Ah, Summer 2019

With a Midwest twang severely off-key, I’m out the front door, earbuds plugged in, arms pumping, on my routine early morning walk. Of course, I must look ridiculous and sound even worse, echoing the chorus of - Get Rhythm by Johnny Cash.

Thankfully, there’s no one else on the streets. Summer is upon us; officially, the summer solstice occurred in the Northern Hemisphere today at 11:54 a.m. EST.

According to Ker Than in an article for National Geographic, “The solstice is the result of Earth's north-south axis being tilted 23.4 degrees relative to the ecliptic. This tilt causes different amounts of sunlight to reach different regions of the planet during Earth's year-long orbit around the sun." Translation, daylight lasts until after 8:00 p.m. in Southern California.

Again, I’ve been blessed with another opportunity to re-invent myself this year. On July 1st, 2019, I accepted a position at Cenergy Power as an Energy Analyst. Going from pounding the concrete at Home Depot to a desk job with a normal work schedule. Why this job, you ask? Well, in 2011, I successfully completed a B.S. program in e-Business. My favorite courses are Statistics, Inferential Statistics, Business Law, and Project Management.

This job allows me to stretch my analytical skills, broaden my horizons, expand my computer expertise, and polish my advanced Excel skills. My mind will be called to stretch its limitations, meet new people, work with pages of interval data, and crunch numbers to create possible scenarios of large solar projects for corporate clients. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m a “geek” - one of those guys who loves technology and finds ways to make it work for you, not against you. What better way to step into the future than working with alternative energy for the good of our planet.

Speaking of stepping into the future, it's Friday morning, and once again, I’m headed out the door. I’m back in training for this year’s High Sierra adventure. With earbuds in my arms and legs pumping, let's see what new ideas I will encounter today; as I mangle a medley of Johnny Cash tunes, I Walk the Line seems appropriate.

Ah, summer!

Comments

Truth for Sale

This episode is inspired by Elton John & Bernie Taupin On Memorial Day, I took my first bike ride since the accident , seeking proof that my legs, lungs, and nerves still remembered the road. The morning air carried that familiar Southern California mix of ocean haze, exhaust, eucalyptus, and sun-baked asphalt. My tires hummed across pavement I’ve ridden for years. Somewhere between the steady click of the chain and the rhythm of my breathing, Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s The Captain and the Kid found its way into my ears. There’s a strange kind of magic when the cadence of a ride syncs perfectly with a song you know by heart. Suddenly, the music and lyrics stop being background noise and become a lens. And through that lens, the road started talking. I've been cycling on this road some, Can't help feeling I've been showing my friends around. I've seen it grow from next to nothing, To a giant eatin’ up our town. Called up the tealeaves and the tarots, Asked the...

That Fateful Four-Letter Word

In this episode, A Masterclass in Efficiency. For nearly four months, the western border of our property has stood as a living monument to determination, dubious planning, and forensic-level lumber acquisition. Since February, our neighbor Steve has been conducting what can only be described as a masterclass in deliberate calculation. This was never going to be one of those slick home-improvement shows where a cheerful pair of men installs a fence between commercial breaks, sipping lemonade. No. This was real life in retirement. We scaled the vertical wilderness of our hillside. We mixed concrete with the precision of medieval alchemists. We bled, we sweated, and we fought hand-to-hand with a buried tree stump that had the structural integrity of a Cold War bunker. By this week—May 16th, for those keeping score—the glorious end was finally within reach. The fence stood proudly, the line was straight, and victory practically hummed in the air. Only one major task remained: installing t...

The Eighth Wonder of the Suburban World

Mark your calendars, folks. Update the history books. Notify the Smithsonian. Move over, Pyramids of Egypt. Step aside, Hoover Dam. Future civilizations will speak of this day in hushed, reverent tones. May 22, 2026, will forever be remembered as the moment humanity reached the pinnacle of suburban engineering excellence. Earlier today, my neighbor Steve and I drove the final screw into what can only be described as the most overbuilt property divider in North County. The Fence! And then there’s the gate. Good grief, the gate. Calling it just a gate is almost disrespectful. It looks like the entrance to a medieval fortress or to Hogwarts Castle. It swings open with the heft of a bank vault and closes with the wave of a magic wand. At this point, we’re considering applying for FAA clearance to install a helicopter pad on top of it. This glorious odyssey began in early February, the primitive era. From the start, we made a sacred pact: we would not become one of those people. You ...

Epictetus, Ego, and Acronyms

In this episode, Destroy Communication, One Three-Letter Acronym at a Time This week, I want to explore a deeply relatable, universally feared workplace character: the "know-it-all." Now, I’m not pointing fingers here. If we are being completely honest, we have all played this role. We've all uttered some version of, "Yes, absolutely, that aligns with our strategic objectives," while our internal monologue is screaming, "I don't even know what the objective is, let alone the strategy." What got me thinking about this was a chapter in Ryan Holiday's book, Wisdom Takes Work . Holiday leans on a powerful piece of Stoic truth from the ancient philosopher Epictetus: "It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows." It's a brilliant quote that strikes right at the heart of the human ego. You can't learn what you already know, and you certainly can't learn what you pretend to know to save face. Though to be ...

On The Fly

Search This Blog