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| Winter. 1/5/2026 dwm |
From 1993 to 2003, I was a financial representative for Aid Association for Lutherans, which became Thrivent, The job involved serving existing clients and acquiring new customers. The typical week started Monday morning around 8, with paperwork like prospect letters to print and mail, and dozens of calls with a goal of securing appointments with people to discuss their plans for life and how to get there. That's where things like investments and insurance come into play.
If I had a good week of calls, that meant a full week including day-time visits and one or two evening appointments each night, one at 6 and a second at 8, which usually got me home around 10. Evening appointments were a Monday to Thursday thing. Sometimes there were Saturday appointments and, rarely an appointment during the day on Friday, but I generally tried to reserve those for clients I knew would keep me on their schedule.
Our boys were young, the oldest was 6 when I started selling, while his younger brother was 3. Being gone was part of the job, and my wife did an amazing job with the kids. Thirty years later, my wife's job means she leaves when the client calls because it's time to go to the hospital. There's no telling what time she'll return.
So far, the shortest time in labor was 12 hours while the longest was more than 36!
That's the job, and I'm happy for her and how much she enjoys what she does. If it means fending for myself while she's gone - I'm glad to do it. Her seventh delivery wrapped up at the start of this week when she got home from the hospital just as I was heading to the gym.
I spent some of that morning organizing the Christmas decorations that weren't on display while, hopefully, creating space for the stuff still on the tree or hanging in or outside the house.
When that was done, it was time to watch more football (after several hours New Year's Day and January 2nd with its college bowl games).
Sunday, the Packers finished their season in Minneapolis against the Vikings. Green Bay's spot in the play-offs was set, so a number of players were held out to be sure they weren't injured in a meaningless game.
Since the team's coach and general manager weren't too concerned about the outcome, I tried to watch it like it was a preseason game. The Vikings won, beating a Packer offense with a third-string quarterback and back-ups on the field. The defense had more of their regulars on the field, and they played a decent game. It seemed to me if it was our best players against their best players, we probably would have won.
Green Bay finished the regular season 9 - 7 - 1 and will travel to Chicago to play the Bears tonight (January 10). The Pack has lost four straight, if they want to keep playing, they need a win tonight. Go Pack, Go!
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| Trophy from ESPN Fantasy |
My opponent and I were down to three players for the last regular season game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers. I had Kenneth Gainwell as one of my running backs and Pat Freiermuth as a flex player while Samantha's Super Team had Baltimore's kicker, Tyler Loop.
I was down 20 at the half. There was under four minutes to play when the analytics reduced my chance to win down to 1%. Then Gainwell scored a touchdown after Freiermuth caught a long pass and the lead was down to 4. I needed a few more points, whether they came with a run or completed pass.
Baltimore scored on a long pass, which meant the Steelers got the ball back. Aaron Rodgers threw a shovel pass to Gainwell who picked up five yards and that put me ahead of the Super Team.
But there was still time on the clock and I was only leading by a half-point. The Ravens marched into scoring position and called on their kicker, Tyler Loop hadn't missed a kick from this distance all season. But he pushed it right, and I won the fantasy game, 119.96 - 118.5!
It was exciting watching the game unfold on TV and on the fantasy field unfolding on my phone at the same time. What made it less likely is that this was my second Fantasy championship in three years. Wow!
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| 2025 Kwik Trip Report Card |
Tuesday afternoon, I received my Kwik Trip report card. In 2025, the store's loyalty program, called Kwik Rewards, said I made 332 visits to 44 different Kwik Trip stores. I pumped 240 gallons of gas and most of my purchases were for a Mt. Dew Kocktail (a squirt of Code Red, plus regular Mt Dew, and Diet Mt Dew).
I don't go to Kwik Trip every day, but there are days when I might walk in 2 or 3 times. I like the stores because they have what I need and want at reasonable prices.
On my way home Thursday, I pulled up the Sport Clips phone app which lets you select the location, then see how long the wait might be before you're called to a chair.
The first store I looked at had a 62-minute wait, but another, the same distance in a different direction had no waiting. I headed out, hoping a bunch of guys didn't walk in from the street. When I arrived, I was first in line and after a few minutes, a stylist gave me a seat and cut my hair.
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| My latest pin! 1/9/2026 dwm photo |
Friday was my 144th time giving blood. The first time was in college, then there was a gap before resuming regular blood donations around 2000.
You can give whole blood every eight weeks if you feel good and your schedule allows. If you do give that often, it's possible you could give more than 6 times in 12-months, and that's something the Red Cross doesn't want.
The 144th time was at the headquarters of the American Red Cross in Madison. The first blood-taker put the needle in, but the blood wasn't flowing well, so another phlebotomist came over to adjust the needle and soon the blood was flowing. I think that's the first time that worked on me.
Afterwards I spent time in the canteen with juice and snacks to make sure everything was OK before I returned to work. While I sat I thought about the time it took to get here. While I've been giving blood a long time it wasn't always on a regular basis. While it took me longer than this, if you tried to reach 18 gallons of whole blood as quickly as possible, by giving blood six times a year, it would take 24 years.
I'm grateful to be healthy enough to reach this milestone and thankful for the opportunity to help people who need blood. If you're eligible, make an appointment, or drop by a community blood drive; I encourage you to give it a try, I think you'll be glad you did!
Thanks for reading - have a great week!
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