Now, June 2021
- Living in a hot and humid Brunswick, Ohio (for now). Seriously, the heat has been out of control for this early in the summer. Can’t wait to put the apartment complex’s pool to good use soon! Next month, my wife and I will be taking a trip out to Washington State to check out as a possible next state to call home. Moving west has always been in the cards for us, and we’re aiming for the end of the year to make it a reality. I’m pretty amped!
- I’m no longer working for the Boy Scouts of America. I ended my employment with them about a month ago, and am currently seeking new and different opportunities. While I still firmly believe in the mission of the BSA, it was the right time for me to move on for my own health, for some . Outdoor recreation and education are as important now as they have ever been, and I look forward to contributing as a volunteer while I pursue other interests professionally. It turns out when you work as an administrator or director for outdoor recreation, there’s precious little time to partake in it yourself as a participant. I can’t wait to be able to spend more time reestablishing my skills as a climber, guide, and outdoor educator. I’ve interviewed at a few places, and hope to have an offer for a new job by next week. 🤞
- In the months leading up to my departure, a few major projects took a lot of my time and energy, which meant I really fell off the fitness bandwagon. But I’m happy to report that I’m back at it again with a routine established. Phin and I have gotten our runs up to four miles, and my rings are a motivator once more.
- Likewise, my writing here at HeyDingus took a backseat for a while. But the combination of more time available these past few weeks, a trove of blog post ideas saved up, and the plethora of announcements coming out of WWDC, the hiatus is over. I’m actually currently trying to wrangle my thoughts on what stuff should be published as a blog post versus a tweet.
- Being fully vaccinated and with COVID restrictions lifting, the world has become a larger place once again. My wife and I have made two big travel trips, and I’ve had a few more myself. It feels good — if weird — to get out and about. My immediate family have been fortunate to not catch COVID, but we, like so many others, did not escape having people we know and love become sick and sadly pass due to the virus. Go get vaccinated.
- I just had to check my Goodreads account because I’m between books at the moment. I did finally finish Morning Star and A Promised Land. After those, I moved on to Becoming by Michelle Obama which I enjoyed as an audiobook narrated by the former First Lady herself, and All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, and The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal — all of which were excellent. All the Light We Cannot See was particularly moving. This was the yearly “classic” book gifted to me by my mother-in-law, and it was a great choice. Set in the years of World War 2, but alternating between the point of views of two growing children, one in Germany and one from Paris, the story is riveting, harrowing, and makes you feel. The Relentless Moon was a fun (if meandering at times) addition to the Lady Astronaut series. I think I’m going to stick with the space theme and go for Artemis by Andy Weir next. Andy wrote The Martian which enthralled me.
- My queue of online articles and YouTube videos has taken priority over games as of late. I did have the chance recently to play Ticket to Ride and Overcooked 2 with my wife and a friend. Both are fun and engaging games, but at utterly opposite ends of the spectrum. Ticket to Ride is a slow, calm, and strategic board game in which you build railroad lines to connect cities across the US. Overcooked is a fast-paced, chaotic, and reactive Switch game where you fulfill restaurant orders as a team by chopping, cooking, and combining various ingredients.
- From my TV watchlist, I’d been looking forward to the return of Trying (cute British comedy), and Mythic Quest (taking on some tougher subjects like gender equality this season), both of which have started releasing episodes of their second seasons. For new stuff, I was utterly drawn in by Mosquito Coast (boy, I love me some Justin Theroux) which just ended, and I finally got around to starting season one of Veep (its comedy style is right up my alley so far). My wife and I continue to binge Modern Family, which I’m eager to wrap up. I haven’t done a ton of movies lately, but I have been making my way through a slow rewatch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in timeline order (a fun look back), and caught Tenet (absolutely bananas of a movie, but intriguing) on HBO Max.
- As I type, I’m jamming to a specially curated jazz playlist full of tracks enabled for Spatial Audio. That new audio format has kickstarted an effort to listen back to old favorites that have been remastered for it. Bleachers and Montaigne are my two newest artist muses, so they make up a large portion of my listening history.
- My latest hobby has been learning to code using Swift Playgrounds. I’ve always had an interest, and I figure if it turns out to be something that I enjoy — and it “sticks” — it could be another basket with which to differentiate career options.
Wow, this Now update has run a bit long, I guess I’ve just had words stored up! I’ll try to rein it in next month.