Looking at some real data¹ in Allocate, Allovue’s tool for resource allocation modeling. Two different funding formulas, with a total cost with in 0.5% of each other. Look at the swings on a per-school basis.

Without reviewing results, both models seem like reasonable choices. The variance is astonishing.

Forgot to take a picture of the mac and cheese.

The last few weeks I have been experimenting with a new focus mode setting. I call it Down Time, and I now have it turned on most of the time when I am not working or in Sleep.

The only notifications I receive are messages from Elsa. I have no apps on the Home Screens for Down Time. All widgets, except for my home row.

I originally let a few other people and apps “through” my notifications. Turns out, there’s really no app that deserves to break through. Maybe something like Flighty when traveling. And the people? I pretty quickly realized that no one I talk to had any expectation of immediate responses always. They sure don’t respond right away most of the time. So it turns out letting them notify me was more like feeling good someone “liked” my post on social media. It was about a little endorphin hit because someone was thinking of me. Those hits are hollow though, and the addiction is shockingly easy to break.

Overall, the feeling is one of just a little more quiet. I like that in focus modes I can still see there are non-Elsa notifications when/if I want to look. I check my phone often enough that I don’t really miss anything— sometimes there’s a message that’s been sitting around for 10-30 minutes. I never miss anything critical, and I check my phone often enough that nothing sits for hours unless I let it intentionally. Maybe this is more extreme than how you want to spend your weekends, but I would strongly recommend zero-basing your phone and only adding back what you miss. It will probably be less than you think.

I guess she had too much to eat this holiday.

Home again

Dwell is thinking about how to define a “livable” city. It seemed like it was going well until the last criteria— community agency. If I’ve been convinced of anything when it comes to planning, it’s that concentrating power locally preclude all other elements of livability.

Trying something new this vacation, which may turn into my new evening and weekend routine. No app Home Screen. No notifications except from Elsa.

Milk and cookies at a bar with a book? Alright.

We take our hot sauce seriously.

She knows how to make me feel loved and appreciated.

The colors this morning.

Coming Soon

After presenting at the annual conference of the Colorado Association of School Business Officials (on equity-based budgeting), I got to stick around for a weekend in Vail about a week post peak foliage. No complaints about being back on the road for work.

Sometimes it’s a real sacrifice to travel for work.

Weekend flowers

New Jamaican spot in Baltimore— we will return.

Busy morning

These may just look like oysters shared with a friend, but actually they represent a small restoration of myself.

Took advantage of the gorgeous weather yesterday with a short mid-day walk to what is possibly my favorite pandemic discovery in Baltimore, Druid Hill Park’s Zen Garden.

Some things happening now:

• Weight loss has gone well since returning to the gym in April 2021. I am about as fit as I’ve ever been in my adult life. I’m not feeling a lot of strain with keeping up with my physical health, so I’m hoping to keep this rolling, permanently. For whatever reason, this time everything is working.
• That vacation to Tulum was both great and terrible – we got away, we rode bikes, we hung out on the beach, and we ate some great food. It was nice to be active somewhere else. But for days during that trip I had a sinking feeling. Anxiety? Stress? I’m not sure. But I found the idle time challenging, and I think overall my feeling was, “Uh oh, that’s a lot of emotional weight from the past year and a half and I think it’s all catching up right now.”
• So this summer has been mentally hard. I’ve had good days and bad days. I’ve been meditating lately, and I think maybe that’s helping. But the whole pandemic has been hard and the delta variant snatching away what normalcy I was starting to feel has been devastating.
• We’re going on more vacations, and I’m quite excited, because I’ve learned the alternative is a greater risk to my health right now.
• I picked up the pace of reading this summer and it feels great.
• I’ve logged out and deleted the Twitter apps (and all tweets, which happens after 60 days anyway). I’ve reduced some of my RSS subscriptions. I turned off easily finding my archives on the blog. This is not meant to be permanent, just seeking some additional quiet. I need a reset. I am allowing too many things out of my control to impact my emotions.

Feel free to email me if you’d like to correspond and you don’t have my phone number.

Here are a couple of recent dog pictures.

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