Logbook
A repository for ideas, impressions, thoughts, memories, updates, and things I like. Anything longer-form tends to end up here.
20251
2025 - 05 - 03
Red eye to Chicago. Incredibly, had an entire exit row to myself–and not just one side of the plane, but both. As the sun crested over Illinois, we descended into the fluffiest clouds I’ve ever seen.
The next 48 hours were a blur, with five separate graphics installs in different parts of the city. We grabbed sleep at 2-3 hour intervals where we could, as some of the installs were either really late or really early. Fortunately, the weather cooperated very well for the most part. Some brief rain showers and a couple logistical snags, but they got sorted out. By the end we were installing the ribbons in a little under five minutes per, and the client was very happy.
Removal will be on Tuesday and Wednesday at the end of the Risk Management Conference (RIMS 25), and then we’ll fly home.
2025 - 04 - 29
Figuring out the logistics of the RIMS 25 install in Chicago this weekend.
2025 - 04 - 27
“An old Latin proverb, ‘Initium est dimidium facti,’ reminds us of the timeless importance of simply beginning the task at hand. It translates to: ‘Once you’ve started, you’re halfway there.’” (Horace, Epistles)
2025 - 04 -24
Events season is starting to pick up. Ribbons on more than forty buses in Chicago next weekend; June/July are going to be wild with all the tradeshows and conventions. There are several full bus wraps & a branded airport kiosk for the MLS All Star Game in Austin, TX. Right now we’re doing some headrest covers for the San Jose Earthquakes chartered flights, for use over this 2025-26 season. Other local jobs ongoing. Learning more about bid portals, RFPs, e-mail marketing campaigns in the meantime.
2025 - 04 - 23
Kids learned they could spin really fast on this swing attached to the underside of their geodesic climbing gym and proceeded to do just that for about three hours straight. T crashed in the afternoon and slept until past dinner, which meant she was wired for half the night. I barely made it past 8:30 and crashed in A’s bed.
2025 - 04 - 18
I love Garmin Connect’s badge system, which lets you aggregate your exercise activities as you “run” the Annapurna Circuit or hike the equivalent distance to Mt. Everest’s Base Camp or grind up Kilimanjaro–nevermind that it often takes me weeks to achieve these feats, it’s a fun feature nevertheless. Right now I’m summiting “Grossglockner” (12,460.6 ft.) which has a great ring to it.
The kids have been spending hours on end summiting their own small mountain these past few days, a tiny bouce house with its own little slide we’ve set up in the back yard. Endless entertainment in the glorious sunshine.
2025 - 04 - 17
Today on my run I almost tripped on two cotton-tail bunnies in the grass, which made me smile. They’re always in the exact same spot when I run by, and I think they’re less and less threatened by my plodding footsteps than they used to be.
2025 - 04 - 16
Outside of work, my day involved cutting wood, hauling trash, and moving dirt. Kids played outside all day; they were filthy by the end. “That’s how you know it was a great day,” my son tells me.
2025 - 04 - 14
When you finally realize you’ve been on a “legacy” credit card plan for years, but the newer plan you didn’t know about offers double the rewards with no added fees. sigh
2025 - 04 - 12
Trail running at Whipple Creek this morning. Once a year we do a big collective clean of the farm’s “warehouse”–a glorified wood/tool/storage/project shed that was once used for raising hogs and other livestock. This afternoon was that day, and while we didn’t finish, we made one big dent.
2025 - 04 - 09
Productive meeting with the CEO and marketing team at Riverview Bank today. Great rapport and progress on narrowing down the signage overhaul one of their corporate offices on Mill Plain.
2025 - 04 - 08
Several weeks ago, a car lost control on the road passing our farm, drove through the front of the lawn and smashed the mailbox to pieces.
Lightning rarely strikes twice, right? Well this morning a couple of teenagers found themselves going too fast in the rain, lost control, careened through the front of the lawn and smashed the new mailbox post down again. They didn’t even have the gumption to come and apologize–a mailbox hit and run!
2025 - 04 - 07
Last night was a doozy: Fell asleep around 11:20, woke up around 12:11 a.m. with Claire nudging me saying something about the cat bringing a mouse in our room from outside to play with; spent the next thirty minutes desperately searching for the suspect in the dark (with no help from our cat!). Finding nothing, I spent another twenty minutes letting the adrenaline subside and trying to fall asleep, wondering if there really was a mouse at all. Right as I’m dozing off (by now it’s almost 1 a.m.), our daughter comes in muttering something about a nightmare involving a bear. Claire finally got her back into her bed. I stumbled out of bed in a haze about four hours later for my run, and lo and behold, our daughter was back in our bed clinging to Claire. We only found out when they woke up that she had wet the bed to boot!
