Peak adulthood is buying a new garage door and acting like spending four figures on something so utterly banal isn’t soul crushing.

This will never stop being funny.

Hit a milestone today with 20 lbs lost over the past 4 months. Feels good to be out of my rut and making progress toward a goal.

Very strange that in 2025, when you hit copy on an email address in any Microsoft product, it still copies the “mailto:”. This includes outlook for iOS.

Requested my high school transcript and found out they calculated my GPA wrong—not in my favor. Appalled and amazed, but honestly, not entirely surprised.

Started another 48-hour fast tonight. Happy I didn’t gain back the weight I’d lost eating tacos in California. All the walking helped. I’m aiming for a 10% loss before a 5k mud run this summer.

Sacramento Valley Station is a beauty. 🚂 #trains #rail #photography #transit #amtrak #california

The light was incredible from Alamo Square the other night. Ethereal and memorable experience. 📷 #landscapephotography #streetphotography #sf

Rajneeshees, anyone? Musk gets his Texas wish. SpaceX launch site is approved as the new city of Starbase

Adios, San Jose: Wrapping up my SJ/SF leg of the trip. I have been determined to not rent a car and mostly took trains and buses everywhere. I took light rail in San Jose, Caltrain to Palo Alto and San Francisco, Muni and BART in SF, and the 17 bus to Santa Cruz. Now riding Amtrak to Sacramento. Everything has been …

I’ve had a lot of fun traveling around without a car. Still, the most annoying thing has been dealing with other people listening to something on their phones without headphones. Everywhere I go, calls on speakerphone, loud music, YouTube videos on trains, in lobbies, at stations. So annoying.

Time for bed 💤😴

San Francisco Day Trip: 

Back at SF Caltrain Station, about to head back to SJ, and I’m just struck by how much this system resembles regional service in Italy. It’s obvious they took some cues from them in station design. SF feels a bit like Venice Mestre. SJ feels a little like La Spezia. We need more regional rail!

I visited the house in Glen Park that my great-grandmother Louise rented in the 1950s and ’60s, after she left Detroit and separated from my great-grandfather Silvio. In the 1960s, my grandmother also lived there with her kids—my dad and my aunt—after her husband left her.

I love how most other cities with botanical gardens keep their exotic plants in conservatories, but San Francisco’s flex is that their plants from all around the world are just kept in a park outside.

Took Caltrain up to the city. Gorgeous day at Mission Dolores Park in San Francisco.

Hint: Oregon isn’t one of them. Housing market shift: 9 states where buyers are quickly gaining power

Super impressed by Caltrain in the Bay Area! Wish Portland had something similar for certain routes. And no, Wes isn’t the same.

Is In-N-Out’s name intentionally ironic?

“Center for Engineering Management.”

It was an absolute trip reconnecting with my former MSU dorm mate in Palo Alto after 25 years!

Had a lot of fun exploring Stanford.

So far, San Jose feels a lot like a mix between Lloyd Center and Skidmore Fountain area, if that tells you anything. Looking forward to making larger concentric circles tomorrow in hopes of improveming perceptions.

I don’t often take the window seat, but when I do…

Finally getting to see the PDX airport renovation in person. #portland

Meeting up with my old college roommate this week who works at Rivian. My six-year-old son made me promise to ask him why their trucks don’t have games in them. Priorities!

Shout out to the neurodivergent folks who make things happen in spite of the world. Sometimes I look back at the gauntlet I just made it through, grateful someone told me it wasn’t possible.

Do you want to know why most affordable housing projects are less than 5 stories? Prevailing wages requirements from DBRA and BOLI. #pdx #oregon Lawmakers Spar With BOLI Over Wages on Housing Jobs

Picked up a new sling ahead of my trip to California this week. It’s the Pakt 5L Everyday. So far I’m really enjoying it and think it will be the perfect size for a personal item carry-on bag. PS, I have a loose itinerary later this week in Silicon Valley if anyone wants to grab lunch or go hiking.

Terribly saddened to learn of my cousin Garwood’s passing today. I will miss his caring positivity and sense of humor. Rest easy.

Checking out the excellent Lire RSS reader on iOS. Tremendous bargain for $9.99.

Feeling fully myself again after replenishing my pizza stores at Mucca. The North and South is one of our faves. The honey chili bruschetta is decent, too. 🤌

I took a picture of a bubble the size of my head floating away.

Bold claim, but cute nevertheless. How Oregon cheese became the best in the world | Superabundant

When the in-mirror lighting at the dermatologist is on point. Felt cute, might delete later lol.

#GhostCMS has got to be working on an iOS app, right? Adding #ActivityPub doesn’t make sense to me otherwise. The social feeds and discoverability in the Wordpress and Substack apps are what set them apart and make them enjoyable to use. PWAs don’t cut it in this sphere.

Kind of want a Land Cruiser 70 series, but I guess they need to be 25 years old before you can import them due to federal motor vehicle safety standards. The design hasn’t changed all that much since then. Love the boxy look.

I breezed by 48 hours so I just kept going. Felt good for the most part, but I was ready to be done by the 70-hour mark. Probably will stick to two days from here on out.

Misremembered Eulogies: My brother passed away in March 2021, after battling the brain tumor he had been diagnosed with in 2014. Last month marked four years since his death. Aside from losing grandparents, his passing was the closest loss I had ever experienced. We were just one year and nine months apart and did …

The iOS Books app is desperate for a redesign. Managing your own library is a terrible experience.

Trying this one again. It definitely helps with the insomnia. Currently reading: A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander 📚

My first chaperone experience.

The current administration wants to give people $5k to have more kids? That would barely cover our fresh fruit bill. Daycare for 2 kids is like $35k per year on the low side.

Suddenly my 1280 sf (119 m²) house doesn’t seem so small by European standards.

Turns out that fasting 6 out of 10 days can make you shed a bit of weight.

Trump’s transportation officials express skepticism about strategy used to slow speeders in Portland, other cities - oregonlive.com Removing lanes has been a tool numerous cities have used for years to calm traffic, despite resistance from some Republican governors. President Donald Trump’s …

Finished reading: The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein 📚

Did the thing. Focused on being decent. Stepped away when I needed to. Walked. Maintained my fast.

My eldest uncle went to a protest today in my hometown of Saginaw, Michigan and sent this to me. Might be the best thing I’ve ever seen. Gives me hope.

Lord give me strength to keep my mouth shut with the MAGAs today.

Just got a quote to redo the siding on my very small house. $48k. GFYS.

Finished S3 of White Lotus. Sort of hilarious how it satirizes the Western pursuit of enlightenment through luxury wellness experiences, but hell if I couldn’t use a vacation like that.

Oregon’s Alpacas per capita 🦙 📈

I think a better location would be the soccer fields in Washington Park. Reconfigure Jefferson to serve it. Create a new underground MAX station. No surface parking. Keep as many trees as you can to have a ballpark in the forest. Oregon Senate passes funding bill for new Portland MLB ballpark

Completed my second ever multi-day fast today. I think I’m getting the hang of this.

Brother had soccer practice so we headed to the park.

Started my second multi-day fast after dinner yesterday and the most difficult piece of this whole equation has been drinking my coffee black.

Oregon Zoo. 📍 Testing location services.

Yay. Portland homebuyers rush into combative spring market

Ended My First Fast: First time fasting and decided to break it at 42 hours with some hard boiled eggs, cucumber, raspberries, peanut butter, banana. Best meal ever. The experience was not what I was expecting. I thought it would be miserable, but I kept my electrolytes replenished and it was pretty blissful. Focused. …

Trying something a little bit different. Rounding out my first 36-hour fast. This went shockingly well considering I’ve probably never gone more than half this long without a meal. Charged up with electrolytes and hydrated, I’ve felt calm, focused, and at times semi-euphoric.

Currently reading: The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein 📚

When your good buddy is on a different team this season 😂

I was able to secure another $9k in grant funds on Friday for a total of $87k toward the EV charging infrastructure we installed last month. Feeling thankful we live in a state that still supports goals like this despite the fuckery going on at the Fed. #oregon

Hard to believe no one I knew wanted the other ticket to this sold out show, but hey, I still had fun. Deep Sea Diver @ Wonder Ballroom. Jessica Dobson is so talented, and her guitar tone is enviable.

Being middle age is having an extra ticket to the thing and no one responds to the invite.

Finished reading: Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design by Charles Montgomery 📚

I swear, I feel like Shrek next to my wife sometimes. 🧌

This tariff stuff has got to be investigated and exposed as the biggest financial markets scam in history.

I’ve noticed people spark up conversations with me a lot more often now when I wear my Detroit Lions hat. It’s become a good ice breaker since Dan Campbell took over. Sort of like a cheat code when you’re socially awkward with a severe case of RBF. #DetroitLions

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day is “apparatchik”

Time to dig out my Zf. Stylish Nikon Zf Gets its First Major Firmware Update | PetaPixel

Bumble For Friends is one of the stranger corners of the internet. Evidently men and women can’t be friends, so instead we’re going to make the socially desperate straights swipe through what is essentially a PG version of Grindr to meet each other.

Detached housing is subsidized housing. Why Cities Like Kansas City Are Heading Toward Financial Trouble — And How To Fix It.

FEMA has eliminated the BRIC program. For those of us working to address intractable infrastructure and climate challenges, this is a serious setback. Trump administration ends key grant program that helps communities prepare for disasters | AP News

Dyeing Easter eggs 🐇 💐

Dropped the kids off with a Girl Scout troop at the parks district last night. They were raising money by watching people’s kids so parents could have a date night. We went to Westgate Bourbon Bar and Taphouse, followed by Goodwill. Kids had fun, too.

Soccer is back. Beautiful day for it, too.

I’ve always wondered about the people who live above the Vista Ridge tunnels, staring out at the highway every day, listening to nonstop highway noises, and people laying on their horns as they pass through.

Beautiful day. I went out on the balcony at PSU Union during a break and loved how happy these kids were to be outside on their field trip downtown.

Nature and climate. Otherwise, I’m over it. Why do people stay in Portland? For many, it’s all about nature

Flashback Friday (October 9, 2001). #TGIF Death Cab for Cutie - Why You’d Want to Live Here

Intermittent fasting always seems like a good idea until the moment I get hungry and fold like a soggy graham cracker.

S&P down 12% since Feb 18.

I’ve had four friends, family and acquaintances ask me about the Italian citizenship recognition process in the last month. The current state of affairs is making people extremely uncomfortable. It’s been tough to have to tell them that they no longer qualify given the Italian decree on Friday. 🇮🇹

These flowering trees outside my office window 🌺 #pnw

Currently reading: Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design by Charles Montgomery 📚

Italy Tightens Citizenship Rules Amid Influx of Applications

Worth a listen once they put up today’s episode of On Point. Next episode | On Point ‘The federal workforce feels tormented’: Federal employees on the consequences of losing their jobs

Currently reading: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson 📚

Thinking about dropping use of Mastodon/ActivityPub. I don’t like that the only moderation tool is to block, which isn’t really effective at stemming hatefulness, trolling, or bullying. Bluesky and Threads both allow limiting interactions after the fact.

Finished reading: The Arsenal of Democracy by Albert J. Baime 📚

If you don’t like the weather in Oregon, wait a minute. Back home now, but our last day at the coast turned out to be a beauty.

Ice cream trucks should be classified as domestic terrorism.

What exactly is the “style” upcharge for a men’s haircut, anyway? Put gel or pomade in it?

The party is over. Il Consiglio dei Ministri approva modifiche alla legge sulla cittadinanza “ius sanguinis” – Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale

Accidentally snapped a photo of a levitating child.

This ain’t Florida. #oregoncoast

Ah, yes. Spring break on the Oregon coast. High winds, 51°, 95% chance of rain.

California really is on another level with their legalization.

Drove by last Blockbuster in the country. Bend, Oregon.

View of the Sacramento River looking west from the Sundial Bridge on a beautiful day in Redding, CA.

Surprisingly decent family fun at the Sundial Bridge and Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding.

Shasta Dam.

Shasta Lake with Mt. Shasta peaking out from behind.

86° today in Shasta Lake, March 25.

Bend is the Traverse City of Oregon.

As much Pete Buttigieg as we’re seeing, you have to wonder if he’s plotting a run for president. I’ve never seen a former Secretary of Transportation so visible.

A nice drive over Santiam Pass today, heading through the Cascades. Plenty of snow around, complete with a magical fog that emanated from it. #pnw

First stop on the 2025 Spring Break Tour. Pilot Butte, Bend.

How very Bend, Oregon of you to take your cat on a hike up Pilot Butte.

An article from a few years back that I still think about sometimes as I grind away in the rat race and on the hedonic treadmill: The activities that make people happiest include sex, exercise and gardening. People get a big happiness boost from being with a romantic partner or friends but not from …

Sometimes it’s still hard to believe a place like Forest Park is only about 15 minutes from my house.

Spring in Portlandia. #pdx

Gimme the deets, Trento…I’m coming home. A mountainous region in Italy is offering €100,000 to move there. But there’s a catch

🙄 Trump said he would move student loans “out of the Department of Education immediately” and that Loeffler and her staff are “all set for it. They’re waiting for it. It’ll be serviced much better than it has in the past. It’s been a mess.” Trump says …

Four years gone, kid brother. It’s never the easiest week to get through, and every time I struggle to say anything at all because I don’t want sympathy, I just want to send an echo of you back out into the world. Miss you and wish we could’ve gotten closer over the years. Easily my biggest regret.

Looks like I’ll be staying indoors from now until forever. Multiple cougar sightings reported near Beaverton shopping center

The default architectural design ethos has simply become “fuck it,” hasn’t it? Literally zero fucks given.

