Dear Stakeholders

It’s been about six weeks since I left my job, and I wanted to give you an update on how it’s going.

As you know I’m currently in Phase I of my unemployment, and you’ll doubtless recall that Phase I has the following themes:

• personal decompression;
• reunion with family;
• recovering some level of physical fitness; and
• making some local connections.

I’ll update you briefly on progress in each area below.

Decompression

I feel that I’ve made good ground here.

No doubt at all I’m more relaxed and happy than I was at the beginning of 2015. I’ve read more books in the last month than in the previous year. My personal to-do list, a miscellany of long-neglected tasks and projects, is shrinking nicely. Fix-its around the new house are being addressed; various domestic technology bugs (Wi-Fi, TiVo, Apple TV…) have been squashed.

I’ve even resurrected the drone:

I’ve enjoyed unstructured alone-time in glorious quantities, and am allowing myself to feel no guilt for having absolutely nothing tangible to show for it. I’ve even slept until 10am once or twice (thanks Wendy and kids!).

An area which remains in need is my Pocket reading list, which is as bottomless as ever.

Reunion with family

Solid progress in this area, too. Wendy and I are spending more time together than we have for years, and I daresay we’re both enjoying that. I’ve taken pleasure in school drop-offs and pick-ups many times each week. I’ve learned new recipes — some more successful than others — and cook for the family more than ever.

As a family this year we’ve so far been to the zoo, to the natural history museum, to the butterfly pavilion, swimming a bunch, to brunch at least weekly, sledding, and on a handful of bike rides. We have a family vacation (Palm Springs, CA) with old friends on the books for March.

Physical fitness

The major milestone here was joining a local gym in the first half of January. By now I’ve been there 36 of the last 40 days — a level of attendance I intend to maintain. I already feel great for it, but considerably more work is needed to recover ground lost over the last five years.

I’ve been out on my bike less than I expected. I anticipate getting out more as the weather improves, although free daycare at the gym will continue to sing its siren song: being able to get a workout, a steam, and relieve Wendy of the kids is an alluring prospect indeed.

Local connections

I’m delighted to report more success here than I’d thought possible. Thanks to generous introductions, serendipity, and a vibrant Boulder scene I’ve met some amazing folks here over the last six months. A bunch of us even had dinner together last week, and I’d say it was great.

A few locals I’ve been lucky enough to get to know recently: Rob Leathern, Eric Budd, Moishe Lettvin, Carlos Álvarez-Aranyos, Dan McGrath, Jud Valeski. I’m meeting Dave Heal next week… please holler if you know Boulder-based people I should know.

Looking forward

You can expect Phase I of unemployment to last for a little while longer, and to remain aligned with the four themes above. Stay tuned for further updates, and an outline of Phase II.