Happy Sunday everyone! I’m having one of the most relaxing summers of my adult life this year. I gave up baseball and opted to golf as often as possible, which has led to a much more gratifying sense of relaxation. Golf has allowed me to take in the fresh air. It has allowed me to practice and develop a new skill. It’s even allowed me to connect with some old friends.

Golf has been the core of a wonderful summer so far.

I’ve also travelled a fair bit (at least a fair bit for a prairie boy like me). We spent a long weekend at the lake and a long weekend in Toronto. I took a long road trip with a friend to Seattle. I’ve skipped work a few times to just get outside, and we’ve utilized our extra large hot tub for some plunge pooling on the rare hot Manitoba day. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to get away from the office.

I’m noticing a few things as a result:

First, I’m feeling more creative at this time of the year than normal. Plenty of technological inspiration usually hits in September when Apple announces its latest and greatest iPhones, and that inspiration usually runs right to Christmas. But that inspiration isn’t technological this year, and it’s hitting far earlier than normal.

Second, I’m feeling more inspired at work — less so about doing the work, but more so about working on the business Itself. I’m considering a fairly large operational change, and a burnt out Josh would have no time for an operational change. I have found the time to think about areas I want to hone and improve, areas I would like to continue to excel at, and areas I feel are weaknesses that require long-term focus and patience. All this, despite by far the most successful we’re we’ve had.

I’m also noticing an excitement to get back into routine. We’re one week away from school starting for our little ones — our middle kiddo starts full-day grade 1 classes in just a few weeks time! — and we’re all excited for routine, structure, and some monotony. Cooler weather also brings opportunities to relax in the hot tub and enjoy long conversations about life with my wife. All this and more await us in the coming September.

Given the great result of a little rest, I expect we’re going to attempt something we’ve never tried before: a hot vacation in February. I know almost nobody who has never ventured to Mexico, the Caribbean, or Hawaii for a hot vacation to escape the brutally cold Manitoba winter months. I truly think I could count on one hand the number of people I know who haven’t travelled in the winter. It’s like a rite of passage or something. I sincerely hope a seven or eight day stay provides just enough rest to get through the rest of a brutal tax season.

This summer has provided at least a glimpse into what it’s like to take an actual vacation. Sixteen years of taking summer courses, working extra summer jobs, battling through infant children exhausting every waking minute of the day — they all culminated in six of the most relaxing summer periods of my life this year.

I’m truly grateful.

Children of You

This is already a year or more old, but David Heinemeier Hansson touching on what it means to be a parent is excellent:

But I do think this is the most common feeling. An easy commitment to self sacrifice, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to keep them safe. That's a transcendental shift in experience.

It illustrates the difference between "meaning" and "happiness" perfectly. In almost all cases, children bring a deep, profound meaning to the life of those who have them. Happiness comes and goes, but the meaning of being directly connected by DNA to a human you brought into this world is ever lasting.

I appreciate Hansson’s unwillingness to tackle anything politically in this post. Instead, he simply attempts to use words to describe what it means to be a father.

The blurb about happiness really struck me. I’d like to add a small concept of my own, though: joy.

“Happiness” to me has become a bit of a deceptive word. Happiness is fleeting, dependent on a situation, and nearly always undergirded by sorrow in some other areas. Happiness, like the term “love”, has been manipulated to fit one’s desires.

“Joy” is more wholesome, most often derived from The Lord, and knows few time constraints. Joy depicts gratefulness, satisfaction, and contentedness. Joy is far deeper and shines outward, like a lighthouse on a hill.

I was finishing my designation when my oldest two were infants. We never left the house. We didn’t sleep a complete night for three straight years. We worked a ton. I specifically remember questioning myself, as every other father always lit up when you asked them about their kids, and I started to think something was wrong with me.

In hindsight, that was happiness talking. Just like happiness and sorrow, the struggles were fleeting. Underlying all of that was a sense of joy I was just waiting to discover.

My wife and I were and are building together. We were building a home, not a house. We were building a legacy, not an inheritance. We learned what it was like to put something bigger than ourselves first, no matter how much sleep it allowed us to get or if it got in the way of our careers. We chose to live in a small Manitoba community close to our parents, even though opportunity knocked from the biggest cities in the country.

Children, for us, has meant something deeper than happiness. It has built an underlying foundation of joy that no earthly item or achievement could fill. They are pure and perfect gifts from heaven above.

Seattle 2025 Photo Set

I have this aging and stagnant photography page here on The Newsprint, which I truly don’t update often enough. Shame, really. So every time I get on an airplane (or jump in a car) and venture somewhere new, I will do my best to throw some of my favourite photos into the mix.

I only had about three or four hours in Seattle a few weeks ago, so the photo story isn’t too extensive. This said, I don’t feel like you can take a bad photo of the city — Seattle is so green and so beautiful that any photo and any photographer will do the trick.

Head over to the above link to find a few of my favourites from my short stay. Needless to say, I truly hope to take my family there one day.

The Second Cup

If Apple were to make a mechanical keyboard - Lofree Flow 2

The first of three YouTube tech videos this week. My pal Marius has a Lofree keyboard and may be the best-feeling low-profile mechanical keyboard I’ve ever tried.

Google Pixel 10/Pro/Fold Impressions: Magnets!

I’ll have to divulge my latest research projects at some point, but let’s just say Google has caught some of my attention this past week or two.

Notion Mail is my favorite part of Superhuman for free

The third of three YouTube tech videos as part of this week’s Second Cup. I have also discontinued Superhuman recently, as I figured I could allocate the savings to a pretty impressive app. If I walk the path of moving the office’s collaboration software to Google Workspace, Notion Mail will be one of the key reasons for the change.

Happy Sunday. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.