Would really like to connect with more middle age dudes on the west side of Portland, preferably not into Joe Rogan, video games, or golf. I do enjoy live music, medium skill band jam sessions, writing meetups, hiking, euchre, hobbyist street photography, zoo meetups with kids (6 and 3). #pdx

Education Department dismantled. What if everyone with student loans just…stopped paying on them all at once?

One of Portland’s best restaurants will open an outpost in Beaverton in a former movie theater this year

Started my second set of clear aligners today and my front gap is already starting to close. Teeth are gross lol.

When I can pop that L5 vertebrae by giving it a little twist 🦴💥 🙌 Sounds like a thud on a hallow log.

There are two types of glass recyclers on my street: those with bins filled with spaghetti sauce jars, and then there are those whose bins are filled with empty wine and liquor bottles.

The cafe in the lobby of our main office building makes their tomato soup with orange zest in it. Surprisingly decent combo.

I vastly underestimated just how much KISS I’d be listening to with two kids under six.

Wild stuff. Webb telescope just snapped direct image of worlds many light-years away

Having trouble powering through a book someone sent me, which is akin to being held hostage.

Can’t wait for this to come to self-hosted Ghost blogs so I can give it a test drive. #activitypub The social web beta is here

Did a lot of CSS work on my blog back in January and now Tinylytics thinks I’m averaging over 1,000 hits per month and keeps messaging me to upgrade. Yo, it’s me. I’m the one. No one is reading my blog except my snooping partner. How many more months until the average drops below 1,000?

Saw a posting in Silicon Valley (Santa Clara County) that is exactly equivalent to my job here in Portland and it topped out at only 8% more than I get paid here. Cost of living is 80% higher and housing is 229% higher. Why anyone in their right mind would work under those conditions is beyond me.

Any Italian citizens living in the U.S. have any luck booking an appointment at the San Francisco Consulate for the CIE Electronic Identity Card? Every time I try to use Prenota, there are never any available appointments. 🇮🇹

About 350 units going in next to Elmonica Station along the Red and Blue lines in what will be the second densest census tract on the west side in about a year. #pdx

Someday I will rock this look.

Yo, B9. Who hurt you?

Inflation hurts, but some things are still much cheaper today because of exploitation of foreign labor. A pair of Levi’s was $50 25 years ago. Today they’re also $50.

We went and saw Aziz Ansari last night in Portland at Arlene Schnitzer. It was nice to have a night out.

Food for thought. Is our universe trapped inside a black hole? This James Webb Space Telescope discovery might blow your mind

This would be pretty interesting for us as it would open up Canada as an actual relocation option. I think I could live in BC. Brussels is ‘honored’ Canadians want to join the EU — but says it won’t happen

Happy about it still be slightly light out at 7:00 p.m. I walked a couple of miles with the dog while listening to a book, The Arsenal of Democracy. Light rain, lots of flowering trees. I love how early they bloom here.

Deep Sea Diver released a fuzz echo pedal in partnership with Benson Amps out of Portland that I absolutely do not need 🤩 Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo — BENSON AMPS

Mela is easily a top 5 iOS app for me.

I love the simplicity of BIuesky feeds. One of my faves is just ‘Mutuals’. Sure, I like to follow some bigger accounts and news services, but when I need to cut through the noise, there are the real people, there are the topics I’m interested in. 🔵

Feeling pretty okay that I divested myself of equities on February 18. Don’t even mind if I miss any upswing, I can’t stomach this guy’s manipulation of the market.

Probably better served up in a bowl, but the French Onion Pot Roast turned out pretty good served over mashed potatoes. Even the kids liked it.🧑‍🍳 🥘

Giving this recipe a shot tonight. French Onion Pot Roast Source: instagram.com Ingredients 3ish lb chuck roast 1 tbsp Garlic powder 1 tbsp dried Rosemary 1 tbsp dried Thyme 2 tbsp Avocado Oil 1 stick Butter 2 large Yellow Onions, halved and sliced thin 4 cloves Garlic, minced 1/2 cup Red Wine 1 …

One benefit of having CAD experience is that I can easily concept plan home renovation projects. Rather than move into a larger house and blow up our budget, I’m looking at expanding the kitchen and converting the garage into living space. Much easier to communicate ideas and troubleshoot this way.

Thinking about switching back to my old school barber. It may be a little less convenient, but those dudes take their time and make me feel like a human, unlike the ladies at your average sheering factory, e.g. Great Clips et al.

After a couple week delay, I got my clear aligners today! 😬 Pretty excited to be starting, and I feel grateful to be in a position to get this done, even if later in life.

Definitely don’t envy anyone in education, or the kids about to go off to college, or researchers. We are all the beneficiaries of that knowledge, and entire system collapses without funding, either through Federal funding for research or from student loans.

Russia has nearly the same GDP and population as Mexico. The EU and US could stop the war by next week if we threatened a 100% stop on trade.

I had my doubts there would be demand for the 12 EV chargers I just had installed at work, but since last week we’ve consistently had 8 being used at all times. Cool to see we’re at least meeting underserved demand, and I think it will probably induce more. Glad we bored/wired for expansion.

Some songs just lend themselves to an opening montage to a movie that practically writes itself. Today was I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) by Whitney.

The market is down 6% since Feb 18.

Portlanders like to complain about Beaverton and Hillsboro being sprawling car centric suburbs, but they both have higher population densities than Portland. They have neighborhoods near MAX stations that are denser than most of Portland’s east side neighborhoods. They are building dense housing.

Imagine discovering The Replacements for the first time at 44 years old thinking people were referring to The Refreshments. I’ve got some catching up to do, and perhaps some repenting.

“These ninja pants have pockets and they are so cozy. They help me calm my body. Is that silly?” -A, 3

I have so many projects I want to do around the house, but since having a second child, my home improvement work has fallen off in a big way.

Applying for a very large grant atm and I’m shocked…shocked by how I’ve had to correct so many architect and engineering numbers in the proposed budget. I’m a public sector planner and supposed to be doing the narrative and these dudes have me working the weekend on a $20M project.

When I began researching EVs, the Model Y just made the most sense economically for my family’s first electric car. Now the CEO has ratcheted up his insanity to a level I didn’t foresee and I worry for my family’s safety just driving it. Scrolling Rivian daily even though I’d lose my ass selling.

The first question that comes to mind when the average MAGA says they pay too much in Federal taxes is…”aren’t you part of the half who doesn’t even pay taxes?”

We had gotten timed admission tickets to the zoo for this afternoon, but I guess everybody else had the same idea on account of the weather, so we decided to skip it and just go to the playground in Washington Park. A couple small meltdowns, but we had a nice day.

Doing some grocery shopping this morning at a major grocer. One lane open with a human on a Saturday morning. No baggers. When I worked as a bagger in the late 90s, we’d easily have 8-10 lanes open all with baggers on Saturday mornings. Union jobs, lower prices, even inflation adjusted.

My son just turned six a few weeks ago and his reading abilities have exploded in recent months. Yesterday we found out that he’s in an advanced kindergarten reading group. It’s been awesome to see him learn and grow.

I started reading: The Arsenal of Democracy by Albert J. Baime 📚

What’s something you miss about somewhere you used to live and why? For me, it’s Elderly Instruments in Lansing, Michigan. Working downtown in the early 10s, I’d go there on my lunch breaks sometimes and play guitars I couldn’t afford. What a vibe.

Roughly 8 out of 10 men who wear black wedding rings give me skin crawly vibes.

A gorgeous end to a false spring day in #PDX

Whew. Lifelong goal complete. ✅ Finished reading: The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro 📚

I think California needs to take one for the team and split into 3 separate states so we can take back the Senate.

As much as I advocate for walkability and transit, I will admit that I’ve always wanted an old school Porsche as a weekend driver.

Do people actually join Instagram Broadcast Channels? Am I just not seeing the appeal or are they really as annoying as they seem?

How cool would it be if all federal workers stood in solidarity and just didn’t go to work today. Or tomorrow. Or the next day.

We got away for a night in Hood River for my birthday. Kids spent the night at their grandparents’ house. We ran into some friends we hadn’t seen in a while, ate good food, drank too many beers. Hiked. Rained like hell. Wife puked in my car the next day 😂

I really hope Ghost’s ActivityPub integration plan involves a Substack-like app. The web-only interface and lack of social are really my only hang ups.

Nothing in Oregon is “pricey”….it’s “spendy”.

My son just got a high attendance achievement award for 90% or higher attendance and it made me laugh because it seems like a pretty low bar. Imagine allowing kids to miss a day every other week and sending out awards for those who made the cut.

I applied for a grant and was successful in receiving about $80k in funding to go toward 12 new EV charging stations in downtown Hillsboro at my work. After about 9 months since award, I was happy to finally see them installed today!

Daddy daughter trip out to Multnomah Falls for my bday.

About halfway through Robert Caro’s The Power Broker and had the urge to search for an interview of Robert Moses on YouTube to get his voice in my head. Still find it hard to believe there aren’t any series or decent movies on the guy. Robert Moses interview on Building New York City (1959)

Once again, my timing is impeccable. I have a trip to Yosemite booked for early May. ‘Honestly terrifying’: Yosemite National Park is in chaos

Many of the school playgrounds in Oregon have these structures so kids can stay dry in the winter. I needed some exercise so I spent about 30 minutes getting some of the stuck balls down from the rafters.

While markets are nearing record highs, I’m having a hard time envisioning any future that doesn’t involve some sort of crazy volatility due to uncertainty. Usually I just ride the wave, but I just can’t escape the feeling something dreaded is coming.

Watched The Gorge last night on Apple TV+ after we got the kids to bed. Went into it with zero expectations, wasn’t disappointed. Long, with several large plot holes and sort of goofy idea over all (I like darker movies), but it kept my attention and made me jump a couple times.

I grew up in the Midwest and spent the first part of my career there in public service, in areas that received a lot of Federal assistance. In fact, I’d say most of the good that occurred there was/is funded by outside sources. It’s what propped their mostly dead economies up. Hard times ahead.

Between two snow days this week, a holiday on Monday, and one teacher development day following that, we’re getting 6 straight days with these maniacs. Send backup!

I’m going to start handing out blocks on LinkedIn to market urbanists who post nothing but quipy things about middle housing solving all our housing problems. I’m from the future and I’m afraid it’s not a silver bullet.

Finished reading: Win Every Argument by Mehdi Hasan 📚

I had to start a different book because I ran out time with Part I of The Power Broker 😂 Back in the holds line. Currently reading: Win Every Argument by Mehdi Hasan 📚

Rest in peace, Donald Shoup. Very strange for me that I just finished his book The High Cost of Free Parking a few days before his passing.

If they really want less government, we can start by merging all of their little exurban fiefdoms with the central cities they surround, followed by billing them for the true cost of their horizontal infrastructure the rest of us subsidize.

Man, I am exhausted.

And here we goooo… Currently reading: The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro 📚

Finished reading: Essentialism by Greg McKeown 📚. I don’t think I have what it takes to be an essentialist tbh.

I don’t like the 5 star rating system because there are far too many C- movies, books and restaurants.

Checking out the new #Apple Invites app. Curious how the RSVP process will look for people on other operating systems.

I’m not a praying man, but Portland weather gods: I need a snow day.

Off to see Dog Man with my eldest, then to our THIRD birthday party this weekend.

We’re in for a bumpy ride. I’m not even going to look at my 401k.

AI has its pros and cons, but lately I’ve been using it for mundane tasks that have been making my stressful life a little easier. For example, I’ve been recording long trainings related to a big grant app I’m working. Taking the transcript and having AI summarize notes for me has been huge.

Great Lakes Compact states should be on high alert. At his current pace, he’ll be building a pipeline to feed the deserts of the Southwest.

Currently reading: Essentialism by Greg McKeown 📚

I’m rarely vindicated in my e-junk keeping, cable-hoarding ways—but when I am, it only makes it harder to break the habit.

Finished reading: High Cost of Free Parking by Donald Shoup 📚 Surprisingly enjoyable for an 800+ page book on parking. Essential reading for planners and engineers.

“The first revolution is when you change your mind.” — Gil Scott-Heron. Illustration by Nina Montenegro.

While I haven’t been keeping up with it as much as I’d like, I wrote another piece for my blog titled The Myth of the Corner Store. Greatly appreciate any feedback as I work to improve my writing in this format. #urbanism

My son turned 6 on Sunday and it got me thinking about my own 6th birthday party where all the parents of my friends just dropped off their kindergartners at our house in a seedier part of town and then left. Their parents had never even met my mom. Man, how times have changed!

20 years ago, ‘I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning’ and ‘Digital Ash in a Digital Urn’ by Bright Eyes came out. Feeling older every day.

At a concert at Mississippi Studios in Portland between sets, and honestly, I’m kind of floored. It hit me earlier that the last time I saw Lady Lamb perform here was back in 2019. That was almost six years ago, but with two kids, COVID, and the general whirlwind of life, time has felt like a …

Not my photo. Posted on the Gordie Howe Bridge website. Just a lovely bridge, Detroit.

Trying to work up the energy to make it to this Lady Lamb show at Mississippi Studios tonight. Still wiped out and recovering.

Listening to Backyard Lover by Merce Lemon. #mood

I’ve have had two back-to-back, pretty nasty illnesses this month. This caused me to abandon my photo a day project. I thought that it would encourage me to be creative and get out more, but I decided it wasn’t serving me the way that it would and I didn’t like how it was making me …

A little over halfway through the nerdiest book I’ve read in years. Of course I love it.

I have cancelled and deleted my omg.lol account.

Grandma Deb coming through with the clutch Lions themed winter gear for kiddo’s 6th birthday!

What a truly terrible day for America and the world.

“Historically, driving has come with very few costs for the driver — in fact, most of it, from road infrastructure to free parking, is actively subsidized by the government.“ https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/16/24344732/nyc-congestion-pricing-tracker-data-google-maps

What’s the typical life expectancy of a towel? Just realized I bought these from BBB when I first moved here in 2015.

