Sunday #
I spent time with my parents to get papers signed and finish up tax returns. As I suspected, my dad didn't remember calling me Thursday night the previous week or what he wanted to discuss. However, he did say, “I was under the impression that I own this house.”
I replied, “Dad, you do own the house.” That's mostly accurate, but not entirely. I continued, “Why are you concerned about who owns the house?”
He said, “Are we going to need to sell it so that we have money to live on?”
I answered, “Well, yes, especially when you move.”
He said, “So the hope then is that we die, next.” I've heard him say things like this before, but it still catches me off guard.
I said, “Well, that's a bit extreme, don't you think? But in reality, I guess we all die next. Even me. It's just a matter of when.” That made him chuckle and he moved on to other subjects.
Monday #
Work work work. Same as the previous week. Busy busy busy, while continually failing to get through my todo list. It's not as though I am being unproductive. It's just that the things that matter most to me get pushed aside for the things that matter most to other people. I have not found a way to strike a better balance between the two. I am not alone in this plight. I hear about it from people I work with and from people who work somewhere else.
Tuesday #
I struggled to stay on track at work. I got things done. I remained productive, but it took a lot of mental energy to force myself.
Wednesday #
Knocked out a few things on the todo list before an all afternoon meeting with one of our vendors. It was a good, thought provoking session for the team to rethink the way in which we work right now.
Thursday #
The leadership meeting we had today was one of the best. I like that this meeting isn't political. We're all quite polite and respectful, but as the group gets more comfortable with one and other, we get more candid. We take each other's perspectives into account and come together to try to solve problems. That's what I expect a leadership meeting to do!
Friday #
A social worker was supposed to assess my parents, but there was some miscommunication and the appointment didn't take place. I am disappointed because I really want to know what is the best course of action for my parents and it's taking much longer than I had hoped to get to that answer.
Saturday #
Tinkered around on this blog. Learned a bit about how to do things in Digital Ocean, which is a very new concept to me. I struggled just a little, but it had less to do with things being complex on their end and more to do with me being a noob when it comes to servers and how they work. I never did solve being able to ssh in from my local machine without need to also enter a password. I followed all the support documents and suggestions made by people who do know this stuff and gave up. When I have enough energy to try again, I will.
Stuff I read this week #
- Why and How Capitalism Needs to Be Reformed (Parts 1 & 2), by Ray Dalio. I am not well versed in economics, but I stated a few months back on Twitter, “If we aim to solve the right problem, Capitalism could be redeemed and restored to a well functioning system.” This article appears to align with that sentiment.
- For All His Endless Lies, Trump Has Exposed Some Important Truths, by Andrew Bacevich. Hat tip @meyerweb.
- Thinking in Triplicate. My fandom of Erika Hall keeps expanding and I continue to uncover brilliant bits she has shared, old and new.
- Human-Centered Design Is Broken. Here’s a Better Alternative., by Jesse Weaver. I managed to read this, but I can't go back to it because it is trapped behind the "Upgrade Modal" on Medium. I must have seen it before my limit was up, or before it became a featured story. Harumph!
- Nothing Fails Like Success, by Jeffrey Zeldman. So. much. this.