10th Event Delay Again

I trained all Summer and had my Fundraising complete. I was all ready for San Diego and really looking forward to it. Now it’s the Monday before the 3-Day and I wake up with a sore throat, headache, and ear pain. Feels like an ear or sinus infection. Coincidentally today was also the day that I got the e-mail from Komen about the Health Questionnaire. I am not feeling horrible and I doubt that I am infectious but it looks like I am going to have to put off event 10 for another year. I am not going to take chances of making anyone else sick and I really want to be at my best when I am traveling. I am going to miss being out there but it’s the right thing to do. I have already registered for Denver next year and some of my team is also registered for San Diego so at this point I am going to just start my fund raising and decide later which site to do next year.

Not Stopping at 10

I have been relatively healthy this year and am feeling pretty good. I am thankful for that.  Unfortunately I have heard of too many friends and family that are battling Cancer.  I also had a bit of a scare myself earlier this year where I found a small lump on my chest.  I saw the Dr who ordered an ultra sound and mammogram and they analysis did not look to be a concern but I have to follow up in a couple months to check again.  These factors together have led me to sign up for another 3-Day next year.  I will be walking in event number 10 in San Diego this year and have registered to walk in Denver next September.  As always I am forever grateful to all who have and will continue to support me as I walk to raise money to help others fight Breast Cancer and to hopefully one day find a cure for Cancer.

God Bless

Joining the Lions

So this summer I had been thinking about some opportunities to get involved in my community more.  Since my daughters are out of college and working and no longer depending on Dad's Uber service, I have more time on my hands.  I joined a bowling league last fall and a golf league this summer so that has taken up some of my time but I still felt like I could be doing more.  One night this summer I was out for dinner and drinks with some friends and one of them was discussing many of the ways the Lions get help our community.  I thought about it for a short time and decided that this would be a good opportunity to join an organization that is doing a lot of good in Oak Creek.  I worked at the Lions Fest as a volunteer this summer and was inducted as a Lion on 9/11.  Looking forward to opportunities to get serve.

First Weekend Training Walk

 Took advantage of some decent weather and free time to do a short training walk.  I call it short because it was under 10 miles.  It was still decent though as I had not been walking more than 5 miles yet this Summer.  Was able to do the 6.5 Miles without any issue so will be looking to do a longer walk soon.

6/10 Training Walk

My 10th Komen 3-Day Event

I have been trying to complete my 10th Komen 3-Day for several years now.  I have been interrupted by family issues, covid, and changing jobs.  I registered for the 2022 San Diego 3-Day last fall and had met my fundraising minimum by the end of January.  Then I started having respiratory issues.  I had Covid in December and again in March and my lungs had been giving me all kinds of issues off and on that made training a real challenge.  I got to the point in June that I put my 3-Day registration on hold because I just didn't think I was going to be able to do it this year.  Well I decided today that one way or another I am going to try and walk in San Diego.  Over the last month I have worked with my Doctors and tried different medicines and right now I have been able to exercise for a couple weeks straight and my lungs are actually feeling pretty decent.  It's time to get into some more serious training and get ready because San Diego is waiting.  I e-mailed the San Diego coach and asked for my registration to be reactivated.  I worked hard to raise the money and I really want to complete my 10th event.  After that I am not sure what the future holds for participation but we shall see.

A New Job

After an extensive interview process that had some scheduling issues that took a bit of time and coordination to work out I finally completed the process and received and accepted a new job offer.  I will be retiring from AT&T and going to work at NorthwesternMutual.  I am really excited about the new job.  The environment is going to be a bit different than what I have been working on but the locations are local and I can split work from home with being in the office.  I am looking forward to actually working with a team in person again.

Calibrating Weather Station

 This Spring I received a Weather Station for my Birthday.  It was something that I had wanted to do for some time and so far I am happy I did it.  The Tempest Weather Station is a newer technology for Weather Stations as it has no moving parts.  For the most part I have been very please with the Tempest and it has been fairly accurate with one exception.  That exception is rainfall. The haptic rain sensor has been off by quite a bit according to the rain gauge that I have about 10 feet away.  I am currently going through the process to have the station calibrated by the vendor to see if we can increase the accuracy.  I hope so but even if the rain is not the most accurate, I have found the rest of the station to provide good data and I enjoy having it.  

