How I See It: Reflections on spirituality, technology, and the art of everyday life

Hello, and welcome to my weekly update for the week of January 3, 2026 through January 9, 2026. It’s been quite a week. I was finally back to work for the first time since October 2022. The week is a bit of a blur to me. I’d like to tell you all sorts of interesting things about what I did, but I just can’t recall events in that level of detail. Much of my time was spent on onboarding: a lot of meetings, a lot of documentation, and a lot of discussion about company policies and how things work at EBizCharge. I met many of the people I’ll be working with and enjoyed getting to know them. One familiar name from the past came up as well: Tim Plotner. Tim is one of the main architects who developed the FACTS software back when it was still owned by Software Solutions. I spent part of the week getting a copy of the system up and running and reacquainting myself with how FACTS works. It has its own screen editor that relies on its own metadata rather than Providex’s NOMADS system. Fortunatel...

  Happy New Year Since it’s a new year, I’ve been thinking back on New Years past. I remember those early ones as a kid at my parents’ house, especially the New Year’s Eve parties they threw for their friends who also had kids. There was always food, and lots of it. At least one six-foot sub from Vitello’s, sometimes a six-foot meatball sandwich as well, along with plenty of other things to eat. The house would be broken into several sections. In the garage, we showed movies, but not the way people do today with TV projectors. We had a pair of cinema-quality 35mm film projectors, and my father borrowed movies from friends at the studios. In the front room, we showed films on 16mm, not as professional as the setup in the garage, but still impressive. Other parts of the house were set up for games, some using early home systems and others using arcade machines like Ms. Pac-Man . It was a fun evening for everyone. As an adult, I also find myself thinking back to those mornin...

This is the first weekly update I’m connecting to my New Vlog.  The Vlog entry and the Blog entry share the same information, just presented in a different format.  The Vlog is more informal, while the Blog is more structured. You can see the blog at https://youtu.be/rEvOA71pvK0 I’m Becoming a Senior Software Engineer II When I asked Astra (ChatGPT) what the difference was between a Programmer and a Senior Software Engineer II , and why the title had changed since my youth, here’s what it had to say. There was a time when the title Programmer carried real weight. It meant someone trusted to write correct, efficient code on systems that were expensive, shared, and unforgiving. You didn’t deploy often, you didn’t get many second chances, and you were expected to understand not just the language, but the machine, the data, and the business problem behind it. The title didn’t need embellishment because the responsibility was implicit. Over time, that changed. As tools became eas...

Weekly Update 12/13/25 - 12/19/25 It has been a stormy week, weather-wise. Twice this week, we have been hit by an atmospheric river. This caused very stormy conditions; in fact, my next-door neighbor had her shed destroyed on one of those nights. Total rainfall was up to 3 inches. I spent a good portion of the week working on publishing two books. Right after high school, I wrote a book I titled The End of the Beginning and the Start of Eternity , a sci-fi story about a future time when suffering and violence have been eliminated, and the results. Several of you may remember helping me proofread this and giving me suggestions and opinions in the distant past. My second book is titled From Crack to Kitty Litter . This book tells the story of my late wife, Linda, and her struggles with drug addiction. I have wanted to see these published for some time but did not feel comfortable facing the battle to get them published conventionally. A few years ago, I looked into self-publishing...

This has been a relatively uneventful week. Most of it has been rainy, as the Pacific Northwest has been sitting squarely in the bullseye of an atmospheric river. It dried out a bit toward the end of the week, but I’m told the rain is expected to return next week. On the job front, I’ve sent out several hundred copies of my resume to companies that use PxPlus (Providex), BBx, UniBasic, Sage 100 (MAS 90), or Infor FACTS. Since these are all cold contacts, I’m not expecting a large number of responses, but I only need one. Past mailings have led to a few contacts. Among them is the Irvine position for an Infor FACTS developer. Early in the week, I heard back that I’m still being considered. At the same time, I’ve seen the job posted on several boards, including Indeed, Glassdoor, and ZipRecruiter. So while I’m not out of the running, they are clearly still looking. I haven’t heard back from the London role yet, but I’m still hopeful. I was hoping to start something this month, but with ...

