Tag: gregupdate

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is of flowers I saw while visiting family in Iowa City on 28 July 2026. More nature photos from the Iowa City and Coralville area are below.

Catching Up

I got behind with my monthly newsletters this summer. It’s the first time that’s happened since I began writing these about 25 years ago. With this August update, I’m getting back on schedule.

My June newsletter was posted on July 31 [Read June Newsletter] and my July newsletter posted on August 1 [Read August Newsletter]. Those newsletters offer a glimpse into how busy things have become for me this year.

Justice Path Forward

I’ve had an interest in justice reform and improved community policing outcomes for many years. Recently, the work had increased due to a growing national trend of progressive communities investing heavily in better policing practices.

The calls of ‘defund the police’ had become a ‘refund the police’ movement. I wrote about this in my June newsletter, highlighting a speech by Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston in May. [June Newsletter]

The New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani increased spending by as much as 800% for some public safety initiatives and hired over 1,000 police to expand the number of people serving in public safety. In New York City, over 1,000 youth began studying law enforcement. In Baltimore, Mayor Brandon Scott was working with community leaders to achieve historic reductions in crime, with some areas of Baltimore, seeing some categories of crime reduced to zero. Austin, Portland, Oakland, and other ‘liberal’ cities were having similar successes under the leadership of exceptional progressive mayors working with their police departments to protect vulnerable members of the community. So, the daily news of transformation was a lot to keep up with.

In July, I launched a website called JusticePathForward.com to explore this phenomenon of liberal communities that support positive community policing.

This new trend could result in stronger more unified cities that would be safer for everyone. The support of law enforcement to achieve progressive practices and outcomes could result in progressive communities becoming known as favorable places for police departments to grow and good police to live and work. Those communities tend to recruit and attract the best police.

I tend to get immersed in my studies of topics, and this is one I’d been mindful of for a long time. So, in July, I decided to take a break from my ongoing study of justice reform and positive policing. We drove to Clinton, Iowa.

Upon arriving, we visited a museum. I entered the museum and spoke with the person at the reception desk. I mentioned I had lived in Clinton, and I asked about a neighborhood I was familiar with. The college-age person said they had been on a ride along and got to know the city fairly well, but they didn’t know of the neighborhood I referred to. Then they told me about their ride-along, which is a learning opportunity for people to join a police officer in a patrol car during their typical shift. They told me about all the police in the town who they knew since they were young. We talked a bit about policing. This person clearly had a lot of admiration and appreciation for police.

My road trip intended to be an excursion from my studies about law enforcement offered another encounter that expanded my understanding of how many people are impacted by the police.

Weekend Trip to Ohio

In July, we took a 4-day weekend road trip to visit family in Ohio. It was nice to get a few days away. The estimated driving time each way was about 7 hours, but was closer to 12 hours with stops along the way. So, Friday was spent going over, and Monday returning home. Saturday and Sunday were full of time spent visiting.

Day-Trip to Clinton

In July, we spent a day visiting Clinton, Iowa. I have good memories of living in Clinton, and many visits to family there over the years. It’s been a long time since I last visited there. It was nice to see how the city has grown and adapted. Clinton has become a city similar to Mineral Point or Galena. There’s not a strong tourism feel to it, but there are an attractions that make it a worthwhile day-trip.

A beautiful botanical center and arboretum had become a destination for tourists. [Learn More] The Sawmill Museum is a nice learning stop. [Learn More] A collection of large wooden trolls created by artist Thomas Dambo have been placed around the city at area attractions. These trolls are part of a worldwide exhibit. [View Troll Map] We visited Deanna’s Java drive-thru on North 2nd Street where finishing touches were being made on an indoor seating area that would soon be available. Some photos from our visit are below. Click any image for a larger gallery view.

Nature at Home

Below are some photos of wildlife and nature near our home and around the Iowa City – Coralville area.

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.

Subscribe

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

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]

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is of a deer near our yard on 24 June 2026. Another photo of the deer is below.

