On the slopes. Well, practicing anyway.

Quiet morning in the cottage as I completed the final edits on Issue No. 01.

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson to Resign From Post, Agency Says - WSJ

Mr. Dickson was appointed to a five-year term in 2019. He took over the agency after two Boeing Co. 737 MAX jets crashed. The FAA was facing criticism from U.S. lawmakers on its oversight of the aircraft’s development and on its failure to take drastic action after the initial accident.

This is a big loss. Steve was a steady hand during the MAX crisis and pandemic. It certainly helped that he was a line 737 pilot, steeped in the culture of aviation safety.

Google Plans to Curtail Cross-App Tracking on Android Phones - WSJ

The Alphabet Inc. unit said it plans to keep supporting current smartphone identifiers for at least the next two years and to give the industry substantial notice before any changes.

Lord, grant me privacy, but not now.

A quiet moment.

Benedict’s LEGO snow globe.

Snowy start.

This portable valet is perfect for travel!

Bengals Just Happy To Not Be In Ohio - The Babylon Bee

“I’m so overwhelmingly grateful. This is the greatest day of my life,” said quarterback Joe Burrow, wiping a single tear from his eye. “I can’t believe I’m not in Ohio anymore. This is what our team has worked for all year—the chance to escape that cold, frozen, endless, and empty cornfield, if only for a day.”

Some Democrats Push Biden to Embrace Normalcy as Covid-19 Cases Ease - WSJ

The elected officials are zeroing in on the March 1 speech as a pivotal opportunity for Mr. Biden to embrace dropping of mask mandates and other rules

Hey, I’ve read this book before!

Suspend the Gas Tax, They Cried - WSJ Opinion

The contradictions of climate politics keep piling up, and the latest is a call from Democratic Senators running for re-election this year to suspend the federal gas tax. Hello? Isn’t the point of Democratic climate plans to raise the price of fossil fuels so we use less? Or at least it is until rising gasoline prices begin to have political consequences.

Democratic polices are very good at raising prices on gas… and electricity… and heating oil… and cars… and refrigerators… and meat… and toilet paper… and milk…

The results are in: the most successful Administration at raising prices in 40 years!

We planned on getting them a trophy with a little businessman on top, like the Dundees, but it’s stuck on a container ship off the coast of Long Beach and now costs $8M.

Biden Warns Putin of ‘Swift and Severe Costs’ of Invading Ukraine - WSJ

“We have already gone through war and through the required training. Therefore, we are ready to greet the enemy not with flowers, but with Stingers, with Javelins and with NLAWs,” Ukrainian Armed Forces commander Lt. Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny said in a Saturday address. “Welcome to hell!” he added in English.

It’s so refreshing to see a thriving democracy willing to stand and defend itself in the face of imposing odds.

On the road again.

Clarence Thomas Surprised To Hear How Important Black Representation On SCOTUS Is To Man Who Viciously Tried To Destroy Him - The Babylon Bee

Thomas, who had been smeared over sexual harassment claims that were never actually filed, was humiliated on live TV by Joe Biden who, at the time was a 49-year-old balding racist serving in the senate. Biden turned the confirmation hearing into a circus because he disagreed with Clarence Thomas' views on a few things.

As Hunger Spreads in Afghanistan, Hospitals Fill With Premature, Dying Babies - WSJ

Half of the population faces acute hunger, according to the United Nations, with one million children in danger of dying from malnutrition. The economy is set to contract by another 20% this year, following last year’s plunge, the U.N. says.

Biden & Harris campaigned on morality. They were the steady hand, the ticket of American values and moral courage juxtaposed with the self-serving Trump.

When you look at the fact that a small detachment of American troops could have averted this humanitarian crisis, and the fact that Joe Biden continues to insist that he made the right call on a rapid and chaotic withdrawal, it’s clear just how empty the Biden-Harris campaign premise rings.

Joe Biden voted to commit forces to Afghanistan when he was in the Senate, but he wasn’t responsible for 20 years of mismanagement. His election presented an opportunity for a reset, and he didn’t take it.

We owed the people of Afghanistan our commitment to provide safety and stability as they made the long transition from despotic theocracy to emerging democracy. We’re still in Germany, Japan, and Korea decades late. The decision to leave directly caused this humanitarian crisis. Joe Biden not only owns the crisis, he created it.

But hey, that airlift was pretty cool, right?

Inflation Haunts the Biden Economy - WSJ Opinion

The economy needed support early in the pandemic. But Congress’s $900 billion Covid relief bill in December 2020 and the $1.9 trillion in spending that Democrats passed last March were overkill.

Stimulus payments, enhanced unemployment, expanded child tax credit and the real cost is 7.5% inflation. There’s no free lunch.

Rising Inflation Keeps Pressure on Fed to Frontload Rate Increases - WSJ

Fed officials in the months ahead are closely looking for signs that the month-over-month pace of price increases will slow.

Arresting inflation stops prices where they are. These high prices are the normal, which means the longer the Fed plays footsie, the more locked-in the pain.

Apple Announces AirTag Updates to Address Unwanted Tracking - MacRumors

The warning will make it clear that the AirTag is linked to an Apple ID, that using it to track people is a crime, and that law enforcement can request identifying information about the owner of the AirTag.

Auto-theft rings hate pop-up disclaimers.

U.S. Inflation Accelerates to 40-Year High - WSJ

U.S. inflation accelerated to a 7.5% annual rate in January, rising to a new four-decade high, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Very, very, very bad.

In addition to being an at-home dad, I have several side projects that I work on in the evenings and during my spare time. Like any parent, I have energy for kids and energy for work, and the pools are mostly exclusive of one another. I can be exhausted from kid and house care when evening rolls around, but fully charged for knocking out work. The reverse is true for working parents.

Last week, Alison came home early on her admin day and I went over to a new coffeeshop in town. Before opening last month, they pre-sold cold brew coffee out of the owner’s house. I got to know him and his wife, and we’ve continued to build on that relationship. He’s a cool guy, about my age and place in life, so it’s good to see him when he’s working.

I grabbed my coffee, sat down at a table and got to work. For just over 90 minutes, I drank my coffee, and cranked away on my projects. I was editing that day, my least favorite part of the writing process. The soundtrack from _Monument Valley_, a popular iOS game, moved me from grammatical error to grammatical error.

Normally, when Alison is home alone with the kids, I feel a tinge of guilt. This only happens because I know how hard she works, and yet, there she is, working more caring for the kids. In those moments, I need to remember the separate reservoirs of energy. While I spent almost every moment of the day alone with the kids, it’s a treat for her. She gets to have that quality time hanging out with them and I get a break.

Afternoons off, and vacations, are a nice treat. It’s never a bad thing to enjoy a change of scenery and make progress.