This has been an eventful week.   On Tuesday, I woke up trying to sneeze but couldn’t quite get it out. Then I noticed the scratchy throat and the stuffed head. Yes… You guessed it, I have a cold. I went to the doctor on Wednesday to make sure it wasn’t COVID, and thankfully, the test came back negative. Just a mild head cold. As of Saturday, I’m still a little stuffy and tired, but overall improving. On the job-search front, I had two interviews for a position in Irvine, CA. The first one went very well. They even gave me a short coding test, and not only did I solve the problem, but I also found a bug in the original code that made the tester laugh at his own oversight. I left that call feeling hopeful. Within an hour, they contacted me to schedule a second interview, which I had on Friday with three senior leaders. This round focused more on modern tools and frameworks than on my legacy strengths, so it didn’t go as smoothly. I made sure to highlight how quickly I pick up ne...

  Dear Friends, It is my custom at this time of year to celebrate with my friends by giving them the gift of self, so I can share with you some of what the last year(s) have brought me. I am very sorry it’s been so long since I last sent out a Christmas letter. This is going to be the first Christmas Letter I've done that will only be available online, either the people I know are online or have passed away, so I'm only going to do it this way from now on.  Many things have happened during those years, and here is a quick update to bring you all up to speed.   2017 After I wrote my 2017 Christmas letter, I received an email from one of the singles sites I was on. It seemed someone wanted to meet me. We met for the first time on December 9th. Her name is Dawn. She’s a retired Nurse Practitioner and very shy about being written about, so I’ll leave it at this: she and I are still together, living in Vancouver. 2018 In February, I took a vacation to Maui. ...

Weekly Update 11/22/25 to 11/29/25 It’s been a busy week, and a good one. The most important news is that I finally heard back from the team in England. Things are moving in the right direction, and they estimate they’re about 90% certain this opportunity will pan out. Next week, they expect to give me access to a test environment along with a full year of support tickets . If everything lines up, this could be the start of something solid. Beyond that, there have been plenty of other pots boiling. On Monday, I interviewed with a company in California looking for someone with Infor FACTS experience. I spent four years working on FACTS in Providex , and I’m certified in FACTS 7.0 with 20+ years in Providex overall. But the current release is 9.x, and I haven’t touched it in two decades. Still, finding anyone who knows a legacy system like FACTS is rare, so I’m hoping the door stays open. They said they’ll get back to me early next week. Two other recruiters reached out asking...

The Hidden Problem with Time Travel I think people often miss something quite important about the possibility of time travel. In most sci-fi stories, when someone travels through time, they stay in the same spot — moving forward or backward in time while remaining fixed in space. It’s a wonderful concept, but it overlooks a crucial fact: we’re not sitting still. We aren’t anchored to one point on Earth, because the Earth itself isn’t anchored to any fixed point in the universe. The Earth and Moon orbit their shared center of gravity at about 2,300 miles per hour (3,700 km/h) . Together, they orbit the Sun at around 67,000 miles per hour (107,000 km/h) . The Sun (and the rest of our solar system) orbits the center of the Milky Way at roughly 514,000 miles per hour (828,000 km/h) . And the Milky Way galaxy itself is moving through space — relative to the cosmic background — at about 1.3 million miles per hour (2.1 million km/h...

My New Consulting Workstation (and Why I Love This Setup) This setup is designed for productivity, reliability, and remote consulting for ERP systems . After years of juggling older hardware and cables, I finally wanted a workstation that I could trust — one that stayed consistent and let me move between laptop and desk mode instantly. I’ve just finished putting this together — and I’m very proud of how it turned out. The heart of the setup is my new Dell Inspiron 14 5440 connected to a Dell WD19S Dock . The dock keeps all my permanent connections (monitor, wired Ethernet, USB devices, etc.) plugged in — so I can simply unplug one cable from the laptop when I need to pick it up and go. Up on the bookshelf above my monitor I have my network hardware and audio gear: a NetGear 8-port Gigabit Ethernet switch , my Xfinity Gateway (modem/router), Amazon Basics 2.0 speakers , and my Emerson CKS1521 clock . On the desk itself, I use a Hisense 43...

