Big Wheels Turning

It’s another double issue covering weeks 27 and 28, June 30 to July 13, 2025.

Photo credit: Leonhard Niederwimmer/Unsplash

No it's not the start of a Proud Mary karaoke. But I did start some things, a few of them big, that will take some time to come full circle.

Wheel #1. Retirement

I've made the decision to retire and set a date. It's less than a year away but there’s still a lot to do to prepare.

Wheel #2. Canceling Adobe Creative Cloud

One of the things I’m doing to prepare for retirement is to reassess all the places I’m spending money, including on various subscriptions. My third most expensive subscription (after YouTube TV, which I also canceled, and Apple One) is Adobe Creative Cloud. Even with an academic discount it’s $35 a month (plus tax)! So I’ve made the decision to drop it. I’m going to miss it a lot. I’ve found free or cheap alternatives for almost everything but I think there’s going to be a pretty significant learning curve as I learn new tools. That’s part of the fun though, isn’t it?

Wheel #3. New Vanity Call Sign

I applied for a new amateur radio vanity call sign. If you’re not a ham radio operator this probably doesn’t mean anything to you, but for me it's huge deal because I’ve had my current call sign for 28 years. It’s a big change. This wheel will take about two weeks to turn. More as it happens on my ham radio blog.

Wheel #4. A New Tattoo

I met with an artist this week to talk about my next tattoo project, which will be a complement to my first tattoo. The first session in which we'll get started on the actual tattooing work is scheduled for September, but there will be a couple more consultation meetings between now and then. I expect that the whole thing might be done by the end of the year. I’ll definitely post updates on this as it happens!

Wheel #5. The Biggest One

The biggest wheel of them all is the one I’m not ready to talk about yet. I’m extremely excited about it, but it’s still just too early and too much of it is still subject to change. I hope I can share more in the coming weeks and months.

That’s all for now, but I’ll keep writing and trying to be more consistent about it. Until next time, have a great week!