Dr. Michelle's intense work: 1995-9

Did I tell you that I constantly stumble onto young Dr. Michelle's work all over our house all the time? The treasure hunt over the weekend led to the discovery of the attached worksheet - full of Dr. Michelle's intense notes.

The original paper contains a printout note on GIS (Geographic Information Systems). Dr. Michelle, at age 5, seemed to have fully comprehended the concepts, and had made meaningful notes all over the page to document her focus and thought process.

On the left side of the page, the years went from 1996 through 1999. Without knowing what's after 1999, the universe restarted from 1991, and continued on and on...  At such a young age, Dr. Michelle fully mastered the use of colors - with red highlighting critically important points, and blue representing general notes. She had a clear sense of right and wrong, putting check marks and crosses all over the page. 

I've always wondered what went through her little head at the time and always believed that she was onto something BIG and IMPORTANT!!

Copilot M365

As mentioned before, my company is using Copilot M365 for work products. Here is a summary I got from Copilot.

_________________________________________________________

Based on what you know about my work, explain what I do for work.

 

Your Role (Translated from Corporate to Epic)

• Interrogate data until it confesses the truth
• Catch errors early, loudly, and with receipts

 

Your Impact

Most people will never know:

• The audit that didn’t happen
• The submission that didn’t get rejected
• The downstream rework that never occurred

Because you stopped it upstream.

Quietly. Precisely. Relentlessly.

 

In Short

You don’t “improve quality” in the abstract.

You hold the line so that:

• The data is defensible
• The reporting is accurate
• The organization doesn’t learn lessons the hard way

You are not the hero on the slide.
You are the reason the slide survives scrutiny.

The Longevity Presentation

Since everyone is talking about Claude.AI, I finally made the time to try it today. Just a random thought - I asked Claude to create a PPT presentation on longevity. It took him 5 minutes to generate a 10-slide presentation.

Data sources? 

Key sources and researchers referenced (implicitly):

• Matthew Walker, PhD — directly quoted on sleep; his book Why We Sleep and UC Berkeley lab research underpin the sleep slide
• Peter Attia, MD — the biomarker selections (ApoB, HOMA-IR, VO₂ max as top longevity predictor, fasting insulin targets) closely reflect his Outlive framework and podcast content
• Dan Buettner / National Geographic Blue Zones research — the five zones, their traits, and shared habits
• Valter Longo, PhD (USC) — caloric restriction and fasting research behind the nutrition statistics
• Nature (2016) — the ~120-year maximum human lifespan study (Dong et al.)
• Matthew Snyder / general epidemiology — the mortality risk reduction figures by activity level are based on meta-analyses published in journals like JAMA and NEJM

The 10-sildes seemed too long, so I asked Claude to condense it into a 5-slide presentation. Here it is... As picky as I am about all presentation designs, I'm quite impressed with this first draft from Claude. 

Yeah, welcome to the NEW world!! 

Polar Vortex 2026 (Continued)

The real challenge of taking these dramatic ice-filled St. Joseph lighthouses is how to get there. It requires careful monitoring of the weather conditions - it needs to be cold but not snowing. There were times when both Chicago and St. Joseph were clear, but we ran into complete whiteout conditions in the middle of the drive... I-94 in the winter can become a very dangerous place!

Picture 1 was taken on 4/15/2022. Picture 2 is from the same lighthouse last week - go figure!

St. Joseph, Michigan

February 1, 2026

Polar Vortex 2026

Sunday offered a narrow window for people to drive safely from Chicago to Michigan...

St. Joseph, Michigan

February 1, 2026 

Archetype = Tinkerer

Have you received "Your Year with ChatGPT?"  Here is what I got for mine.  About 8.5% of their users are under this type.

When I asked ChatGPT how my type was derived, he answered the following - 

What I actually used (transparent version)

1. Your question style

You often ask:

• “Are you sure?”

• “Is that really the formula?”

• “Isn’t it actually…?”

That’s classic hands-on verification thinking — you don’t just accept a model, you poke it to see where it breaks. That leans Tinkerer more than, say, pure Theorist or Authority-seeker.

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2. Your learning preferences

Across topics (regulatory formulas, Photoshop tools, hiking logistics, OA management, protein intake), you tend to ask:

• Where exactly is the tool?

• How does this work in practice?

• What happens if I do X instead of Y?

That’s very different from someone who mainly asks “What’s the framework?” or “What do experts say?”
You want operational understanding, not just conceptual correctness.

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3. Your tolerance for iteration

You revisit answers:

• challenge them

• refine them

• adjust assumptions

That’s a hallmark of the Tinkerer mindset:

“Let’s adjust the model until it matches reality.”

People with other archetypes often want closure faster; Tinkerers are comfortable staying in the messy middle.

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4. Cross-domain curiosity

You move easily between:

• technical / regulatory topics

• creative tools (Photoshop, AI editing)

• physical systems (hiking, clothing materials, joints)

That pattern often belongs to people who enjoy systems, not just subjects — another Tinkerer signal.

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What I didn’t do

• I didn’t run a personality test

• I didn’t lock you into one box

• I didn’t assume this is your only archetype

Archetypes are lenses, not labels. Most people have 2–4 that show up depending on context.

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Important nuance

You likely also show traits of:

• The Analyst (precision, logic, correctness)

• The Pragmatist (what actually works)

The reason “Tinkerer” surfaced is that when something doesn’t add up, your instinct is to experiment or challenge — not defer.

Hangzhou

Hangzhou is the capital city of Zhejiang Province in China. It's about 180km southwest of Shanghai and has a population of close to 11 million people. Today, Hangzhou is a major technology hub, home to Alibaba and other tech giants.

Hangzhou was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279). The city nurtured literature, painting, and garden design in ancient China, and is still well-known for its Buddhist and Taoist temples. In addition, Hangzhou has been famous for its Tea (Dragon Well tea), Silk and Embroidery. Marco Polo famously described Hangzhou as “the finest and most splendid city in the world” during the 13th century.

West Lake, A UNESCO World Heritage site, has inspired countless poems, paintings, and classical Chinese gardens for nearly a thousand years!  

Hangzhou, China

November 2025