After several failed attempts to upgrade Ubuntu 22.04 to 24.04.1 early this month, I was doing some research to migrate off DigitalOcean. My first choice for this WordPress-powered blog was WP Engine. After the controversy between WordPress and WP Engine unfolded, I was debating between WordPress.com and Pressable, both owned by Automattic. I still haven’t made up my mind.

I still don’t know where to move my PHP sites, which I put them all in one DigitalOcean’s Droplet. I don’t want to go back to shared hosting plans. I need a managed cloud hosting solution. I haven’t dug far enough. I was doing research on running my own server in my house, but that seems like a terrible idea. So I scrapped that.

I still don’t know what to do with the hosting for all of my sites, especially in the long run when I will no longer alive. I guess they should all evaporate with me. I shouldn’t even be thinking that far.

Today I tried to upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS again. Of course, I created snapshots before I did. To my surprise, the upgrade worked for both Droplets. It was a huge relief. I am going to stay with DigitalOcean for a bit longer. Maintaining Ubuntu keeps me up-to-date with backend development.

Running two Droplets costs me $35 a month. They are more than what I wanted to pay. I was thinking off combining all my sites into one Droplet, but I am not sure if that’s a good idea.

My Daring Vương,

I can’t believe you are turning 6 today. My baby boy is growing up fast. You continue to prove that you can do anything when you put your mind to it and you only do things on your own terms. When you decided to ski on your own, you just told me to get rid of the harness. When you made up your mind to switch from the balance bike to scooter, you went for it.

I am so glad that you have decided to join Liên Đoàn Hùng Vương’s Cub Scout this year. You only attended a couple of the meetings, but the leaders had already noticed your potential and dedication. You even started a patrol yell. I am looking forward to our bonding times together with the cubs. You will have a great time with your brother Xuân at camping activities.

At a young age, you already showed signs of independence. You don’t need my help to do things for you even though a task could take you a long time to accomplish. I like that attitude in you. The sooner you can do things on your own, the better off you will be out in the world. Maybe, being the forth boy in the family makes you become more independent. Your mother and I had seen so many tricks your brothers had pulled before; therefore, we don’t pamper you as much. No doubt, you still get the most love for being the youngest.

Your standout quality has to be your strong mind. You don’t let anything around distract you. You don’t let anyone get to you. You have no problem playing in a group, but you are also comfortable playing by yourself with your dinosaurs. I love our verbal interactions, in which we trash talk each other. Even with your limited vocabulary, you know how to attack me and try to get under my skin. The reason I am battling you is because I know you can take it. I also want to prepare you to stay strong when insults thrown your way. Talk is cheap. Don’t let people get under your skin.

Happy birthday, Vương. I have nothing but love for you.
Dad

In the last couple of days, I am following the battle between WordPress and WP Engine. On Wednesday Matt Mullenweg banned WP Engine from access WordPress.org. This ban has a huge impact on us. George Mason University hosts hundreds or even maybe thousands of is WordPress sites on WP Engine. The Scalia Law Sites, which powered by WordPress MultiSite, is also on WP Engine. I hope the issue will resolve quickly.

Virginia started early voting last Friday. We came and we left. The line was too long. We came back today and there was no line at all. We cast our ballots in less than five minutes. We did our civic duty. Now we just sit back and wait for the result.

Whether you will vote early or on election day, go vote. If you are still undecided, it is not too late to do your research. I already made up mind. I voted for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for president and vice president, Tim Kaine for US Senator, and Gerry Connolly for 11^th Congressional District Congressman.

I suppose I am a Democrat.

Reading Wendy MacNaughton’s How to Say Goodbye brought back the vivid memory of my mother’s last moment on earth.

After they pulled the plugs on her, we had less than a minute to say goodbye. I spoke to her in Vietnamese, “Mẹ, please let yourself go. I love you and you will always be in my heart. Goodbye for now.” A tear rolled down her eye. She stopped breathing. My mother left this world.

This illustrated little book is an honest, heartfelt, and helpful guide on how to say goodbye to someone you love. It’s a gift to see the journey to death through MacNaughton’s visuals and observations. “It’s very courageous to sit with someone while they’re dying.” She wrote, “But you can’t fix this. You’re not in charge. The person dying is in charge.”

