June 26, 2023, Monday evening, 7:16pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Talked to my mom this evening. We are finalizing plans for the trip to Wyoming/Utah in August with my daughter and her friend. We discussed going to Jackson Hole and seeing the Tetons. Yellowstone would be a little too much. Jackson we can do in a day. It is a lot of driving (three hours each way) but more manageable than the six it would take just to get to Yellowstone. If we did that we would have to stay a night. Hotels are expensive this time of year. Actually, hotels are always expensive in Jackson. We will see if we can make it work. On a different note; I stayed in Dana Point/Aliso Viejo today because I fly to Reno for a meeting tomorrow. Off the top of my head, this is only the second Monday I haven’t traveled (excluding holidays and time off) in almost eleven months. (Even with holidays and time off the number is low!) it was nice to stay local for a change but it took most of the day to acclimate. Now I am going to leave again. Oh well, time to get some rest and be ready tomorrow morning.

June 25, 2023, Sunday afternoon, 3:38pm, pacific standard time, pool area at Aliso Viejo apartment complex, Aliso Viejo, California, USA. Came to the pool with the girls. Perfect pool weather. Warm in the sun, cool in the shade. It is pretty crowded. The girls are swimming and laying out. I am under the sun shade, unfortunately wearing jeans. I didn’t have the time, energy or desire to drive back to Dana Point to change. I need to leave an extra set of clothes in the car for situations like this.

June 24, 2023, Saturday evening, 6:50pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA. Spent the day driving around listening to music with my daughter. Grabbed breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, signed up for internet at the Cox store, made a Target run, stopped by the Dana Point apartment to change clothes, made an appearance at a birthday, grabbed dinner, tried to pick up a friend, failed, returned home, going back out to pick up said friend then calling it a day. We have definitely got good use out of the company car I picked up Monday. Also discovered anonymous sidewalk art at the Aliso Viejo complex that brought a smile to my face.

June 23, 2023, Friday night, 10:45pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Went to the musical Six at the Segerstrom Center tonight. Great time. I knew most of the songs because my daughter plays them while we drive around. The highlight of the night was the very end. For most of the evening my daughter sat and watched the show passively, not showing much emotion or enthusiasm. Then, as the final song crescendoed and ended, she involuntarily burst into passionate clapping. That unbridled joy breaking through her muted teenage countenance will stay in my heart the rest of my life.

June 22, 2023, Thursday evening, 6:30pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Bakersfield, California, USA. Went to target after work this evening. Such a simple thing but different. For a year I have finished work and picked up dinner without deviation. I still got dinner at the Wendy’s hamburger restaurant up the road but it was nice to change my routine, even slightly. This has been a long week. I am ready to get out of here tomorrow. I look forward to the weekend and not traveling on Monday.

June 21, 2023, Wednesday evening, 7:17pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Bakersfield, California, USA. The news is about the submersible craft lost while visiting the Titanic wreckage. I ate Panda Express for dinner, watched wake forest/lsu in the college World Series and got sucked into checking work email and texts. I have been good about ignoring emails until arriving at the office otherwise. today was just a work day. Nothing too descriptive.

June 20, 2023, Tuesday night, 6:55pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Bakersfield, California, USA. Made it through another Tuesday. Which is an accomplishment. These are the hardest days to ramp back up for a week in the office. Palm Desert is doing alright. Having the new director there brings the stress down. Bakersfield is a mess. The clinical team is not strong. I am required to develop skills and alter my priorities. That bothered me at first. However, now I see an opportunity to grow. That mindset change re-energizes me. I can embrace a challenge when I see value.

June 19, Monday evening, 7:21pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Bakersfield, California, USA. Drank beer on Friday night and have felt awful since. Same thing happened when I drank beer three weeks prior. It causes discomfort In my diaphragm that takes days to resolve. I know better than to keep doing something that causes distress but old habits die hard. Hopefully, when I wake up tomorrow all will be better. I think I will hold off drinking beer again for at least a couple weeks.

June 17/18, 2023, Saturday/Sunday, 12:41pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA, Father’s Day. Yesterday was a good day. The highlight was driving around in the evening with my daughter. We listened to music, picked up some items at the grocery store then got sandwiches before heading home. Today is Father’s Day. I worked out first thing then took the dog for a walk between coffee runs. My daughter and her mom bought donuts and gave me a nice cooler as a present. I am back in Dana Point, doing laundry and getting ready. We are going to have sushi for dinner.

June 16, 2023, Friday night, 7:22pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Today feels like the day my daughter became an adult. She wanted to go to the movie alone. It was a 3:45pm show at a local theater and it was an animated Disney movie. The situation seemed safe. Yet she didn’t come out when the movie ended at 5:30pm. My mind pictured worst case scenarios. I texted and called. Finally, she emerged 15 minutes later. I don’t know why she was late and I was too upset to ask. Last week her and her friend were cagey about buying stuff with my credit card and trying to hide it. On one hand I want to give her freedom to explore the world. But on the other hand I worry about the things she doesn’t realize can harm her.