Issue #21: March 2026 Congratulations to this month's sponsored giveaway winners: Alden E., Jaewon P., Ho K., and Manny L. Life In Season: Real Estate, Work, and Baseball All at Once Real estate season is picking up—I'm working on 4 listings (Springfield, Arlington, Fairfax, Chantilly) and 2 buyers (Arlington, Ashburn) (one just closed and one under contract), plus a number of other buyers still looking. At the same time, I’m still working my government job full-time—taking advantage of the...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Issue #20: February 2026 Congratulations to this month's sponsored giveaway winners: Sue K., Hannah P., Sam K., and Samantha C. Life Two Birthdays and Two Florida Trips We celebrated my son’s 11th birthday last week, and my wife turns 40 next week, so it’s been a fun run of family celebrations. February is always a busy month, but having these moments mixed in with the early spring real estate rush has made it feel like a good kind of busy. We took a Disney cruise last month, and we’re...
2 months ago • 4 min read
Issue #19: January 2026 Congratulations to this month's sponsored giveaway winners: Joseph S., Julie H., Julian K., and Cathy C. Life Disney Destiny 2026 I feel like I’m always writing these newsletters at the end of the month now. Life has been full lately — real estate is picking back up, I’m settling back into my old job, and I’m trying to protect family time in the middle of it all. We also just got back from a cruise on the Disney Destiny with friends. I think this will be our last...
3 months ago • 4 min read
Issue #18: December 2025 Congratulations to this month's sponsored giveaway winners: Stephen K., Michael H., Jen B., Chuck K. There are two Stephen K.'s subscribed to my newsletter. The other one already won, so it's not a repeat! Life Winding down my travel business This is my last month as a travel advisor at Fairy Godmother Travel. It's been a fun two years, and I learned a lot. I booked trips for people to Spain, Portugal, Norway, Costa Rica, Croatia, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates,...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Issue #17: November 2025 Congratulations to this month's sponsored giveaway winners: Vynn H., Tian B., Bo K., and Jae Y. Life Back At Work Thanks for your patience with this month’s newsletter! Getting back into the swing of things at the USPTO has been a big adjustment. Between the commute and nine-hour workdays, it’s been a tiring transition—but also a refreshing one. I’m enjoying being around a diverse group of colleagues again: people of all ages, backgrounds, and corners of the country...
5 months ago • 4 min read
Issue #16: October 2025 Congratulations to this month's sponsored giveaway winners: Eugine P., Melissa L., Thomas C., Jenny W. Life Unretirement: Back at the USPTO This week marked my first week back at the USPTO. I “retired” (or really, resigned) back in January 2025 after more than 16 years of service—just before the DRP was offered. In some strange way, I actually missed being a patent examiner. Like Venus Williams, my main motivation for returning was health insurance. The marketplace...
6 months ago • 4 min read
Issue #15: September 2025 Congratulations to this month's sponsored giveaway winners: Morrison M., Angela L., Willis P., Paul K. Life Turning 40 and a couple big career changes This month I celebrated my 40th birthday, and in just a couple of weeks my wife and I will celebrate our 13th anniversary. I was fortunate to sneak away for a couple of weekends in Las Vegas and Deep Creek Lake with friends and my twin brother. We had a great time, made some memories — and got very little sleep. A big...
8 months ago • 4 min read
Issue #14: August 2025 Congratulations to this month's sponsored giveaway winners: Yuri K., Stephen K., Hyun K., and Joshua C. Life The kids are officially back in school, so I finally have some time to write. These summers are going by faster and faster as I get older. We took a few small trips this summer: Virginia Beach, Kent Island, and Dewey Beach. I think we've been to Virginia Beach every year now for the past 4-5 years. We stay at the Hyatt right on the beach and use our Hyatt points....
8 months ago • 6 min read
Issue #13: July 2025 Congratulations to this month's sponsored giveaway winners: Tae K., George H., Jae L., and Harry O. Life TTB Update It’s been just over a year since I joined TTB (The Tuesday Bros) — a group of dads who meet at 5:00 AM at least twice a week to lift heavy things and hold each other accountable. We focus on the classic SBD lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. If the sum of your squat, bench, and deadlift exceeds 1,000 lbs, you join the elite 1,000 Pound Club. I started...
10 months ago • 7 min read