We All Shine On




Nothing beats a secluded guest house in the mountains during the wintery off-season for a fantastic environment to do some great writing. With just Ann and I in the house, there’s ample opportunity to concentrate and let the mind focus on things you weren’t seeing before.

I worked remotely for the first five years of my present job. Sometime after that Ann’s job changed to a remote position for two years and was extended to three. Then during the pandemic, we worked remotely at home together for a bit, while the boys were there, so the four of us were working/schooling from home, but that was the state of the world at that time.

This is different, of course. We’re isolated in a vacation spot with no one else around. It’s ideal, really. It just requires open communication and maintaining clear professional boundaries.

I was particularly proud of the impressive amount I’ve been able to write in the past week. However, when Ann saw it, she seemed disturbed to see I had typed “All work and no play makes Fred a dull boy” several thousand times.

She just doesn’t understand the writing process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lQ_MjU4QHw&t=23s

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Big Drive

Image
Planning this road trip involved big, beautiful round numbers. COMO to TACOMA is right at 2,000 miles, or 30 hours of drive time, according to Google maps. You can take I-70 until it runs out, or go a little more north and take I-80, or even more and take I-90. We opted for the northern route, taking advantage of the late-season heat wave. Directions were easy. I-70 to KC, then 29 north to I-90 and I-90 west all the way to and through Washington. I was able to work on the drive. Our truck is a hybrid and generates power, so the laptop stayed fully charged and surprisingly well connected to the internet via the hotspot on my phone, usually not losing signal for more than a few minutes, mostly in the mountains. Aside from the working part, it felt like we were leaving for a vacation, although not nearly as well planned. I usually do the trip planning, mapping out routes, booking accommodations, and even scouting restaurants online. With this adventure, I didn’t know when we would b...
Read more

The Loadout

Image
I may have to give up my man card, but I didn’t really want to tow a trailer across the country. I can tow a trailer. I was hauling trailers full of cattle from the age of 16 on. I’ve towed a too-heavy boat from Missouri to Lake Powell and back. I can drive towing a trailer. But a couple of years back when I bought our little camper, even though it’s a mere 21 feet long, I watched my fuel economy go from around 23 mpg to 7 mpg on the tow home. I was impressed that the fuel pump on my truck was capable of evacuating the gas from my tank that quickly.  It’s a tall camper, and it doesn’t exactly glide through the air. But perhaps even more than the horrible mileage, I wanted to be able to stop for the night at a motel, then go out for dinner somewhere, without worrying about parking something as long as a school bus, or going through a big ritual of unhooking and hooking up every day. We bought a camper shell specifically for the move, and I was really hoping everything fit. It ...
Read more

Intro

A lot of people have been asking about our move and how things are going, so I'm starting this blog to fill in our friends and maybe make some new ones. Don't worry that I'm doing this blog while I should be working. I'm still working full-time through the day. I'm doing this blog while I should be going to the gym. And this kind of drivel comes out of me like a firehouse, so there's really no effort on my part. I don't expect this to be as entertaining as my son Oliver's two blogs from the past two summers working at Yellowstone NP and Everglades NP  ( https://asummerinyellowstone.blogspot.com and  https://asummerintheeverglades.blogspot.com/ ),  but it will at least let you know that Ann and I made it here and are still kicking. 
Read more