Catching Up

This July newsletter is being written on 1 August 2026, and as with other newsletters, it’s intended to cover the previous month, which would be June 2026. So, as I’ve begin August, you can see I’m about two months behind on these updates. That’s an indication of how busy it’s been for me.

My June newsletter, posted yesterday, covering the month of May was a fairly full update. You might find it interesting. [Read June Newsletter]

An 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.

Woodland Creatures

Living between urban and rural areas, surrounded by plenty of greenbelts and habitats, there are frequently animals of various sizes in our yard, or just beyond our backyard fence. The birds, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, and deer are like outdoor pets. We’re rebuilding our property slowly to become a habitat for wildlife. I appreciate the animals who still come to visit, despite us being in the “pardon our progress” phase of the rebuilding process. Dying trees have been replaced by new more resilient ones. Clusters of struggling volunteer trees were crowding others. So those have been replaced to prepare for something new. Below is another photo from 24 June 2026 of the deer shown at the top of this newsletter.

Second Car

On earth day, about 20 years ago, I drove my three cylinder car to the junk yard. It had about 230,000 miles on it and one of the cylinders was scratched. So, with only two fully functioning cylinders, the original 60 horsepower was probably down to about 40 HP. I really liked that little subcompact hatchback. From that point forward, I would use bicycle, bus, taxi, or rental cars for my transportation. In the years from 2003 to 2009, I lived in a tiny 140 square foot house. Using a bicycle complimented that minimalist lifestyle.

Shortly after getting married, I moved to a home with running water. It was a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Iowa City. Apartments I lived in before had been ‘one-bed-room’ (efficiency) rather than one bedroom. So, the 360 square feet for the two of us seemed spacious. Being downtown, we could both walk to campus for work and the co-op was a block away for groceries. For the occasional road trips, we could easily rent a car. Eventually we moved to an apartment on the west side of Iowa City. Outside our door, there were numerous bus routes for Iowa City, Coralville, and the free university bus system.

For years, I provided on-site tech services year-round using my bicycle for transportation. I learned the bicycle trail system in the area, and could reach most destinations faster on bicycle than by car. Eventually the demand for my services grew beyond what I could provide on bicycle. Picking up desktop computers and delivering them to rural areas was too much work on bicycle. I tried to find and train independent tech support providers for different neighborhoods, to help me stay closer to home, but I wasn’t able to find enough people to fill in.

Having an all-wheel drive vehicle is helpful during the months of extreme winter weather in Iowa. When someone needs me on-site, I want to be there regardless of the weather. The all-wheel-drive vehicles with room to haul equipment typically don’t have great fuel efficiency, but that’s what we’ve had since they tend to work well as multi-purpose vehicles for single-car families.

In June we decided to get a new (to us) car. I’ve been doing some research on electric cars over the past 15 years. The two categories of EVs have been: (1) electric cars from established manufacturers, and (2) electric cars designed by relatively new manufacturers. Companies entirely focused on EVs may have some innovations that aren’t initially available from traditional automotive companies. However, well-established automotive companies have production facilities, dealerships, service centers, parts suppliers, and big data for ownership and vehicle reliability.

I was drawn to cars from the newer EV-only manufacturers, but the desirable long-range affordable models are always “just one year away.” As of 2026, broad EV availability and affordability is still somewhat limited. To ease the purchase process and have greater support, I decided to pursue an EV from an established manufacturer.

One of the best known EVs in North America that’s been around for the longest time is the Nissan LEAF. That would be available locally at a relatively low price. Other mainstream options such as the Ford F-150 Lightning or Mustang Mach E would be too expensive for a secondary low-miles vehicle that would be parked outdoors. So, a used Nissan LEAF seemed like an ideal option. However, none were available.

I widened the search to include any EV from any brand among the over 4,000 vehicles available from local dealerships. There were 15 available, but some of those were $70K or more. There was one used EV, but not something that would serve our needs.

We ended up getting a small traditional gas-powered sedan. I’m leaving out some of the make, model, and year details here since knowledge of those specifications are similar to a social security number with today’s identity verification systems. It’s a vehicle with 81,000 miles that gets about 30 to 40 MPG and sometimes over 50 MPG depending on driving conditions. For a non-hybrid, it’s impressive. So, that makes it satisfying to drive.

