Greetings
Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is of a baby rabbit looking out from its nest on 7 May 2026. I’ll include more photos and a video below of the rabbits in our backyard.
Catching Up
This June newsletter is being written on 31 July 2026, and as with other newsletters, it’s intended to cover the previous month, which is May 2026. So, as I’m heading into August, you can see I’m about three months behind on these updates. That’s an indication of how busy it’s been for me.
Baby Rabbits
A highlight from May was the appearance of a family of rabbits in our backyard. We didn’t notice their nest right away, but when we saw a pile of dry grass moving in the yard, we realized that some babies were in their burrow.
I did some research on how to best accommodate the baby rabbits, and learned that it would be expected for the mother to return twice a day — once at sunrise and again at dusk to feed them as discretely as possible so as not to attract any predators.
The mother would first attempt to lure any predators, using herself as bait, then if needed, run away from the nest to distract any threats from the babies.
The nest was a fairly large hole in the ground, covered by a mix of dry grass and rabbit fur to camouflage the entry. When the mother would come to feed the babies, the fur and grass covering was removed. She would move over the hole and the babies would emerge.
During the day and night, I would protect the nest with a fence system surrounding the nest. The information I found online indicated that the babies would not try to leave the nest unless the mother was there. So, the fence would protect them from cats, large birds, and other predators. An array of three security cameras would alert me to any movement around the nest area. In the mornings and evenings, I would remove the fence so the mother could feed her babies. The cameras would alert me to when the mother had arrived and then gone.
On 8 May 2026, the mother rabbit came for the last time. I’d read that she would abandon the babies when she felt they were ready to explore the world outside their nest. Somehow, the babies knew it was time to graduate from the nest, as the mother began hopping away, all of the babies emerged from the nest and went in different directions.
Now, almost three months later, I believe it’s the same family of rabbits that continue spending time in our yard and around our home.
Rabbits – Video
I’ll share a video below from 8 May 2026 on the last evening that the mother and babies were together at the nest. Below that I’ll share some photos.
Rabbits – Photos
Country Roads
Sometimes my work takes me to people living in rural areas. I enjoy those drives and the scenery. Below are two photos from a drive on 16 May 2026. The images are simple and not awe inspiring, but they show what a person typically sees while driving along back roads in Iowa.
RIP CURRENT
When I was a teenager, I went to the Carolinas. A family member at that time was a Marine, and so they lived near the military base there. One day on a visit to the beach, I decided to venture into the water for a swim. In past years, I’d developed a false sense of security from having swam in calmer waters such as those at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
That day in the Carolinas, I was surprised there wasn’t anyone swimming in the water. It was such a beautiful day. I walked into the ocean, and as I went further, the ocean floor suddenly dropped out from under me. The beach did not have the gradual slope I’d experienced at other beaches. Having some confidence about my swimming abilities, I decided to swim back to shore to find a place where my feet could touch the sand.
As I began swimming back toward the shore, I could feel the tide pulling me out further into the ocean. There was a rip current combined with air bubbles in the water from the turbulence of crashing waves. That combination made it hard to stay afloat. Just when I thought I was away from danger, I’d drop into the water or get pulled by the current again. Eventually, with much effort, alertness, and strategy, I overcame the power of the ocean and made it back to shore.
In May, my home life and work life began to feel like that day in the ocean. Like treading water, at times reaching the top, then dropping back under.
- HOME LIFE — Being a new home owner, we’ve had indoor and outdoor work crews coming over, sometimes unpredictably, which required much of my attention at a moment’s notice. Sometimes we would have multiple crews at the same time. That pulls me away from my business, and needs immediate attention, sometimes requiring rescheduling appointments. Those rescheduled tech support appointments sometimes cascade into the following week.
