silence flows through the darkness
deep into the soul
Haiku: December 29, 2025
silence flows through the darkness
deep into the soul
Author: Carl Setzer
A blogger blogging from just north of Seattle.
silence flows through the darkness
deep into the soul
Completed another Certificate: Harnessing the Power of Data with Power BI
I’ve been working lately on Coursera’s Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst certificate. I just completed the current course, Harnessing the Power of Data with Power BI. I find this valuable as I don’t know Power BI (BI = Business Intelligence) that well yet. I have extensive experience with Excel and Google Sheets. I studied database theory and design, SQL/MySQL, and created gobs of databases for my Web Development Degree. Power BI is a powerful tool that many organizations want/need for data analysts, which seems like a great fit for me at this juncture of my career. I’ve been working with Excel and the rest of Office for decades. I’ve worked with Oracle and SQL Server databases. I’ve built reports and dashboards. I’ve enjoyed this kind of work to the point of volunteering for it.
So, I’ve slowly been diving in and getting Power BI under my belt. It looks like a key piece for me to evolve into Data Analyst roles, for which I’m pretty excited. Again, it looks like a blend of my skills and interests. Even my current network and server admin work ties in, as databases often live on servers, and thus, networks are crucial.
Tonight’s Haiku: December 8, 2025
the wind’s aggression
flinging branches to the earth
this winter’s darkness
Blog post: twenty years of a blog
I launched this blog twenty years ago today. It’s rather mind blowing to consider how much has transpired over that time. George W. Bush was President. I still worked at Starbucks, and have had 6 other jobs since. I’ve moved once. I’ve gone through multiple stints of unemployment. A lot of my life has gone into this site.
This site started as a Blogspot page. Years ago, I migrated to self-hosted WordPress. Mainly, I became concerned about the number of services Google has abandoned. Also, WordPress was becoming a key player in the website ecosystem. Having skills and understanding in this system would be powerful. I’ve LONG aspired to move into web development. And here we are.
I’ve moved from executive support to general administrative support to project coordination to tech support and data analytics and management. I’ve documented so many changes in the tech scene, in Seattle, and wrote so many haiku. I’ve evolved, changed, and grown and failed.
I’m glad you’ve come along for the ride. It’s been fascinating. I’m still growing and changing, and my blog will evolve with that. I’m exploring how I want to evolve. One of my goals is to be better at proactivity. To have a plan and a direction. I want my blog, and connected social media to support all this. We’ll see what comes of all this.
So, thanks for reading. I appreciate your support and presence.
Haiku: December 5th, 2025
the wind in the trees
gracefully flowing forward
with its blessed song
“Leaving a Legacy”, A Book Review By A Friend
I’ve thought a fair amount about the ethics surrounding wealth and the acquisition of wealth. My friend Roy’s look at this book on this subject gives me a lot to think about.
“Leaving a Legacy: An important new book by Johann Kurtz”.
When I think about the wealthy (and other community leaders) I admire, there’s a grace and decorum attached. I don’t admire, much less respect, the bellicose bullying that many with privilege resort to.
I’ve known Roy for years and always find his insights worthwhile. So, not only do I recommend this specific Substack post, but I’d also recommend subscribing.
A Thanksgiving Mediation or XKCD Making Me Cry
I’ve been following XKCD for, well, decades. Over the years, I’ve seen many friends not get the privilege of growing old. For me, this is a powerful gift and one that I don’t ever intend to take for granted. Perhaps the most powerful Thanksgiving sentiment I’ve ever felt.
For those of you in the US, may you have a blessed and rejuvenating Thanksgiving. And for the rest of you, may the reminder of this week set you up for continued growth and progress.
Update: WordPress reminded me that this is a series and I’ve written about past iterations. Check this one out: I Love XKCD!
Is it just me or does Iggy Pop look like a White Walker?
As I’m listening to a 70s Road Trip playlist on Spotify, up popped Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger”. Me being me, I Google him to see what he’s up to nowadays. This is the first picture that came up for me:
Now, for some deeper insight into how I see the world, I couldn’t help but see how much he looks like this White Walker from Game of Thrones:
Yeah, yeah, I’m kinda weird, I know.
In case you don’t know this song:
And here’s the playlist if you’re so inclined:
Anyway, enjoy your Friday!
Don’t Mess With My Gear!
One thing a lot of folks know: I also run and manage sound systems. I started doing this in high school and have been doing sound tech work ever since. Currently, I am the main focus for sound at the event center I work for.
Yesterday I was called by them while at my other job because our Bluetooth transceiver wasn’t working. Long story short, they opted to not bring me in right away, but I needed to tackle this immediately when I got there (which I had planned for early afternoon).
Once I got there, it took me a couple minutes to figure out that someone had pulled the cables out. Argh! Now, in the grand scheme, minor problem. But I struggle with understanding any “why” for this besides simply being a jerk.
Frustrating for my poor morning users who, though they don’t depend on it, do like to use Bluetooth to play music. I do have regular users who do depend on that, though. Playing music from a modern phone via an aux port isn’t so easy anymore.
So, please, don’t mess with my gear! Ugh!
A Critique On AI Hype
AI is seemingly everywhere right now, and I’ve written a bit about it before. As I’ve started diving more deeply into it, I see all the hype about how AI will be disrupting work. Well, I’ve developed a somewhat contrarian viewpoint to the prevalent viewpoint of “AI taking over everything”. Here are a few random thoughts on the whole thing right now.
A lot of what AI is replacing now, and expected to in the near future, runs on the assumption that it will remain (nearly) free. However, most of the current costs are funded by investor dollars. As MIT recently reported, 95% of AI initiatives are failing to generate value. So, the only way companies are gaining value from AI is via its low cost. And the operating costs are significant. Data centers are expensive, both to build and to operate. GPUs aren’t cheap to buy. The environmental costs are steep. And, right now, those costs are being paid from investor dollars. When those dry up (investors need to make a return on that investment at some point, and that needs to be greater than the investment as well as the current operational costs. I expect the point when investors stop feeling FOMO and start worrying about making a return will be coming soon. I expect that when the costs become the responsibility of the consumer, the price will escalate abruptly and steeply. Will a junior developer really be displaced by ChatGPT or CoPilot? Or will we suddenly find junior developers much more cost-effective?
Adding to this, I’ve seen discussion about how AI infrastructure investment is potentially masking a recession. Thus, I’m concerned that we’re missing the weakening economy, things like continued tech-sector layoffs, and are not paying attention to some big economic weaknesses. If AI investment dries up, and layoffs start compounding, the dominoes start to fall, and that brings a significant recession/depression. Which will muddle this significantly.
Anyway, I think that we are in a bubble regarding AI. Like the Dot Com bubble, I think that AI will herald significant technological changes. AI is a powerful tool, and will continue to be so. However, I am confident that the techno-dystopia predicted by AI hyper-meisters will not materialize. I’m not sure we can even conceptualize what it will look like at the end of this cycle. But I am confident that those who have mastered AI will benefit greatly from the coming revolution. There are opportunities, and now is the time to make the investment in understanding them.