Objects in Space

October 16, 2022

Six months between updates seems about right. I’m a bit annoyed that Facebook is the only way to really keep in touch with people these days. I’ve dipped my toe back into it, but I truly dislike it. Anyway, I am well. I am married now. I don’t sound excited here but I am. Quite a bit, actually! I’m also looking into how to change my blog style here so that people can comment. Maybe then I’ll post more often here. Sheesh. To the left is Maquoketa Caves in northeast Iowa, where we will be visiting at the end of this week. We’ll tromp around and see the area and come back with rain barrels. Hope you’re all well.

May 15, 2022

I blink, and six months go by. It’s been an eventful six months and not so much at the same time. I got a car. Made some life decisions. Took a wonderful vacation to Miami, my first flying trip since before the pandemic. I’ll get into the life decisions later, but I have brought in a new Miata into my world, a 2007.

This is interesting in that I let go of my first Miata around the same time this one was built. Or not.

Joined Lars for a nice Star Trek and Doctor Who panel as well for the first time in two years. So all is well. I don’t know that my life is that unique, but it is sweet. Hope all is well with all of you.

I promise a more substantial update next time!

October 3, 2021

Sometimes it’s a slog. I don’t feel too bad, though. I am trying to get a new measure to keep up better. I feel like I’m valuable, I feel like I get a lot done. But I never feel like I’m getting ahead. Maybe even stagnating a bit, personality-wise.

Now I know this is all silliness. It’s OK, really it is. Just venting a bit. I’ll just keep driving the (fake) Porsche around, but only at Average. Sometimes, you just have to lower the temperature a bit. But I did meet my biking goal – 60 KMs each week will get me to 1K on the odometer by the end of the year. That’s worth a lot to me. Also going with Jenn to check out the Dubuque fall colors this weekend. And I’ll do my biking up there too.

September 11, 2021

Travel has been an obsession of mine this year, as you can likely tell from this blog (Davenport, on the right, is where I just visited – biked 60 KM!). Last year and this year have really proven to me how fragile a thing it is to get to go places, and so I’ve been attempting to make up ground there. But the other upside to doing more travel is appreciating being home more, too. A thing I struggle with is being comfortable in my own skin, something I’m sure I’m not alone in experiencing. So like most people I fill that space with distraction and things. I’m not super satisfied with that way of doing life any more though, so I struggle with organizing my free time.

I also struggled with finding a purpose in life, another not-unique thing to being human. I think I’ve settled on the notion that my purpose is to reduce entropy as much as possible, which is really just a fancy way of saying I want to leave this place better than when I came into it. A lot of the time that means, less is more. I’m putting my efforts in to places where they will have the most effect, too. It’s not unique, but, maybe it’ll do.

August 31, 2021

Don’t tell me you don’t want some of that deliciousness right there. Treats. I love ’em. Too much, it would seem. Someone didn’t tell me that I’m over 40, and paunch is real. So I’m having to force myself to be good. I was doing a pretty decent job before the plague descended, but without regular gym time and no place to go, I found myself returning to old food habits.

But it’s time to reverse all that. I’m giving myself until next spring, but I have to be one diligent something-something to get there. Discipline – it’s hard for me. I know I’m not the only one. Somehow I gotta get this ship pointed in the right direction.

Life is going fine, got some overload happening at work because I’ve been training new staff, and, like with the treats, I have to buckle down and fix it up. The trouble with being an adult is understanding that no one’s gonna come clean your messes up for you. So I gotta invoke Captain Picard. What was it he said in “Encounter at Farpoint”? Commander Riker asks him what he’ll do in a tough moment, to which he responds, “I’ll attend to my duty.” Riker says, “To the bitter end?” And Captain Picard says, “I see nothing so bitter in that.”

August 22, 2021

Hello from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin! Well, that’s what I would have said if I were making this entry two days ago. Just returned from a trip to this beautiful (I mean it!) port city in Door County. This place is so gorgeous it has some of the highest concentration of lighthouses anywhere (or so I am told). Really, though, Jenn and I were blown away.

It helped a lot that this place was so different from Des Moines. The pandemic definitely made travel so much more vital to my life, and ’21 has really kicked it into gear for me. We stayed in a nice little resort hotel, turned the tech off for a couple days (except for my shortwave radio), and just enjoyed the food and the ambiance. I also got to bike, although, word to the wise, bike rental sucks and you should never do it if you can help it.

We also traveled up the ‘pinky finger’ of the state, and I experienced many beaches and resort towns that were of dubious interest, but which contained much natural beauty. Highly recommended for a visit.

August 11, 2021

I had a very nice dinner with my aunts Madeline and Cathy, and uncle Jim tonight. Hello to you if you’re reading this! Jenn was a wonderful presence as always, and we enjoyed conversation and dinner just in the way we haven’t been able to in such a long time. Covid really robbed us all, but it’s nice to be able to appreciate it for not having had normalcy for so long.

Also, haven’t eaten so well as I have the last couple weeks!

Tomorrow, I am returning to the Fair for the first time in, oh, about three years. I’m volunteering for my workplace in the Varied Industries building, where I will be handing out bags and facts. And then, I’ll probably do the sightseeing I want and then get out of there. In my former life, I did a radio show about the Fair every year, which was great for the first two years, and then a crushing tedium afterward. 🙂 But this will just be relaxing and fun – I’m looking forward to it!

July 21, 2021

I’m doing social media again after an about five-year absence. But I’m doing it on my terms. House of Boyd is staying. Facebook is still dead to me. Twitter is back: @jfboyd.

Wanting to travel again very soon, but it’s tricky to manage schedules. Might be doing some bike riding this weekend, but I’m doing social things on Saturday. Something to look forward to, but I’ll have to do it from introvertland.

July 16, 2021

This is one of those nights where things seem absolutely perfect, so much so you almost can’t believe you are the person experiencing the events you’re seeing. The weather is close to perfect, and I took my girlfriend down to Gray’s Lake in the Sebring convertible. It wasn’t too busy, and the lights from the bridge were snappy and on point. Then we drove around and listened to ’80s pop while commenting on everything we saw. Sometimes, you really need to recognize being here right now, and you need to take advantage of being right here, right now.

Somewhere out there, billions of light years away, some alien is taking a picture of us from far, far in the future. They’ll see how perfect things are now, but the lines will be blurred and fuzzy.

July 11, 2021

I’m trying out a new design. I hope you like it. It’s a WordPress template, I’ve officially realized I’ll never be a real web designer any more. I’ll try to keep this from getting too “Jim’s Journal”, though.

June 29, 2021

First of all, alive. Doing well. Glad to have gotten through the First Covid Era unscathed. Vaccinated. Knocking on wood.

My job keeps me VERY busy, but it’s gotten back to a ‘normal’ kind of busy rather than MY HAIR IS ON FIRE kind of busy. I was fortunate to get to celebrate the beginning of my vaccinated redemption by going to St. Louis and bicycling around on Kinetica like a crazy man.

I ate in restaurants. I bought cookies. I interacted with locals. I was staying in a swank-ass hotel within a block of the Gateway Arch. Life is good. This weekend, going to Iowa City. Going to do more biking. Hit me up if you’re reading this.

How to reach Jim

By email: vendaz@hotmail.com

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