April 10, 2023

Temperatures are firing up here in the Sonoran Desert, and our two canine family members love to sit in the hot sun for a few moments every afternoon. Lucky gets himself right situated on the landscaping rock and sister Jinx sits next to him, apparently holding watch, to make sure everything and everyone is safe.

We don’t let them spend too much time out there as we don’t want them to get a sunburn. I do believe they enjoy their brief doses of sunshine, though.

Good, Better, Best
Never let it rest
‘Til the good get better
And the better get best

I woke up this morning feeling energized and ready to take on the work week. This is the first time in a while that I’ve felt this way; last week was mentally exhausting for me and I don’t even really know why, other than it just was. Sometimes, it is what it is and it was what it was. The key to a successful life is to get beyond this and keep moving forward.

I’m continuing my decluttering exercises I started last month; I have a bunch of old technology ready for recycling, I have a bunch of old clothes going to Goodwill, and I’ve been throwing out paper and such that I just don’t need anymore. On the flip side, I’ve been looking at all the books I’ve accumulated over the years and I can’t bring myself to get rid of them. I was looking at a couple of titles by Erma Bombeck (one of my favorite humorists of all time), and I was thinking I might want to read those books again, because they always put a smile on my face. Then I got to thinking, I don’t really enjoy reading books on an electronic device, though I try over and over to make it something I should do. Perhaps it’s because I’m using an iPad instead of a Kindle or something, but there’s nothing like a real book and turning real pages.

I’ve also been cleaning up some of my computing workflows, namely trying to reduce the “friction” around capturing my thoughts. I’m using an app called Drafts, which is designed to capture text quickly. From there you can go back and process it through automation; I have built quite a few automations where I can push text to my to do lists, other lists I have built for upcoming adventures, such as my storm chasing trip next month, or to my journal. I forget things because I don’t write them down, and Drafts is giving me the ability to write things down quickly.

On a Monday, at lunch time, the work week is off to a grand start. I’m hoping to maintain this cadence through the week. Good things are ahead, and I’m doing what I can to get those good things as easily as possible.