Can’t sleep. Memory lane. Claire de Lune by …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead

On the enshittification of the Internet from CNN: First, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.

You know, I think life is an embarrassing, soul crushing marathon. But then I remember: (gasp) there’s cinnamon toast! -Bruce McCulloch

13/365 📷 True story, my wife sleeps with this tattered quilt every night because she likes the way it feels. It was her dad’s when he was a kid.

Glad y’all are having a “normal” winter back in Michigan. After the last couple of years, I was starting to think that maybe the climate had changed enough for me to start thinking about move back, but…I’m good. ☔️

12/365 📷 Same, kid. Happy 3rd birthday. Love, dad.

I had my dentist appointment on Friday to get my teeth scanned in preparation for clear aligners. I’m excited but a little nervous. I have a deep bite, there’s a gap on the top, and crowding on the bottom. The correction of a deep bite can change the face. Should be interesting.

A satellite map compares the areas of the Palisades Fire and the Great Chicago Fire, with color-coded overlays and size measurements. Source

On NYC congestion pricing: New Yorkers Have Little Data but Big Feelings About Congestion Pricing

One more from today.

I’ve always been a late bloomer. I wonder what will bloom next.

11/365 📷 I went to a meetup today and we visited several art galleries around the Pearl District. I found the prayer wheel with the octopus uncanny given the book I just finished. The artist allowed us to place a piece of paper with a prayer inside, which I delighted in doing.

Finished reading: The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler 📚. Brilliant book.

When I lived in Florida over 20 years years ago, gated communities were everywhere. I’ve lived in Oregon for 10 years now and I still haven’t seen one.

10/365 📷 New bed day.

I ask you one thing Do you remember me? I miss you

9/365 📷 To be seen by others is the core of being. Perhaps this is why humans are driven to create minds besides our own: We want to be seen. We want to be found. We want to be discovered by another. In the structured loneliness of this modern world, so many of us are passed over by our fellow …

What does it mean to be a self? I think, more than anything else, it means the ability to select between different possible outcomes in order to direct oneself toward a desired outcome: to be future-oriented. When every day is the same, when we are not presented with the necessity to choose between …

Morning walk.

Photo from a few weeks ago of a dragon made of Christmas lights and spitting flames in downtown Caldwell.

8/365 📷

Kids are under the weather this morning and my wife put on Murder, She Wrote. The kids are actually getting into it 😆

Greenland is about 26% larger than Alaska and 56,000 people live there.

Shocked a younger millennial today by affirming that I, too, am a millennial and turn 44 in about a month.

Killin Wetlands: I needed to get away from my desk today, so I drove out to Metro’s Killen Wetlands near Banks. I’d never been there and sort of stumbled across it by accident. Usually I drive south on my lunch break, but today I decided to go west. Washington County is some of the most beautiful countryside …

7/365 📷 The sky is on fire this morning. We don’t get many of these this time of year.

Just me and a date with the S3 finale of The Bear.

My wife and I are at the point in our marriage where she intentionally puts the paper towel and TP rolls on backwards just to annoy me.

6/365 📷 A lot of pretty light this morning while walking Zoey the dog.

I’ve discovered that I prefer listening to nonfiction audiobooks over fiction. For me, fiction is for relaxing, nonfiction is just processing information.

We went out to eat last night with a few good friends and their kids. Had a great time. After we put the kids to bed, we watched Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. I’m not one for writing reviews, but it was entertaining. I was skeptical at first, but it was fun and I needed something that wasn’t too serious.

5/365 📷

A Slow Start to the Productively Mundane: Today started off pretty slow. While my wife was out for a workout this morning, I stayed home with the kids, and we watched The Mitchells vs. The Machines. Not bad! My son liked it a lot, but my daughter was a little scared by the robots at times. For lunch, we finished off some leftover tacos from …

Currently reading: The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler 📚

Completely forgot, but I recently passed 8 years as a nonsmoker. Unfortunately that’s about the time my weight gain started. Not sure what’s worse, being despised for being a smoker, or being treated so differently as a heavier person. At least I have my lungs, I guess.

4/365 📷

IKEA. Send backup.

From 2007-2015, I worked for the agency that orchestrated the rehab of the Book Cadillac, and I managed the urban revitalization grant programs that invested in the major parks and public spaces in and around downtown Detroit. I love seeing the comeback and miss being there. The Guardian

3/365 📷

Made some UI tweaks to my blog yesterday and have been considering adding a “Now” page. What makes a good one? Have an example to share?

2/365 📷

Had to replace the volume pot on my Jazzmaster. Took me way too long to finally get this done.

1/365 📷 I hope to take one photo every day in 2025 and post it to a collection on my blog. While I tend to think about new beginnings this time of year, seeing this stump today somehow seemed fitting. How many rings do we have left?

Took our kids to see Moana 2, my daughter’s first movie in theaters. For all of us, it was $90.52 for four matinee tickets, two bags of popcorn, and a Diet Pepsi.

Real talk…keeping kids entertained when they’re not in school or daycare for weeks is messy AF, especially in a small house.

My Goals for 2025: Declutter my home. I've never been very good at this, but it's proven to be so much more difficult with two young kids. Still, I know I can do a better job and keep a cleaner house in the process. To start, I might do a packing party. Consistency in planning ahead for weekends away and other …

I’ve been at an indoor play place with my kids for going on 3 hours. They’ve been going hard, too. Hoping these maniacs fall asleep at a decent hour tonight and sleep in a little tomorrow. I still have my doubts. 😅

Avon calling!

2024 was a bountiful year with many firsts to celebrate. Thankful for friends, family, travel, health, creative endeavors, and purpose. All the best in 2025. #2024

Convinced whoever is designing men’s swim trunks, particularly the internal mesh, have no understanding of male anatomy.

As we headed back west this morning over the Blue Mountains, we caught the start of a winter storm. Grateful we missed what was expected, and that things opened up on the other side of Pendleton, offering some sunny views before heading into the Columbia River Gorge.

Our boy wanted to wear a “pretty” hat tonight like his sister’s, so he wore one of his grandma’s sparkly hats when we went to see the Christmas lights in downtown Caldwell.

I have a hard time taking Bend, Oregon’s affordability woes seriously when the tallest residential building there is only 5 stories. Y’all don’t need another UGB expansion, you need a skyline.

Buster

Good to know that if I ever need to refresh my appreciation for Oregon urban planning, all I need to do is visit suburban Boise.

I don’t need ketamine therapy I need a walkable city and 20 hour workweek.

Yours truly, at a basement bar in Nampa.

Idaho Christmas.

Zoey girl.

Eastern Oregon en route to Idaho.

If only I had a dollar for every time I heard “enjoy them now, they grow up so fast” from the generation whose men spent one third as much time with us as we do with our own children.

Accidentally recorded Christmas morning in 4k and the file is 45 gigs. Hm.

This is going to be a terribly unpopular opinion, but I don’t think ZGF delivered on the promise of the new PDX airport design. I was wowed by renderings, but it didn’t turn out as nice as I thought it would because of how they faked the natural lighting. It’s dark and gaudy in my opinion.

My five-year-old son, while putting together a realistic space shuttle Lego set, asks “why would astronauts need a shovel, dad?” Great question 😆

I was awarded some pretty big grant $$ to install EV chargers at my place of work (public). Comparing pricing schemes and noticed the city we’re working in charges by the hour for theirs. However, the kWh changes based on whether one or two people are plugged in to that machine. Such a scam, lol.

Currently reading: White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 📚

This looks neat. Bluniversal Comments is a Chrome Extension enabling “universal comments” via Bluesky, directly on web pages. With this extension, you can view, comment, and engage with Bluesky discussions linked to any web page.

Having one of those down and out sorta days. Ordered Shake Shack and snuggled up with my dog, watching The Bear. Might hit the sauna later.

Currently reading: Street Design by Victor Dover 📚

Finished re-reading: Geography Of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler 📚

Might be a little late to get before the big day, but if anyone is looking for a nice little gift, I love my Fox Vulpis Italian made Swiss Army knife. A little spendy, but the blade is M390. Comes in a 5-in-1 configuration, too.

Probably some lingering Proustian childhood memory, but sometimes I just need a damn bologna sandwich with a slice of American cheese.

My deadbeat dad would’ve been 66 today had he not wrapped himself around a telephone pole while driving drunk in 2003. Be safe this holiday season.

It only cost $11-20 per package to mail my wife’s homemade gifts that have a total retail value of maybe $3 each.

I don’t understand this stuff. After over $700k and years of studying the TriMet Willow Creek site for potential transit oriented development (TOD), ECOnorthwest and architecture firms come back with a squat, over-parked development proposal despite no parking being required in Metro Portland.

The most unbelievable thing about movies and TV shows set in the 80s is how many fathers were still around.

Currently re-reading: Geography Of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler 📚

Finished reading: There Are No Accidents by Jessie Singer 📚 Excellent book.

Currently reading: Reinventing Your Life by Jeffrey E. Young 📚

Currently reading: There Are No Accidents by Jessie Singer 📚

Finished reading: Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson 📚

IKEA plans order and pickup location at Progress Ridge

Watching Silo on Apple TV be like…

Not sure why I had completely forgotten about the Sidecar option with iPad. Really helped while working in Smartsheet this morning.

Went and visited Santa at Three Mugs Pub.

Got out by myself for a few hours this afternoon. Had to take some books back, so I checked out the Hillsdale branch of Multnomah County Library. Stopped off at Tip Top Burger (meh), then worked on my blog for a bit at Lucky Lab SW.

Making cookies.

Those wooden handled, soft-bristled back scrubbers for the shower are such a tease. Give me one of those cheap plastic ones with the tough nylon bristles that hurt so good.

Columbia River at dinner last night.

Nice sunset despite a mucky day.

Addictive.

Obsessed with his knockoff Lego advent calendar.

I bought one of those wedge pillows for my bed and it all might be downhill from here.

Things are ramping up.

Just realized RNs at OHSU make up to about $90/hr. If I didn’t know how crazy some of those jobs can be, I might consider a midlife career change.

I’m required by my employer to put 6% of my salary into a retirement fund (401a) I do not control. I also have an old 401k from a previous employer that had a nearly identical balance several years ago, but I haven’t contributed anything to it. The account I control has a higher balance.

Anxiety pro tip: cut your fourth cup of coffee with decaf.

Portland City Council approves $176M streetcar extension, new mixed-use neighborhood in Northwest

Flashback!

From the morning.

This whole I-used-my-credit-card-at-your-business-one-time-and-now-you’re-spamming-me-daily-with-offers crap has got to stop.

Met this fancy lady at the park the other day, who was gracious enough to paws for a photo.

The periodic fog on the way in this morning was lovely.

Working on an article for my planning blog about pop. density and doing some research. For all the flack the west side gets from Portlanders, there are some very dense nodes. Elmonica Station has 10k ppsm and will soon have over 16,000, denser than ANY neighborhood on the east side of Portland.

Grateful we don’t get much snow in the valley, but I wouldn’t mind a white Christmas this year. 🤞

On the lookout for a new Mastodon server with longer post character count. Let me know if you have a recommendation.

TIL Michigan was the first state to abolish the death penalty. 1847.

Just finished The Madness on Netflix. Loved the cast and storyline. Kept me interested and the pace was perfect.

I’ve been having this issue with the new Apple Mail where it becomes unresponsive sometimes when I open it by clicking an email notification. I have to force close to get it to work again. Very strange.

One reason so many people have an aversion toward attached housing is the uniformity and blandness of it all. Uninspired finishes that an HOA controls with no hope of evolving character. I wish we had more examples of fee simple attatched housing. Even some 80s hoods are looking decent these days.

I did not see a single soul on this TriMet MAX Red Line train going west at 8:25 a.m.

I’ll be tinkering with this when I have a moment. Adding Bluesky-powered comments to any website in five minutes

I love the look on Republicans’ faces when I tell them the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program was signed into law by George W. Bush.

Chilling out for a moment while the kids play with magnetic tiles.

Turned off Fediverse sharing on Threads. No point, and it kneecaps reply controls/moderation.

We’ve got a few weeks left of the year, but I’ll post my 2024 fuel consumption “wrapped”. $188 in electricity in 7.5 months, which can be extrapolated to about $300/yr (vs $1760/yr for gas at 25mpg). I’ve driven 5383 miles. This is equivalent to 121 mpg. My wife’s ‘22 Sienna hybrid averaged 32 mpg.

Me and my son went to OMSI today to see the Exquisite Creatures exhibit.

Gave up on my crappy router and traded it in for a mesh bundle. Hardwired 3 with Ethernet backhaul, and holy moly, what a world of difference. Why I’m so stubborn and didn’t do this sooner, I don’t know.

One of the biggest downsides of POSSE is making a typo.

Detroit Lions have just set a franchise record! 🦁 🏈

It would be helpful if the popular GPS/mapping applications could detect when you’re already on a train/transit route and adjust the trip duration accordingly. The only way I’ve figured out how to get around this limitation is to put your starting point as the next transit stop.

My smile has always been a big source of insecurity. Honestly, it’s probably responsible for my severe case of RBF. I wish I’d tackled this sooner, but I’m finally in a place where I can afford to start clear aligners. Scheduling my appointment tomorrow.

Another frosty morning.

Some days, I still grieve the loss of the Grilled Stuft Burrito.

You’ve just got to wonder about some of these Southwest Portland tax bills. Are you really getting that much better public services than, say, unincorporated Washington County, for 3x the cost? No, you’re not. The answer is no.

Whenever I pass this field, I can’t help but think of the default Windows XP wallpaper. Washington County, Oregon.