2025 - 04 - 06
Fantastic time picnicking and rockhounding with the kiddos along our favorite gravel bar down the Gorge and north of Carson, Washington (Wind River area).
2025 - 04 - 04
“Even if the tariffs come down, there’s now a lack of trust with the United States, and it’s hard to demonstrate U.S. leadership when our closest allies don’t trust us.” (CFR President Michael Froman)
2025 - 04 - 01
This year’s retinue of April Fool’s day pranks included bubble wrap under a doormat, googly-eyes on every single object in our fridge, jello disguised as apple juice, a frozen solid bowl of Kix cereal (that one got me pretty good), and funny faces taped over familiar family photo frames. That last one really made me do a double take.
A told us he stepped on a nail and wounded his sensory nerve…I wonder where he got that from? ;)
2025 - 03 - 31
I’m deterred less and less by the prospect of a rainy run as I age, which is nice.
2025 - 03 - 30
Working on training the puppy to “leave it” around chickens and turkeys who, infuriatingly, are not scared of her in the slightest!
2025 - 03 - 29
Old orchard is now well over half-cleared of fallen trees and old scraggly branches. Lots of mud despite the sunshine this afternoon.
2025 - 03 - 28
A is a self-proclaimed early bird. “I just like waking up early enough to play with my toys before I have to do my schoolwork,” he told me last night. This morning he woke his sister up at 6:45 a.m. The duo crept upstairs, loaded up on donuts, and tried to put themselves back to sleep without anyone noticing.
Spoiler alert: They didn’t succeed!
2025 - 03 - 27
Well, the kids finally did it. They completed the rest of their star charts and earned the long-awaited “donut party.” They were over the moon.
2025 - 03 - 26
Extremely warm for the time of year in Washington state today. By 4 p.m., the weather took a stark turn. There were even rumblings of tornados and “gorilla hail.” We were fortunate to avoid anything like that.
2025 - 03 - 25
Us: “Guess what we’re having with our dinner? Corn & watermelon!”
T: “Watermeyon sounds gooder than I thought!”
2025 - 03 - 24
Brother-in-law got his drone stuck in the tippy top of one of the tallest pine trees on the farm. He’s a resourceful lad; he hatched all kinds of imaginative ideas to get it out (some which may or may not have involved a compound bow). He eventually landed on a fishing rod, a good leader, and some fishing weights. Casting for an hour or two, he finally struck gold: His line wrapped around the branch; he shook several dead branches free; and the drone fell back down to earth with, shall we say, minimal damage considering the height.
What also fell back down to earth was part of a desiccated racoon carcass (which may or may not have had an arrow wound through the pelt). How it got there? Well, that’s a story for another time…
2025 - 03 - 22
Afternoon spent hauling fallen branches from the old orchard with family. Avoided the rain. Cleared about a third of the detritus, which is remarkable considering the amount of downed trees and branches from years past. The kids decided there was a sufficient supply of rainwater to treat the massive sheet of garden plastic as a spring slip-n-slide. They made the most of it, clothes and all.
2025 - 03 - 21
Local resort is having a major issue in their parking garage where their outdoor maintanance crews are spending 3+ hours a day cleaning off smudges and oily fingerprints from their elevator doors and door jambs. Who is touching all these elevators?! Consequently, I’m learning all kinds of things about the world of decorative elevator re-cladding/wrapping, which has been oddly fascinating.
In other news, A got his first loose tooth. Exciting times.
2025 - 03 - 19
“Tomorow is your dentist appointment, A.” Him: “Oh no, that’s just great. I’ll be killed!”
2025 - 03 - 18
Eventful weekend. Went camping in Central Washington for my brother-in-law’s birthday. We spent Friday night at Gingko Petrified Forest State park on the banks of the Columbia River and enjoyed the beautiful desert backdrop, with an owl hoo-ing all night and migrating ducks landing softly on the water every few hours. The next morning we drove up to Lake Lenore intent on testing out his new trolling motor fly fishing for Lahontan Cutthroat at the northern end. The sudden arrival of 35 mph wind gusts put those ambitions to bed; we spent the afternoon instead hiking and lunching in the presence of sunning Marmots on the desolate plateau above Dry Falls Lake. Stopping off at the lake’s scenic overlook on our way out, we were awestruck by the grandeur of surrounding countryside. Apparently during the Ice Age the rupture of an ice-dam hemming in Glacial Lake Missoula released a wall of water so large it carved up Central Washington and everything south
through the Gorge into the rugged landscape it is today. I had no idea that at one point Dry Falls Lake once hosted the world’s largest punchbowl falls. We ended our trip with a windy and rainy night on Lake Roosevelt situated just above the Grand Coulee Dam. Saying goodbye to the flock of ten mule deer bedding beside our campsite, we stopped off in Yakima canyon on the way home to scope it out for future fishing trips. Great fun all around.
