Kimberly KG

I don’t really want to talk about the “big news” in the US, except to say that blaming/threatening the “radical left” when the shooter hasn’t been found doesn’t seem like the best course of action. Nor do I think that would make things better (by my definition of better) at any time.

Instead I’m going to post a picture of this little project I made to give away at a stitching event I’m going to with my sister this weekend.

Many years ago, I was tasked with defining a new architecture for getting pricing data into all stores globally for a ~$50B company. As you’d imagine, they were pretty concerned about making sure this was done well so I had to get buy-in for my design from many, many teams. The first bunch of meetings I lead went well, but at some point I started feeling like I was repeating myself (I was, but not to those people!) and so I started omitting crucial details. Fortunately, one of my teammates was good about making sure any gaps in my explanations were filled.

I was reminded of this yesterday.

Last night was the final session of the latest core (woodworking) tools class I’ve been helping to run. The main tool we cover in that session is the table saw. It’s the tool that most* students are particularly worried about and the tool that most shop attendants are nervous about when it comes to newer woodworkers. The instructor I was working with for the class is usually very consistent. Usually. Last night though, he was highly focused on the final part of the process for making a rip cut on the table saw while glossing over other important details. It turns out he was recently helping a new woodworker that kept getting kickback because she wasn’t clearing the wood after the cut was finished. Fortunately, we’ve led this class together enough times that I felt quite comfortable filling the gaps.

Being consistent is hard. It’s good to have people you can trust to help.

*Last night, one of the students was having so much fun. “Wee, this cuts like butter!” I’m glad she was having fun. I reminded her (in different words) that wood isn’t the only thing those tools cut like butter. A little bit of anxiety is a good thing sometimes. (SawStops are good too.)

This happened a couple days ago.

Sixteen hundred days “studying” German. After all this time, I can often get a general sense of what people are saying in short social media posts and many articles, but my comprehension of anything spoken is quite low.

The other streak I have going is that I’ve been sewing or stitching something every single day since January 1st of either 2021 or 2022. I would need to look back at my planner to figure it out. I didn’t plan to do this, I had just worked on a sewing project every day for the first week that year, which turned into the first month, which turned into this. Two stitches done one night when I had COVID had to be ripped out the next day when I could get my eyes to focus, but I’m still counting them.

There are at least a couple other activities that I’d like to do daily. Maybe I’ll start treating them as streaks too.

Last Friday I heard from two different companies that I would most likely be getting job offers this week. There was a definite sense of relief Friday night.

Saturday though, I could barely keep my eyes open. I thought I might be getting sick, but I woke up from my fourth (!!!) nap finally feeling like myself.

By the end of the day Tuesday, I had two solid offers. Both at companies with people that greatly impressed me in the interviews, both at companies I had been referred to by people I would like to work with, both jobs I would almost certainly enjoy and continue to grow in. The titles are different, but not significantly. The pay is different, but not significantly. I am so grateful for this outcome, but also… saying no to something potentially great is really hard.

How did I choose? One of the companies had an interview process that gave me more time to ask questions of them. That led to a really great discussion about engineering culture, growth and trade-offs. It also led to having a better understanding of the people I would be leading and the struggles they are facing as a company. The other company had no red flags at all, I just didn’t get a chance to ask enough questions. Saying no to them was really painful.

Somehow it seems the emotions with accepting a new job have been more pronounced than those of being laid off 3 months ago. All that being said, I’ve accepted a new position with people I’m excited to work with! I need to celebrate!! 😊

First though, I think I’ll take a nap.

Tonight was the start of the 2025-2026 Broadway in Portland series for us with Some Like It Hot. It was a fun show. The costumes were incredible and there was a scene with doors that was really amazing.

The new(ish) collections feature on Micro.blog is a nice way to show all the program covers from the shows we’ve seen. I might play with that some more though.

One of the services the local woodworking guild offers is estate sales. When a member passes away or is moving, the guild has a team of volunteers that will come in and help the member/their family sell their woodworking tools and supplies for a reasonable price.

One of our members recently moved and wasn’t going to have space at his new home for a shop. We went to the sale to acquire a floor-standing drill press. Our existing tabletop one is fine, but so tiny! When my husband backed his Chevy Bolt into the driveway to load our new drill press, the reaction from all the volunteers was pretty funny but they all jumped in to help and it worked out just fine.

One of the things in the shop that was NOT for sale, however, was this gorgeous handmade clock.

This post by @birming reminded me of this.

Having my daughter back at home has been great for many reasons, but one unexpected bit of fun is that this the first time in nearly 30 years that I’ve lived with someone else that likes coffee.

My parents both drank a lot of coffee and so did all of their children. There were fights over someone not making a fresh pot if they finished off the last of the coffee in my childhood home. My kids were never interested in coffee (and it wasn’t something I wanted to push), but college life resulted in coffee drinking!

