Just another Thursday

The morning brought solar system emails and realizations about Red Queen's races, lunch revealed John's breakfast venture might include me somehow, and yoga reminded my body what stretching feels like after too long away. Between optimizing digital storage and making electrical panels accessible, between Minecraft warehouses and England trip posts, the day accumulated its small purposes. Oh, and I apparently went all of yesterday without contacts—discovered only while driving when things looked fuzzy—proof that functionality doesn't always require perfect vision.

Running to Stay in Place

October 3, 2025

Random Morning Glory picture

Morning email processing consumed the early hours, with solar system providers featuring prominently in the inbox. Multiple conversations unfolding simultaneously about panels and inverters, timelines and tax credits, the technical and financial mechanics of energy independence. Two particular thoughts crystallized from the email deluge:

First, the recognition that life operates as a Red Queen's race—you have to keep running just to stay in place. Email itself demonstrates this perfectly: process fifty messages, wake up to forty more, the inbox never truly empty, the work never actually complete. Solar system research, digital storage optimization, garage organization—all efforts to create stability in systems that naturally tend toward entropy. You're not getting ahead; you're just maintaining position against constant decay.

Second, the realization that my digital storage system needs serious engineering attention. Not casual tinkering, but deliberate architectural thinking about how information flows, where it lives, how it's accessed. The current system works, but it's accumulated organically rather than being designed intentionally. Time to apply actual methodology rather than just adding more drives and folders.

The garage demanded brief attention—specifically making the electrical panel more accessible. Small project, but important. Sometimes basic infrastructure maintenance prevents future catastrophes. Access to circuit breakers shouldn't require archaeological excavation.

Lunch at Tacovore brought John and Donna back into the day's conversation stream. John's moving forward on the breakfast opportunity we'd discussed—filling the void left by Starbucks's departure. More intriguingly, there might be ways for me to be involved somehow. The details remain fuzzy, but the possibility exists. Sometimes opportunities emerge from casual conversations that become serious plans.

Minecraft provided its usual appeal—not perfect control, but easier control with clearer accomplishment and better feedback. Started work on the next warehouse zone, expanding the grand organizational system one section at a time. Virtual construction as meditation, as problem-solving exercise, as alternative to the messier challenges of physical reality where progress is harder to measure and feedback comes slowly if at all.

The England trip posts needed rehosting—moving them to better infrastructure, more permanent homes. Technical work that preserves creative output, the digital equivalent of proper archiving. Those posts represent a month of travel and weeks of writing; they deserve stable platforms.

Yoga returned to my life after extended absence. Awkward and uncomfortable, exactly as expected. My body protested movements it once knew, flexibility sacrificed to months and years of sedentary living. But awkwardness is growth, discomfort is adaptation. The mild soreness that followed and the deep sleep that came later both signal successful re-engagement with physical practice.

Driving to yoga produced an amusing discovery: things looked slightly fuzzy, and I realized I'd completely forgotten to put my contacts in that morning. Had gone through the entire day—email and lunch and Minecraft—without noticing my vision was technically impaired. Only the act of driving, with its demands for distance clarity, revealed the oversight. Amazing how adaptable perception is, how much functionality persists even with compromised inputs. I'd been operating just fine at reduced visual acuity without conscious awareness.

Post-yoga beer with Cathy at Suds provided the anticipated opening to discuss solar systems. She seemed genuinely appreciative of having someone to work through her concerns with—the financial calculations, the contractor selection, the technical specifications, all the decisions that feel overwhelming when facing them alone. I did my best to be useful, sharing what I'd learned, asking clarifying questions, helping her think through priorities. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can offer is patient attention to someone else's process.

Home welcomed me with Hogan's Heroes and the simple pleasure of familiar entertainment before bed. Some days don't need dramatic conclusions, just comfortable landings.

The Red Queen's race continues. Today will bring more email, more maintenance, more small projects advancing incrementally. Running hard to stay in place, finding satisfaction not in finishing but in maintaining forward motion against entropy's constant pull. Just another Thursday, which is to say: exactly what most days are.