I took my lunch, as I sometimes do, on Unger Road, looking east toward Mount Hood. The east wind is keeping the northern Willamette clear and cold. Morning wrapped us in freezing fog, with frost still clinging to the shadows behind hills and beneath trees, wherever the sun can’t reach.

Actually took my meds today and spent some time this morning filling out my calendar for the month ahead. A tiny bit of relief for my ADHD brain having the chaos written down somewhere. I’ll still mess something up, but at least it won’t feel like the tail wagging the dog from now until New Year’s.

Zoo Lights.

Warming up inside the Nature Exploration Station during Zoo Lights yesterday at the Oregon Zoo.

I’m getting excited about Ghost’s implementation of ActivityPub. I have used it to micro blog, but it doesn’t work well out of the box, so I had to create a highly customized theme. But it now looks like they’re working on short form posts and separate feeds for long vs short posts.

Currently reading: Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson 📚

I wonder how often dogs are just like “I wish these people would quiet down already.” And then anytime they bark we’re shushing them. We don’t deserve them.

Analyzing the American Dream as an American living in Germany. From usa.mom.in.germany. 🇩🇪

Meanwhile, 100 ft of Christmas lights barely scratches the surface when it comes to decking the halls with holiday cheer. Gonna need to make another HD run.

Currently reading: Love in the Time of Cholera (Illustrated Edition) by Gabriel García Márquez 📚

I wonder what kind of clientele they’re going for with that agency name.

Finished reading: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera 📚

Woke up to 30° in PDX and lots of frost. I’m a wimp in the cold these days. 🥶

What happens if we cut Alaska in half? Texas becomes the third largest state.

Rereading Jane Jacobs: Reflections on “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” https://lowvelocity.org

There’s always those people who email you something right before the weekend or heading into a holiday with a message that sits with you the whole time, stressing you out when you’re supposed to be relaxing. To hell with those people.

Lions win ! But not without stressing me TF out! 🏈

Turkey and football. Lions have lost the last 7 Thanksgiving games. I think this year will be different. #onepride 🦁 🏈

My cheese sauce/roux recipe for Mac n cheese: 6 Tbsp butter, 1/4 grated onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp Cheyenne pepper, 2 tsp dry mustard, 3.5 cups milk, 1.75 cups heavy cream, 8 oz cubed aged white cheddar, 6 tbsp flour, dash of worscestershire. 👨‍🍳

Scoping out urban condos, when 5+ units in the same building hit the market at the same time, you just know the HOA fee has gone through the roof to fund some deferred maintenance capital investment.

Last night I went to my second writers meetup at Lucky Lab beer hall in NW Portland. Meeting some really friendly and fun people. I can see this becoming a weekly thing.

Finished rereading: The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs 📚

I never feel more like a stereotypical middle aged dad than when I’m turning off every single light and fan in the house before I leave for work. I need more smart switches.

One thing I absolutely cannot understand about the left is how the party platform has switched from being protectionist to now being apparently pro global free trade? It’s a strange time to be alive.

I don’t think many people on the Right understand just how much low interest rates under the last administration contributed to inflation. Many people did cash-out refinances to fund renovations, pay off cars, go on vacations, pay off student debt…~$650 billion worth from 2017-2021.

I’m really hard on my glasses, so a year ago I sent in my Warby Parkers to Eyeglasses.com and had the lenses replaced with real glass. One of the best purchase decisions I’ve made in recent memory. Not a single scratch. They’d have been scratched all to hell by now with polycarbonate.

Spent time in Dundee and Newberg today with our friend Penny and her boy. Had perhaps the second best Reuben of my life at Red Hills Market. Fell on my ass on a muddy hill at Herbert Hoover Disc Golf Course (this name cracks me up). Swam for a couple hours at Chehalem Aquatic Center. Was a good day.

The failure rate of Shazam has gone way up since Apple acquired it.

The speed at which my children can absolutely crush $35 worth of fruit…

Is anyone else in Oregon who works professionally in planning, architecture or development actually seeing residential uses being built without parking? Curious because despite no minimum parking requirements, I’m seeing none in the 2nd largest jurisdiction in the state.

The paradox of tolerance.

Abolish zoning they said. It’ll be great they said.

Being from the Pacific Northwest means never being able to trust a national forecast or weather app.

I understand you’re trying to attract new business on your landing page, but for the love of god, include a login button for those of us who use your service.

A year ago I moved out of land use planning into campus, facilities and parks planning. Probably the best career move I ever made. Went from doing thankless, highly political work that no one was ever satisfied with, where nothing ever felt complete, to making positive changes I can see. Love it.

Open Enrollment Hell : After several months of asking questions, trying to understand the coordination of benefits between my dental plan and my wife’s in preparation for some orthodontia, here’s the email I finally received from Delta Dental. 🦷 I have an employee under Redacted who wrote in asking how COB works when a …

In the eye of the storm, or did the bomb cyclone squeegee the sky?

Halfway through The Death and Life of Great American Cities for the second time in my life (for a book club) and have come to the conclusion that it’s unreadable nonsense. Amazing how 20 years of professional experience can change one’s perspective so much.

Remembering a time in my 20s and early 30s when all I wanted was an out from where I was living in the Midwest. It felt like a prison. It you’re in a similar situation, don’t give up hope. There’s someplace out there for you.

The job hopping in the tech space is so much different than government. As someone who has sat on many hiring panels, if I were to receive a resume with 10 jobs in as many years, that person is not even getting an interview.

Not sure why it bothers me so much that Las Vegas will get true HSR before the Northwest or Midwest, but it does.

I moved away from Lansing about 10 years ago. Lived there for almost a decade. I didn’t live there when developers tore down this block on Michigan Ave, but I still can’t believe they took out an entire historic, fine grained commercial block. maps.app.goo.gl/T85Ea1yXJ…

My public university degrees (in-state undergrad and grad) cost $106k in tuition, not including community college costs or interest (2010). Thank god for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. Hopefully it survives.

Made the mistake of getting back on Facebook right before the election. Just deactivated again, but seriously considering permanent deletion. What I always miss most are the groups. There are some great communities on there, I hate to admit.

I posted yesterday about needing more indoor play places for kids with adult amenities more like an airport lounge. Biggest concern to me would be sight lines. How would Foucault feel if we used the panopticon as a model? 😉

The Achilles Heel of the YIMBY movement is the common thought that this isn’t built because it’s illegal. It’s legal in enough places to know that developers don’t build much of this. People have so much faith in the landlord and investment class. Such weird bed fellows for the movement.

Having one of those weekends with the kids where I’m ready to go back to work. I think we all need a vacation.

Making my homemade mac and cheese tonight. Feeling like I need some comfort food. Might not fill the void, but it will get me through!

We need indoor play places for kids where the parent areas are more like airport lounges. When we’re going through long stretches of bad weather, these places are lifesavers for people with young kids, but I think there’s an untapped opportunity here to provide better amenities for parents.

Went looking for a binaural sleep frequencies app and ended up self-administering EMDR. Have you tried turning your trauma off and back on again?

Currently: Old Fashioneds and a pretty competitive game of Rummikub while the kids watch a Christmas movie.

So many worries about the Fed’s direction in the coming years—beyond the usual. Transit funding, affordable housing, education… it all feels so precarious right now. Trying to stay optimistic, but it’s tough not to feel the weight of it.

Nearing my mid 40s and the font sizes are definitely getting bigger.

As a staunch urbanist, I love the idea of the 15-minute city, but that lifestyle seems out of touch from most people’s reality. Allowing nearby amenities is easy from a land use perspective, but work, school choice, and childcare are other matters entirely. How do advocates reconcile the problem of …

Finished reading: Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder: A Graphic Novel (Dog Man #12) by Dav Pilkey 📚 I probably enjoyed this one as much as my son (5), particularly the parts about A.I. I also love how he named a robot character in this series “80-HD”.

Jake Paul / Mike Tyson in the context of our societal collapse: bread and circuses.

Portlanders notoriously don’t shovel their sidewalks when it snows here. I’ve heard the argument that it’s pointless to buy a snow shovel when it only snows a couple times per year and melts fairly quickly. But guess what snow shovels are also great for? Soggy leaves on concrete! 🍁

I avoided this fallen can of soda water all week knowing full well that it would be there for me when I ran out of them on Friday. Here we are.

I decided to stop complaining about having so few friends as a middle-aged man and committed to a goal of one social meetup event per week. This week was trivia, next week is a writer’s group. With enough meds, I might even work up the courage to do an open mic night, but probably not. …

A pair of quotes that gave me pause today: The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. — Pablo Picasso There is a quality even meaner than outright ugliness or disorder, and this meaner quality is the dishonest mask of pretend order, achieved by ignoring or suppressing the …

My wife scheduling that JC Penney photo shoot the minute I break down and trim my Movember mustache.

Currently reading: The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs 📚 Haven’t read this since grad school and have been meaning to revisit it. Oregon chapter of the American Planning Association book club pick for January. Figured I’d get a head start.

Book search down again for Epilogue on Micro.blog. @help

Finished reading: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari 📚

Looking at open enrollment options and comparing insurance costs between my employer (government) and my wife’s (health care). Her premium for dental through the same provider is 8 times as expensive. This system is stupid.

Of all the scientific and technological advancements made in my lifetime, not one is more important than the Squatty Potty.

As much as I loathe DT and Musk, I unfollow people who body shame them. Don’t care if it’s punching up, that’s some right wing stuff I just don’t tolerate in my feeds.

More sunbreaks. ☀️

My mother-in-law officially retired, so we’ve been getting a little relief with the kids lately. Last night we got out in Northwest PDX. I won a pretty decent gift card to Ringside a while back and we had to use it. Nice place, but not our normal thing. We would never spend that kind of money on …

Finished reading: Mermin Vol. 1 by Joey Weiser 📚. We enjoyed this one, looking forward to book two.

We may or may not have put up the Christmas tree today. 🌲

I wonder who they voted for. Demonstrators with Nazi flags appear at ‘Diary of Anne Frank’ performance

Went on a date with my wife, found a Lego brick in my pocket. #parenting

Bridge City. Gloom rolled in, but we’re dry at the moment. Photos from the passenger seat.

Quoting scripture in response to conservative Christians voting for Trump isn’t hypocritical if you’re not a Christian. You don’t need to be Christian to recognize when they’re not living by their own tenets, just as you don’t need to be an engineer to drive a car.

Always a strange day for me between being my brother’s birthday and also the day my wife and I went on our first date, 9 years ago now. No lack of fodder for reflection. I like this photo of her smiling big with her eyes, taken in the foyer of my first apartment in Portland. Love her.

Thinking about my brother Brad, who would’ve been 42 today. Love you, buddy.

Went to a musical at Mountainside High School tonight and then had some food and drinks with friends at Cooper Mountain Ale Works in Sherwood, OR. Not the best food, but it was nice to see people and feel part of a community.

There’s a development forum I frequent that still uses vBulletin version 3.8.7. That’s software that came out in 2010. The owner refuses to upgrade and the users won’t migrate because of their post counts. Is there a way I can throw a browser based CSS skin on it for a mobile style view?

What’s that you say? You’ve never heard a Twin Reverb cranked to 10, in person? Yeah, me neither…until the Tone Master version, which allows you to attenuate down to 1 watt and play at bedroom levels while still getting that natural breakup sound. My medicine this weekend.

How are you taking care of yourself this weekend?

A Trumper resorted to criticizing my “combover” instead of my ideas yesterday. I’m still kind of smiling about it.

Probably crazy, but I’ve always wanted to take Amtrak down the west coast in one of those sleeper cabins.

Currently reading: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera 📚

I’m losing followers on other platforms because of my opinions about the election. But what bothers me more is how silent so many people are being about this. People who didn’t vote for him but appear as if nothing happened. The mass silence among people I respect is fucking me up.

I think I’ve gained back all the weight I lost just since Halloween. It’s been a helluva time these last 8 days.

I was recognized as an Italian citizen, coincidentally, on Election Day 2020. We stuck around, but hell if we aren’t thinking about an extended sabbatical now.

Dog Zoey, who just turned 8, makes me laugh with her morning routine. She usually sleeps downstairs on the couch, but when my raucous children wake up and stampede downstairs, she heads upstairs and lays in my bed to avoid the chaos of mornings.

Figured I’d give Day One a spin after many years. When I logged in, it found a journal of mine from 11 years ago with 87 entries that I had completely forgotten about. This was one entry from 2013. Damn, I was an angsty brat.

Focus and self care do not come naturally to me. Maybe that’s common in this age. I am making some progress lately, slowly chipping away at some new habits. Reading, writing, small exercise routines, putting my phone down more. But progress feels glacially slow. Bad habits die hard.

Having all sorts of internet/network issues today, both personal and work.

Currently reading: Better Off Without ‘Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Secession by Chuck Thompson 📚

I have to start making alternative plans for Thanksgiving. IYKYK

Looking like a replay of 16.

Finished reading: A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut 📚

Home sick and more 90s nostalgia : Home sick today and feeling a bit wistful. I get this way a lot when I’m lying around alone with too much time on my hands. I went down a 90s nostalgia rabbit hole and found a couple gems. The first is from a podcast episode titled “What did the 90s smell like?” by We Don’t Wanna Grow Up. The other …

I’m so grateful my parents are Democrats. I can’t imagine being from a family that I don’t respect.

Stepping out my front door after some rain.

I understood the assignment 🩵

Sometimes I like to live dangerously and still restart my work computer even when 143 windows are open and it asks me, “You have unsaved work. Are you sure you still want to restart?” A clean slate can feel so freeing.

There used to be this coffee shop I’d go to in high school in the 90s near Central Michigan University called U-Cup that stayed open late and had open mic nights—I even played a couple! I miss spots like that. Imagine pounding coffee after 10 p.m. like you’re at a bar without a care in the world.

