ChatGPT didn’t do this year justice and even though it is a tradition that I write this around my birthday, I also feel really great about the timing. The timing could not be better to share an annual life update. Despite everything ahead, I’ll do my best to look back instead of forward.
It has now been 8 months since I left Credit Karma in Charlotte, NC. I told Heather who was homesick from the moment we unpacked everything in our rental that this was temporary and in a decade, it’ll feel like a very distant memory with maybe one or two things that she even remembers about that experience with one of which being our having Matilda there and how we have said time and time again, Heather would be dead if she had to deliver that baby at Dartmouth hospital. I’m certain of it. Everything that happened at Atrium Health in Charlotte saved her life and Matilda’s. If Charlotte was a bad time (and it wasn’t), I will be forever grateful that not only did we have Matilda at a time when I had remarkable health insurance but it was a major hospital equipped to deal with our situation and we’re all here now thanks to those doctors and nurses including one nurse in particular who through a routine checkup ordered a platelets and protein blood test because she thought Heather’s vitals were off a bit.
A year ago, I was in New Hampshire wrapping up some time back home with an under 1 year old daughter and staying in our lake home between AirBNB guests dreading the drive back to North Carolina but knowing it was inevitable due to in-office requirements that were going to resume after my 3 months of paternity leave had ran its course. On our last week in NH, we hopped on a plane to Paris and took Matilda to 5 countries in 5 days including Canada so she’s already visited 6 countries before she turned 1 year old. After, I drove the dirt bike south back to NC a week before Heather flew down with Matilda and we resumed our life. We went to some baseball and football games, spent Thanksgiving at my dad’s house in Alabama and visited Asheville and our favorite NC brewery, Fonta Flora. Matilda turned one in NC but we celebrated in NH making another trip back north for a week. I had interviewed at King Arthur Baking and informed them I couldn’t start until 2026 due to some stock vesting and medical appointments I wanted to take care of first and we were so confident that I would get the job that we ended up leaving Porter in New Hampshire with Heather’s parents for 2 months. We returned back to NC and I cast my mail in ballot as an NC resident…Heather as well since she’d be back in NH for a week. Her job at the time was fully remote and she was spending more time back in NH with Matilda and virtually working from our house on weeks it wasn’t booked on AirBNB. I mailed in my ballot and hopped on a plane to Dubai. Three months after I rode my motorcycles from Charlotte to the Arctic Ocean in Alaska, I was in Dubai on a rented bike just like mine for 7 days of riding around UAE and alongside the Oman border with people from all over the world representing the BMW International Council of Clubs. There was work involved as well but this was the last vacation I had before starting my new job.
The election happened while I was in Dubai and I was the only American in our group and I had so many questions from all parts of the political spectrum as if I speak for all Americans. It was…weird.
After getting back from Dubai, I received an offer to join King Arthur Baking. It’s been written about here but how are we doing 8 months in?
Well, no job is easy but I’ve been lucky. There are people who complain about their jobs but that’s not me. I have loved every job I’ve ever had and this one is no different. The challenge comes in everything they expect or would like from me as far as deliverables. The job description is very long, it touches every part of the business and it requires not just my knowledge but also strategic partnering and bring clarity to things that when I started, I didn’t even understand myself. I’m getting more familiar with the business but there’s still a lot to learn. They’re happy with me. I met expectations for my first review and I’m good there. I really don’t aim for exceeds expectations…that’s when burnout sets in. I want to have a work life balance, do a great job, make everyone’s lives better and my presence to be appreciated by my peers. Exceeds is not sustainable and I’ve lived that before and would like to just meet their expectations and do a great job. I’ll probably visit one of our plants this year and retail stores and maybe fulfillment centers. I need to understand the entire business in and out so I can work to make our operations as efficient and scalable as possible. It’s not an easy job. I miss the people at Credit Karma and I miss the benefits. I don’t miss Charlotte NC like I expected and if I could transplant CK, its people and the job up to Vermont, I would. It was a really great gig but my role at King Arthur is the next step in my career. I’m glad they’re seeing the value I’m adding.
The transition going from any city to where we are has been tough. I needed some wheels remanufactured and had to drive 2 hours south to get that work performed. I’ve needed things like window tinting and to pickup a part and every time, I’m driving 2 hours away for something that used to be local. New car needs a full detailing and ceramic coating? 2 hours drive south just for an estimate then 2 hours back and forth again to leave the car there and a few days later, 2 hours each way to pick it up. It’d be the same with any sort of medical issue. Yes we have a local hospital but I don’t trust them so I’d be driving to Boston for anything beyond a normal check up. We’re in a food desert and anything other than pizza requires a special trip. It’s frankly…depressing. For all of my complaining, it’s been so great to be back in an area without traffic, few people and access to trails, forests, lake, hiking and camping has been really amazing even if I’ve been too busy to be outdoors as much as I was when living here before with just one job and no child.
Since our move back, if you eliminate taking care of Matilda, my new job, my other new job teaching project management classes and agile and remove motorcycling, camping and other activities, there really isn’t much time for anything else. Yes I bought a convertible for Matilda…we call it her car and so she thinks it’s hers and I bought an enduro dirt bike that I’ve been restoring and of course camping out a few times, hiking, running and trying to stay in shape but when you look at free time among everything there, I really don’t have much free time left. Life is full of choices and I’ve made a choice to work 2 jobs, have a baby, live in New Hampshire and spend time restoring old bikes and cars versus time out riding / driving them. It’s been…fun but a month goes by and I really don’t know where the time went. It’s just gone.
While the biggest news of the year will be essentially a new home after we’re done remodeling our house for a second time, that entire project will take place and finish after I turn 39 and before I’ve turned 40 so I’ll have to save that event for next year.
Coming off a trip to the arctic circle before I turned 38 followed by a move 1000 miles away from charlotte in addition to a new job, keeping the weight off, buying an old BMW and dirt bike, getting all of the progress toward starting our home renovation and finally, continuing to raise and spend lots of times with Matilda oh and starting another new job all within 12 months. Not bad and while it was not the ‘best year ever’ and I think that was 37 to 38, I’m pretty darn proud of everything accomplished this year. It’s also the first time I had a financial planner sit down and tell me how I’m on track to retire at 65. That was great to hear. I’m not actually looking forward to retiring in 25 years but being on track is huge.
In 2025, I did visit Charlotte NC to go to Credit Karma’s holiday party in January that ended up being cancelled due to an ice storm, then Fasnacht Day in Helvetia WV with Heather, Miami for Ultra Music Festival with Ben, DC solo for a project management class and I saw a Nationals and Mets game which was fantastic. Finally I did Nashville for a BMW event and then multiple trips to Boston since May to teach classes which have been great. They’re on weekends and don’t get in the way of my day job. The work is hard but it pays well and is an investment into my long term career. I’ve written about that new job on this blog. I hope to keep it up for the next 4-6 years at least.
I think that about covers it. I’ll do another post about the house remodel once we have broken ground and of course, a birthday post for Matilda since she’s turning 2 this year. I also have my anniversary with Heather which will be 11 or 12 years since our first date in December. Pretty crazy how fast time flies in life. For my birthday, we’ll be going to Hen of the Wood in Waterbury. I’ve wanted to go for over a decade and while the restaurant is partially on my shit list for firing a bunch of people during COVID-19 while still taking payment protection loans, I am going to let that slide and enjoy some delicious food overlooking their kitchen.
Happy birthday to me. Here’s to another which will see me hitting 40 years old in just one year.