Weekly Report 10/26/2025 - 11/01/2025 How I’m Using ChatGPT to Find Remote Sage 100 / PVXplus Work For a long time, I was searching for remote work the traditional way — scrolling job boards, sending out applications, and waiting. But despite more than 20 years of experience working with Sage 100 and ProvideX (PVXplus) — building and supporting business applications, developing data tools, and solving real-world problems — I wasn’t seeing much success. Then I tried something different: I started using ChatGPT as part of my search . Step 1: Automating Job Searches The first way I used ChatGPT was simple but powerful — I asked it to scan job boards regularly for new Sage 100 and ProvideX positions. That alone changed the game. Within weeks, I found several opportunities I had missed before, including one that led to a job interview. But as helpful as that was, I realized something important: many of the companies that could use my skills might never post a job onli...

Weekly Report 10/12/2025 - 10/18/2025 How I’m Using AI to Supercharge My Job Search — and How You Can Too How I’m Using ChatGPT to Find Remote Sage 100 / PVXplus Work For a long time, I was searching for remote work the traditional way — scrolling job boards, sending out applications, and waiting. But despite more than 20 years of experience working with Sage 100 and ProvideX (PVXplus) — building and supporting business applications, developing data tools, and solving real-world problems — I wasn’t seeing much success. Then I tried something different: I started using ChatGPT as part of my search . Step 1: Automating job searches The first way I used ChatGPT was simple but powerful — I asked it to scan job boards regularly for new Sage 100 and ProvideX positions. That alone changed the game. Within weeks, I found several opportunities I had missed before, including one that led to a job interview. But as helpful as that was, I realized something important: many o...

Weekly update 09/28/25 - 10/04/25 Life has been throwing a lot my way lately—from unexpected falls to navigating a tricky job search—but I’m learning to turn setbacks into lessons. Here’s what’s been happening recently. Job Search Update: How ChatGPT Became My Secret Weapon I’ve been working hard to find a new job, and this time I’ve been getting some help from an unexpected source: ChatGPT. It’s helped me rewrite parts of my resume and update my LinkedIn profile, making me feel more confident applying to roles I might have overlooked before. Each day, I check six different job boards for opportunities in: PVXplus (ProvideX) Sage 100 (MAS 90) Infor FACTS UniBasic, BBx, Business Basic, Prompt AI Trainer / Relevance / Testing / Annotation Support, Customer Service, Virtual Assistant, Data Entry, Bookkeeping, Data Processing, Systems Analyst, Help Desk So far, I’ve applied to several openings, and the best news is that I found tw...

My Search for Remote Work It’s been a while since I published an update, so I’m going to write one about my job search. In 2018, I had been working for the same company for nearly 18 years when it was sold, and I was declared superfluous and let go. I was lucky—within a few weeks, I found a new job working remotely from Vancouver, WA, with a company based in Phoenix, AZ. I was so happy the break was not too long. Unfortunately, I was only there for four years when I got sick. I won’t go into the details here, but I was unable to work for several years, living off my IRA and selling my Prius. Once I started feeling better, I got back to the question of finding a job. I’ve worked for nearly 39 years using various forms of Business Basic (ProvideX/PVx, UniBasic, BBx, B32, Pick Basic, Basic Four, Thoroughbred Basic). I began my search looking for a remote job programming in one of those languages. I did this without much hope, knowing that Business Basic and all its variants are a dy...

I'm Not Charley  Hello, my name is Odell! I was born in 1961. I have an Associate of Sciences and a Bachelor of Arts degree. I'm a Pilot, Photographer, Poet, Philosopher, Mystic, Writer, Musician, Amateur Astronomer, and for over 45 years I've been a professional computer programmer — and a lot more. I mention these accomplishments because of something that happened in 2nd grade. I was falling behind academically, having problems learning to read and write. After much humiliation (my classmates constantly made fun of me) and testing, I was diagnosed as being “brain damaged.” My parents were told that I would never learn to read or write or have normal relationships or a normal life — in fact, that it would be best if I was simply placed in an institution. They were told they had three other children and another on the way, so it would be best for everyone. My parents disregarded this and kept me in school and “mainstreamed” me. I was held back and had to repeat 2nd gra...

