Let the Stroke Out

May 13, 2026

The first thing I wanted out of the storage unit in Ankeny was my cue. I've owned it since 1994. It fits like an old glove. I wanted it with me in Waterloo, on my parents' table — the same table my dad scooted me around on a kitchen chair before I could see over the rail. I wanted it every morning at the Cedar Falls community center, where my parents now play. Coming home to Portugal from this trip, I realized how much I miss playing pool. Not just any pool. American pool. And it reminded me…

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Relaxed but Certain

February 25, 2026

More than a decade ago, when I first read The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel, I was a developer who had not yet fully recognized that I was drifting into software consulting. The book did not teach me technical skills. It sharpened something else — clarity of vision. I stopped seeing myself as the person writing code in the background. I started seeing myself as the person in the room — interpreting systems, diagnosing workflow loopholes, translating complexity into decisions. The…

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