2025 - 03 - 12
Enjoyed this.
A lot of bustle on the farm today. Inspectors may be coming over to gauge whether we qualify for a grant to build a new manure & compost storage area. Would be nice!
2025 - 03 - 11
I’ve been procrastinating a project for months. Last night, I decided on a whim to attack it head-on after the kids went to bed.
Took a minute to settle into a nice groove. The session eventually morphed into one of those ultra-productive bouts that stretch deep into the night. By about 2:30 a.m., I’d finished a series of tasks I’d previously allocated weeks to tackle.
Feels good to approach the next phase after spending so long in this one. The accumulated sleep debt, however, has been a bear to deal with this afternoon!
2025 - 03 - 10
Visited two of our installers putting in some graphics on a construction wall at a local resort this morning. Had a great time interacting with them. Real salt of the earth people.
Cherry blossom tree is coming into bloom. Another week of rain ahead but spring is inching ever closer.
2025 - 03 - 09
Church, dog walking, steelhead, baked beans & corn on the cob for dinner. T and I did our putty time this evening. The concept is simple: We chill out on comfy pillows, play with silly putty, and chat about whatever we want. Found a minute to settle into Tuchman’s The Guns of August this evening. Years of grad school and I can’t believe I never had made the time to read this masterpiece.
2025 - 03 - 08
Was watching a history lecture this morning when our three-year-old daughter yelled from across the room, “No time to watch commotionals, Daddy! It’s time to get this show on the woad!” When our son was younger he always called commercials “promotionals.” “Commotionals” must be our her own unique translation.
Incredible Thai food dinner. The purple yam ice cream with the purple mango sticky rice will long live in the memory. Sang songs and danced in the car all the way home.
2025 - 03 - 07
I’ve always been taken by the concept of maintaining a commonplace book; lately I’ve been delving into the fourteenth century Italian Renaissance version: Zibaldone.
“Unlike the author of a memoir of diary, the compiler of a zibaldone was not primarily focused on recording biographical or historical documentation, but on collecting the most meaningful texts for their own edification and that of their members of their family.”
2025 - 03 - 06
Cobbled together a changelog of sorts.
2025 - 03 - 05
Decided to pick up that junked orange tote I pass every day on my morning run and fill it up with any trash I encountered.
Didn’t even make it a mile and a half before the bag filled out, and that was only on one side of the road. Old cans of alcohol (so many cans–who’s pitching these things out of their vehicle?), articles of clothing, wet cardboard, candy and food wrappers, and anything else you can think of.
Felt good to do good. Just wish people wouldn’t litter to begin with!
2025 - 03 - 03
Celebrated Grandpa’s birthday on the farm. The seafood linguine was one for the books, as was the carrot cake.
2025 - 03 - 01
Took the morning to visit Silver Lake. Rest of the day rounded out pretty nicely. Paella and pruning; burning branches and a glorious bonfire. A perfect spring day in the Pacific Northwest, even if winter might still have a few surprises in store.
2025 - 02 - 28
Have never been as palpably disgusted watching foreign leaders interact as I was watching Trump and Vance gang up on Zelensky in the Oval Office today. It was as narcissistic, vitriolic, and insensitive a confrontation as you’ll ever see.
Trump’s accusation that Zelensky was flirting with World War III to me felt strange, seeing as he is the one dismantling the international order his presidential forbears painstakingly constructed to prevent world wars from breaking out in the first place. Foundational to that order are America’s allies and partners, whose historic unity has helped deter generations of adversarial threats.
Today they must be seriously wondering if the United States under current management will stand up for what’s right at all.
2025 - 02 - 27
Arsenal. Another year of injuries, outrageous refereeing decisions, and wasted potential. Sad to say since most of our setbacks have been nobody’s fault, but it reminds me of the 2008-2016 banter years. Flashes of lovely football, yet just unable to string together a season’s worth of quality.
