Jim Dabrowski

Been a bit. Finished up the topping lift and topping lift tackle several days ago. 

Today I just finished up the mast mast hoops on the main sail. 

All that’s left are the quarter lifts and the flag halyards and then the ship is finished!

JIm

I’ll start by saying I don’t think Justin Fields will ever be a top-tier quarterback. I think he lacks the anticipation and instincts necessary to be in that top tier. He’ll forever be in Sando’s second-tier of quarterbacks—someone you can win “with", but not very often win "because of”. 

That said, I find myself wondering, what some other coaches could do if they had Fields on their team? What would he look like with McVay in LA, Shanahan in SF, Sirianni in Philly or even with LaFleur in Green Bay? Those coaches have shown they can get the most out of whoever they have quarterbacking for them. I know the conventional wisdom is Fields should or will go to Atlanta, but I still wonder just how great he’d be if he was on any of those other teams? If, like me, you think that would be pretty amazing to see, you really have to wonder about the coaching staff currently employed by the Chicago Bears. 

JIm

Main throat halyard and main peak halyard rigged. 

Also rigged up the main boom sheet (the triple block in the middle), and boom crutch tackle (the two on the sides). 

Just need the boom lift, and the quarter lifts and the rigging is complete. Getting closer. 

Hoisting the main sail in progress.

Reef bands and points completed on the main sail and sail attached to the main boom. getting closer!

Fore sail is finally finished!

Three down, one to go. 

Mast Hoops!

Got all the mast hoops on the fore mast tied to the fore sail. 

I made a giant hoho for dessert. Its very yummy.

Started reading this the other day: Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson 📚. Interesting so far.

As professional software engineers working on large code bases, there are always things that are wrong, small bugs to fix, code that can be improved, etc. When working on some issue or bug fix, it's tempting to just fix these other little things to clean up the code. This may be the right thing to do, or it may not. As software engineers we sometimes have to be disciplined and focused in our work. Keep our work contained to the specific issue we're addressing, get that fixed and get it out the door. Then, once that's done, come back and fix that other issue you found. Depending on the work environment you're in, that work might need to be documented and accounted for. It may need to be prioritized and scheduled by a product team or by a project manager. Your fingers might be itching to "just fix it since I'm right here" but it's possible that little fix could introduce other, unforeseen side-effects. I'll never advocate for ignoring or not helping fix things in your software that are broken, but it can be a sign of a more mature software engineer to know when to not fix something that's broken.

JIm

I told my wife not to go too close to the edge but she wouldn’t listen. ;-)

I think this is a red Alpine Rose at the Idaho Botanical Gardens in Boise.

Nice language to read.

I don’t really like doing game prediction posts because usually I don’t have any significant thoughts about what will happen. This time, however I do have some things to say and it’s not good.

Let me start with what I want to happen. I want to see Justin Fields sling the ball all over the field to his superstar receiver. I want to see him run the Packers ragged trying to stop him. I want to be saying, “Wow, the offensive and defensive lines might just be good this season.” Unfortunately, I don’t think any of that will actually happen.

Last season the Bears run defense was one of if not the worst in the entire NFL. All off-season I heard again and again that they haven’t done enough to address the line and that they’re going to be bad on run defense again this season. The Packers have one of if not the best offensive lines in the NFL. The Packers have one of if not the best running back tandems in the NFL. The Packers have a QB who is effectively a rookie and an injured and inexperienced WR corps that doesn’t look all that good. What do you think the Packers are going to do? They’re going to run the ball right down the Bears throats all game long. They’ll be ripping off carries of five to seven yards every time. Then, when the Bears start to load the box with eight or nine guys to try to stop the run, we’ll find out Jordan Love actually can throw the ball pretty well. It’s not going to be pretty and by the end the defense will have been on the field for the majority of the game and won’t be able to stop anything.

The only positive in all this is hopefully Fields will have some success, but he’ll still likely be running for his life way too often due to an injured, inexperienced, ineffective line. Hopefully he’ll keep the game close, but won’t be on the field enough to make a difference. I just hope he doesn’t get injured in all this.

This game is going to leave Packers fans delirious with joy when Jordan Love says in his post-game press conference that they still own the Bears, while Bears fans will be shocked into silence wondering if they’re facing another 10-15 years of Packer dominance in what used to be a rivalry but has long since devolved into a regular ass-whooping of no importance.

