The Victors

Summer has been fine, I haven't done much, got out a couple times, but mostly just been working everyday to the best of my abilities. I'm at the point where I need to start thinking about moving on from this place or figuring out how to get it about 30% more profitable. The industry in general is harder than it was 10 years ago, but there are other avenues (software training) that are opening up. I do more of that then hardware these days. We still see a lot of gaming PCs but laptops are getting harder to fix and less cost effective. Mechanical parts that would wear out like HDs have been replaced with SSDs and fans are also not as failure prone as they used to be.

I paid down a bunch of CC debt this year. I'm talking quite a bit. I hardly have any left now, a few thousand down from like 15k this time last year. I was going over a bunch of old statements and things from the two years after my mom died. I didn't know it at the time but I was pretty much in a daze. Spending money on stupid things. I spent like 2K on Vietnamese soups in 2024 I shit you not, just work lunches. Inflation on food hit Seattle hard and I didn't adjust my habits.

Now I just went back to micro fasting. Maybe spend 30 bucks a week now eating out instead of 100.

Looking forward to football season even if it means the Long Dark season is starting. Having the Hawaii trip planned for middle of October is giving me live. And I finally was able to get my miles transferred into Alaska Atmos from my old Hawaiian account. I have like $1200 worth of points to use now, which is basically a flight to Japan or Vietnam. I think I'd like to get to SEA. The bar owner next to me is Indonesian and his wife is Thai. I've become friends with them and they go back home frequently, maybe even align a trip with them at some point.

Otherwise part of Central America seem appealing. P went to Panama a few years ago, that sounds dope.

Think I'm over the Carib for now and Mexico just doesn't interstest me beyond Mexico City and archeology tours. The beaches in Mexico don't sound that appealing to me, and that's a huge part of my vacations. I'm a beach bum. I can lay on a beach all day. Sun, swim, sun, swim, etc. I want big waves too.

Sanibel is perfect for that but I've fallen out a bit with my friend down there. She used to text me randomly all the time and for awhile we were ending calls with "I love you". Those days are long gone. I think she thinks I want her as a friend with benefits, which isn't true, but I don't really have the energy to put anything into teh friendship anymore. We dated for a few months before she moved to Florida and have spent a good amount of time together since then on and off, but time just keeps moving.

I need to drop 20lbs before I go to Hawaii. Been really trying to stop at beer number 3 when I'm drinking. Not easy. I can pound a 6 pack and be ready for another. My tolerence is way too high. But, I'm trying. I've been pretty good about avoiding what I'd consider binges this summer, and it's dev contributed to the more positive work environment.

All in all I'd give myself a solid B+ for this season's life and work. Not bad, room to improve and more importantly stay consistent.