It’s great to have someone else to sit and enjoy a nice hot drink with in the morning. It’s also nice to have someone else that understands. 😝

I have a drip coffee maker that I pull out when people (my caffeine addicted sister, mostly) stay with us. I thought I’d switch away from my AeroPress with having another person here drinking coffee every day, but I haven’t. The couple moments of joy that come with making that delicious cup of coffee every morning are too compelling. ☕ ☕ ☕

It’s nice to be able to take a walk through one of my favorite places on a weekday morning.

I hadn’t wandered through the bamboo garden before today. This sculpture was a nice treat.

Our new-college-grad daughter moved back in this week while she figures out what her next steps will be. Finding space for much of the stuff from her apartment is going to be interesting, but at the moment the house feels a little chaotic. As my husband said, “There’s almost space to live in this house.”

Having her home is a real treat though so I’ll take the chaos!

I lucked out in the marriage department. Twenty one years ago I married a sweet, intelligent, adorable human that still makes me want to be a better version of myself.

Did I mention he’s adorable?!

Cleaning out the neglected corners of my office I found an old notebook with a wild variety of things. Workshops I attended, notes about jobs I haven’t had for a long time, so many to-do lists, and the complete set of notes from the online R programming class I took.

It was mostly rather mundane but November 17th, 2014 I wrote, “20 minutes of bliss sitting on a train.” That was a nice day.

Change is good

By itself at the top of a sheet of paper. Not a bad reminder at the moment.

Life has been busy lately so I’m just going to post some pretty pictures. I love my yard in the spring.

My son texted to say not to watch any trailers or look up anything, just run to the theater as fast as possible to see Sinners. “The less of your life you have to live without that movie the better.”

While this is not usually my kind of movie, I’m sharing that advice too. The movie is incredible.

I’m not going to give any details away, but I’ve added a new musician to my Spotify playlist as well. I think I might just go see the movie again next weekend too.

Spring in our yard is colorful. We have several rhododendron bushes that bloom at different times. One of the neighbors mentioned that she counts the white rhodie in my backyard blooming as the start of spring, regardless of what the calendar says. At the moment however, this pink one is the star. People in the neighborhood have said they plan their walking routes to include our street just to see this one plant.

The rhodies aren’t the only colorful thing though. This corner of my yard makes both me and the bees happy.

As it’s Easter, I suppose I’ll include this bunny that startled me (and then itself) earlier this week.

Finished reading: Leviathan Falls by James S. A. Corey 📚

I suspect it was about a year ago (probably more) that I started this series at the recommendation of a neighbor. He suggested it one evening at trivia and then showed up at my house with the first 3 books the following day. He was pretty serious about the recommendation.

I rather hope that we, as a species, survive long enough to get to a point where it’s feasible to live in space long term and explore beyond our solar system. Beyond the thrill of imagining the possibilities and empathizing with all the struggles they face, stories that include well-intentioned people with kind hearts stumbling through life’s challenges pull me right in.

I’ll make a plan to watch the show soon. The same neighbor that dropped off the books said he may have enjoyed the show more.

I’m looking forward to reading something different though. I’m rejoining my old book club and I’m already behind on the reading for this month.

Last Saturday, Matt and I went to the Portland Winter Light Festival. I hadn’t been before and didn’t know what to expect. My takeaway: A nighttime Maker Faire meant to cheer you up in the dead of winter. There are installations spread around Portland, but we went to just a couple locations. Tonight is the final night for this year.

World Trade Center

There were many fun and interactive exhibits here, both inside and out. This is just a small subset.

The dragon on the south waterfront was very cool. The fire was hot from where we were standing, I wouldn’t want to be standing right underneath it.

Pioneer Courthouse Square

This was probably my favorite installation. The lights subtly changed colors.

I love the community spirit in Portland. I didn’t take any good photos of individual costumes, but people are lovely and creative.

Another display here was a door that had a different scene behind it every time you opened it. Sometimes you were looking at a beautiful nebula and other times, there was a dinosaur running at you. My photos didn’t do it justice though.

Creativity, color, fire AND community. What’s not to love?

I filled my time this weekend with some sewing. I had been wanting to make a bag for my daughter to hold some of her art supplies for a while. I didn’t remember the pattern/steps well so I did an experiment first.

I made several mistakes on this first one, but it turned out well enough. It’s missing the tabs though.

This is the bag for my daughter. I’m happy with how it turned out. (She was excited when I sent her the pictures too. I suppose that’s what matters! Ha!)

Then I thought I’d make this tiny one with cork, which came together really quickly. I haven’t sewn with cork before. Is it usually very, VERY thin? The bag is adorable, but I think I’ll remake it with interfacing so it feels a bit more solid.