For various health reasons, my having lots of sugar is not a good idea.

For various health reasons, my dad's having lots of sugar is not a good idea.

These two statements are linked by genetics.

So, what do I do when we both have a day off?

I insist we head over for cupcakes.

Dad likes, uh, not great coffee. After our walk downtown yesterday, and having the proprietor tell us they were open today, I knew that I wanted one of Dad's birthday gifts to be those new coffee drinks. Which is to say, an espresso drink.

Today, we drove at least.

So today, Dad had his first espresso-based drink: a latte.

His review?

"It was pretty good."

I have this note I wrote to myself that reads:

Not about catching the absolutes, it's more ups than downs ⬅ about having more ups than downs.

I looked at that note, and wondered what I was thinking about when I wrote it. After casually considering, I determined it was about mindfulness and paying attention to the ups more than the downs. We have evolved to notice the bad more than we notice the good. That balance kept us alive. Maybe in this world when we don't have to worry about being eaten by a lion, generally speaking being aware of the good could be a way to balance out millions of years of evolution that has turned into negative thinking, and live a more satisfying life.

Seems a good thought, except that thought wasn't what the note was about at all. Worth a chuckle when I remembered the actual topic.

I have a coworker who knows a lot about a lot of technical things. Ask him a question, and he will answer it. The answer will never be "I don't know." Ask a question in a meeting with experts, and he will answer the question. The answer from the experts will be different. Ask a question with him nearby, and he will likely answer it. The answer may not be actually relevant, but he will answer it. Look in Slack for the answers from other employees encountering similar problems that you are experiencing, and you will find answers from this coworker. The answers may or may not be relevant, may or may not be accurate, may or not be complete enough to actually be useful, but he will have responded to the question.

Which would be absolutely wonderful if his answers were correct, tested, useful, and accurate.

Said coworker knows a lot about a lot of things, but he doesn't actually know things.

I've had this site up for 20 years. Many of those years have been the barest of up, but many more have been quite prolific. After Melissa asked me, "Why?" I switched to paper journalling instead of writing here, but haven't ever quite taken down the site. Mom doesn't visit here any more, and very few people do. Lots of crawlers and spammer visit, which is less that thrilling.

Still, 20 years is something. 20 years is a long, long time.

And yet, 20 years is a short time.

Around this time a year ago I was training for Vinson, heading south to Antarctica in a week.

Around two years ago I was on Antarctica with Denny, Randy, and Larry.

Around three years ago, Chase died.

Around four years ago, I went to Antarctica for the first time.

Around five years ago, I was still living in Canada.

Around ten years ago, I left working at Twitter.

Around 11 years ago, Bella died.

Around 14 years ago, I met Jonathan.