[JohnnyBravo]

Thanks, Reinventing.

Ursa's late with the full moon report, so I thought I'd fill in. We just experienced the Strawberry Moon (according to Bing Copilot). Emotions will be running high, expect change.

(I enjoy Ursa's moon phase reports, particularly for the history.)

Not much going on here. For two months I thought I was moving to a new department at work; I worked with a number of people over there on an older project and they were eager to have me back. One was my former manager (who moved back to staff) and worked up the management chain to clear a path for me to transfer. Unfortunately, there was a management reshuffling, and the manager who I would be under didn't want to take any hiring action until he knew more, so I decided this week to stay where I am. It wasn't quite that easy as I had already told my manager and team lead that I was working on this and wanted to give them planning time. They were really happy that I decided to stay.

I took a motorcycle ride and spent last weekend in the small artsy town of Taos. (Artsy but expensive due to the local ski resort.) I wanted to go before the Independence Day craziness. Had some great food, went to lots of art galleries (and bought a couple of small items), and went to the Kit Carson home and museum. I really need to get a few more trips in as I'm nearly topped out on vacation time, but now it's hot and lots of stuff is on fire. Maybe I'll get out once the monsoons kick in and cool things off a bit.

I hope you're all doing well, and here's a hit from my favorite AI song creator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TXtBE93kpc&list=RD9TXtBE93kpc&start_radio=1

JB

[Nas]

I absolutely love Taos, it holds some of my fondest memories from many many years ago. I’m glad you posted, it made me think about my past trips there. ☀️

[JohnnyBravo]

Hi, Nas!

Glad I could help and I hope you're doing well. I stayed at the Historic Taos Inn; I've wanted to stay there since I saw a photo of their neon sign on a snowy night. Now I just need a car that can get there in winter.

(Not this specific photo, but you get the idea: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/52/77/0b/52770b032de0261dec0475be9ab4eb40.jpg)

[JohnnyBravo]

Just unloading:

I found out last week that a co-worker (I'll call Blondie) was diagnosed with terminal cancer. (I knew she got some bad news a few weeks before that, but not the specific issue.) I think she's in her late 30s or early 40s, and has a six-year-old son. She's pretty private, so I don't know her personal situation beyond that regarding husband/partner/family/etc. We both worked on the same program for a couple of years; I was the "overhaul" lead, and she was the "maintenance" lead. She moved to another department in 2021 or so, and I applied for and took over her old job since the program overhaul was being completed and the new version was going into maintenance status. (That was about a year after my wife left, so I had a lot going on, to say the least.)

We both work with someone I'll call OtherJB (we have the same first name), and OtherJB and I wound up moving to her department. He had a miserable manager and went first, and then recruited me to work on a new program he was leading. Blondie and OtherJB are much closer friends, as they both had the same manager for a while at the old job, and their kids both go to the same school. Blondie has mostly been working remotely but came in to work for a meeting last week; she was going to tell people her diagnosis then, but couldn't bring herself to do it. (I don't know if I could either. I'd probably just quit and go on the big motorcycle ride.) She texted OtherJB after the meeting and gave him permission to let people in our close circle know, which can't be easy for him either. (Our manager is also BFF with Blondie, from working together on another high-stress program. We have a lot of those.)

Blondie is really sharp and has a pretty wicked sense of humor; something in me clicked at the start of this year and I finally decided I was past my divorce, and realized I had a crush on Blondie. Of course, coworker + unknown personal situation = keep it to my dang self. But, it was nice to know I could feel that way about someone again.

I also found out that this was Blondie's dream job; I felt she put too much time into work and too little into life, but if that's what made her tick... She's still consulting on all of her projects, but we're distributing lead responsibilities. I don't know if her chances are greater than zero or how much time she has; we have limited medical expertise in this state, but I have to think she got a second opinion or it's so bad it's plainly obvious. The whole thing makes me think of Warren Zevon's "Keep Me In Your Heart." I'm sure we will, and if the end comes I'm thinking of getting her a plaque at the local museum related to our industry. Maybe someone else will think of it as well, but as our department's ersatz Morale, Welfare, and Recreation officer, I feel like it's up my alley.

I'm not sure if this was inspired by Blondie's situation, but you know how we recommend that standers put their marriage in a box and tuck it away on a shelf for the time being? I took that literally: I made a wood box and put the pair of funky wine glasses we bought as our sort of wedding memento to ourselves in there. This weekend I opened the box and put the wine glasses on the shelf for use. No point in keeping them tucked away any longer. Not sure I have any other use for the box, but I hate throwing useful things away.

To end things on an upbeat note, the YouTube algorithm pointed me to a guy who made the most of the Covid lockdowns. (This is one of the few of his videos that's safe for work...) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vBwRfQbXkg

Enjoy every sandwich,

JB