I wonder if Threads has a block limit.

My five year old is learning to read. He’s picking it up, but it’s going as expected because English is strange and phonics is garbage. When I took Japanese years ago, I used to think Kanji was insane. But now I can see how the Whole Language approach makes some sense from learning logograms then.

I’ve got two kids who will be 6 and 3 in January. Looking for unique holiday gift ideas that encourage creative play involving art or science. Doesn’t necessarily need to be a purchase, just something that can excite a young mind. TIA for any recs.

Beautiful day to renew our Oregon Zoo membership.

Not putting yourself out there: The strangeness of putting yourself out there. The mere act of expressing that you indeed have social needs, that you crave the connection of others, is one that creates repulsion, in myself (and seemingly with others). The effort required almost makes the desired outcome somehow less desirable. …

Ordering from New Seasons is now an option on Amazon? When did this happen?

Good morning. I was up an hour earlier than I wanted to be.

In the Northwest, where few homes outside central cities have basements, garages often fill up with storage, superfluous items, and detritus from consumer culture, leaving no room for vehicles.

Happy 63rd birthday to my mom today. Me and the kids made some cards with watercolor. I haven’t painted in decades. I was heavy handed and had no idea what I was doing, but it was fun. If I didn’t already have 20 hobbies, I think I’d like doing this more often.

Thankful for Saturday, and that the kids actually slept in. Never happens. It had been a while since I had a moment to cook a good weekend breakfast.

What’s a Apple Watch?

The top 3 fun size candy bars, according to dad tax preferences: Butterfinger Almond Joy Payday

ChatGPT has pretty much replaced Google for me for general question inquiries. It’s been a long time since a technology has changed my habits so dramatically. I’ll gladly pay them to avoid ads and crappy websites that track me.

People ringing our doorbell and trick or treating at almost 11 p.m. I swear, some people have no damn sense. Lights were off btw, they triggered the motion lights.

Taking my dog to the vet today for an updated rabies vaccine so she can be groomed, which means I’ll be shamed into some unnecessary tests and procedures and come home with a bill for $500. Ugh, why do vets suck so bad.

This Trunk or Treat fad… Do Americans really hate walking so much that they Trick or Treat out of the trunks of cars in a parking lot?

Forever stamps.

Heading into my mid-40s as a frumpy, graying bureaucrat, gone are the days where I can pull off fashion. I used to be able to pull off almost anything. But now a mustache does not make me look edgy. It makes me look like Ned Flanders.

Wife: “I want to do goat yoga for my birthday. I guess they stand on your back.” 5: “Whaaaat? Goat yoga?? Can people do cow yoga??”

Thinking back to my Livejournal days when everyone used to put their favorite books, movies, bands and artists right in their profiles. While usually inscrutable and sometimes arrogant, I kind of miss it. Thinking about adding a page to my blog like this, you know…for nostalgia purposes.

Ironically (?), the higher I get in my career and the more I’m paid, the less I see a defensible reason why leadership makes so much more money than others. The hardest working people in any office where I’ve been employed have almost always been the admin staff, with very few exceptions.

Looking forward to working with Rayon V2 today. Hopelly the team also gave us the ability to change text backgroud colors.

Who needs middle housing when you have 95% lot coverage?

Made my dentist’s BMW payment today with my second crown of the year. Hopefully I’m done cracking teeth for a while.

Listening #now: Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Meshuggah

Currently reading: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari 📚

The fact that I still can’t add a song I recorded myself to my own Apple Music account via iPhone/iOS is perhaps the biggest lingering pain in the ass for me in the Apple ecosystem. Absurd in 2024.

No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious and charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful. — Kurt Vonnegut

“Dad, do some people have 11 fingers?” “Yeah, but it’s rather abnormal.” “Oh my god, that is a bunch of fingers!”

Sunbreaks in the PNW. Sometimes it’s rainy in my backyard when it’s sunny in my front yard.

This product appeals to me. I recently got rid of my Apple Watch and I’m considering a more minimalist phone setup. Light Phone 3

Is it just me or has Shazam become really spotty recently with its ability to identify a song?

As a blue voter and feminist, I find the online interviews with men about women’s bodies meant to expose ignorance ineffective. It might be more useful to address the 40% of women who voted for Trump in 2016 instead.

If there ever was a government program representative of how terribly run government programs can be, it’s Oregon’s BottleDrop program. Talk about taking something simple like returning your soda cans for deposit and turning it into to a nightmare every time I try to drop off my bags.

Do I know anyone who uses a light phone or something similar? How has your experience been?

Walking the boy to school this morning, I saw a middle age man a little older than myself walking with his two preteen girls. You could tell he adored them, but they made him stop before getting to the school grounds so as to not be seen with him. It made my heart ache as a dad.

Currently reading: A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut 📚

Finished reading: The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan 📚

On the ballot this year in Oregon (as I fill out my ballot at home): Establish an impeachment process for elected officials Remove lawmakers’ power to set their own pay Allow ranked choice voting Increase corporate taxes on the largest businesses and establish universal basic income of $1600/yr for …

I’ve got about 10% left of the Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. It’s taken me like 3 months to read this book I’ve wanted to read since 2006. I like nonfiction but they can be such a slog sometimes.

Despite Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC), there are over 1,000 units of housing being developed within 1/2 mile of Elmonica, Willow Creek and Merlo MAX stations (8 trains per hour) and every single unit is still being built with at least 1 off-street parking space. #pdx #oregon

All these people pretending like they’re gonna cancel Amazon right before Christmas 😉

iPhone recording of me covering Lua by Bright Eyes for its 20th Anniversary. #musiciansofthreads #acoustic #brighteyes #lua Link.

I need a middle age friend matching app like OK Cupid where current and preferred neighborhood walkscore figures prominently into our match %.

It’s really pretty incredible how much perfectly benign email Apple Mail sends to spam. Even after adding things like my bank’s email address to my contacts and manually moving messages from the same senders over and over again to the inbox, hundreds of times.

Oh, hey…check it out. Openvibe beta now supports Mastodon, Bluesky, Nostr AND Threads. #openvibe #threads

Soaking it up while we’ve got it! #pnw

What I don’t like about the #Wordpress implementation of #ActivityPub is that I see the whole damn post, long-form and unformatted, in my feed. Let’s hope #ghost does it better.

Holy f%#!, planning life has gotten a whole lot harder having a kid in elementary school. I just had to merge the school calendar with my work calendar…so many days off.

There’s this trend recently where developers cry for planners to liberalize zoning rules to make pretty brick townhomes. Well, the first photo is not what they build. Here in Portland, we have liberal zoning rules and the second photo is what they actually build. Nothing even approaching pic 1.

Michiganders…how do you pronounce Isle Royale? I’ve always pronounced it roy-AL, but it’s come to my attention that many people pronounce it like royal (ROY-ul).

Little Nicky is an underrated movie. John: Hey, by the way, Nicky, check this out! [spins Ozzy record backwards, but just makes noise] What’s Ozzy trying to say there? Nicky: John, absolutely nothing. The Blizzard always came straight with his messages. But wrap your minds around this, …

Thinking about winter getaways. Just figured out that Allegiant flies from Eugene to Orange County. Might be worth the drive for $120 round trip. Also good prices from PDX to Arizona.

Had some seriously good food at Piroshky Piroshky tonight at BG Food Carts in downtown Beaverton. Again, we have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to food.

Good gawd

New bump-outs/curb extensions all along Lincoln in downtown Hillsboro. You love to see it.

Jersey Mike’s usually makes a decent sandwich but some high school kid just ruined my sandwich with 5x as much mustard as should be legal.

I ordered some patches. One of the few times an ad worked to part me from my money.

Hard to beat.

I only have smart summon on my car for about a month during my full self driving trial, but this is gonna be fun to use when I see the parking enforcement coming for my car at work.

We are having a beautiful October here in the Northwest.

In every office I’ve ever worked, the dish drying rack looks like this, at all times. No one puts anything away, they just cycle through the dishes on the rack. So why do we even use them? I want to throw the damn thing away, make people dry their dishes, and put them in the cupboard. 🤣

Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene opening for Stars at Wonder Ballroom #pdx

Lusting after these retro styled Voigtlaender lenses for the Nikon Zf.

My blog posts now show the syndication links when cross posted, which I’m happy about. And while I am getting Mastodon and Bluesky comments copied over from Bridgy with webmentions, I’m hoping to figure out a way to bring over likes and reblogs as well. Has anyone got this to work on Micro.blog? ✍️

Going to see Stars tonight in #pdx. Pretty excited. I used to love this album…20 years ago. These reunion tours are starting to make me feel my age.

Despite some lingering pain from last week, I decided to try the Smith machine again yesterday. I kept the weight light and got a good night sleep after stretching. I feel so much better today than I did following last week’s session. Wish I had a lifting buddy, I really want to make this a habit.

Went to the gym on Wednesday and figured I’d try some squats on the smith machine. Started off super easy at 75 lbs because I didn’t want to injure myself. Five days later and my hamstrings are still stiff and ache.

Caught a whiff of someone smoking clove cigarettes tonight and it sent me back to freshman year of college (1999/2000) in East Lansing. All my antics and failings. Total olfactory teleportation. Amazing how scents can send us back in time.

Seeing Nilüfer Yanya at Wonder Ballroom tonight. Leaving the house past 7pm on a Sunday night feels like it should be illegal at my age.

Detroit Lions are going to the Super Bowl this year. A man can dream, anyway.

Hillsboro, Oregon has such beautiful parks & rec facilities. Very kid friendly town. We come to this area a lot because there’s an aquatic center, library, and a beautiful park all on the same block. And we inevitably spend some money downtown, too.

My kindergartener can now count into the 100s and is starting to read. My two-year-old daughter’s language development is exploding. It’s so much fun seeing little human minds develop.

Who needs a truck, anyway?

Timing Chewy deliveries exactly to my dog’s eating habits has never happened.

Downtown Portland

Just learned about the ‘Copenhagen Left’ turn for cyclists.

Love a good weekend breakfast. I like my eggs over medium with buttered toast and raspberry jam. Hashbrowns. Descent coffee. It’s the small things.

Finally got the update with Actual Smart Summon (ASS). Looking forward to trying it out tomorrow. Teslas FSD is getting to the point where it’s safer than human drivers. https://youtu.be/-9p0jUJZqG8?si=NBKB01rATETXVnsK

How are Portlanders feeling about this ranked choice voting ballot?

Cereal is dessert, who are we kidding

The former Guild Theatre’s marquee and façade. Portland, Oregon.

The Park Blocks. Portland, Oregon. #streetphotography

I love carrying my 40mm f/2 because of its unobtrusive size and weight, but I invariably regret not taking something with more reach whenever I’m shooting street.

Downtown #pdx this morning.

Good morning.

I’m loving the frequency improvement of MAX trains west of downtown Beaverton now that the Better Red extension is complete. Instead of 15 minutes, we’re getting trains every 7-8 minutes. It makes a difference when I’m deciding which mode to take when my morning is chaos. #pdx #transit #urbanism

I have to keep reminding myself that Bluesky and Threads aren’t showing us ads yet. Even though their experiences are better than Mastodon, it won’t always be that way. Meta in particular is just training us to be addicted to the app.

I didn’t have “peeing next to a former female supervisor” on my 2024 bingo card, but this conference at the downtown pdx Marriott has fully genderless public restrooms, and here we are.

Me, an introvert, scanning the conference agenda for sessions that don’t have audience engagement components or group work.

Tech voyeurism: getting a sneak peek of someone’s pinned web browser bookmarks before they start their presentation.

As I leave for the OR American Planning Association conference in downtown #pdx, I’m reflecting on my commute from 7 miles out, on a light rail line cities twice our size wish they had, from a suburban area with 11k people per square mile, twice the density of many urban census tracts in the U.S.

Amazon is releasing Kindle colorsoft and I’m trying to deny my GAS.

Hello, tree.

Hi

I wish Apple would release a fitness tracker in a minimalist form factor with just O2 sensor, heart rate, blood sugar, GPS, and a couple function buttons. NO screen, apps or phone features. Give it to me for $100 and call it a day.

“Dad, why do these samosas smell like pumpkin donuts?” He’s right, which probably explains why I love them so much.

Ten years ago (10/8/2014) I saw Sharon Van Etten at The Loving Touch in Ferndale, Michigan. Still one of my favorite shows of all time. @sharonvanhalen #detroit

I need to change the pots on my Jazzmaster. This is starting to feel a bit like The Ship of Theseus.

We have limited options for nearby coffee places that I’d actually want to spend any time at. Haven Coffee on Murray in Cedar Mill is one of the good ones. Coffee is great, people are nice, and it’s easy for me to focus on work.

Took my son to Through the Veil yesterday. They sell these terrifying little monsters.

Hillsboro has the best parks.

One of the craziest things I’ve ever learned is that large areas of the Middle East are desert due to soil salinity caused by human activity — irrigation.

By far the best feature of both Threads and Bluesky is “Hide Reply for Everybody”. The fact Mastodon comments persist even after a block is a big mark against ActivityPub.

Continuing my digital declutter from last week where I deleted 80 apps from my iPhone, this week I’ve deleted 56 more.

I swear, of the parents we meet out here on the Westside of Portland, probably close to a third of the dads are QA engineers at Intel.

Of all the funny pronunciations from my daughter, my favorites are “chechup” (ketchup), “banch” (band-aid), and “nonuck” (yogurt). Always makes me smile.

It’s not every day two bands I love pop up at the same venue within two days of each other. It’s gonna be a rough week! I wonder if they’ll let me bring a lawn chair.

These cookies are where it’s at. 🍪

We’ve been taking the business of Halloween decorating pretty seriously. 🎃

I don’t know who you are, but I want to be your friend.

