Little Kat Graduates

This past summer, Little Kat completed his final requirements to graudate from community college. He ended his career there on a high note. Both his last semesters, he earned a 4.0 GPA. Not bad considering he took some technical courses.

This week Little Kat received a package in the mail from his community college. I thought it looked important because it said "don't bend". However the size seemed a bit small for a diploma. It was at most 8x10 inches. It was indeed the diploma though.

I guess Little Kat will need to earn a Bachelors degree from a four year university to get a bigger diploma. He has started working on that. For now, I suspect he will frame his small community college diploma on the wall. I have my two diplomas from my undergraduate and graduate degrees hanging on the wall in my study.

Chainsaw Time

A huge branch fell off a neighbor's tree and landed in our yard. Luckily it did not damage. It was a close call. I used my hand saw as best as I could to cut up the pieces. The main trunk of the branch was too huge. I dragged it behind the shed.

My brother spotted a dead tree on our property right behind our fence. I contracted a company to come cut it down. Also asked them to trim a huge branch growing into our house. They came and cut the dead tree with a chainsaw. They also climbed the other tree and cut the branch with a chainsaw.

I decided to finally purchase a chainsaw of my own. Ordered it from Amazon. It was an off brand. But it was 25% off and cost around $100. It came but the directions were not too clear. Took a while to figure out how to install the chain. Then it would not start. WTF?

Finally after another read of the manual, I determined the 3 buttons I had to press to turn it on. It was quiet probably due to it being battery powered. It made light work of the huge branch from the neighbor. Done in well under 30 minutes. It would have taken me more than 3 months of pain to do it with a hand saw.

Potential Car Trouble

My car displayed some weird symbol on the dash. I could not bring up any warning messages. Little Kat thought it might have to do with low tire pressure. After driving a bit, a screen came up complaining about the rear tire pressure on both sides.

It was hot. So I put off dealing with it to the next day. I had trouble finding the required tire pressure on the driver side door jamb. It was really low, close to the ground. I took a picture with my phone and zoomed in.

Apparently I need 43PSI in all four tires. I used Kit Kat's air compressor to fill both back tires. Got my fingers dirty taking off the stem caps. When I drove, the car still complained. Now it thought the front tires needed more air. I filled them up too.

The last straw was the car complaining about the front passenger side tire. It detected 43PSI. That is the required amount. After a long drive to my old neighborhood, the warning message went away.

Recliner Chair Shopping

My brother and I went to the county dump. We brought my old broke down recliner chair. It was stuck in the reclined position permanently. I looked up some local furniture shops. Momoko and I went shopping this weekend.

The first store was near the big city far to the North. I let Google Maps direct me there. Once close, Momoko told me to take a hard right onto an exit. It was the wrong way. After a U-turn, we found ourselves in a low income neighborhood.

This was my kind of area for shopping. I am positive the locals don't pay much for furniture. We pulled into a store in the basement of a warehouse. I was surprised that there was hardly any customers parked outside.<.br>
A salesman approached us immediately. I told him I wanted a recliner chair. I did not want a rocker or one that swivels. I told him I preferred one that had power reclining abilities. He said they had exactly one in the store.

The salesman took us to a light blue chair. I sat on it and it felt fine. I asked if I could test the power reclining. The sales guy checked, but there was no plug connected to the chair. He asked other salesmen and searched, but oculd not find the plug.

I was pleased that the chair cost only $300. Normally the low end power reclining ones go for $400. I asked the sales guy where I could pick up the chair if I bought it. He said their warehosue was closed due to COVID. He said they only deliver. Cost was $200. But he said he could cut that down to $100. I noped out of there.

Changing Colleges

This summer, Little Kat took his last college class for his Associates degree. He has been admitted to a four year college to get his Bachelors degree. Classes start in about one week.

Little Kat's degree will be in Computer Tecnology. Initially he was going to specialize in Cybersecurity. However that track is no longer offered at his college. So instead he will be focused on Network Enterprise Infrastructure.

Momoko and I are still not convinced he is in the right specialty. The goal is for him to be in the are where we think he has the best chance of getting good grades and graduating. Little Kat wants to have a computer forensics job. That is a bit of a niche. So we are having him think about a backup job if forensics falls through.

Tree Work

While on vacation, my brother called me worried about a dead tree we had on our property. He said the high winds from recent storms made this a danger. I told him I would check it out when I got home. Initially I had overlooked this tree, as it is on our property, but behind our back fence. It did look dangerous.

I indentified three tree companies and called them up. Thought I should get 3 estimates for tree removal. My brother also mentioned some other large tree branches that were growing onto our back roof. I noticed them before. So I figured I should get a quote for that trimming too.

The first company came out promptly and quoted me $1500 for everything. That seemed steep. I thought it would be half the price. The guy said they would come out with a lift so their guys would not have to climb any trees. I waited for the other two vendors, but they never even showed up to estimate the jobs.

Meeting on College

Momoko and I meet weekly with Little Kat to discuss college. Now that his summer community college class is over, we talk more about the future. Specifically we talk about his 4 year college program, degree track, and subsequent career. We gave him an action item last week to research Indeed for job details for his intended career.

Little Kat located three job titles surrounding the computer foresics industry. There were only a total of 50 entry level jobs available locally. The starting pay was good. Most needed at least one technical ceritication. Some wanted experience and/or a polygraph. There was a mix of degrees required for the jobs.

I was a bit concerned about the total number of jobs available. Luckily Little Kat has decided on a cybersecurity track. That field has a lot of other more general jobs that he could qualify for. Still, I think we need to think hard about what goals Little Kat is shooting for. And we should identify steps needed to increase his probably of success a landing a good job.