- WORK LIFE — My tech support work has intensified. People are using their computers and tech devices for more of their life and work, even in retirement. There are more devices: desktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, smart televisions, streaming services, and overall, more complexity for people to learn. This has all ramped up in the years since the global COVID pandemic. So that has increased my workload. I have a goal of being able to respond instantaneously to support requests as much as possible. So, I like to keep my schedule fairly open by setting two appointments per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The rest of the day quickly fills up with a flood of text messages, phone calls, and emails.
- DOG LIFE — You’re no doubt aware of service animals. Well… I’ve become a service human to our dog. He’s able to accomplish a lot on his own, but lacks opposable thumbs, so some tasks he needs my help with. His varied methods of communication remind me of sign language (ASL). With spoken or written languages, we have an intermediary iconic representation of something else. You say “house” and in my mind I picture a “house” but there is a split second when a translation is made. With sign language, a gesture with the hands that looks like a house, is a visual of the object, so no translation is needed. Many of the signs are that way. Instantly recognizable. With dog language, the emotion or request is visually obvious. Looking at the ceiling fan, then looking at me, is a request to turn on the ceiling fan.
A Respite from the Ongoing Triage
Much of the non-urgent administrative tasks pile up, as I use a triage method of handling incoming support requests. This results in having a work area that looks like the aftermath of a tornado. My day-to-day life is like working in an ER after a tornado, during an earthquake, with lights periodically going out, but doing so while remaining calm, focused, attentive, efficient, and unflustered.
In July, I finally had an opportunity to go on a 4-day weekend vacation to Ohio. It was nice to get a break. I’ll share more about that in the August newsletter.
Adjusting to Increased Opportunities
I’ve had to grow, study, and learn to be more efficient in order to keep up with the increased workload. I’ve learned to prioritize and work efficiently in the midst of chaos. The home we’ve moved into will eventually be a big help with managing an increased amount of work. It’s a fixer-upper, and thus it’s required some effort to get necessary work done. Once we’re really settled in, it should result in having more space, more efficiency, and more impact. I’m looking forward to reaching that point.
Mayor Michelle Wu 吳弭
I’d expected this year to be just like any other year, other than my increased responsibilities explained above.
Then, on 19 May, I was checking the news on Facebook. A post appeared from the mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu. She was speaking to reporters about a new initiative intended to support community policing in Boston.
Also speaking at the press conference, was Larry Calderone, President of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association. He praised Mayor Wu for the work she had done to improve policing and public safety for the community.
Mayor Wu gave a very strong and clear description of the difference between bad policing and good policing. The recent actions of masked government agents abducting vulnerable people was given as an example of bad policing. Mayor Wu explained that kind of policing would not be permitted in Boston. The new progressive policing initiative would protect vulnerable members of the community rather than threatening them.
It was the first time I recall a liberal-progressive Democrat propose a modern community-focused police force that would receive the full support of the community and city leadership. Rather than fighting against bad policing, Michelle Wu was describing a form of good policing as a response to bad policing. Her comments are in the video below.
Soon, Facebook began to show me posts from Mayor Brandon Scott of Baltimore, Mayor Zorhan Mamdani of New York City, Mayor Barbara Lee of Oakland, and other communities with liberal-progressive leadership that were investing heavily in public safety. Mamdani increased spending on public safety initiatives by as much as 800% and hired over 1,000 new police officers. The same was happening in progressive cities across the country. These cities were experiencing historic drops in crime, achieving levels never before recorded in their history.
I began studying this phenomenon and in July launched a website dedicated to the purpose of understanding public safety initiatives with a progressive purpose. I’ll share more about that in the August newsletter. I mention it here to make note of how and when my interest in it work began.
Below is the speech by Michelle Wu from 3 Nov 2025 that I saw in May 2026.
Writing Topics
I’ve not yet resumed the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. I’ve not had the time for the long writing sessions they require, but I may get back to that in the future. The list of past reports can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present. So, I hope to start that practice up again.
TECH WRITING
If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.
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THANKS
Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.
Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 24 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]