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

Year: 2026 Page 2 of 10

Buying new house “stuff”

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On August 21, 2026

In Texas house

The new house build here in Texas is on the verge of beginning in earnest. Brad has another big project that kicked off this week that is keeping him busy while we finish up the permitting from the city and he continues to negotiate scheduling and pricing with subcontractors. In the meantime, I have been working around the edges of some cost reduction. We were able to find some plumbing fixtures we liked a lot better than what Brad’s regular supplier had available. They are of good quality and the price is a good bit lower, too, so we have made arrangements for Brad to buy them at another place with his contractor discount. I am in the middle of doing the same thing with the appliances we want and have found some significant cost reductions there, too.

Weight loss: new low after the move gain

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On August 20, 2026

In Health

This post is just mark my progress. I gained a few pounds on the move from Virginia, but have now lost all that and am just a little lower than I was before we made the change. I fluctuate enough day-to-day that I might move back up before I am below that for good, but God willing, I am back into the slow, steady weight loss I have experienced since the beginning of the year. Another new milestone is that I was under 200 lbs. for the first time at night before going to bed.

New gym, new day

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On August 19, 2026

In Exercise

We found a new gym here in Granbury that is closer to our house and that we like more than the YMCA. It is a serious weightlifting gym with its only defect being the really cheesy rowing machines they have compared to our Concept 2. We started at the gym yesterday and went mid-morning when there was hardly anyone there. We had no waiting to get onto any piece of equipment we wanted. I am looking forward to getting back into a good workout rhythm, add some walking to the mix when the temperature drops down into the 80’s and 90’s later this fall, and continue my trajectory down to a more reasonable weight for my age and build. My next intermediate goal is still 27 pounds away.

Fighting over plumbing fixtures

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On August 19, 2026

In Texas house

Our builder has suppliers with whom he works to provide flooring, plumbing fixtures, drawer and cupboard pulls, etc., etc. These suppliers also provide logistic support in case a kit has a missing or damaged part, to assure parts arrive on the contractor’s schedule and to deal with whatever issue comes up. That has value and is worth some extra cost. That being said, when we met with the plumbing fixture supplier, the design choices he gave us were no where close to what we really wanted. When Lorena and I got home after the meeting, I looked up what we had purchased for our house in Centralia, Washington that we really loved, we found that a package would replaced most or all of what the supplier recommended cost over $3000 less. For that amount of money, we can certainly handle some of the logistics.

PhD solicitation responses

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On August 18, 2026

In Education and scholarship

I am starting to hear back from the emails I sent to a bunch of particular professors at universities in the region to see if they might entertain the idea of me providing volunteer work on a research question or data set they have as a way to explore whether it would make sense for me to start a PhD program with them. I have heard back from one good prospect at Texas A&M University in College Station who completely got the concept and understood my unusual skill set and proposed educational path. I also heard back from two who were not really interested–I really did appreciate the responses. Finally, there was one from UNT in Denton who said he really did not have a PhD slot for me, but he had a grad student that might be able to use the skills I brought to bear for her dissertation and he would be willing to talk to me about collaborating on that. He did not say anything about using that as a way for us to determine whether I might be a good PhD candidate for him in the future, just that he would be willing to collaborate if the project was right. He either did not read the email closely or was looking for a free resources so I marked that one off my list.

Apartment living

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On August 16, 2026

In Texas house

I had pretty much the perfect chair when we lived in Godley, Texas and Oilville, Virginia, but we sold that chair along with the house in Virginia. The chair was a Barcalounger like the one my dad had when I was little. I loved that chair. Now, I have quite a comfortable chair and a wicker ottoman, but it is really not the same. I hope to get a new Barcalounger when we move into the new house, God willing. In the meantime, I have a great setup with a place to put my drink, an overhead lamp, and a window with a nice view while we wait for that.

Tradition and fear

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On August 16, 2026

In God

I am currently reading through the minor prophets in the Old Testament. The thing that came to me, a literal epiphany, is how much I have invested in conformance to and association with specific church traditions, not unlike probably the most visible example being the traditions of the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the New Testament. It is like, intellectual, I understood (understand) the concepts and try to practice them, but have given precedence to the traditions of my community over and above those things that God so clearly revealed in scripture. The further I get down this path away from those presume authority authority that is wholly unwarranted to enforce community traditions, the more I realize that it is only those things God demands and Jesus articulated that should hold sway in my life. Finding those of like mind, giving precedence to God, is what will lead Lorena and I into the kind of fellowship God wants for us.

GRIME3 GUI progress

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On August 15, 2026

In GaugeCam

Not much to say other than everything I have going so far works great. Next step is to be able to create a calibration from scratch.

John graduates

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On August 15, 2026

In Education and scholarship

I have been to a lot of graduation ceremonies, but I have seen absolutely none that surpass those of University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The guy in the left in the photo is Dr. John Stranzl. He just finished his degree under the tutelage of the guy on the right, Dr. Troy Gilmore, who also served as my PhD advisor. This has been a labor of love for all three of us–we hope and expect to continue working together on GRIME Lab projects. These are two of my very best friends in the world. Lorena and I are watching the live stream of the graduation with great joy. We are all very proud of John.

The Experimental Psychology PhD program search begins

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On August 13, 2026

In Education and scholarship

I sent out four emails to Experimental Psychology PhD programs over the last couple of days. The one sent yesterday was to Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas which is close enough so I could attend in-person. That is attractive to me as I am interested in participating in the community and that is not impossible, but harder remotely. I wrote to two additional schools in Texas, Texas Tech in Lubbock and East Texas A&M University in Commerce. It would be possible to drive to those schools a couple times per semester so that would not be a bad compromise if the program and professor is the right match. The last was at University of Alabama Huntsville because it seemed like a very good match with my skill set. I am hoping for a quick answer to get the ball rolling with one or two of them although I am really in no hurry to matriculate.

I am not sure anyone will be interested in taking me on in Experimental Psychology, but I definitely am interested and believe I have a research skill set that could be attractive to the right professor. If I cannot find the right program, I will reset my expectations and look for another field that is fundamentally different than my academic background, but that could benefit from the tools and experience I have to offer.

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