Currently reading: Kane Chronicles, The, Book Two: The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan 📚

Finished reading: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan 📚

Epilogue book search is not working for me.

Time to make some sauce.

The only bad thing about storing all the spooky Halloween stuff in the attic is that I have to go into the creepy attic to get it back out…

Last week was busy flying solo while dw traveled to see her sister in San Diego and see the Pink concert. I managed to mostly finish a new website for my blog yesterday now that I have reinforcements. It’s 8:30 a.m. on the U.S. west coast and we are moving slow, enjoying family time, drinking …

Hulu w/commercials price going up to $9.99/mo. Those commercials are like 2-3 minutes long every time now, too. Remember when the commercial version was free?

Picking my wife up from the airport this morning because it was $75 before tip to take a Lyft when she left on Tuesday. Just insane.

Getting ever so slightly more confident with web development in Ghost. Still have some visual tweaks I need to make, but the micro/photo blog I’ve been building is finally where I want it to be functionally, for the most part. No idea why I had such a hard time.

Nearly forgot about this album by fellow Michigan natives Taproot. Gift was on heavy rotation in the early 2000s.

One of my biggest irrational fears living with two young kids is that the background blur on my camera goes away during a Teams call.

USPS split my ZIP Code 10 years ago and added a new one, which my house is within. It still causes issues for deliveries. For example, in order to get deliveries from the local IKEA, I have to psych out the system by entering the old ZIP for delivery address, and my new ZIP for billing. 10 years!

Since I’ve been having some issues with my Leviton smart switches, I decided to get a few Matter enabled light bulbs. I know this was the promise of Matter, but setup was a breeze compared to the switches. Here’s to hoping they last—physically, and from a firmware perspective.

I liked the look of these clouds.

When the office mini split is right above your cube. I generally run pretty warm, but my ears feel like they’re going to fall off.

In my mind, James Earl Jones is Darth Vader reading the Bible. Growing up, my friend (and the drummer in my band) used to borrow his mom’s van for practice. In it, she had the unabridged Bible on tape, as read by JEJ. I couldn’t separate Vader from the experience of listening. What an icon. RIP.

As an urban planner, I wish Apple would start highlighting good urban design and human-scale infrastructure in their screensavers instead of flybys of automobile infrastructure (e.g. huge California freeways) or mega-scale, unsustainable building patterns (e.g. Dubai). Bigger is not better. #apple

One thing I like more about Threads over Mastodon and Bluesky is that you can post up to 10 photos, and you just swipe left on the post to see more. This is a winning design, the type that drives adoption. Too bad they don’t show up that way in the fediverse!

Might need to get this one.

It’s been a great year for tomatoes. 🍅 #pnw

How awful, and way too close for comfort in terms of both location and profession. Melissa Jubane’s body found, neighbor charged with murder.

Not sure how I missed it before, but I watched Prey (2022) tonight, prequel to the Predator series. I needed something I didn’t have to think too much about, and it fit the bill. I’ve always liked hunters as an idea, so my bar is pretty low. For what it was, I enjoyed it.

Noticed a typo at the skate park this afternoon. Can you spot it?

We are pretty much addicted to Himalayan Dumplings by Kyikyi in Beaverton, Oregon. The noodles, the dumplings, the hand pies…all so good.

The dog days of summer, hopefully coming to an end.

Ultimately, what it’s going to boil down to for me in terms of social media platform adoption, is the moderation tools. Both Threads and Bluesky have the ability to hide replies for everybody and detach quotes. It’s awesome for de-platforming trolls and mean people!

The new routine. She insists on carrying his backpack.

There’s this spot on my bathroom floor where, if I move my scale there before hopping on, I weigh like a pound less. What can I say, I love lying to myself!

S: I was born in August, I’m a Leo. P: What’s a Leo, mom? S: It means I’m bold. P: You’re not bald mom, dad is!

I wish the west coast would get on with that whole high-speed rail thing. Tijuana to Vancouver, and all points in between, we want trains.

Beautiful morning in the northwest, but time to button up the house until this evening. These temp swings are pretty drastic. #pdx

Happy to have found some #detroit dad hats in 3xl made by ‘47 on a specialty site for the cranially endowed.

Some meetings just require you to put on your best Cillian Murphy.

The phrases “rock music” and “rock and roll” seem anachronistic enough now that I don’t think we need to throw “classic” in front of them anymore.

Pretty nice that you can accept tips & donations natively in ghost now.

Spun up a GoToSocial instance in Docker to see how it works. Surprisingly easy. Not as feature-rich as Mastodon, but it's supposed to be a lot lighter on resources.

Here we are on Labor Day and my kids (5 and 2) are already so excited for Halloween that they’re begging us to take them to a store to buy decorations. 🎃

I need to make more friends on the westside of Portland. Time to get back on Meetup?

Civil War (2024) has got to be one of the most boring movies I’ve seen in years.

Saturday Market

Exciting times, lol. Some of the bumper crop of tomatoes from our garden are finally ripening. Tons of tomatoes this year, even though I got started late this year. I attribute their success to the organic fertilizer recipe I got out of the book Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades. Bring on the …

Trying to reduce my subscription and other misc. costs so last night I migrated several hosted software applications over to my home lab. Going to give Actual envelope budgeting a try as well.

I’ve been stuck at 49 states for a few years now, with the last state being Alaska. Starting to think about knocking it off the bucket list next year, even if only for a long weekend. But where to?

#fensterfreitag #photography

Looking for a new memory foam bed. Anyone had any luck with an affordable mattress-in-a-box? 🛌

Friday vibes.

After a stressful day yesterday, and with my son starting kindergarten today, I’m having a helluva time focusing on work! Pomodoro time?

The new TriMet light rail system map showing the extension of the Red Line 10 stations deeper into Washington County and improvements made at Gateway and the Airport. #pdx #transit #portland #trimet

Took the day off to spend the day with my son. The kid starts kindergarten in 2 days and I’m trying to not let the waterworks hit me.

Things get interesting now that Oregon is in the Big Ten. Going to the MSU - Oregon game this year in Eugene. So weird.

I stopped listening to Deftones sometime shortly after the album White Pony was released. However, my Discovery station recently recommended this song off their album Saturday Night Wrist from 2006, which I didn't even know existed.

TriMet completed its Better Red project, extending the MAX Red Line all the way out to Washington County Fairgrounds. I can now take one train all the way to the airport. Hopefully they’re still working on bettering security. #pdx #transit …

I know spiders are important and all, but I’ll never get used to the size of the (harmless) orb weavers crawling around my house. I don’t miss living in the south, where some spiders can actually hurt you.

It’s gonna be fun whenever I go to use these pedals again.

Spending time with the in-laws - different politics, but steering clear of our differences.

My next house will have a mud room, if I'm ever lucky enough to escape.

IKEA delivery could be bad.

Just realized Umami analytics has an iOS app, and it's pretty nice.

Sort of makes me laugh that while Ghost is struggling to implement ActivityPub, Npub Pro has already made Nostr-based websites that use Ghost themes. [npub.pro](https://npub.pro/#themes-onboarding)

#pdx

Now that my car won’t be competing with my clothes dryer for electricity, I signed up for EVPulse through PGE, a program where they give you financial incentives if they can schedule your charging times. Hopefully this isn’t a huge mistake.

Politicians (hell, even people way INTO politics), are people I actively try to avoid. I do vote, but I typically just can’t stand these types of personalities. They’re the most self-important people in any space, red or blue.

Ever take an anti-anxiety med in preparation for a meeting, only to have it canceled? That hour is yours now. Go take a nap.

Running around downtown Portland today.

I’m wearing size 36 pants today and they’re kind of loose. A small thing, but it feels good.

I often wonder if I like so many movies and albums from the late ’90s and early ’00s because they were genuinely that good or simply because that was the last time I truly cared.

I finally got a dedicated NEMA 14-50 outlet installed in the garage. No more dryer outlet charging!

Our relationship in a nutshell.

The rain never stopped us.

Such a nice campground down here at Beverly Beach! So cool to have 32A service With a 14-50 outlet right at the site! My son is so excited, too. Hopefully his enthusiasm is still high tomorrow (rain).

Trying out the dedicated B&W switch on the Nikon Zf at a coworker’s send-off last night.

Wardrobe change. She picked her outfit out this morning (changed twice) and ended up going with the Dino slip-ons she inherited from her brother.

Woke up way too early today. Lounging on the couch with my dog, I’m alternating between reading the news and sipping coffee with my eyes closed. It’s so quiet before the kids wake up.

Down 10 lbs since starting CICO. Only about 50 more to go. 😭

Nothing like camping at the Oregon Coast in mid-August.

40mm is one of my favorite focal lengths.

What good are iOS widgets and WatchOS complications if they never update until you open them? It would be funny if it wasn’t so aggravating.

This is just me getting old, but I feel very uncomfortable/borderline offended with the Gen Z boys adopting this mustache/mullet/pit viper aesthetic. Gives me abusive alcoholic vibes. I guess that means they’ve probably accomplished their goal.

25 mph really is too fast for most neighborhood streets. 15 mph should be the rule.

My wife competed in a duathlon on her birthday today and got third place in her age group. Proud of her.

Lose It! app makes me laugh with its “positive pattern detected” notifications. Yes, I like potatoes.

My kids love these German Playmobil Scooby-DOO! sets. They’re so creative. Keeps them busy and entertained for hours.

We rode bikes, played at the park, and chatted with the neighbor about her new dog. afterword.blog

Shenanigans Over the Last Few Days: 

People always say you’ll miss the fingerprints around the house when the kids grow up. I’ll definitely miss their little faces and the parenting experience, but I certainly will not miss having to repaint the walls every 6 months.

536 calories. A McDonald’s double cheeseburger has 100 fewer calories.

Looking pretty sassy for a tax collector.

Digging the wrap on this MAX car.

Changing My Lifestyle I’m about a week in with CICO (calories in, calories out), and although it hasn’t exactly been easy, I’ve stayed below my calorie limit all but 1 day. Read More

I’m about a week in with CICO (calories in, calories out), and although it hasn’t exactly been easy, I’ve stayed below my calorie limit all but 1 day. I’m still well below my restriction limit for the week, which means I did better than my expected. I’ve set a goal of reducing my caloric intake by …

KMHD is my savior during election years.

I dropped my son off at the kinder kickstart program at his elementary school this morning. Although kindergarten doesn’t officially begin for a few more weeks, this papa is full of all the feelings.

Buddies Since Birth: 

Just used Google Takeout to send my photos directly to iCloud. Having moved all my emails from Gmail a few weeks back, I’m mostly done with Google.

A family affair.

Thinking about trying Bridgy Fed.

1500M free final swimming: the event from hell.

I need to learn more about Webmention. I’d love to be able to link comments made on cross-posts to Mastodon, Blue Sky, Threads etc. to my self-hosted blog. That’s the best thing about Micro.blog to me IMO. Wish this stuff was more user friendly.

Read a great quote today: “You shouldn’t criticize your partner’s choices – you’re one of them.”

What’s your favorite steps counting app for iOS with a widget?

We took a country drive out to Carlton this morning to go swimming in their public pool, which was nicer than expected. In fact, the entire town was cuter than I expected. I had forgotten that some vineyards use it for their tasting rooms. Afterward, we went out to our friend's house in a nearby …

Down on the farm: 

What an ass: 

I’m sort of preparing for when Ghost gains ActivityPub functionality.

Combined features from two Ghost themes, which is a miracle given my lack of experience with this sort of thing. I wanted a landing page with just photos in a masonry style, and a notes page for micro blogging as a secondary page. Still have some cleanup to do in CSS and RSS routing, but I’m getting …

I kind of want this. https://portland.craigslist.org/yam/cto/d/beaverton-toyota-pickup-hilux-1989-fuel/7768810134.html

My son’s day camp is in a former elementary school turned rec center. I love its mid-century design. I attended similar schools growing up, but it took age and a design education to fully appreciate these buildings. It pains me to see so many being torn down.

For me, it’s looking like the best way to stay under my calories and still feel like a human is to just not eat from 8 p.m. until lunch at 11:30 a.m. the next day.

When people say the PNW will be a place for climate refugees, they must not live here. This place bakes every summer, we’re almost always in a drought, and the wildfires are becoming increasingly more common.

When people say the PNW will be a place for climate refugees, they must not live here. This place bakes every summer, we’re almost always in a drought, and the wildfires are becoming increasingly more common.

I need to ween myself off my fizzy water addiction.

IMO the summer sunsets often aren’t much to look at here on account of there being so few clouds. No cotton candy skies like back east. Fall can be pretty nice, though.

There aren’t nearly enough hedgerows in this country.

“…[T]he nations with the biggest surpluses of grain have always exerted power over the ones in short supply. Throughout history governments have encouraged their farmers to grow more than enough grain, to protect against famine, to free up labor for other purposes, to improve the trade balance, and …

TIL I’m 70 lbs overweight. I don’t like how I feel most days. Setting a goal today to change the way I eat and hopefully the energy will follow. The current path is unsustainable and I want to have more energy for my kids.

Growing up in MI, I always thought Grosse Pointe et al. was just a bougie area. My perspective has changed. They are gorgeous, rather urban former street car neighborhoods for which there is no affordable counterpart in the PNW. #detroit #pdx

Growing up in MI, I always thought Grosse Pointe et al. was just a bougie area. My perspective has changed. They are gorgeous, rather urban former street car neighborhoods for which there is no affordable counterpart in the PNW.

A neat flower I found last week.

A neat flower I found last week.: 

Another of the Heidelberg

Another of the Heidelberg: 

I can’t get enough of these old interiors. #detroit

That feeling when you realize you could save $170-200 per month just by switching your grocery store from Fred Meyer to Winco…but still not sure if it’s actually worth it because doing your own grocery shopping every week suuckkkks.