A Small Airplane Daydream I had an odd little fantasy pop into my head today. I imagined getting on a plane, finding my seat, and realizing the person next to me is Mayim Bialik from The Big Bang Theory . In the dream, I do what I always do, settle in quietly, mind my own business, try not to bother anyone. But eventually the excitement gets the better of me. I turn to her and say, as apologetically as possible, that I know people must approach her all the time, but I’ve always respected her work and I just had one question I couldn’t resist asking. “What do you think about autoimmune encephalitis?” After all, she really is a neuroscientist. Next: I'm Not Carley Previous: A Few Words on Caring

Christmas Letter 2017 Dear Friends, It is my custom at this time of year to celebrate with my friends by giving them the gift of self — to share with you some of what the last year(s) have brought for me. I don’t mean to make skipping a year a habit, but shortly after Thanksgiving last year something happened that I do not want to go into here. Suffice it to say, I did not feel up to writing this letter, so I missed an update for 2016. I hope to make up for that now. Most of what has happened during the last two years has been medical, so I will report on that at the end. When I last wrote, my father had passed away. So in January of 2016, I went back down to LA for the funeral (with Phoenix). These were her first two airplane flights, and she was a trooper. The rest of 2016 was rather boring. I made a couple of trips to Seattle and the coast, went to work most days, and lived the boring life of an adult. 2017 was a little more eventful. We started the year off with a big snowsto...

Christmas Letter 2015  Dear Friends, It is my custom at this time of year to celebrate with my friends by giving them the gift of self — to share with you some of what the last year(s) has brought for me. I’m very sorry that last year I did not finish my letter. Frankly, my health issues have been getting worse and I simply did not have the energy. Please accept my apologies. I will quickly try to update you on the past two years. Sad to say, the largest change in my life is that my father passed away shortly before Thanksgiving this year. He was 74. I will be heading down to LA in January for his funeral. In 2013, I was in Mazatlán, Mexico for Christmas. I do not speak Spanish, but I did learn one word on that trip: Mazatlán is Spanish for DUMP . Let’s just say it was an awful trip and leave it there. I traded in my 2005 Toyota Prius for a Nissan Rogue. I wanted a car that was easier to get into when I’m having hip or leg problems, and one with modern safety features like a ...

Christmas Letter 2014  Dear Friends, It is my custom at this time of year to celebrate with my friends by giving them the gift of self — to share with you some of what the last year has brought for me. This year I am celebrating Christmas for the 53rd time in my life. This year I will be home for Christmas, so I am hoping for a white one. Last year I was in Mazatlán, Mexico for Christmas. I do not speak Spanish, but I did learn one word on that trip: Mazatlán is Spanish for DUMP . I was so disappointed. I wonder if I will ever head to Mexico again. It was noisy and crowded, and the house we rented felt like a prison — complete with guards across the street watching us and telling us not to use the A/C. We christened the house Casa de Cockroach . I had to rent a car, and it seems everyone there learned to drive in New York. It was very little fun, and I am afraid that trip was a dead loss. When I last wrote, I was hoping to do some comet viewing while I was in Mexico, but the c...

Christmas Letter 2013 Dear Friends, It is my custom at this time of year to celebrate with my friends by giving them the gift of self — to share some of what the last year has brought for me. This year I am celebrating Christmas for the 52nd time in my life. Normally, I would be wishing for a white Christmas, but this year I will be in Mexico on Christmas Day, so the closest I’m likely to get is the sand on the beach near the house we are renting. When I say we , I am referring to my friend Mary — more about her later. Since I’m going to Mexico with someone , I will not be hanging my traditional bikini by the fireplace (in hopes that Santa will fill it). I would definitely have to say that of the years of this millennium, this one has been one of the best. Not that it hasn’t had challenges, but as I sit here writing on Thanksgiving Eve, I find that I have more to be thankful for than in many years. Phoenix, my service dog, is coming along in her training. I just wish my health were...