Met two company presidents today who were nothing if not kind. It was a joy to talk to both of them.
2025 - 02 - 26
Playing around with Plain Text Editor on my Macbook this morning, a fantastic app developed by Sindre Sorhus. The draw for me was “brain dump mode.” I thought I’d post an example here to demonstrate what it’s all about:
-> Note: Deletions; additions.
When I really need to get an idea out there, I use brain dump mode. This mode basically forces your mind to work within typewriter-like constraints:.; eEverything you think, you write–but be careful, because everything you write, remains.
There’s no going back, in other weords. Be caereful not to make any miustakes!Agh!–Strike that from the record. It Brain dump mode just forfces you to keep going by . Turns intentionally flipping off the editorial toggle in your brain that might otherwise keeps you from moving ahead.
Then, a At the end, and only at the end, when you’ve written the gist of what oyou wanted to write, you can finally go back and edit it. Pare it d back. Work it into something great.
It’s a fun feature on an otherwise beautifully minimalistic program.
In other news, a real life triple eagle sighting.
2025 - 02 - 25
Completed an install with Joseph at Adventure Dental this evening. Went well, though applying the first one gave us a bit of grief. Enjoyed chatting with Susan, who stayed late to let us work; I hope the kids there get a kick out of their new floor graphics for years to come.
Spotted two huge bald eagles feasting on the carcass of a dead deer that somehow made its way into the donkey pasture on the way home. Coincidentally, our dog couldn’t stop barking at the whining howls from a pack of coyotes around midnight last night, so that explains how the deer got there in the first place.
2025 - 02 - 24
Final visit to the hand doctor. He said the nerve endings look like they’ve re-fused through the conduit he put into my hand and they’ll continue to grow back; general feeling back in 2+ months, full feeling and motion back in about 2 years. Modern medicine is a marvel.
2025 - 02 - 23
Decided to make it a two-nighter and extend our campout. We listened to the patter of rain droplets drip off our rain fly throughout the night. “Dad, can we camp out here for a whole week? I love this tent.”
2025 - 02 - 22
Camped out with A last night. Rained, but we stayed dry and warm. Made his favorite meal combo (these days)–hot dogs for dinner, porridge for breakfast. Watched two old black and white TV shows, talked about Cars the movie well past nine o’clock, and dozed off. I think he sleeps better in a tent than he does in his own bed. Great time all around. Love how excited he gets whenever we go camping; I also love that he put on a bathrobe in the morning, grabbed his “walking stick” and invited me on a nice morning walk. He’s adamant that we make winter campouts like these a tradition. I think I agree.
2025 - 02 - 21
Interesting appointment today. Got an ultrasound to massage the scar tissue beneath my index finger and talked about Iceland for a half hour with the doctor.
2025 - 02 - 20
Missed a doctor’s appointment by an hour this morning through a text-reminder glitch. Mildly irritating, but rescheduled for tomorrow.
Both kids found me this morning begging for me to make them breakfast in bed. I wish I had had time to oblige.
Enjoyed reading Kevin Kelly’s 50 travel tips. I’ve always enjoyed travel centered around passions and interests rather than sightseeing and tourist attractions. As I have aged, I’ve found much truth in his claim that “your enjoyment of a trip will be inversely related to the weight of your luggage…the longer your trip, the less stuff you should haul.” The other truism is one my family has some experience with: “For a truly memorable trip, go without reservations…if you like somewhere, stay a day longer, or if you don’t, split a day earlier…that freedom can be liberating.”
Solved a multi-decade mystery tonight.
2025 - 02 - 19
Rainy morning run. Lots of fun.
2025 - 02 - 15
Perusing the Wikipedia article for a multilateral exercise hosted by U.S. Army Pacific this evening and enjoyed the fact that one of the images from the 2015 exercise shows U.S. Army soldiers learning from their Thai partners “how to properly handle and neutralize a king cobra.” Color me intrigued.
2025 - 02 - 13
A glorious snow day, the first in a long while. My son got his toy truck/snow-plow out, the one he got for Christmas last year. Snow ball fights; snow angels; shenanigans with the dog; snow-backed cows and sheep–everything looks nice blanketed in white. Homemade salsa and oranges for lunch, one of my winter mainstays. Might get snowed in for Valentine’s Day after all.
Spent the day researching event planning organizations across the U.S. to broaden Ballyhoo’s convention/expo outreach. Excited to see some work moving forward with the MLS All-Star Game in July; now just need to start manifesting WC26!
