My Week that Was - August 8

The start of something? 8/2/26 dwm

Saturday was a quiet start to the week. Other than a drive to Stoughton for breakfast and some errands, I didn't do much. 

One thing we did finish was the first season of Little House on the Prairie which is streamed on Netflix. If you remember the original TV series, you will enjoy this series. 

After that we resumed watching The West Wing. As an hour-long drama, it will take us a while to watch all 154 episodes. At this point we're still watching season 1 with three to go.

Sunday was a bike ride in two parts. The highlight was seeing a half-dozen inflated penguins toasting summer.

Monday and Tuesday were typical work days, so nothing much to report. Wednesday, however, was another day altogether. 

Late Wednesday morning, I was checking emails when the laptop started acting funny. It asked me to sign in and change my password, except I was in a loop when I was asked for a new password, then it told me I wasn't authorized to make that change.

Tech support was called. A short time into the call I saw the cursor moving around my screen. I asked the tech if he was in my computer, and he said he was. "That's good," I told him, "or I would really start freaking out!" He was checking out another area of the laptop when he said that other techs were checking what appeared to be a takeover my computer. He said their team would reach out. After that I was locked out of my computer as its recovery was under way.

The Madison Mystery Tour on stage in Mt Horeb. 8/5/26 dwm

 With my computer out of service, there were few things I could do. I could make calls, except the information I use while calling is on the laptop.

 My updated phone now lives on the computer which meant I can't receive incoming calls if it's not working. With nothing to do, I went home early.

 That evening I had plans with friends from work to meet for dinner then see a colleague that evening on stage at Mount Horeb's Wednesday Night Live program. It was my second time seeing The Madison Mystery Tour.

We had a great time singing along and enjoying listening to our talented friend as they played the Beatles hits and less well-known songs from their albums. While much of Wednesday we had scattered rain in the area, less than 20 minutes before the show, the rain stopped and the clouds parted to allow the sun to light up the Grundahl Park stage. You can read and see more on the show tomorrow. 

Root Beer floats for everyone. 8/6/2026 dwm

Thursday morning when I walked into the office and checked my computer, I read the message I couldn't log in. An hour later, I stopped by the Information Technology office to see if there were any updates. 

I was told it was all clear and all I needed was a temporary password to log in and create my own password. Twenty minutes later I was back at work, thanks to a number of people doing their jobs.

Getting back in the computer made my 14th work-i-versary a happy one before it was topped off with root beer floats for residents and staff mid-afternoon.

Summer Fridays are usually on the quiet side because there are usually a number of people taking the day off (cough, cough) to extend the weekend or get a head start on vacation.

An Oakwood cake pop. 8/7/26 dwm

 It isn't autumn yet but it is coming up fast. We have three projects (two letters and one newsletter) underway with a series of deadlines across the next three months. There are also four events on the calendar.

 Mid-afternoon a colleague came through the office with baked goods, a family member made Oakwood inspired cake pops (photo left). It was a wonderful and tasty gesture.  

 My first five-day work week felt good and it felt good to reach the weekend. 

 The busy week was enough to almost make me forget we're going to State Fair. On Sunday, our church is hosting a picnic we plan to attend. Somewhere in the middle of all that, I hope to get at least 30 miles on the bike.

 Thanks for reading. I'll catch up with you again tomorrow!