Trees on the Beach, a Blog

I had an itinerary set for my Ecuador trip that starts out flying into Guayaquil, driving to Posojra, then up the coast possibly as far an Tonsupa.  However, I have fallen in love from afar with Santa Marianita.  It's only about 15-20 minutes outside of Manta, which is a fairly major city of 250,000 people, and provides all the luxuries you would expect from a similarly sized American city.  You can even eat American fast food chains like KFC or Papa John's, if you're so inclined.  (I'm not.  I've had enough of that drek.) Many years ago, I saw a picture of a dirt road, still unpaved, going down to the beach in Ecuador.  I found it exciting and beautiful, but did not know where it actually was in Ecuador.  I could imagine myself driving that road in my Jeep.  I saved that picture, but can't seem to locate it now.  Looking at a YouTube video the other day, I realized the video is of the same road I was fixated on so many years ago!  ...

Roughly 1 year, 1 month left. It's November 1, still very early in the morning.  Roughly five full months since my last post, and a lot has changed.  I transferred from my shitty old organization.  The new place is decent.  Low requirements, low reward.  But low reward is the standard for Kentucky state government, so this is actually a step up.  COVID means I'm still working from home.  That's something I never thought I'd see, even though I work in IT.  Something like this had to force Kentucky to allow IT employees to work from home.  Funny.  No idea when or if we're ever going back in the office.  At one time I thought we'd probably be back by now.  Now I'm thinking we won't be back this year, and maybe not next year.  I may be working from home when I retire around December 1, 2021. I've been making plans.  My passport is being renewed now.  I'm headed to Ecuador, probably in January, as an exploratory trip....

A lot has changed since my last blog post.  I bought a house at the beach (a US beach, unfortunately).  I stepped down from a management role and back into programming.  I got full custody of my daughter, which is definitely better for both her and myself.  Not sure what else.  Probably more, but those are the highlights.  I guess if it were a woman's hair, it will be blonde instead of brown.  Those are pretty significant highlights.   I'm still on edge about my job.  I feel like I am in hostile territory.  Anyone who has taken a job they regretted and don't know their peers all that well probably understands what I mean.  But that's okay.  I have a significant career milestone coming up on April 1, and an even more significant one next year.  Next year, I should be eligible for retirement about October or November, depending on the amount of sick time I have banked.  So... and this feels weird to say, but my c...