Posts in "Long Posts"

Tracking down a copy of my thesis from 1997

I want to find a copy of my 1997 honors thesis.1 I wrote it on a Power Mac 7500 in Word Perfect 3.5 on the classic Mac OS 8. It probably fit on a floppy drive, but I know I saved a backup copy of it on a Zip drive. At some point, I decided that I needed to move things off the Zip disks and consolidated all of my old files from college onto DVDs. I’m not 100% sure where that DVD is now, but I’m guessing it’s in my attic. Even if the disc hasn’t been ruined by the South Carolina heat, I don’t actually have a DVD drive to read it.

And then I remembered that the University of South Carolina library has the official copy in the off-site annex. I can request that they pull the physical copy for me to review in...

Continue Reading →

Then: Reflections from 12.01.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

Thanksgiving week was busy. I worked Monday and Tuesday, took Wednesday off and the university was closed for Thursday and Friday. It was a much needed rest. We had Norah home from college so it was nice to have all of Team Wertz under the same roof for the first time for a while.

Hard to believe it’s December. I need to switch into gear to finish up the year strong. We’ve got my wife’s birthday this week and it’s her last week of graduate classes.

Feels

  • Good week to be a Gamecock. The marching band was in New York for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. The women’s basketball team returned to form and won two games in dominating fashion. And the Gamecock football team got the win against arch rival Clemson.
  • Thinking. I have one last task to do...
    Continue Reading →

Reflections from 11.24.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

So I accidentally skipped last week. I wrote the post, but never actually uploaded it. So I’m incorporating some of what I wrote last week to cover the last two weeks.

Happy birthday to my youngest, Ryan. He turns 13 today. For another three weeks, I have three teenagers. Time flies.

Feels

  • Grateful. On Ryan’s birthday, I’ve got to reflect on just how amazing and wonderful my kiddos are. I’m biased, but I think they are pretty phenomenal.
  • Rearranging. My wife and I decided to move everything around. Furniture from the master bedroom is in the kitchen. We moved a bookshelf into the master bathroom. A cabinet into the laundry room. A chair moves from the living room to the master bedroom. Really happy with all the moves, and hopefully it will help us be more organized.
  • Optimistic. I have a...
    Continue Reading →

Refining my social media approach

The last two weeks has seen a surge in Bluesky usage. I’ve been on Bluesky a little since the early days. I liked the service, but I didn’t know any one there. That’s changed now and lots of friends are posting. That’s added a touch more complexity, so I figured I’d share how I’m handling my personal social media right now.

  1. I post everything to Micro.Blog. It shows up on bobwertz.com.
  2. Micro.Blog crossposts everything to Bluesky, Threads and Mastodon.
  3. I have notifications turned off on my iPhone, so I have no idea when people respond to what I post.
  4. I selectively choose when I want to engage with social media on whatever site feels right at the time.

A couple of random things I’ve noticed lately:

  1. My Instagram usage has dropped dramatically, probably because it isn’t tied in with my crossposting system. They don’t have a posting API, so no one can really add that connection....
    Continue Reading →

Then: Reflections from 11.10.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

I skipped last week’s post. Sunday, I was busy with schoolwork and didn’t have time. I planned to post something later, but the election happened and I just didn’t feel like posting at all.

Favorite Picture of Last Week

Our oldest, Norah, joined us at the polls to cast her first vote in a presidential election. And while most of the races didn’t go the way we hoped, I love that I was able to share this experience with her.

Three people smiling in front of an 'I voted' sign.

Feels

  • Nervous. I’m worried for the future of our country and the future of democracy in general.
  • Optimistic. I had advisement this week and feel like I have a strong path forward toward finishing my Ph.D. I’m planning on taking two courses in...
    Continue Reading →

Then: Reflections from 10.27.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

This week was busy like the last couple, but felt much more manageable for some reason. I have an insanely busy week ahead of me and as the semester wraps up, I have a lot of school work to do. But emotionally, I feel a little more focused.

Favorite Picture of Last Week

My son, Ryan, is a lacrosse goalie. He played four games this weekend and did amazing. Probably his best week in goal ever. I also try to capture the action and yesterday, a kid made a great move a slipped the ball past Ryan. Great shot, and a fun picture.

Youth lacrosse player jumps in front of a goal with a goalie defending.

Feels

  • Motivated. I have a lot to do this week. And I’m feeling good about getting...
    Continue Reading →

Then: Reflections from 10.20.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

Another busy week. I feel like a broken record at this point. The kids' schedules are busy. We went to the South Carolina State Fair. I was thankful that I didn’t have class this week for Fall Break, but I’ve still got a bunch of grad school deadlines to handle. We are actively looking to buy a car — which is a process I do not enjoy. It’s all quite overwhelming, but we manage to figure out how to fit it all in.

Favorite Picture of Last Week

I’ve decided to add this weekly feature to my Now page to encourage me to take and share more pictures. We went to the State Fair to see my daughter’s papier-mâché giraffe. While I was there, I caught this Ferris wheel against an impossibly blue sky.

A... <div class= Continue Reading →

Then: 10.13.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

Tough week to summarize. It was a challenging week for several reasons. Work wasn’t great. We were busy at home. Running constantly. And in the middle of it, I had a little bit of a professional realization. We got to see my nephew play football finally. We’ve been to games that he hasn’t played in, but this time we got to see Brady play and hear “Brady West on the tackle.” Ryan had four lacrosse games on Saturday, which was exhausting for everyone. And I got a chance to take Liz to one of our favorite restaurants for a much needed date night.

Feels

Next

Many years ago, I was having coffee with a successful designer. We were discussing career challenges and he just offhandedly commented “I just don’t love design any more. In fact, I’m thinking about winding down my business.” I was still a pretty young and ambitious designer and left the meeting stunned. How could a successful designer get to this point?

Fast forward to about six months ago. My oldest is in college and took a digital art class… basically the first design class. She did really well and thought about changing her major to graphic design, but she didn’t. “I don’t want to do what you do.” In fact, all of my kids are incredibly artistic, and none of them want to be designers. I shared this observation to my wife, who matter of factly commented “You don’t love design. You haven’t for a long time. They’ve watched you. Why would...

Continue Reading →

Then: 10.6.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

This week provided confirmation of how bad Hurricane Helene devastated the people and places that we love in Asheville. We’ve heard from all of our friends and they are fine, but the destruction is almost incomprehensible. Asheville is a 2 hour drive from our house, and we make day trips up there all the time. Many of the stores, restaurants and spots we visit are quite simply gone. Lutheridge — a camp very special to my family — is okay, but with a lot of damage. The pen store in Biltmore Village is destroyed. So is the little bakery next door with the amazing Ginger cookies and the restaurant across the street with the pea salad that my wife loves. It’s hard to process all the loss.

Feels