Having a second car has really proven to be helpful — with four people having doctor appointments and errands to run, as well as our dog who needs occasional visits to the vet and trips to nearby parks.

With the car, and having moved into a home that offers more space than the apartment, I hope soon to be more available and productive for family, friends, and the people I serve in our community.

Below is a photo by Bruce Thayer from a 3 Jul 2006 sustainability event that I organized in downtown Iowa City. In the photo, through some photo magic by Bruce, I’m in two electric cars at one time. The manufacturer brought those in from Colorado for the event to show the state of electric cars at that time.

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.

Subscribe

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

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 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]

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.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

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]

GREETINGS

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is of the morning sky at home on 17 Apr 2026.

Changing Work Style

In the past, my work and leisure were largely based on extended periods of uninterrupted time for writing and detail oriented tech projects. In recent months, I’ve needed to adapt to a somewhat unpredictable workday with priorities being adjusted accordingly throughout the day. I’ve organized tasks based on time required to complete each task. If I see I have 10 minutes until my next appointment, I’ll choose a task to fit that time. I find there are few periods for longer uninterrupted writing time, so I’ve been writing less long-format articles and reports. For the tech work, I find that taking detailed notes helps me return to the work where I left off, and having predefined processes with checklists for longer tasks helps.

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.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

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]

GREETINGS

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is of the evening sky in Coralville on 18 Mar 2026. There is an artistic version of the photo at the bottom of this newsletter.

Recent News

If you’ve not had a chance to read these newsletters recently, last month’s update, on 2 Mar 2026, offers a long update on a variety of topics. [Read Here]

I’ll have more news to share in the May newsletter.

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.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

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]

FEATURED PHOTO

Below is an artistic filter version of this month’s photo showing the evening sky in Coralville on 18 Mar 2026.

GREETINGS

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photos this month (above and below) are from a visit to Kent Park on 15 Feb 2026.

Puppy — Teacher and Trainer

I just returned from a high intensity interval training workout with our puppy. He likes to walk slowly, and then periodically sprint up hills. Typically I let him choose when we go for a walk, the duration of the walks, and where we walk. The workout he’s chosen coincidentally is considered one of the best fitness exercises available.

Our puppy is a wonderful teacher … in fact… he doesn’t teach, he does. I know about the benefits of deep breathing and have studied the practice many times over the past 40 years, but it’s nice to have inspiration from someone who is a regular practitioner with perfect form. He likes to be held at about 4 feet in the air when the cold wind is blowing, so he can face into the wind and breathe the air. When he does this, I can feel him deeply filling his lungs as his chest expands out. He seems to combine the breathing practice with deep relaxation and meditation.

Throughout history, dogs have had an active role in spiritual life. According to Google,  “these dogs are historically linked to Asian monastic and spiritual gardens” …

• Shiba Inu: Often associated with Japanese Shinto shrines and traditional Zen gardens.
• Tibetan Spaniel: Bred as “little lions” to sit on monastery walls and turn prayer wheels.
• Lhasa Apso: Known as “Bark Lion Sentinels,” they guarded the interior of Tibetan temples.
• Pekingese: Considered sacred guardians in Chinese Buddhist temples.

In a pursuit of enlightenment, an alternative to having a dog living in the home would be to travel to Tibet and spend several years in a mountain monastery with Buddhist monks. Yet, that’s not a practical option for most people.

Dogs seem to bring a lot of insight and wisdom from their time in the wild that predates domestication (prior to 15,000 years ago). Given the length of time that dogs have had to evolve, you would think they’d be playing poker by now. Yet, instead, they choose to spend their days napping, going for walks, eating, socializing, playing, sleeping, and cuddling. They are either not very evolved, or, as I’m beginning to suspect… they are highly evolved and living an admirable lifestyle.