2025 - 02 - 10
My son’s new favorite recipe: “Chip Sushi.” Make a pot of rice. Make some soy-inflected tuna fish. Grab an avocado (“but be really careful cutting it!”) Get out a bag of tortilla chips. Use chip as a base for the rice, tuna, and avocado. And voila, chip sushi.
2025 - 02 - 09
Fascinating quote on NATO C2 in Afghanistan. “Working with NATO,” [one participant] said, was like “playing football with everyone running a different play.” Each NATO member nation—the United States included—maintained full control over its deployed forces and had its own chain of command back to its national government. Retired Lt. Gen Ken Toto, who commanded CSTC-A from 2012 to 2013, recalled NTM-A/CSTC-A as an ’ad-hoc headquarters in a constant state of environmental turnover.” The NATO commander, he argued, lacked absolute authority to dictate the exact methods and activities NATO countries used to train and advise ANDSF in different parts of Afghanistan. “Rather, the commander provided overarching guidance and coordinated the activities of NATO member countries.” (See SIGAR report on Afghan Security Assistance, 23-16-IP, p. 47)
2025 - 02 - 08
Foggy and mild today. Took T to the grocery store this evening; she’s fun to shop with. Convinced me to get some of her favorite candy. She drives a hard bargain. We picked out Valentines and ate Jo Jos. It was a great memory.
A made $5 dusting his Grandpa’s shop today. He was so proud. “Dad! This is the most money I’ve ever had!”
2025 - 02 - 05
Had a fantastic conversation this afternoon with the owner of Mighty Munch Mountain Indian Curry Pizza. What a name. Told him the Indian Calzone should definitely stay on the menu. He’s looking to expand even more throughout Southwest Washington and I’m here for it.
Got an industrial glob of neon yellow silly putty to help rehabilitate my left index finger at today’s follow-up appointment. It was like going to the doctor and coming out with a toy.
Snowed intermittently throughout the day.
2025 - 02 - 04
Sunny day skies this morning. My five-year-old son, who has called me “wounded hand” for several months now, woke up and decided to fashion a makeshift cast out of about twenty band-aids to replicate the one I wore after cutting my hand open last November. He even got a toy knife and “abocado” out of his sister’s kichen to complete the getup. The accuracy of the reenactment was uncanny.
Very much enjoyed this article.
2025 - 02 - 03
Finally updated the notes page for 2025. Contemplating a new system for all of this.
The President’s abrasive approach toward America’s neighbors, friends, and military allies is unsurprising. If my Ph.D. taught me anything, it was how much easier it is to destroy a bridge than to build one, especially when it comes to military multilateralism (and international relations writ large).
2025 - 02 - 02
This morning I received a notification that Arsenal beat Manchester city 5-1. I know Arsenal hasn’t won much in recent memory, but the score triggered a flood of memories. I could see a younger me waking up at the crack of dawn over the past decade only to watch a reverse result play out like an unrelenting series of slow-motion train wrecks. I know the Buckeyes recently won a college football national championship, but for a football lover like myself, this one felt even more cathartic.
2025 - 02 - 01
Trying to love Scrivener; still struggling. I don’t think I’ve caught the vision yet. Sometimes I feel like the clunky UI hinders more than it helps. I buy what the program’s promises, however, and am going to make a concerted effort to use it on my next project.
2025 - 01 - 31
Capping off two glorious weeks of winter sunshine with a misty morning run. The rain is back, and I’m not necessarily sad about that.
2025 - 01 - 28
Dog walks in the orchard. Physical therapy visits to restore motion to my finger post-surgery. Discovering a new Indian pizza place next to our favorite Boba shop. Rockhounding the local rivers. Looking forward to fishing again. Lots of editing. Reviewing a new book. Helping out Jeff @ Ballyhoo.
2025 - 01 - 10
Fun spaghetti dinner. Invited my dad over and we played Othello.
2025 - 01 - 09
T’s 3rd birthday. She takes after me; she loves to stop and appreciate each present as she opens them. The process is a marathon, not a sprint. Were it up to her, we would probably still be opening presents.
Claire and her family made some delicious food, culminating in a majestic tea party fit for a princess around lunchtime.
Archive
2024
Annual Highlights: Winter bonfire and Christmas tree burn (Jan. 2025); Chapter for edited volume accepted for publication after peer review (Dec. 2024-Jan-2025); Hand recovery & physical therapy (ongoing); resuming full time work for Ballyhoo (Jan.–Mar); winter running & cycling; winter campout with A; fishing Silver Lake (Mar. 2025).↩︎