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So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Month: July 2026 Page 1 of 3

Chair (gift from Christian)

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On July 31, 2026

In Work

I have always had really lousy office chairs in my home office. Christian thinks I am nuts to have such bad chairs. He said the same thing about computer keyboards and I went for years without a decent keyboard. He bought me a first rate one as a gift after I started my PhD. I cannot believe I caused myself so much needless pain and anguish over they years using a lousy keyboard.

The same thing just happened with my office chair. I have been using a $90 Amazon Basics chair for about a decade. Christian bought me a used, high-quality chair for $350 that sells new for around $1200. It is a spectacular chair. I cannot believe I have wasted so much time on a bad chair. It is significantly better for my back and posture. Thank you Christian.

Up and running in Texas

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On July 30, 2026

In Family, Health, Texas house

Christian flew down to Virginia to help us drive to Texas and get into our apartment. It is a great little apartment with a view of the lake within walking distance of a ton of good restaurants. James, Jan and our builder and his family cooked hamburgers for us the night after we arrived and it just felt like home. We definitely made the right choice in coming here. Christian was really the champion of the whole affair. He drove Lorena and navigated a ton of minutiae. We ate way to much food and sat in the car with no way to get any exercise for way too long. Our health program took a hit, but now we are here.

Signing the house away

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On July 22, 2026

In Texas house

The waiting is just about to be over. We give a key to our real estate agent to give to the new owners, do the signing needed to be done before a notary (the final signatures will be done via e-sign), pack the stuff we set aside for use up until the last minute, tear down the computers, make a few last minute runs to the garbage, make arrangements at the climate-controlled storage unit to receive our goods, and pick up a few extra cartons in case they are needed. The truck arrives first thing tomorrow morning and should be on its way to Texas by tomorrow afternoon. We hope everything fits in the truck.

Just waiting now…

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On July 21, 2026

In Texas house

Everything is just about complete and there is not much left to do. Honestly, we are starting to go a little stir crazy waiting for the move. At least tomorrow we have our real estate agent and good friend Rick coming over to say goodbye, run into Richmond to do some document signing with the real estate lawyer. Today, we have nothing and are going stir crazy.

The truck arrives in four days

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On July 20, 2026

In Texas house

Moving day is almost here. Only the essentials we need to survive over the next couple of days are already in boxes, we have donated most of the stuff we have wanted to donate and thrown away more stuff than I imagined we even had. It boggles my mind that we trucked all that junk around for, literally, decades. Well, it is gone now and we are grateful for that. Today is the day we clean out the garage refrigerator, give a few more things to the neighbors, and make what I am sure will not be the last trip to the dump. We plan to tear down the computers and set aside other important things we plan to take in the cars on Wednesday. The house will be loaded on Thursday morning. We have one day to clean up and pack the cars on Friday. Christian is scheduled to arrive at about noon on Saturday. We plan to pick him up at the airport and head straight to Trump Winery in the afternoon and then head up the road for a few more hours to find a place to spend the night. We are not sure when we will get to Texas, but we are going to take our time and enjoy the ride.

Goals: Half way to target weight

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On July 18, 2026

In Exercise, Food, Health

After 26 weeks and 6 days of healthy eating and weight lifting, I have hit my intermediate goal of under 199 lbs. for my weekly average weight, measured daily. That is an average of about 0.8 lbs. lost per week. I still have a good amount of hard belly fat and my girth is quite a bit more than what is considered healthy so I am pretty sure 170 lbs. will be my end goal.

The calm before the storm

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On July 17, 2026

In Texas house

We have most of everything packed and ready to load on the truck, the donation service will arrive to remove some big stuff we have decided to downsize, the final service call for the house sale is scheduled for later this morning, Lorena is taking the Acura down to get a checkup, oil change, and tire rotation to be ready for the trip, the services have all been scheduled for shutdown or transfer to the new owner, and the apartment and storage are all lined up in Texas. We have on more unscheduled event, signing documents for the house sale in front of a notary, and we think we will have complete other than that and a little bit of packing of stuff we need to use up until the moment we move. Now we are just in waiting mode.

This really has been the least painful move we have ever made. We both wish we would have downsized a bunch a few years earlier. Only God knows what He has planned, but this may be our last big move ever. We kind of hope so. We are in wait mode now. We have planned so much better than we have in the past that our hope is the actual move itself will be anticlimactic.

Eight years at Thrive Bioscience

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On July 16, 2026

In Work

I started working in machine vision back in 1984 at a long defunct robot and machine vision company named Intelledex. With a brief hiatus to start a company with my father, I have been in it ever since. Intelledex was a great place to work with brilliant people and interesting products–many products today, especially in the area of machine vision were heavily influenced by work done at Intelledex. I still work with and stay in touch with people I met in my time at Intelledex. I have to admit, I never thought I would be able to repeat the joy I felt in my work and friendships during my time at Intelledex.

It is a huge surprise to me that I am finishing my career at a company for which I feel the same way I felt about Intelledex. Today is the eighth anniversary of my start date at Thrive Bioscience. I actually started working on Thrive products several months earlier as a contractor. God willing, I hope to finish my career at Thrive. I love the products and I love the people. Of course it is not perfect, but I am very grateful to be at a place where the people around me really try to do their part and are colegial in the very best sense.

Chapman siblings

By

On July 15, 2026

In Family

I so this picture of the kids on social media this morning and it gave me great joy. They were inseparable as kids. I am not sure where this was, but fine dining with friends is definitely one of their things. We are glad Christian has tickets to fly to Virginia in a week or so to help us drive to Texas. We plan to stop at the Trump Winery and a few other places along our leisurely way.

Doctoring

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On July 14, 2026

In Health

Olecranon bursitis is often called “students elbow.” If anyone should get it, our son Christian is definitely a prime candidate because hard study at a desk or table is his livelihood. He had to go get that taken care of at the urgent care clinic yesterday. It reminded me I am going to have my own procedure or two coming up here in the next couple of months. Getting stuff dealt with in a timely fashion is something my mother, Sarah, instilled in us. With all the craziness in the establishment medical system around the world, it is harder to figure out how to do it judicially than when the world was ignorant of their machinations.

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