Yesterday was my 63rd birthday. It is a strange and interesting time in life and the world. The New Year whether counted from one’s birthday, January 1, or some other important annual even like the start of school or a church convention is a time for reflection. For some reason, this year more than many in the past, I feel a need to reassess what we (Lorena and I) do. We have a few short term goals we want to accomplish like Lorena’s degree and some remodel projects, but in the whole scheme of things, they are not so consequential.

I have professional and financial responsibilities to meet over the next couple of years, but they are not so onerous. I also have some side projects I want to complete. The main one is the coffee bean project, but I also really would like to do some work with my new friend Stan on his Raspberry Pi. All those things considered, I am seeing how it might be good to figure out what to do when I retire in 3-4 years. Do we stay where we are? We like it here, but we are the kind of people who believe there is a place we are “supposed” to be. We need to give it some time to figure out. It is nice to have events like birthdays so this kind of thing comes onto one’s radar.

Beside all that, I had a great, but very quiet birthday. Both the kids called, I talked to Grandma Conchita on Skype, Lorena cooked me a really nice, too big, New York steak and a carrot cake, and Kiwi sat on my lap more than she should have given that it diminishes my work output fairly dramatically.