On some landscape shots I've taken recently I've noticed some significant spotting on the resulting images. I've cleaned my lenses and the spotting remains, so it is most likely an issue on the camera sensor (actually the filter in front of the sensor). I followed Bob Atkins' advice and took some shots that would neutralize any lens effects and repeated with a separate lens. The results are clear - I need to do some cleaning.

A few folks have emailed me and congratulated me on my semi-retirement. I'm very grateful for the remarks and support, but I do feel the need to make a clarification. Technically I view myself in a mini-retirement right now. What's the difference? Both of them are constrained in a dimension: mini-retirement is constrained in duration (meaning that it will end at some point), while a semi-retirement is constrained in money or hours worked per week or weeks per year. So during my mini-retirement, I'm not working at all. But it must stop at some point. Now, if I could only find a job or role that would then allow me to be semi-retired, then I would be set.

Remember that post I made on debt-free living? I understand that the math of paying off a mortgage may not always make sense, but the psychology of it sure feels pretty good right now.

What might be next for me? Figuring that out is one of the goals I have for the next 2-3 months. I'm talking to a lot of different people and the spectrum of choices is huge right now. Here's a short list of some of the ideas popping around:

• Find another CTO-like job at a local software company
• Be a consultant to start-ups or potential investors in start-ups
• Start my own software or software-as-a-service company
• Become a high school computer science teacher
• Become a professional photographer. I realize you don't just suddenly "become" one of these, but I'm working along a path to at least have this as a part-time vocation.
• Be a trainer on software development process, presentation skills, etc.
• Be a freelance Ruby on Rails developer
• Be a college instructor or professor

Clearly I have some work to do. Comments or emails to scare me away from any of these options are encouraged.

So Gabby, our new kitten, is supposed to have larger than normal (for a cat) paws. This morning Julie noticed that one paw was larger than the other, took her to the vet, and discovered that she had likely been stung by a bee or wasp.

No, that isn't a perspective trick. Notice the enlarged right paw. She's on some meds now and is recovering nicely.

I'm sitting here at a coffee shop in downtown Hammondsport, NY uploading some photographs for an online photography course I'm taking over at BetterPhoto.com. We're having a blast as usual on Keuka Lake. Waterskiing, tubing, just hanging out. Jacob caught a lunker 21 inch lake trout early Monday morning that we ate for lunch. We may go out again Friday morning to get enough for a fish fry Friday night.

This really is a special place for us and we regret not making it last summer. We are trying to work out a plan for next summer that would allow us to spend 6 weeks here next summer - this would involve a significant change in baseball plans. The goal is to teach the boys some stewardship for the cottages and get deep into the area, including attending the local Boy Scout summer camp nearby on a neighboring lake.

I recently borrowed 18FL from Eric Landes to try another easier 2-player 18xx game with Jacob. We played a couple of weekends ago, again with good results, but it is clearly time to move onto some multiplayer 18xx. Playing with two players (especially as nice as we play) does drag a bit towards the end-game - we felt as if we were on autopilot and stopped a turn short with the bank nearly out of money but not quite.

Jacob played the southern tier primarily, building the line to Cuba knowing it would get wiped out, then building it again in the final phase. When I say we played nice, I mean real nice - nobody tokened out Ft. Lauderdale or Miami, allowing the northern lines to run freely to Cuba.

Final scores: Chris $9,747, Jacob $7,995. Time to reach out to Eric to schedule a 3 or 4 player game, perhaps we try out 1850 again and play along the Mississippi.

Blogging from the iphone here... Still not too used to typing on this gadget. We are off to NY to visit Keuka lake for a week. Stay tuned - maybe you'll see some photos of lake trout or sailboats soon.

Matthew's team went undefeated during the regular season and finished fourth in the state at the Midget Federal level - a great accomplishment though we know they could easily have finished first in the state as they beat each of the teams that finished ahead of them at least twice during the season. That's why you play the games though!

• Memorial Day Tournament in Bend
• Reedville Federal Tournament
• vs. Westview
• State Tournament

• Memorial Day Tournament in Bend
• Reedville Junior Federal Tournament
• vs. Westview
• Newberg Junior Federal Tournament

• Get back to posting more regularly. I promise to post every day for the next three months, with the exception of days when I don't feel like it. I have a backlog of posts to write on topics such as baseball, photography, and Max Michael and family visiting.
• Do a lot of photography. I'm taking an online course at BetterPhoto and am loving it.
• Coach football. I'll be assisting my friend Jim again this fall, running the defense for Matthew's 5th-6th grade team. This starts August 6.
• Get back to playing more games. I'm averaging 1 session per month right now, and I'd like to get it up to 1 per week.
• Reflect. My main "work" to do over the next 3 months is to reflect, brainstorm, and start acting on some of the vocational ideas I have churning around in my brain right now. I'll probably write about this process right here.
• Hang out. Be more of a day-to-day presence with Julie and the boys. Jacob and I are out at Salishan right now. We golfed yesterday and plan on doing some surf casting on the beach in about 45 minutes. This sort of casual time is critical right now for the boys.