The first chemo cycle was a completely new experience filled with many unknowns. The unknowns definitely added to my anxiety. This second cycle had far fewer unknowns and the anxiety levels have been significantly lower. In fact, it felt a…
Inflection point: Opportunities go whoosh
The last 60 or so days have been kind of crazy. It has me thinking about a lot of different things. I’m not going to apologize for my poor grammar or even spelling it is one of those in my…
Plot Twist: Hair
Our hair is a huge part of our identity. It is often called a woman’s crowning glory. I have had long and very long hair most of my adult life. By very long, I mean past my butt. My hair…
Wild Techdom
Hi, I’m Mitchel and this is my assistant Ron. Welcome to Wild Techdom supported by Mutual of Bromaha. Today we travel to the far off wilds of the cube mazes of Silicon Valley. These are dangerous lands with an entire…
Beware the professional path. There be dragons here
So, there I was talking to some people and I talked about focus of my career not being the same as longevity in my job. You see, long before the gig economy I started moving between jobs and looking for…
Legitimacy: Government Shutdown
Why do government workers stay on the job? In 2017 I was looking at the direction that the new senior leaders were leaning in DHS Intelligence and Analysis. I was feeling conned because I had a departure path in early…
Plot Twist: Chemo – Cycle 1 (of 6)
My treatment is what they call EPOCH – a combination of very nasty drugs that kill cancer (die you f*cker). Due to the nature of my chemo treatment, I am in the hospital for each round. I will have 6…
Plot Twist: Showers in the hospital
Or not…as the case may be. One of the hardest things for me prior to being admitted to the hospital for 4 (now 5) days of inpatient chemotherapy was knowing what to expect. What would I be allowed to do?…
How to study: Reading a journal article
Academic journal articles come in a variety of flavors, qualities, and availabilities. If you have been gathering journal articles and other artifacts of scholars over your academic career you will have a healthy trove of original and recent articles. Each…
Plot Twist: The PICC line
WARNING: There are graphic pictures included. If you are squeamish now is your chance to look away. What is a PICC line? A PICC Line is Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter. Basically it is a long thin tube inserted directly into…
Plot Twist: Holidays, appointments, and adventure
This is not the ideal way to spend the holidays. I was supposed to be on vacation with my family, sailing to the Bahamas, relaxing in the sun and playing in the warm blue water. Instead I spent the week…
How to study: When there is a text book
The following is NOT the only way to study. It is a way to study and I expect you will adapt it and make it your own. Between an associates degree, two bachelors degrees, a masters degree and a doctoral degree…
Out with 2018 and in with 2019
This year was very interesting for Sydney, Stuart, Simon and Sam. We gave away, or threw away over 90% of our stuff. Changed where we live. Changed our jobs Changed how we live. Well we had a lot going on.…
Clean decks
EOTI Refit: New freezer, refrigeration, and going air cooled
Unlike several of the other projects this was not on our planned list of projects. We use a version of SCRUM to plan out projects based on cost, time, and system critical nature. As an example to replace two compressor…