Category: collaboration

• Pain as Communication

  Stephanie wrote a five page essay a few days ago about pain and how our beliefs about it shape how we perceive it. I haven’t been very good at maintaining focus on it. Essays are painful. 😇

  Mark

  November 17, 2025

  collaboration

  beliefs, communication, focus, pain, perception, Stephanie, suckadelic

• Too Much Sugar

  When I’ve gotten tested in the past decade my A1C has been inching up. I am prediabetic at this point. I had two “meals” of rice krispie treats for dinner last night and breakfast this morning. I can physically feel when I’ve had too much sugar. For dinner we ordered sandwiches. I ordered an unsweetened…

  Mark

  November 12, 2025

  collaboration, rant

  A1C, cookies, diabetes, physically sick, rice krispie treats, stupid, sugar

• Directives vs. Orders

  I have never been good at giving orders. On the other hand I am more successful with directives. People almost never obey me, but if I frame an objective and let my listener decide if they are committed to the objective and integral to how we proceed toward it I get things done in teams.…

  Mark

  November 8, 2025

  collaboration

  committed, directives, obey, orders, Stay Awesome, teams

• Phone Calls

  I’ve got a buddy. Maybe I’ve written about him on here before. His name is Danny. Danny is smart and sarcastic and as much of a knob as I am. We’ve been spending a lot of time on the phone together. We argue about everything. He’s fun and annoying. And he’s a good friend.

  Mark

  October 21, 2025

  collaboration, rant

  annoying, arguing, Danny, fun, phone calls, sarcastic, smart

• Coming Home

  Stephanie was released from the hospital this afternoon. She got a shower and so did I. The boys were happy to finally see mama again, and she has much better luck getting the cats into the house than I do. She went to bed early and the boys and I are settling down. Here’s to…

  Mark

  October 15, 2025

  collaboration

  better day, boys, cats, home, hospital, showers, Stephanie

• Hospital Day 2

  Stephanie will be staying in the hospital at least one more night. She is resting comfortably but may need to stay longer. The doctor will decide that in the morning. I was able to go in and see her and brought a charging cord so any of you that know her contact information can wish…

  Mark

  October 14, 2025

  collaboration

  clean clothes, come home, doctor, hospital, shower, Stephanie, well wishes

• Final Harvest 25

  Winter is coming to Wisconsin. The garden is empty and this is the result. The carrots and tomatoes did well. Stephanie got one squash. The corn and beans were lost. Our lives as a piece of art.

  Mark

  October 11, 2025

  collaboration

  art, garden, results, Stephanie, vegetables, winter, Wisconsin

• Hamburgers

  Our son William came over tonight to do laundry and we DoorDashed Red Robin. I got a Bonsai Burger which is my favorite. I don’t like tomatoes and they didn’t put any on. William was not so lucky. He wanted a plain bacon cheeseburger. They did not even try to honor the request not to…

  Mark

  October 5, 2025

  collaboration

  Doordash, hamburgers, plain, Red Robin, Stephanie, Veggie Tales, William

• Sleeping with a Cat

  Last night Ether was climbing all over Stephanie while she was trying to sleep. She got fed up with him, put him in my room, and closed her door. Ether immediately wanted my attention instead, but I was also trying to sleep. He climbed all over me for about twenty minutes and eventually lay down…

  Mark

  October 2, 2025

  collaboration

  attention, Ether, last night, pillow, sleep, Stephanie, this morning

• Visiting my Granddaughter

  Today my oldest son Brandon drove his mother and I (and his girlfriend) to Indiana to visit our granddaughter Nevaeh. It was a good visit but I hate being on the road so now I need to decompress. She’s a beautiful little lady and so much fun.

  Mark

  September 20, 2025

  collaboration

  beautiful, Brandon, decompress, fun, granddaughter, road trip, visit