The Roller Coaster Conundrum

Have you ever seen the movie, Parenthood? If not, you should.

Aside from an impressive cast of both comedic and dramatic actors, it also has a lot to offer in terms of perspective and life lessons. I saw it as a kid. Joaquin Phoenix, who plays Max in the movie, is a year and a month older than me, so I was about the age he was in the movie when it came out. That being the case, most of the wisdom it had to offer the adult crowd was lost on me, but there was one scene I remember very clearly. Something about it told me this was a valuable lesson, and I should remember it.

Of course, it came from the oldest actor in the movie.

Two blog posts ago, I talked about how we ran up against some challenges starting in January 2023 that had only just then (in February 2025) started to resolve. Well, it seems that the roller coaster car chugging up the hill was not, in fact, approaching a major peak in the track's course, but a very minor one...just enough to give you that thrill of reaching its apex and the inevitable descent on the way back down the other side.

Having just sent out a large batch of query letters before the downward slide began on Wednesday when I was laid off yet again (yay, tech industry!), I'm hopeful maybe I'll get a little boost of momentum to start up the next hill soon...especially since not even 72 hours since being let go, a tree fell on our house.

That's not a metaphor. A literal tree fell on our literal house.

Let's hope the estimates to remove the tree and repair our roof don't exceed whatever our homeowner's insurance is willing to cover.

Though I do love the roller coaster, I wouldn't complain if we could take a breather on the merry-go-round for a little while.