Diary 3/22 - 3/28

Daily thoughts that may or may not be helpful.

3/22/25

I drove Asher to Saturday’s 8:00 a.m. track practice. We had to cross over Preston Ave. The problem was that today was the Cville Ten Miler, and runners took up Preston. I should have known, as this is a town tradition, but I’m sorry I didn’t have it on my calendar. We sat in traffic for 20 minutes as runners streamed by. We were only 1.5 miles from the destination, so we made a decision - Asher would run to practice (remember, running runs in the family, as I once ran 10 miles). He crossed the street and went in the opposite direction of the runners. He looked like he was lost; he was going one way, and the others were going the other (getting lost also runs in the family, as I get lost every day). I thought of those cheating marathoners who sneak out of the race, hop on a bus, then reenter the race and win. When traffic cleared, I drove to practice and found Asher there. He had a better warmup than anyone.

3/23/25

Last week, I found a Bible verse memory plan printed in the back of my Bible. It is a list of 52 Bible verses you use to memorize a passage per week. When I memorized Scripture in the past, a verse would come to mind at the optimum time. I need more of this power in my life, so I’ll use the list. I’ve been working on this week’s verse and will see if I can recite it from memory. I’ll also throw in last week’s verse because it’s a shorty: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1). Now for this week: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over all the creeping things that creep upon the earth.’ So God created man in his image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. And God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. You shall have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing upon the earth.’” (Genesis 1:26-28)

3/24/25

I’m in Nashville for an HR conference, my first time in this fine city. I couldn’t believe the number of live music venues. They’re all over the place. You can walk into all of them and hear live music. If you don’t like the band or if the bar is too crowded, you can just walk next door. And it’s not all country music here. Sure, in public places, they pump out country the way some fine hotels pump out fragrances, but it’s not like they ban other types of music in the city limits. The band I listened to mainly played ‘80s and ‘90s rock, which was rad because that’s my favorite music era. I was proud of myself for going out alone because when I’m in a new city, that’s not something I typically do. I’m an introvert, so when I’m around new people and information all day, my tendency is to hibernate in my room. I usually order Chinese food, catch up on work, and watch a movie. But no, sir, this is Nashville, and there was no way I was going to order in Chinese…I did that last night!

3/25/25

The head of the host organization, SHRM, gave the opening talk. He wasn’t officially on the schedule, but he stopped by to greet us. His main point was that, after traveling the world and meeting with HR leaders, the most critical issue in the workplace is cultural clarity—does the day-to-day experience of employees align with what leaders intend it to be? For example, are recruiters selling candidates on what happens when new hires start work, or are they selling a hopeful idea? Is there alignment between the vision and practice, or is a disconnect present? I’ve done recruiting myself, and it's easy to blur the lines between what we aspire the workplace to be and what it actually is.

3/26/25

Today, I got interviewed by an AI agent named Alex. It felt so real. This is one of the applications of AI in the talent world—AI conducting screening interviews. It makes sense. If a good use of AI is to perform repeatable tasks that free up humans to focus on specialized, human-only tasks, then screening for qualified candidates using AI makes sense. If I hadn’t been told it was AI, I wouldn’t have known. I was on video, and she was on the phone. As we chatted, our conversation got transcribed on the screen. Alex asked me relevant questions and then followed up with additional questions based on my responses. I asked her questions, and she answered them. I even tried to throw her off, but she didn’t falter. What’s more, if I were a real candidate, I wouldn’t have to wait to get on Alex’s schedule because Alex is always working. She is AI so that we couldn’t be friends, and she might try to overtake the world one day, but overall, it was a very positive experience.

3/28/25

I feel grateful and satisfied as a parent. Rex gave his senior speech on the ethics of using AI in architecture (no offense, Alex). He worked so hard on it. Afterwards, the room can ask questions. If I had to answer questions on the spot in high school, I would have died, but he handled it swimmingly. Then Asher participated in his first high school track meet, competing in the long jump and 200-meter dash. He didn’t care so much about the competition. I watched him in the long jump pit. Instead of visualizing his jump or practicing his form, he was goofing off with teammates. I’m okay with this. He is blossoming socially, feeling accepted and accepting others, and this social growth will pay great dividends in his life. Asia is juggling a culinary program with a full-time job at an award-winning restaurant. She works hard and is learning how to balance life as an adult. It’s a good deal for Colette and me as we’re treated as VIPs at the restaurant. I’m so proud of our kids; they are finding passion, struggling, and experiencing growth.