Interview Experience

 Had an interview today and it was kind of a different experience because of Covid.  I was on a Zoom call with an interview with members of the organization that I would be working in.  The interview was a mixture of technical content along with getting to know more about me and how I might fit in with the company.  I think it went well.  

Restarting the Search

 I have been working on developing some skills and updating my resume and have been getting antsy about waiting until closer to the end of the year to find a new job.  I have actively started looking at Jobs and have applied for a couple that I thought were interesting or a good fit.  I really hope this works out sooner rather that later.

Getting Ready for a New Job

 I had started looking at new jobs but after looking at quite a few different posts I have decided that I am going to try to stay at AT&T until later in the year.  This will help me maximize my current salary but will also give me time to develop some new skills and refresh some old ones.  In looking at job posting for Network Engineers, most employers are looking for certifications and programming experience using python and or ansible.  I have identified a couple projects in my current job that I can justify learning ansible for and that should help me when I am looking for a job.  I am also looking at what it will take to pass the CCNP test again.  I let my CCNP lapse many years ago because it was really not doing anything for me within AT&T.  

Looking for a Change

It looks like I am going to be looking for a new work place to call home.  I met with my financial advisor and she told me that based on the information that I provided, with a couple caveats, I would be better off financially if I can find another job and take my pension from AT&T and invest it.  She gave me the name of a friend that is a recruiter that I have contacted and I have started looking at jobs on LinkedIn and Indeed for a start.  There are a lot of Network jobs out there and I have started looking at what they want in experience and skills.  I have let some of my current co-workers know that I am actively looking for a new job.  This is a new experience for me

New Weather Station

After many years of wanting to get a personal weather station I finally ended up getting one for my Birthday this year.  I looked into a number of different stations and ended up deciding to try the Tempest from Weatherflow Technology.  It was pretty easy to setup and has no moving parts so I am anxious to see how well it works out.  Looking forward to a now be able to help with local observations for Milwaukee Skywarn and the NWS.  I will still have my CoCoRahs Rain gauge to compare to since the is usually the biggest complaint about the Tempest.  

Considering a Career Change

 Since AT&T announced some rather significant benefit changes, I have been researching the possibility of leaving and going to work somewhere else.  It’s not a trivial thought.  After 35 years here I am rather used to this environment but I have to consider it.  I have started seeing a financial advisor to help me evaluate whether this would be a positive change or not.  Very anxious to get her feedback.

Start of Lent 2021

 Today is the start of Lent and I have been struggling to figure out changes to make for Lent.  I have decided that as a start I am not going to argue with people on Social Media when they post things that I disagree with.  I have also decided to fast each Friday during lent instead of just on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  I am also going to make a concerted effort to attend Mass each Sunday during Lent.  During Covid I have been sporadic in my Mass attendance.  With my Asthma I have been very careful to avoid any situations that might put me at greater risk of catching covid.  I think my Parish has done a good job of mitigating risks to the best of their abilities but there are still times that I do not think it's best for me to attend.  Today is one of those days.  I had planned to attend Mass tonight for Ash Wednesday but have been second guessing that since I have had a bit of drainage that has resulted in a bit of coughing and hacking this afternoon.  I don't think that would be a good thing to do at Church even if I am wearing a mask.  

I was wrong about my 2020 Macbook

I had my 2020 MacBook Pro for over a week before I started to notice some things that were annoying me.  In the ended I decided that despite it being a decent Laptop, it was not what I wanted to spend my money on.  In addition to the couple things that were not quite what I wanted, the Apple Event to announce their first Apple Silicon Macs was on the last day of the return period for the 2020 MacBook Pro.  I decided to send it back and have decided that I really am impressed by what Apple claims their new Apple Silicon systems are capable of even for entry level systems.  I have decided to get the Mac Mini M1 as that was the cheapest way to try the new platform and if it works out ok then I can keep that for a couple years until they have the mid tier MacBook Pro available on Apple Silicon and then take a look at that. 

