About pep

This week marks the official end to full-time working from home. Starting tomorrow, we're supposed to be in the office three days per we...

Wrapping up another year with a somewhat random assortment of little things, starting with some bright foliage on a winter's day. This y...

Welcome to the workplace. I found the tattered balloon arch ironically fitting (though I'm sure they meant well). We now have the opt...

A very important milestone for me this week: I am, at last, considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19! When I successfully booked the ap...

There was a hint of color in the sky, on my evening walk. I've been encouraging down-in-the-dumps colleagues to get outside . Even if t...

Herewith, some signs of the times. I got my happy smile from a neighbor's weekly update during late summer: I'm still working fro...

The oleanders bloom all summer. And here we are, late July and week twenty of working from home. When I was growing up, it was during th...

Last week, I felt it was time to reduce the frequency of these dispatches, as I will be working from home for (possibly) the rest of this ye...

I had a most unusual dream this week: I was walking down the aisle of a supermarket, and there on the shelf were a few packages of toilet ...

Ten years ago this week I pedaled up a difficult hill to watch a stage of the Tour of California . The organizers pulled the plug on this y...

Friday morning my heart sank when I discovered that my clock had stopped. How would I get it repaired, now? Wait a sec ... 4:05 (give or ...

How about some local fauna to go with the local flora? Anna's hummingbirds enjoy my feeders as well as my garden. One bonus of spendi...

I'm sure our local transportaton agency had the best of intentions when they posted these signs, but ... they're rude. [My mode of t...

One last, perfect, red camellia of the season. The time I spent washing windows last Sunday was well invested. Spotted with dirt, I was fi...

I'm not a television viewer, but was exposed to the airwaves in order to watch the broadcast of Jesus Christ Superstar last week. I...

As it turns out, there are a few pink blossoms tucked deep inside my white camellia bush. Two distinct shades, in fact. Ten years ago thi...

“You should take a vacation!” our friendly HR automaton scolded me ( again ). No matter that sheltering-in-place is hardly a “vacation.” [Us...

The beauty of the white camellia is fleeting, as the blossoms are quick to turn brown. Somewhere on that same bush there are light pink blos...

My decision to walk into town, despite the occasional rain shower, was an unexpectedly lucky one. There were a handful of others out and abo...

The camellias are still blooming. What a glorious mess they make! I'll no sooner rake up the fallen flowers than I'll hear “plop” as...