I put almost 1200 miles on a Subaru Outback last week and I’m so happy to be back in my own car. It reinforced my decision to go with an EV.

Just realized Pete Buttigieg is younger than me.

Back home in Portland after a week in Michigan and now I just want to move back to the Midwest. #pdx

Continually impressed that there are still so many people who act like they’ve never flown before. “Oh wow, I forgot to take off my watch and my necklace! Oh, I have to take off my shoes and jacket? I’m so sorry, I left 32 ounces of water in my carry on!” I know it’s 5:30 a.m. but it must feel …

Watching the Olympics is just me saying to myself: “Wow, they must’ve grown up rich to play this sport,” over and over again.

Passing through Lansing and stopped for a bit. I lived here for over 10 years and I do not miss it. In fact, pretty sure I’m dealing with some minor PTSD having been trapped here for so long.

Passing through Lansing and stopped for a bit. I lived here for over 10 years and I do not miss it. In fact, pretty sure I’m dealing with some minor PTSD having been trapped here for so long. Still, I had to see how things had changed, and how they’ve stayed the same. My old house on Allen Street: …

Miss you more. #detroit #skyline #cities

I waited in line for about an hour to tour the station today. It was worth it.

Heidelberg

Surprise, I ate pizza.

MCS looking glorious

An afternoon well spent at the Henry Ford Museum

Wanna go for a ride?

“A 1 lb box of prewashed lettuce contains 80 calories of food energy. According to Cornell ecologist David Pimentel, growing, chilling, washing, packaging, and transporting that box of organic salad to a plate on the East Coast takes more than 4,600 calories of fossil fuel energy.” – The Omnivore’s …

A one-pound box of prewashed lettuce contains 80 calories of food energy. According to Cornell ecologist David Pimentel, growing, chilling, washing, packaging, and transporting that box of organic salad to a plate on the East Coast takes more than 4,600 calories of fossil fuel energy, or 57 calories …

I missed you, Lake Michigan.

Grand Haven Fisherman’s Pier

Plant Dad

Pronto Pup, Grand Haven, Michigan. Don’t you wish your weiner was this good after 77 years?

Finished reading: Amulet 3: The Cloud Searchers by Kazu Kibuishi 📚

It’s about that time.: 

It’s amazing how much we don’t know about Harris this far into the first term, isn’t it? She’s been basically invisible to me.

Rethinking this microblogging stuff, again. Not sure why this takes up so much of my brainpower. I’m finding that I just prefer my bloggy stuff separate from my Micro.blog/Mastodon/Bluesky stuff, sort of formal vs informal. Playing with a draft site at afterword.blog.

When I see my own posts from Micro.blog on an alt Mastodon account, I never see replies from Micro.blog people from that side, even if they’re federating. I don’t see them on Bluesky, either. Why am I only seeing the full picture from within Micro.blog?

I distinctly remember being taught that “dilemma” was spelled “dilemNa” in the early 80s. Why, I have no idea.

I was in the area for work, so drove up to Council Crest Park to break up the routine. Hazy, but gorgeous day (70° F), with many people out enjoying it. #pdx

I wonder if the doctors who don’t like prescribing antibiotics have any idea what’s happening in the meat industry.

After some thought and many years wearing the thing, I’ve decided to drop the Apple Watch in favor of my old mechanical Seiko for daily wear. What little value the Apple Watch brought never outweighed its annoyances for me.

Switched our flat rate electric service to time-of-day pricing with PGE. So long as you can divert your energy use away from 5-9 to other times of day, your bill should go down. I charge my EV overnight ($0.08 per kWh) and saved $29 last month over the flat rate plan. #pdx

Fellow parents, how much time (if any) do you schedule for your own interests, creativity, hobbies and other pursuits in a given week? How do you negotiate that with your partner?

I just realized I had the ISO cranked way up yesterday on my camera during our family trip to Enchanted Forest and I didn’t even realize it. I thought full auto meant full auto…guess not. I still have so much to learn, and need to pay attention. Thankfully some of the photos still turned out.

Days like these make the hard days worth it.

Nikon coming up from behind with its release of Nikon Imaging Cloud. Looking forward to this being made available to the Zf so I can play around with it. Nikon Imaging Cloud enables users to recreate their favorite film stock, preset, or experiment with a library of existing recipes from Nikon …

Rest in peace Shelley Duvall, Dr. Ruth, and Richard Simmons. The world lost some authentic ones this weekend.

Oregano ruins anything it touches.

Hate to say it, but I’m ready for fall.

Zawojski said he once mistakenly received mail from the Crooks house, but never engaged with the family members directly even as he returned the mail to their porch. “I couldn’t even tell you what they look like,” he said. Source Sadly, this is much of America in the age of streaming services and …

Goodbye, ol’ Suby. You were a great car for the 11 years you were mine. I probably took this car to 30 states on road trips. Sold to a friend’s son as his first car, hopefully he gets another 100k out of it.

I got tired of my polycarbonate lenses always scratching, so last year I sent in my WP frames to Eyeglasses.com and had real glass lenses put in. No scratches. I love them.

I dragged a friend to the Les Savy Fav show and I don’t think they knew what they were getting into.

Downgrading your Verizon bill be like.

Decided I’m abandoning my affiliation with the Democratic Party and will become an independent (small “i”) voter. Between sidelining Bernie in 2016 and now attempting to block 3rd party access to state ballots, this system needs to be systematically demolished and rebuilt.

Ecology also teaches that all life on earth can be viewed as a competition among species for the solar energy captured by green plants and stored in the form of complex carbon molecules. A food chain is a system for passing those calories on to species that lack the plant’s unique ability to …

It was only 93° today.

My sister got lucky Married the yuppie Took him for all he was worth —Tom Petty

Finished reading: Guts: A Graphic Novel by Raina Telgemeier 📚

Our back patio is usually chaos. Zoey doesn’t seem to mind. She says she could do without the heat, though.

Currently reading: The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan 📚

Summers in Portland have felt more like Redding every year. We now have 3 official seasons: rain, smoke, and scorching hot.

Started reading: White Bird: A Wonder Story (A Graphic Novel) by R. J. Palacio 📚

Roughing it, obviously.

I see you, Cannon Beach.

Happy to see more EV chargers at state parks & campgrounds across Oregon.

Glamping supreme. Ask me if I brought the portable AC. 🏕️

Countdown to camp. For all the money we’re spending on this, we could’ve stayed at a pretty nice hotel with a pool. 🏕️

It’s going to be around 100° the next four days. We walked around the neighborhood on the early side and stopped to listen to the bullfrogs at the wetlands. The creeping thistle looked neat. The bees looked happy.

I worked as a cook at P.F. Chang’s in college. Whenever someone finds out about this, about half the time they say “I love their chicken lettuce wraps!” Then I break the news to them that it’s just ground up and fried chicken fat and skin, the stuff that normally gets thrown away.

Organic fireworks.

Nice day in PDX, and surprisingly quiet due to the holiday.

Explained Independence Day to my inquiring 5-year-old son today, as best I could. He responded: But dad, war is not good. People get hurt and that’s not something that we should be remembering. Couldn’t argue with that.

I just want Apple to allow me to choose “natural” scrolling for the trackpad, and regular scrolling for the mouse wheel. Is that too much to ask?

I love that my personalized radio station played me Ja Rule - Mesmerize on my drive home today.

I’m 43 and just now feel like I have enough PTO to stay somewhat sane, yet enough responsibility to feel guilty using it.

We’ve got a camping trip with friends this weekend that we booked in January (you have to do that here), and now it’s supposed to be around 100 degrees each day. Seriously considering sleeping in the Tesla and testing out Camp Mode.

Several days later, all 20 years of emails — 117,006 messages at 11 gb — have been imported to iCloud. After setting up mail forwarding, I no longer need to keep Gmail in Mail via IMAP because it’s all searchable. Delayed retrieval is also solved by forwarding. Perhaps the most boring post …

Can I filter words out of the timeline with Micro.blog? I don’t like unfollowing people just because of occasional content, but I also try to throttle certain political posts.

Sometimes I’ll be on my back deck and hear some kid scream at a video game, or someone practicing the trumpet, and I think: “how dare they disrupt my peace!” Then I remember what it must be like to live next to us.

Sure seems like everyone around me is getting Covid these days…

4 minutes of a day in the life. Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens Voice Memo

Took the kids out in the canoe on the Willamette this afternoon with our friend P, who brought her paddle board. Great drop-in point in Newberg. Beautiful, calm day for it. The old 18.5’ Wenonah is still a champ. 🛶

Remembered a lyric that has nothing to do with my current situation but is just so simple and clever, I wanted to write it down. The sadest part of a broken heart isn’t the ending so much as the start. — Leslie Feist

I slept in today because of the sleeping pill I took in the middle of the night, but I was productive despite how groggy I felt when I woke up. I took 5 big bags of bottles back for the deposits, picked up groceries, and vacuumed my car. I picked up the backyard a little bit and blew the leaves off …

Considering putting my big in scouts this year and of course I ended up on an Etsy page for alternative merit badges. Link

I’m slowly getting better at this.

Uploading 20 years’ worth of email to iCloud. Hoping for a completion date sometime before 2027.

Ice cream truck audibly enters the neighborhood… 2-year-old daughter: “what’s that noise?!” Wife: “it’s an ambulance.”

The candidates are very bad, but worse still is the media manipulation and corruption. Between the 2016 and 2024 elections, I’ve lost all faith in this system. The only reason I even vote anymore is because of SCOTUS.

I’m excited about the possibilities for music discovery with AI. Imagine being served up recommendations, not just in terms of genre or by other listerners’ tastes, but instead based on analysis of tempo, mood, time signature, key. Maybe even by characteristics of the musicians themselves.

Finished reading with my son: The Stonekeeper’s Curse: A Graphic Novel (Amulet #2) by Kazu Kibuishi 📚

Not sure why I never thought of this until now, but you can use Ghost as a sort of headless CMS for Micro.blog via RSS. There are of course limitations (e.g. editing mistakes), but it can even handle your newsletter with an embed while Micro.blog handles the static site, cross posting and comments.

Here’s some Detroit style pizza I ate at the new Ranch location. 🍕

Considering making iCloud my primary email address but don’t have any idea where to begin. I’ve been with Gmail since 2004 and we’re talking about hundreds of service updates, not even counting my contacts. Who has that kind of time?

I had some business today with a department I used to work in, the job that brought me to Oregon. It was nice to see some of my old colleagues, but most have moved on at this point. It’s hard to believe I’ve been with the same organization for almost a decade. So many life changes in that time.

This week’s episode of the Mel Robbins podcast hit a bit close to the chest. Sharing it in hopes that someone else might find it useful. Why is adult friendship so hard? If you’ve been feeling lonely, left out, or just like your friendships are not as strong as they used to be, you’ll feel …

Currently reading with my son: The Stonekeeper’s Curse: A Graphic Novel (Amulet #2) by Kazu Kibuishi 📚

Few things have sent me back in time quicker than a whiff of Nag Champa incense that I caught wafting out the front door of a shop on Main Street as I passed.

I washed my car on Saturday, and the next day a bird pooped a huge one right in the middle of my driver’s side door. I’ve been driving with it on there for four days now simply for comedic effect.

iOS 18 Beta 2 rolls out RCS. Pretty excited about this.

Finished reading: The Stonekeeper: A Graphic Novel (Amulet #1) by Kazu Kibuishi 📚

Someone got off the hedonic treadmill a while ago and never looked back.

Although I’ve given up on growing my own peppers, I have not given up on fermenting my own hot sauce. See you in 4-6 weeks.

This past weekend’s project: the rainwater irrigation system. Despite a lot of work, I still haven’t solved the issue of the pump cycling. Suffice to say, I’ve put a lot more time into working on the automatic irrigation over the years than it would have taken to just water the vegetables by hand.

Everyone expects wrinkles as they age, but I wasn’t prepared for all the other skin stuff that can happen. Eczema, strawberry bumps, stretch marks, skin tags, sun damage, hyperpigmentation. Fun stuff.

Late breakfast or early lunch?

People with multiple Micro.blog blogs, how do you split up your content? I’ve seen separate blogs for photos, specific photo content, hobbies, podcasts. What else?

It’s mind blowing to me that the United States has more land area than Canada. It’s only when you add its water area that Canada wins. That damn Mercator projection strikes again.

On high alert for bullfrogs.

When recipes say stuff like “the moistest chicken,” I cringe a little. I like my chicken dry AF and I won’t apologize.

Saw an early 90s Pontiac Grand Prix in someone’s driveway today, miraculously. It made me think about how ubiquitous the brand was in the 90s and early 2000s. Bonneville, Grand Am, Grand Prix, Sunfire. The OG proletariat chariots, no doubt.

iOS 18 feels like a step backwards in terms of UI for me. The Photos app is so clumsy and incoherent now, and I really dislike what they’ve done with Control Center. Adjusting widgets is awkward and buggy. I realize we’re in beta, but so far, I’m not a fan of any of this.

Although cool to see the Require Face ID control, I would’ve much rather seen a “turn off badge notifications” on this menu.

I’ve got the day off, so I’m heading to the coast with my boy. At long last, the weather looks decent. I like to keep all the beach gear in a clear tub so I can just throw it in the car and away we go.

Had one of those “moral high ground” types of days at work. Decided to stop a little early to have a beer and cook some bacon on the grill for BLTs before the kids get home. I love bacon, but hate that cooking it permeates everything in my poorly ventilated house. Cheers. 🍻

Really happy with what I’m averaging in gas savings since getting an EV. $14 spent on electricity over the past 31 days isn’t bad. And my old car was 20% worse on mpg vs their data model ($158 vs $132 in equivalent gas costs).