Finally Found my New Mac

 I have wanted to move to a newer Mac for some time now and have been trying different Mac Computers by ordering from Apple and then returning within the 14 Day Window if they did not meet my expectations.  I tried a Mac mini and thought that was going to be the answer but I decided that I really would miss the ability to be mobile even though I don't use it that often.  I tried a couple different MacBook Pro computers before I landed on the one I have now and I think I finally have the one that I will keep.  I have always had Quad Core 15" MacBook Pro Computers in the past and to be honest I probably didn't need a quad core all the time but I liked having it when I needed some power.  Apple doesn't make a 15" any more so I tried a couple of 16" MacBook Pro's and they were great computers but I decided that they were more expensive than what I really wanted to spend and I really wanted something a little smaller to take with me when I leave my desk.  I ended up with a 13" Quad Core I5 and so far it is running great.  I got it with extra RAM because it does not have a discrete GPU and I also want some head room for the rare times that I want to run a VM.  I have it connected via a single TB3 cable to my Caldigit Dock and that allows me to connect my Keyboard, Mouse, two monitors, backup drive and it also charges the computer.  I had heard a number of people that had said they had run too hot but that has not been my experience.  It idles around 120 and the fans don't even run most of the time.  I am anxious to see what the Apple ARM Laptops will look like in the future but not for a couple years when the bugs get worked out.  I have zero complaints about this new 13" MacBook Pro right now.

Still Looking

I thought that I had found the Mac that I wanted to keep but changed my mind again.  I sent the Mac Mini back and am waiting to see what the ARM Macs are going to bring. 

Found My Mac

 After trying out various new MacBooks I came to the conclusion that although I really like having a new MacBook, I really don't like the prices of new MacBooks.  I don't travel with a computer nearly as much as I had in the past so it's hard to justify spending the kind of money that new MacBooks cost.  I decided that I wanted to get a new Mac but at a lower cost.  I ended up deciding to try a Mac Mini.  I used a tool called refurb tracker to watch for refurbished Mac Minis with the specs I was looking for.  The refurbished models were few and far between for a while but I finally saw one that I could live with.  It is a 3.2 Ghz I7 model.  It only has a 512Gb SSD drive but that should be plenty for my Boot drive.  I can keep things like photos and music on an external drive.  I got the model with only 8Gb of RAM since Apple is ridiculous with their RAM prices.  To upgrade to 32GB they wanted $600.   I was able to get 32Gb of Crucial RAM on Amazon for $140 and I installed it myself.  The install process is not as simple as it used to be but using a tool kind that I bought last year and the iFixit video/guide I was able to upgrade the RAM myself in about half an hour.  Now I have the Mac Mini driving all three of my older Dell monitors and have not had any performance issues so far.  I am pretty happy with the performance and price since I paid less than have of the cost of the 6 Core MacBook that I had tried recently.

Exercise - Starting Again

 So earlier this year I decided to start to exercise more and for some time I did a pretty good job.  From mid February through most of June I was doing a great job. I started at 10k steps a day and after a month worked up to 12k steps a day. I was hitting my goal every day and was watching what I ate.  Just before New Years I was up to 203 lbs.  In June I was down to 187 lbs before my schedule got all messed up due to a number of issues.  Since then I have not exercised as much and have not done a very good job of watching what I ate and I was back up to 193.  Today I started exercising again.  I am once again starting at 10k steps a day and will do that for a month before moving the goal up.  I have a goal of hitting 185 or maybe 180 before the end of the year.

Search for new Mac

 I have been looking at updating from my 2015 MacBook Pro for months and have been kind of picky in what I have been willing to settle for.  I have tried multiple 16 and 13 inch MacBook Pros and always came up with some reason that I didn't want to keep it.  Once Apple announced that they were going to transition to ARM processors I decided that I would wait for one of those but I think I have changed my mind on that.  I don't want to be one of the people that buy the first ARM based Macs.  I have decided to go ahead and replace my 2015 now and then in 3-4 years the ARM based systems should be mature with the bugs worked out and then I can adopt the new platform.