New Tech for New Challenges

I’ve recently upgraded all of my tech devices. I bought a new Apple laptop to replace my older Mac mini desktop computer. I also refreshed my aging iPhone and Apple Watch with current models. All of these devices now have extended battery life and fast recharging, which has been very helpful. Longer battery life allows for utilization from 20% to 80% while still having all-day operation. This results in batteries having a longer usable lifespan.

My life these days continues to be spontaneous, as I respond to our household needs, client tech requests, and the interests of our puppy. For video calls or phone calls, I will typically move to the living room to keep our main office quiet. Some of the tech work I do needs to be accomplished away from my desk while I’m mobile, out on service calls. On longer days and longer on-site support sessions, I’ll keep up with incoming emails and text messages throughout the day. So, the upgraded more mobile office has been essential.

Increasing Costs

Over the past few years, some of the services I rely on have doubled in cost from one year to the next, in some cases, year after year. To keep up with what seems like 100% inflation, I’ve worked more hours. I feel sorry for people who already have two or three jobs, and are struggling to get by. Other services are experiencing 50% inflation, such as the recent increase of a Microsoft 365 subscription from $100 per year to $150 per year.

Some of the price jumps seem unnecessary, arbitrary, and artificial. The cost for a gallon of milk recently went from $10 to $20 per gallon overnight, and stayed at that price, then dropped down to $10 per gallon again. At that price, a 42 gallon barrel of milk would be $420 to $840 depending on the price of milk in any given week. That’s for specialty grass fed local organic milk. By comparison, a 42 gallon barrel of oil is about $65 right now. The milk I buy is the store brand from a local grocery store. I’m using this example of pricing for specialty milk as an illustration of price fluctuations.

In recent years, we’ve seen flareups of global instability which impact the supply chain of electronics resulting in unexpected shortages of availability and increases in costs. There’s a rash of military conflicts happening again this week. I sense that such instability can have unpredictable outcomes for finance and other areas of life.

Last week, on February 25, I went to fill my car with gas. The price on the pump was $2.80 / gal. for the cheap gas and $3.50 / gal. for premium. I kept driving instead of filling up. I’d heard that gas prices in Iowa were at $1.85 per gallon, and I was determined to save that $15 on my next fill-up. I drove further and found the cheapest gas in our area which is about $2.36 per gallon for the store brand station. I didn’t have time to do a deep dive into the nuances and subtleties of politics and gas prices. Apparently I’d need to buy a new car designed to run on the $1.85 per gallon (E85) gas before I could benefit from the savings. The break even return on investment could be 7 years. Last week, I simply needed to fill the tank on the car I have and don’t have time to look into a long-term investment.

So, I’ve been working on accommodating market fluctuations and making my work sustainable while continuing to provide affordable tech support for the people in my community.

The sliding scale I use for my business is still based on the rate structure that I established in the 1990s. These days I’m using the sliding rate structure for profit sharing and rewarding customers for certain goals such as sustainability (making older computers run longer), digital literacy (learning), self-solving problems, and checking with me about possible scams (pop-ups, emails, and text messages). I reward people for these things.

Adjusting Workload for Long Term

Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, my workload increased significantly. I began working 16 to 20 hours a day to keep up. Some days, a flood of phone calls, emails, and text messages would result in a flurry of activity. Handling the tech crisis needs of many people can be like working in an ER during a hurricane. I go from one urgent support call to another. Placing a priority on helping those in need, the administrative tasks pile up until the rare slow days provide an opportunity to get caught up a little.

Now, after 5 years, I’ve begun feeling some fatigue and exhaustion creep in. Going forward, I know it’s not sustainable to maintain this level of work, so I’ve been reducing the number of people and businesses I serve. I’m now focusing primarily on the people I’ve been serving for the past 20 to 30 years.

I’ve let go of some business customers since those can have unplanned urgent big support needs that disrupt a dozen other service calls. For requests from potential new customers, I am referring many of those people to other providers in the area — unless it’s a simple request. I’ve been supporting and encouraging local public initiatives that foster digital literacy and access to tech support, such as Repair Café and also tech classes through the Iowa City Public Library.

