After the whiskey shelf was a complete flop, I was given the idea and approval to turn our not-used guest room in the basement into a combination whiskey and vinyl listening room. I wasted no time getting to work. I had originally planned to darken my office and add a wallpaper accent. We had purchased the paint and wallpaper already. With this new room, I decided to use the existing supplies for what I am now affectionately calling The Lounge.

A few weeks back during overnight temperatures of -3F, we woke up to a frozen toilet pipe. Luckily the pipe did not burst, but a water leak has been on my mind. It has been my goal to make it easy to turn the water off without much thinking involved. This requires clear labeling, the right tools on hand, and practice. I decided to run everyone through some training in the house to make sure they could turn the water off. Additionally, I purchased a step ladder so that everyone could easily reach the shutoff valve.

What has been resonating with me this week is “controlling the controllables”, meaning all the things that can make you rise above everyone else is in your control. The food you shove in your face, the exercise you do, the amount of sleep you get, the time you endlessly waste online. All of it is within your control to win or to stand on the sidelines of your own life and lose.

I had a memory of being ten and living in Phoenix. I grew up on the lower side of the middle class. We lived in apartments for most of my childhood. In Phoenix, there was a very large apartment complex I lived in. Behind it across another major road was another large apartment complex. The challenge with living in the desert during the summer months, when your mom wanted you out to play, was that there was nowhere to go that was not sweltering.

Crypto failed because its desire was to remove humans. Its biggest failure – or was it a feature? – was that when the technology went awry and you needed somebody to step in, there was nobody.
Ultimately, we all want to appeal to another human to be seen and understood – not to a machine running a model.
Interacting with each other is the whole point.

My kids really nailed their Christmas gift to me this year.

The song I have had on repeat this past few weeks.

One of the practices I have been focusing on has been to run in my head. What I mean by that is not putting all of my energy into looking down at where my step is and thinking about how each foot lands. Processing the input from my feet hitting the ground is a lot for me to take in. I feel every step and then start to worry about my foot strike and any residual or future pain if I am not doing it the right way. I can very easily get into a spiral of being tense in how I run. The reality is my feet know how to strike, I just need to let them do it. Running in my head means I am more in the moment with my head up high and my gaze further out in front of me. This feels much more natural and enjoyable.

A favorite show from growing up in the 80’s. It’s fun, silly, and amazing.

I wanted to improve the visibility of the whiskey I had on a shelf, so I put together a small riser with some scrap wood I had.