GREETINGS
Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is of the sunrise on 29 Sep 2026.
SEPTEMBER SUMMARY
After a busy summer, the month of September was mostly committed to catching up and getting ready for the fall and winter seasons.
Over the past few months, I’ve been writing short essays on various topics and life experiences. I post these on social media, and keep them short enough that people will have the time to read them from start to finish in a few minutes.
The writing “Facility Needs” below is an example. These writings are examples of something I call ‘concentric activism’ where a person focuses on the supportive mindset and adjacent issues surrounding a core issue. The goal is to foster the ecosystem that supports a core issue without really focusing too much on a specific issue. I’ll share more about concentric activism below.
CONCENTRIC ACTIVISM
When pursuing public interest work to achieve what, to me, seem like positive outcomes, I like to have a mindset of concentric activism. With controversial issues or people, I look beyond the eye of the storm where most public attention is, and instead work with the ecosystem that supports a mindset that leads to the positive outcomes I seek.
In 2022, Liz Cheney delivered her primary concession speech at a ranch in Wyoming. She’d become quite a controversial person by that point. I’ve supported her long before and long after she became controversial. Sorry. I know that probably upsets some of my Republican and Democrat friends. I think she has always added something positive to the overall national discussion about democracy and values. So that’s why I support her.
I wanted to thank the family that hosted Liz for her speech. So, I did a Google search for the ranch website, and called the phone number. A woman picked up the phone. I explained that I’m from Iowa, I saw the speech, and really appreciated the family making it possible for Liz to give that talk.
I wasn’t prepared for what would come next. The woman expressed her immense gratitude for my call, and then explained to me that they’d been receiving numerous threats resulting from giving Liz support.
As a generations-old family ranch, they depend on the sale of beef and cattle. Among the threats were claims that the business would be targeted in a way that would cause it to fail.
I did my best to encourage her. Our conversation turned to more positive and uplifting topics. I shared with her some connections I had with Wyoming and why the state means a lot to me.
That interaction was a reminder to me that not only am I working in concentric circles of spreading kindness, support, and gratitude, but often times there are people working concentrically with threats, bullying, and intimidation. So I was motivated to continue with this approach to public interest work and activism.
FACILITY NEEDS
Years ago, I worked at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics on the main campus in one of the specialty clinics. I was directly reporting to the administrator who was a cheerful high-energy woman with great leadership skills. The hospital is a maze, so my first day on the job, someone guided me to her office. She was on the phone, but when her call ended, I introduced myself.
Above her desk on the wall was equipment to check blood pressure, and a metal pipe coming out of the wall for an oxygen hose to connect. There was a metal beaded chain to call the nurses’ station. It was clear that her office, shared with a colleague, was a patient room with two desks where beds might have been.
She could see by my expression, that I was a little bewildered by her office accommodations.
“Let me show you around,” she said with a grin. “The filing cabinets are here in the shower” she pointed into the bathroom that had been converted into an office supply room.
She had a great dry humor, and always a faint smile to let me know she was joking much of the time. We toured the rest of the clinic which wasn’t quite as cramped as her office.
It was my first introduction to what it’s like to work with less facility space than one should have.
Hospital workers are a little like first responders. They focus on service-over-self, and working efficiently despite being surrounded by chaos. An outsider would be needed as an advocate for them to get adequate facilities. They won’t make requests for their own needs. What we see as chaos, they might not even notice. They’ve learned to adapt. It’s similar to the adage of actors, “The show must go on.”
About 15 years later, I was working in a department at the University that went through a standard periodic departmental review. Contemporaries from other higher education institutions were flown in from different locations to help with the review. The desire was to have insights into how we might improve our departmental impact.
Our hope was that we might get more staff, more funding, and more space. After several days, many questions, and thorough analysis, the report came back…
Our department was deemed essential for the core mission of the University. We all cheered upon reading the report. Shouts of “Yay!” could be heard down the hallways. Furthermore, the team of expert academics determined we needed more funding, more staffing, and more space. There were more shouts of joy.
Unfortunately, some people above our pay grade didn’t like the review’s conclusions. So, our facility space was significantly reduced. Staffing was not approved. Funding was cut. We were numb. It was the opposite of what the review suggested.
In addition to my full-time job, I was given a second full-time job to cover a position vacated by a person who, I concluded, quit due to being overworked. My workload more than doubled. My pay remained the same. Then I quit for obvious reasons.
This is NOT a typical experience on campus. I know because I spent over 30 years there, first as a student and then as a full-time staff member. From my personal experience, the University of Iowa and UIHC were great places to learn and work for over 30 years, and they continue to draw people from around the world.
Yet, from these experiences and others, I’ve encountered situations where myself or others were working in limited or inadequate spaces.
For this reason, to this day, whenever I see people working in bad conditions, I feel like taking up their cause and advocating for better facilities and better working conditions.
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.
Open Journal. These newsletters are my own way of journaling, where I summarize the memorable events from each month. I make the journal publicly available for transparency and to welcome feedback or insights from others. It’s also a way for family and friends to keep up with my life. Overall, it is a good exercise that gives me an opportunity to keep my writing skills exercised. With free blog platforms available, anyone can start their own online storytelling journal.
Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 26 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]