I appreciate the flexibility and understanding of many people during the recent months. I look forward to being refreshed to serve a smaller number of people better.

Burn Out and Battery Depletion

On a few occasions, I’ve attempted to start our car and found that the battery was depleted down to almost nothing. We have a portable jump starter, so I’ve been able to get it charged up again. Eventually, too many occurrences of battery drain will damage the chemical composition of a battery and it will need to be replaced.

I’ve had many days when I feel like my body and mind are at 10% and I keep pushing forward through the day. Something important to me is that I serve people with focus, attention, clarity of mind, and sustained strength. So, even when I feel exhausted, I reach deep down and give everything I can with a genuine smile.

The adjustments I’m making now to reduce my workload will hopefully allow me to not repeatedly work to and through exhaustion. I don’t want to reach the point of permanent burnout where I can’t recharge. I’ve seen that happen to people.

Health Hazards of Tech Work

Years ago I read a startling article about the dangers of tech work. To refresh my memory on the topic, I searched Google just now and found a good summary: “IT work poses significant health hazards primarily due to sedentary behavior, poor ergonomics, and high mental stress. Common risks include musculoskeletal disorders (neck/back pain), repetitive strain injuries (RSI), eye strain, obesity, and cardiovascular issues.” [Source Report]

I’ve used exercise, motivational music, and nature to bring balance to my tech work. I hope to keep that up moving forward.

To address concerns of repetitive strain injuries, I use a mouse and a trackpad simultaneously, switching off from my left hand to my right hand. So, by the end of a 20-hour workday, I would have only 10 hours of strain on my hands. Apple computers have a system-wide voice to text function so much writing can be done by speaking. This further allows for resting the hands. There is also a system-wide easy zoom feature to adjust the entire viewing area regardless of the current program, app, or task. All of these things help reduce fatigue.

Monthly Tasks

There are about a dozen monthly tasks that I try to get started on at the start of each month. When my monthly newsletter is posted in the last hours or minutes of the last day of the month, that reflects how it’s sometimes a struggle to get everything done each month. This month, I’m trying to get an early start on the task list to help reduce pressure at the end of the month to get everything done.

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.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

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]

Featured Photos

Below are the featured photos for this month. They are from a visit to Kent Park on 15 Feb 2026.

GREETINGS

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The featured photos for this month are from a visit to Kent Park on 31 Jan 2026.

Puppy Life — Feeling Relaxed

Upon arriving home with our adopted puppy, I wanted the experience to be smooth as possible with minimal disruption for the puppy. I thought one way to do that would be to sleep on the floor next to him — as would be typical for a family of dogs. He seemed to welcome that little bit of continuity. The second element of familiarity would be to initially spend time together — napping, playing outside, eating, running errands, and sleeping. He seemed to like that togetherness.

The arrival of the puppy seemed to be perfect timing. I had a light workload due to the holidays and was ready to get some rest. Nothing is more restful than taking a nap next to a puppy for a day … or two … or three.

After a few days, I began to sense a feeling similar to being sedated or having a rise in the body’s dopamine levels. So, I asked Google, “Does the human body release a drug when spending a lot of time with a puppy?”

The answer came back:

Yes, your body releases a natural “feel-good” hormone called oxytocin when you spend time with a puppy. Often referred to as the “love hormone” or “cuddling chemical,” oxytocin is the same substance responsible for bonding between mothers and infants. Interacting with a puppy—or even just making eye contact—triggers several physiological changes:

• Oxytocin Spike: Increases feelings of trust, relaxation, and empathy.
• Lower Cortisol: Reduces the body’s primary stress hormone.
• Dopamine & Serotonin: Boosts these neurotransmitters, which help regulate mood and combat depression.

The response from Google went on to explain: “Research shows this chemical reaction is mutual; your puppy’s oxytocin levels typically rise during these interactions as well.”

I’ve seen mother dogs appear to be in a similar relaxed state around their puppies. They also seem to lose interest in anything except caring for their puppies, which is probably a result of the hormones described above. A squirrel or rabbit could go past them and they’d ignore it, preferring to stay with their puppies. That’s what I was feeling. I no longer had a dozen interests, but was focused on the puppy.

Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

When I was growing up, probably between the ages of 5 and 7, after school I would walk up the street to the top of the hill to visit a neighbor’s house where I would watch Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and other Public Television after school shows.

As I recall, that neighbor had a color TV set, which would not be common until a few years later. At that time, most TVs were black and white. The show began broadcasting in color on February 10, 1969, starting with its second season. Mister Rogers had a captivating and thought provoking way of story telling. I really enjoyed his show. He had a positive message and taught people to be kind to others, as well as teaching about other values and virtues.

At that age, the brain is still developing, and, according to Google, the brain can “physically reorganize and strengthen neural pathways based on environmental input. This process, known as experience-dependent plasticity, allows specific regions to expand or refine when stimulated by activities like music, language, or visual arts.”

So, for children growing up learning the positive messages from Mister Rogers and similar shows, their brains would “strengthen neural pathways based on [that] environmental input.”

It seems possible that people who are taught to value kindness and empathy may react more strongly when they see those traits exemplified in puppies and dogs, thus amplifying the changes in oxytocin, cortisol, dopamine, and serotonin described above. That might explain why I was feeling even more relaxed than might be expected.

Mother Dog Mindset

After a few days, when I first spent an hour away from the puppy, I noticed the severe relaxation lift a little bit, and I was able to get some work done.

However, I wanted to maintain that ‘mother dog mindset’ because I felt it was important for puppy parenting. With that sedated puppy-focused mindset, having the initial puppy pee or poop on the carpet didn’t really bother me. If things got chewed and destroyed, I wasn’t bothered. Spending every waking and sleeping hour with the puppy didn’t seem like too much of a commitment.

At one point, after some wrestling with the puppy, one of his sharp teeth grazed my head and left a cut that seemed like it might need stitches. I was a little concerned about a possible infection, such as sepsis, so I went to Urgent Care to have that looked at. They said it should heal up okay and told me to watch out for any signs of infection.

About a week later, I ended up in the ER from a severe case of dizziness, which I thought might just be some type of unrelated vertigo. Given the possibility of a serious antibiotic-resistant infection (MRSA), the team of masked medical specialists went to work quickly doing a full blood workup, testing for any heart issues, and running me through an MRI to check for any brain related causes. All the test results came back indicating that I’m in great health. So, that’s good news. The vertigo took a few weeks to completely go away.

These trips to Urgent Care and the ER were mellowed by the mother dog mindset. I wasn’t frustrated.

I found that taking occasional breaks from the puppy seemed to help reduce the dizziness. The puppy smell is part of what seemed to contribute to the dizziness. That smell diminishes over time, but initially is strong. It’s a calming smell, similar to what dog or cat paws smell like. We were initially spending 24 hours a day with the puppy, and because he’s a small breed, he often sleeps near one’s head. This is combined with the puppy nose pushed into one’s ear and quietly snoring, it becomes like a multi-sensory puppy experience.

So, imagine puppy cuteness, puppy empathy, puppy smell, tiny nose and snoring sounds. I think just about anyone would get dizzy with all that.

Calculating Dog Years

A Google query on calculating dog years reports: “The American Kennel Club states that the first year is ~15 human years, the second is ~9, and each subsequent year is ~4–5.”

After bringing the puppy home, in the initial 24 to 48 hours, I began to notice the puppy had some interesting behaviors. Because Google didn’t exist in the years when I was younger, it wasn’t possible to ask AI about animal behavior. I’ve been a renter over the past 26 years, and the properties where I rented did not allow pets, and I didn’t have a pet since prior to the Internet. This was my first pet in the internet era.

Today, AI can review all known writings, research, and knowledge to answer just about any question about puppy behavior. I learned that there are many instinctual behaviors of dogs that were established prior to domestication, more than 15,000 years ago.

So, basically the best way to calculate the age of a dog is to take its current age according to human years, and add 15,000 years to it. Then the behavior of puppies and dogs make more sense.