Wow, that’s depressing. Sorry.

JIm

That’s Clingmans Dome overlook at Great Smoky Mountains National Park over yonder!

View of a cypress forest in Congaree National Park

An orange house in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia CA

What a precious kitten.

#abstract

Training camp is over. Teams have been pared down to 53 and the bottom of the roster shuffling has begun. I’ve listened to way too many podcasts and read way too many articles about how the Bears and other teams have looked. It’s time to update my win prediction ranges for each team in the NFC North.

Lions 9-11 wins I just don’t know what to make of the Lions. Their coach is fun, they still make curious player decisions, but they look to be on the upswing.

Packers 8-10 wins Much to the dismay of Bears fans, Jordan Love will be good and despite some ups and downs due to the team’s overall lack of experience, the Packers will be a team to watch in 2024.

Vikings 7-9 wins Coming down to earth a bit from last year’s over-achieving, they still have talent and will look OK but their future is uncertain.

Bears 6-8 wins Six to eight wins is a dramatic improvement over last season’s 3 wins but they’re still going to need more help on their lines, both offense and defense.

Unfortunately for me, this is how I see the division playing out. I think my beloved Bears wind up in last place again, but with 2 first round picks next year—theirs and the Panther’s—they should be in a good place to add even more talent to the team.

Wait til next year! (said every year)

Go Bears!

JIm

Running Lights The ship gets red and green running lights on the sides. I ended up losing the die cast ones that came with the kit so I bought the little brass ones and stuck a red and green glass bead in them. Then I built the little platforms they rest on and finally got them mounted.

Third Time’s a Charm

Once again the jib is done and rigged! My wife and sailmaker was unhappy with the previous one. The sewing of the lines stretched the fabric out of shape and she was really unhappy with it. So, cut it off and re-do it! We think we’re happy with this one.

Today I was asked a question about how important Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is in the workplace. And while I think I did OK answering it, my feelings on the matter are a bit more complex and I wanted to take some time to write them out.

We all grow up in a culture. By that I mean all the things we’re told are right and wrong, good and bad, the right way to dress, the wrong way to behave, etc. All these lessons come from a variety of sources: our immediate families, extended families, the television, the friends we hang out with, the churches we attend even the country in which you grew up and even the region within that country. As we grow up, we incorporate all these concepts into our being. They shape how we think and how we feel. This is all perfectly normal.

However, the cultures we’re in change. Sometimes they change because we move. Maybe to another country, or to another region within our country. Maybe you change churches or change friends. When we do that, we’re exposed to different cultures. But even if we stay put and never leave our home town, the culture there still changes over time. The things that used to be “right” are now “wrong” and some of the things that used to be “wrong” are now “acceptable”. I’m sure everyone reading this can already think of examples of this they’ve experienced in their lifetime. Again, this is normal.

The thing is, most, or maybe all, of those things we grew up with, that we’ve incorporated into our belief system as being the right way or the wrong way of doing things or behaving, or looking aren’t absolutes. They’re a product of the culture we grew up in at the time we grew up in it. The culture of today, that is shaping the lives of children right now, is no better or worse than the one I grew up in. It’s just different.

And here’s the thing, my goal is to be accepting and tolerant of those people who grew up in different cultures because their way of doing things isn’t wrong or bad simply because its different from what I grew up with, it’s just different. And I hope their goal is to be tolerant and accepting of me because the culture I grew up in is different from theirs.

This, in my opinion, is why Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is so important, not just in the workplace, but in our lives. By being exposed to different people with different thoughts, different behaviors, different clothes, different skin tones, we start to grow as human beings. We start to learn a different perspective. It doesn’t mean we’ll adopt those other perspectives, or behaviors, or dress but we can if we want to. We may learn different ways of looking at situations. Be exposed to different ways of doing things. Expand our minds and our horizons to become better, more tolerant people.

To me, this is why DEI initiatives are so important in the workplace, in college admissions, in our communities, in our elected officials. The more exposure we get to different ideas, the better we become as people.

JIm

Finished the Jib Got the jib sail back on and completely rigged. We discovered we messed up the stitching on the first one we did so had to take it off and re-do it. Kudos to my wife for being a sport and remaking the sail. 2 down and 2 to go! It’s looking good.