Saying goodbye is not easy, but “sometimes it’s just sitting and being there.”

In February, I took a ski lesson at Whitetail. Since it was on a weekday, the snow school was not so busy and I requested to learn carving; therefore, I was assigned to just one instructor. It was a private lesson for the price of a group lesson. While taking lesson, the instructor encouraged me to teach.

I was not serious about it, but her words stayed with me. Last week, on a whim, I applied for a part-time position for a non-certified ski or snowboard instructor. I wrote an honest, enthusiastic cover letter about my love and passion for both skiing and snowboarding. My story paid off. I got accepted two days later.

Without a doubt, I am excited about the opportunities not only to teach, but also to learn. One of the perks for the job is getting free lessons. Just the thought of learning, teaching, and playing on the snow reinvigorated me. I couldn’t wait to share the new endeavor with my wife. Of course, she supported me. I tried to convince her this might be the beginning of my dream career. That was when she brought me back to reality and reminded me of my responsibilities. Right, I have four kids to raise.

The gist of the story is that I can do anything I want as long as I keep my full-time job. It’s all good. I still am enjoying being the director of design and web services. Skiing and snowboarding will keep my body active and my mind strong. It’s a perfect balance between sitting in front of the computer and spending time outdoors.

For a while, we had a hard time removing the key from the door knob. Today, the kids had an early dismissal, but the rain prevented us from the skatepark. I decided to replace the locks.

I bought the exterior single-cylinder deadbolt and keyed entry door knob combo pack by Kwikset. I had some issues with the screws so I drove to Lowe’s to get some screw anchors, but it didn’t have the right size. Picked up the Reliabilt combo pack as well just incase.

I drove Home Depot to see if I could get the right anchors, which it had. The Kwikset’s deadbolt worked fine, but the door knob didn’t fit right. I switched to Reliabilt instead. The cost was about $30.

More than 700 national security leaders endorse Harris:

This election is a choice between serious leadership and vengeful impulsiveness. It is a choice between democracy and authoritarianism. Vice President Harris defends America’s democratic ideals, while former President Donald Trump endangers them.

Yes, the choice is between democracy and authoritarianism. Trump is an authoritarian and a danger to democracy.

I have been blogging for half of my life; therefore, I wanted to know how to Write for Life. The gist of the book is writing the “Morning Pages.” Cameron writes:

Every morning, set your alarm thirty minutes early and write, longhand, three eight and a half by eleven-inch pages about anything and everything that comes to mind. I always say I would never stand between anyone and their morning coffee, but try to get to the page as quickly as possible-don’t spend forty-five minutes brewing the perfect cup. The faster you get to the page, the better the pages will work for you. Avoid the phone, computer, and email until you have finished your pages. They will act as windshield wipers, clearing away what stands between you and your day.

It turns out that I have been using this method for years. Instead of writing on paper, I type right into this box.

Rebecca Bratten Weiss writes for the National Catholic Reporter:

Politicians who are ignorant about women’s bodies — and unaware of the many complicated, deeply personal, often traumatizing situations women face in reproductive health — think they can make abortion go away simply by denying access. But they can’t. Abortion will not vanish because of bans, even when those bans come with heavy penalties. Studies indicate that abortion rates in nations where it is legal and nations where it is illegal are about the same. What appears to be a greater driver of abortion rates is income level. Lower income nations where abortion is illegal tend to have much higher abortion rates than higher income nations where it is legal.

Anyone who is serious about reducing abortion rates will focus on building a strong economy that serves the working and middle classes, with robust safety nets and accessible, affordable resources. This is not new information. People, myself included, have been writing about this for years.

So why do pro-life leaders refuse to listen? Roe has been gone for more than two years and pro-life leaders have done nothing to increase health care access or financial protections for low-income women. Should we assume that they are not serious about dealing with abortion, since they haven’t put any effort into doing the things that actually work? Are they, perhaps, actually invested in harming women, since that’s one area in which these bans are effective?

The entire article is worth-reading, especially if you are religious.