Zen Puppy

In the first days, on a trip to the back yard, in the snow and cold, I opened the door for the puppy to go outside and go to the bathroom. He stopped in the doorway, closed his eyes, and breathed in the cold air. He seemed to meditate there in the doorway. Then he went outside a short distance, stopped, sat in a certain spot, and just breathed in the cold air deeply while looking off into the distance for a period of time.

He has a very Zen-like way of living in the moment. Given that he can draw from instincts that are 15,000 years old, his “moment” spans thousands of years. At least, this is how I like to think of it.

I decided instead of teaching him our ways, I’d try to learn more about his ways. Having a friend who is like a Zen master with 15,000 years of insight is a great opportunity for growth.

Puppy Life — Health Impact

Since the start of the pandemic, in March 2020, my workload increased. To keep up with the demand, I would typically go to sleep at 9 PM or 10 PM and then wake up about 4 or 5 hours later. It was common to have a 16-20 hour work day.

Rather than teach the puppy all of my bad habits, I waited to see what his routine and interests would be. Eating, napping, playing, going for walks, and sleeping fill most of his day.

Now I’m typically going to bed at 8PM and getting out of bed around 7AM. Within that timeframe I sometimes get 8-10 hours of sleep. The puppy doesn’t like it if I don’t stick to that schedule. So, I’m sleeping when he sleeps, going for walks when he wants to go for walks, and mostly eating meals on his schedule — morning, noon, and end of day.

Even with his bathroom breaks during the night, my wellness tracker reported that my sleep duration and quality had gone up. The puppy-induced relaxation made it easy to go back to sleep. My weight is down to the lowest it’s been in a long time. I’ve lost about 45 pounds in recent years, but had reached a plateau that was hard to break through. Finally I’ve gone below that weight. I got an alert on my smartphone telling me my screen time was down 78% from the previous week (a result of having the mother dog mindset). From my trip to the ER, I learned that my blood oxygen has increased, my blood pressure is down, my relaxing pulse is down, and other vitals are looking good.

The puppy has really had a positive life-changing impact. He’s an inspiration and fund to spend time with.

WRITING TOPICS

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present.

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.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

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]

GREETINGS

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The sunset photo above is from 4 Dec 2025 on returning home from an on-site service call.

Busy Start to New Year

As with last month’s newsletter, this month I’ve been so busy that I’ve not had much time to dedicate to writing. I hope to get caught up with sharing some news next month.

WRITING TOPICS

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present.

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.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

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]

GREETINGS

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The sunset photo above is from 11 Nov 2025 on returning home from a rural service call.

Year-End Tasks

In past years, the period of time from Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Year’s Eve would be quiet for me, and an opportunity to catch up on year-end paperwork. However, in recent years, my work tends to get busier at the end of the year. I hope to adapt to the trend in the year ahead by doing more of my administrative tasks and billing in the moment rather than waiting for the elusive ‘down-time’ that seems to happen less often. I’ll plan to take time in January to close out my remaining 2025 tasks.

Puppy

After many years living in apartments that didn’t allow pets, we now have our own home and we finally have a puppy who is a great source of inspiration. We’re focused right now on all the work involved with raising a puppy, in addition to the joy they bring. I plan to share more in the months ahead.

Two Offices

We’re feeling more settled now with our new (to us) home. It took a while to unpack and also get some the needed repairs and upkeep done.

I have two small work areas which are in different rooms — each optimized for specific work.

My main office area is where much of my administrative work gets done, such as remote support calls, responding to emails, scanning papers, and other tasks that can be done while at my desk.

My other work area is for the tasks I do that require special tools, cables, parts, and equipment. It tends to be a little more cluttered, but that allows me to find most of what I need when setting up computers or making repairs. The second office area is optimized for that kind of work.

WRITING TOPICS

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present.

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.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

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]

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is from 10 Oct 2025 taken while out on a service call.

Keeping Busy With Home and Work

My tech work and home chores / repairs have been keeping me quite busy these days. I’ll report more in the December newsletter about all that.

WRITING TOPICS

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present.

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.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

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]