My shoulder has been hurting. That definitely wasn\’t the reason for taking up \”pen,\” but it came to mind when I started typing. Oh well.

I\’m kind of anonymous here. I don\’t know if I\’ve mentioned that. I used to have a blog that included both my first and last name. When I was promoted to supervise other people, I suddenly had to become public (albeit very slightly) while seeking to hire someone. It freaked me out when a guy I was interviewing mentioned several things about my background he had found out online. I suddenly felt vulnerable. This Private Life I live online was…n\’t. I think I killed that blog that day.

But, some of my favorite engineers were famous people. How would I handle that? People I think of as famous, even, that really aren\’t in the grand scheme of things, are more vulnerable. Engineers I see at work are doubtless googled regularly (I\’ve done it multiple times on at least two that come to mind). As I mature as a professional, that will happen to me–I hope…I guess.

Other thought: Flashcards. I really like them, at least in theory. But I am having a hard time incorporating them in a meaningful way into my daily life. When I was working to go from technician to engineer, I studied religiously. I made new cards constantly. I rarely went to the bathroom without studying. I learned a lot. But I have not kept it up. It reminds me of a diet. You think, \”Gosh, I feel great, and not eating donuts feels outstanding. I\’ll never go back to eating junk!\” But then something happens. You have that one donut because you had a dentist appointment (or whatever), then a snack at work, then, then, then… And all of a sudden you\’re grabbing a couple of donuts on the way back to work from some unusual events. It\’s a small slide from there to going for a donut every day–or two.

That was supposed to be about flashcards, but it ended up being about donuts. Donuts…mmmmm…

Whiskey is another interesting thing. Or, more broadly, alcohol. I really like whisky (giving equal opportunity to the two spellings I know of). I used to drink Scotch, but I\’ve developed a taste for bourbon and it\’s cheaper, so that\’s what I go for now. Evan Williams, at present, which is kind of funny since I didn\’t like it almost at all when I first tried it.

Anyway, I bring it up because I\’ve got a pattern going with it that I find intriguing. I\’ve committed to drinking 17 shots a week (note that Evan Williams is 43% alcohol, so this is technically more than 17, but that\’s an aside). I start my \”alcohol week\” on Friday. This is voluntary, so I can make whatever rules that are helpful for me. I want to have drink available Friday, so that\’s what I do at present. My wife thinks 5 is too many to have in a single night (even at my size), so I\’ve silently chosen 4.5 shots as my max per evening (I\’m 3.5 in at the moment). What, lately, has ended up happening is that I have 4.5 Friday night, 4 or 4.5 Saturday night, 4 Sunday night, and 4 or 4.5 Monday night.  Then I\’m totally dry Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It\’s kind of a weird bargain. I *want* to drink those other nights, too, but I\’ve found that if I let myself drink as much as I want (under 5 shots), I quickly enjoy it less. Diminishing returns and all that. Doing this, I still want it the other nights, but I say \”no.\”

Anyway, that\’s what\’s been on my mind.