating up in the microwave, and eating this instead of getting a second helping.

March 8, 2021: Testing out M1 Finance (sign up with this link and we both get $10); very highly recommended in the FI community, looks good so far.

March 7, 2021: Quarantine is over; kids had their last ski lesson today; back to work and school tomorrow.

March 6, 2021: Lucas and Daddy Day – practiced baseball and Tae Kwon Do, read a book, installed some blinds, and made pulled pork mac and cheese for dinner.

March 5, 2021: Spent the afternoon brewing a batch of Honey Brown Ale.

March 4, 2021: My funds finally transferred to my new HSA; have until Monday to decide how aggressive to be with this great investment vehicle.

March 3, 2021: I’m becoming a believer in intermittent fasting; effective in controlling my weight regardless of diet, not as hard as I thought it would be, and I think it’s beneficial for my overall focus and energy.

March 2, 2021: We’ve found our 9 year old son is very resistant to doing practically everything; but when we insist, he usually enjoys himself.

March 1, 2021: We’re in day 6 of our quarantine and overall it hasn’t been too bad.