Stardate 10.04.2026
My body is still adjusting to being home.
After nearly two weeks in Europe, my sleep report continues to show that my normal rhythms haven't completely reset. Yesterday morning, that travel fatigue showed up in another way. My brain was moving a little slower than usual.
I was planning to get to cardio tennis, but Luuuucy was blocked in the driveway. I needed to move several vehicles around to get her out, and I simply wasn't moving quickly enough to make it happen.
So I shifted gears.
There was a list of things around our home that needed my attention, and I decided to work through it.
One of those projects was the garage door opener.
The replacement part had arrived while I was in London. I had purchased some new tools as I prepare for the Luuuucy build, including a special attachment designed to reach into tight spaces where a standard screwdriver can't.
This was my first real opportunity to put those tools to work.
I removed the failed part, installed the replacement, put everything back together, plugged the opener in and pushed the button.
Success.
I also reprogrammed the keypad that had failed earlier and had already been replaced just before the garage door opener decided to give up.
It was a small home repair, but I couldn't help thinking about Luuuucy.
The van is still an empty shell. There is a lot ahead of me before it becomes the camper van I have envisioned. Yesterday gave me a little taste of what that process will be like: figure out the problem, find the right part, use the right tool, work carefully in a tight space, put everything back together and see if it works.
Apparently, the garage door has become my first training exercise.
By the time family time arrived, I had accomplished what I needed to do around the house.
We gathered at our son's house to watch the rivalry between the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and Ohio State.
Neither game went our way.
We were the underdogs, and the scoreboard eventually reflected that.
The scoreboard wasn't the most memorable part of the football game.
Yesterday's story included the kindness of the Ohio State coach, who had sent a letter to every child who was a patient at University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital.
That act of kindness came back into the story during the game.
At the end of the first quarter, Iowa made a big play that kept the game close. Then something happened that I hope I never take for granted.
The television coverage stayed with the stadium.
Seventy thousand people were waving.
They were waving toward the patients watching from the 12th floor of the children's hospital.
The camera showed the stadium, and the television audience got to see the same thing happening that has become such a special tradition in Iowa City.
The patients waved back.
Caitlin Clark was in the hospital room with the children, waving with them.
For a few moments, 70,000 people were connected to those children.
That was the highlight of the football game for me.
Then came baseball.
The San Diego Padres had clawed their way into the postseason after spending weeks during the regular season close to playoff elimination. For Game 1, they were on the road in Milwaukee facing one of baseball's best pitchers.
The Padres scored twice.
Milwaukee answered with two runs of its own.
Then Milwaukee's ace left the game as his pitch count became a concern for the manager, who was thinking ahead to the rest of the series.
Milwaukee added another run.
It looked like the Brewers were going to take Game 1.
Then came the eighth inning.
The Padres advanced a runner to third base with two outs.
And that's when I saw something I had never seen before.
The Padres hit a ball so high that it struck the roof.
The left fielder caught it near the wall in left field after it hit the roof.
The umpires gathered together to discuss the play. The Padres manager came onto the field to talk with them.
The ruling stood.
Third out.
The Padres' threat was over.
Milwaukee still had to play the ninth inning and record the final three outs, but the strange play had ended San Diego's opportunity to extend the eighth.
The Brewers eventually won Game 1.
Game 2 of the best of five series is today.
After worship, more family time is coming.
When I look back at yesterday, I think I'll remember the moments surrounding the games for a long time.
I remember being too slow from travel to get Luuuucy out of the driveway.
I remember shifting gears and finding other things that needed my attention.
I remember a garage door opener working again.
I remember learning that the tools I bought for Luuuucy already have a job before the van build has even begun.
I remember an Ohio State coach writing letters to children in an Iowa hospital.
I remember 70,000 people waving.
I remember children waving back.
And I remember a baseball hitting a roof and ending a threat in a playoff game.
Yesterday didn't follow my plan.
It still gave me plenty to carry into today.
"Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it."
— Psalm 90:17
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Captain's Addendum
Spock: "Michael, the Captain demonstrated reasonable adaptability when cardio tennis became unavailable."
Bones: "For once, Spock, I agree. He fixed the garage door and still made it to family time."
Spock: "An efficient use of an unexpected change in circumstances."
There are days when the mission changes before breakfast.
Yesterday was one of them.
I am grateful for the ability to recognize it, shift gears and keep moving.
One percent better. One day at a time.
Live Long and Prosper.