I’ve grown tired of my little Canon RP and its limitations, specifically its abysmal battery life, lack of in-body image stabilization, and slow shooting speed (kids!). So I decided to sell it and give a new system a try. Excited to start working with the Nikon Zf!

Not sure how many of my followers here care about Detroit redevelopment, or old train stations, but the Michigan Central Depot has recently been magnificently restored. Long empty and falling apart, its restoration gets me all sorts of emotional. 📸: Bvictor1 #detroit #trains #historicpreservation …

Not sure how many of my followers here care about Detroit redevelopment, or old train stations, but the Michigan Central Depot has recently been magnificently restored. Long empty and falling apart, its restoration gets me all sorts of emotional. 📸: Bvictor1 #detroit #trains #historicpreservation

El Jefe Food Cart. Picking up dinner a little early at the best taco truck on Portland’s west side.

Picking up dinner a little early at the best taco truck on Portland’s west side.

Recently switched to carrying a backpack to work instead of a messenger bag and I ain’t ever going back. Not sure what initially brainwashed me into thinking I needed a messenger bag for work, but my back is thanking me for making the switch.

Recently switched to carrying a backpack to work instead of a messenger bag and I ain’t ever going back. Not sure what initially brainwashed me into thinking I needed a messenger bag for work, but my back is thanking me for making the switch.

I’ve been working with this new architectural design and markup software called Rayon (pronounced like Ryan), a startup out of Paris. I really love it for the space planning component of my job. It’s so much simpler than Autodesk…I hope the company is successful so I can keep using it. …

I’ve been working with this new architectural design and markup software called Rayon (pronounced like Ryan), a startup out of Paris. I really love it for the space planning component of my job. It’s so much simpler than Autodesk…I hope the company is successful so I can keep using it.

I wonder what Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere is like.

I wonder what Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere is like.

Before kids, I wasn’t the type of person to carry cash on me. But since having them, I’ve realized that having cash, in smaller denominations, is an all-star level dad flex.

Fleet Week in the Rose City.

Nobody: My Apple Music: serenading me with a mix of Taylor Swift, Converge, and Cocomelon, all within a 10-minute span at 6 a.m.

Read a comment on a post tonight that said: “Europeans travel an hour for vacation. Americans travel an hour to get medication refilled.” In all seriousness, not one European (or otherwise) I met on my trip knew where the hell Oregon or Washington were.

When I’m down in the dumps, I like to watch 80s and 90s movies. They always cheer me up.

Took me far too long to find the true purpose of these.

I feel like I’ve been cheating the system this week. I’ve been plugging my car into the free EV chargers at Walgreens and just going for a walk on my lunch break. My commute has been free this week.

My son, yelling from downstairs: “Dad! Can you muffled child’s voice? Me: “What? I can’t hear you. I’m upstairs shaving!” Son, yelling: “You can’t hear me because you’re upstairs!!!”

The cheapest tickets to Chris Stapleton are $200 for general admission, way in the back. This is so common now, not sure how they command these rates. There are so very few people I’d pay that much money to see live. I’m almost to the age where you’ve got to pay me to stay out that late!

Normally, my wife is pretty minimalistic, but she’s big on gifting souvenirs to coworkers and family upon return from traveling. I find the whole practice very strange. Like essentially we’re saying, “hey, here’s something for you to remember this vacation I went on without you…”

I took the opportunity to watch both Barbie and Oppenheimer, back to back, on my 10 hour plane ride from Amsterdam to Portland. Despite the leg room, wife and I both thought it was like a mini vacation just being without kids, being served food and drinks, and watching movies of our choosing.

Braving the conditions on Sauvie Island for some of spring’s sweetest treats: Hood strawberries.

I recently saw a reply form on someone’s personal Micro.blog post (at their own address), allowing readers to login from M.b, Mastodon, or Bluesky to comment. Anyone know if this is new, or where I can go to learn more about how to make this work with the Marfa theme?

When in Rome… …Goodnight.

Roma is the filthiest large city I’ve ever visited, but the food is good. Walking a lot (20,000 steps before siesta) and eating our way across the città. Breaking a lot of social norms and embarrassing myself with my poor italiano.

Yesterday we hiked in the Alps, today we hiked the Cinque Terre. We burned a thousand calories hiking from Monterosso to Vernazza. The weather has been great. Resting for a bit before a night out in La Spezia.

In Italy, halfway through our trip, and I’m thinking about modifications to my own home based on my experience thus far. Such as real shutters. Bidets. Heated towel racks. Not giving up my American size fridge, however.

Lunch in Austria

Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Benefits to your circadian rhythm being way off given the 9 hour time difference: waking up at 4 a.m. for morning views.

Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) (Aeroporto di Venezia-Marco Polo).

In Amsterdam, getting ready day to board our flight to Venice. It’s been a long day :)

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS).

I exported all my photos from Google awhile back, but was dreading organizing them because Google Takeout had an insane file structure. Well, I figured if there was a good job for AI, this was one of them. Had ChatGPT write a python script to organize by month and year.

Someone discovered Beatles - White Album on Minidisc.

Tualatin Valley Water District soccer field.

One aspect I miss about living back east are all the ethnic bakeries. My family used to run an Italian bakery and deli in metro Detroit. Italian, Jewish, Polish, Lebanese, and Mexican bakeries are all over the place. Portland doesn’t even really have ethnic neighborhoods. It’s weird.

Mi piacerebbe entrare in contatto con alcuni urbanisti italiani riguardo al mercato del lavoro lì.

Had no idea moving posts from Micro.blog to Ghost would be such a pain. Had to spin up a Wordpress server, import the posts, then export with the Ghost plugin. Now the zip file is too big 😂. I can break up the photos in batches, but not sure how am I supposed to break up the JSON file. 🤷‍♂️

Admittedly, I had no idea how important agritourism had become to suburban childrearing.

Breakside Brewery Beaverton.

Whoa. Looks like Ghost will not only adopt ActivityPub, but also integrate following others right into the platform, on your own site. Looking forward to this.

After a lot of trial and error, I finally got Ghost up and running on my home server and accessible at my domain. Looks like I won’t be paying for hosting anymore, at least for my urban planning blog.

Sunny Wednesday morning in downtown Portland for the Northwest Facilities Expo. Quite a different scene than the housing and planning conferences I’m used to. Plenty of swag, including free buckets 🤣. You just have to endure the gauntlet of people trying to sell you stuff. Don’t make eye contact!

Now that we know that most of our office jobs can easily be performed at home, any required commute into an office counts toward your 8 hours that day. Go ahead, I give you permission.

After a mild success of self-hosting PhotoPrism, I thought I’d see if I could get Ghost up and running in a docker container. No dice. I must’ve tried 20 different docker compose settings and I just don’t know what the hell I’m doing 😂

Fungus among us

Getting the kids out of the house on this rainy Sunday.

Indexing…only about 100k to go.

55° this weekend, 85° next weekend. May can be so weird.

Finally took the time to set up PhotoPrism on my network. Now to figure out how to access it remotely. Another day.

Found a beautiful yet simple habit tracker in the App Store called Onrise. It’s free and comes with widgets, pomodoro timer, and a journal. I’d love to use it but apparently there’s no way to know where the data is stored or how to export data. Wish I could get Shortcuts and iCloud to work with it.

This popped up in photos as a 20-year memory today. This hit me like a ton of bricks. Coachella 2004. Me and some friends drove from Michigan to California, four-deep in a Honda Civic. This is my buddy Trevor. We’ve grown apart and have our own lives now, but I have a lot of good memories.

I’ve saved about $75 in gas in less than 2 weeks with my new car. In reality, it’s likely more because my Subaru only got about 20 miles per gallon in city driving and this calculation uses 25 mpg as a baseline for comparison. Also had to supercharge the first few days before getting my charger.

Couldn’t sleep last night, at all. Periodic bouts of insomnia are nothing new. So, when I know it’s a lost cause to even try, I kind of go off the rails digging into basic front end dev. I’ve been slowly making the Marfa theme (Hugo/Micro.blog) my own, with little tweaks. Some things I got …

Without a doubt!

I hope we get high-speed rail in the Northwest before I die. The State Of High-Speed Rail Projects In The U.S.

Looking for accommodations for our trip to Italy. Although grateful for tools like Google Maps and online reviews, in some ways they almost make it more difficult for me to choose a hotel. Beyond analysis paralysis, guest photos really pull back the curtain on the reality vs the hotel’s photos.

Finally got in to see an ophthalmologist last week for a small concretion I had on my eyelid. It took me a year to get in to see one. I went into primary care last April, then a few months wait to see dermatology, then to optometry (who doesn’t deal with anything but vision), back to primary care, …

Who else here is from a small, out-of-the-way place with few opportunities but still managed to get out and make something of yourself despite the odds? Sometimes I stop and think about it and feel so lucky.

My annual subscription for Ivory is coming up. I don’t think I’m going to renew. I’m mostly on Micro.blog and Bluesky these days, and Ice Cubes seems to have Mastodon covered. That year went by quick, though.

Received word yesterday that I got approval for nearly $70k in grant funds to install 12 EV charging stations at my work.

One very simple but thoughtful thing about the new car is that the center backrest folds down. As a parent of two young kids in car seats, this is very convenient! Can’t even tell you how many times I’ve had to take out a car seat just to make a run to the hardware store for some moulding or lumber.

I was cleaning out some old files and came across the software that came with my 2009 MBP. I still have the machine, too.

Well, it happened. After driving the same beat up old Subaru for 11 years, I got my very first new car at 43 years old. I bought a Tesla Model Y Long Range on Earth Day. I think my son might be more excited than I am. Went for a drive in the countryside during my lunch break today.

As much as Microsoft Teams has done for remote work, its availability doesn’t entitle people to your immediate attention. I’ve noticed coworkers in other departments following up with me in a Teams chat after just 30 minutes of no response to an email. It’s toxic to expect that kind of immediacy.

La nostra scimmietta. 🐵

#earthday

Kids are watching Scooby-Doo and I’m over here playing the first game video game I ever owned, at age 6.

I’ve noticed a trend recently where the older posts link on blog themes points to the right. This feels very unnatural to me. Gonna have to fix that.

Aforementioned REI grand opening. It’s crazy over here.

The largest REI in Oregon just opened yesterday, about 5 minutes from my house. This is the closest thing to Christmas for outdoorsy adults in the #PNW.

If you sign up for a service or website that celebrates anniversaries, yours will forever be 4/20 if you sign up today. 🌴

I know there are strong opinions about pineapple on pizza, but has anyone ever tried fig? Today I had my first pizza with fig on it, along with ham, Gruyère, and chèvre. Subtly sweet yet sparse enough to compliment the savory without overpowering it. I’d definitely go for it again.

Sitting in a coffee shop next to this building, which was one of the last affordable housing developments I was involved in as a funder. The nonprofit let me name it.

Recently connected with a half-aunt that no one in my family knew existed until a DNA test. If there’s anything I’ve learned from these tests, it’s that many more families than I ever would’ve imagined have big, dark adultery secrets. Reddit groups are full of these stories.

Removal of street trees in all but absolutely essential circumstances should be punishable with prison time.

Could someone explain the “buy me a coffee” thing among bloggers/tech crowd? Did this grow out of FOSS developer etiquette, or maybe people “borrowing” front-end code, or?

It is stunningly gorgeous outside today in Portland, Oregon, USA @ 67° F (19° C) / sunny. I’ve been relieved of parenting duties for a couple hours and it’s time to hit a sidewalk picnic table somewhere for a beer. Wish me luck.

New York Times, shilling for the 1%. The Global Turn Away From Free-Market Policies Worries Economists

I’m very pro walkability/bikability, and in fact got into urban planning due to my interests in walkable communities and public transit. Still, it feels a bit strange seeing the terms “urbanism” and “urbanist” completely co-opted by the cycling community. It’s overshadowed all nuance.

Saddened to learn of my cousin’s passing yesterday after a short but valiant battle with cancer. Although it’s only been in recent years that I have become close with her dad, I feel so much sorrow for their family losing her so young. Praying they find some peace during this difficult time.

Playing around with a Bluesky list of Micro.blog users I follow.

Rhine River cruises are like the pinnacle of aspirational Boomer retirement goals these days, it seems.

Awesome idea, but so help me God, if I’m your accountability partner and you wake me up more than once, we are no longer friends.

Relatable. On a scale not seen in decades, many Americans are stuck in homes they would rather leave. TheUpshot, NYtimes

At 43, I spend too much time now trying to guess if the characters in movies are older or younger than me.

Nice lunch on the waterfront in downtown Vancouver.

Pretty, pretty good: We shipped our kids off to my mother-in-law’s for the night and drove out past the gorge to Dalles Mountain Ranch in Columbia Hills Historical State Park. The wildflowers were in bloom and the cloud cover kept us cool. It was very peaceful, and it felt good to burn some calories in preparation for a …

The start of today’s hike.

Not my doing, but love it nonetheless.

Getting tired of managing multiple fedi accounts. Shuffling the deck back to Micro.blog.

It makes me cringe whenever I hear people complain about funding essential services like schools at adequate levels when most don’t even remotely understand the impacts of their low-density neighborhood on the budgets of their communities and service districts.

Afternoon walks this time of year.

Is there a native or easy way to transcribe an Apple voice memo?

I couldn’t help myself, I bought the domain sadmachines.social. It makes me smile, even though I’m not sure what I’ll do with it yet.

An awesome #skyline shot from Opening Day in #Detroit from the #Tigers. 🐅

I want to know who the people are who click all the way through listicles that are spread across five pages for ad revenue purposes.

Nimbus reportedly involves Google establishing a secure instance of Google Cloud on Israeli soil, which would allow the Israeli government to perform large-scale data analysis, AI training, database hosting, and other forms of powerful computing using Google’s technology, with little oversight by …

I hate to admit it, but I might be leaning more towards Bluesky over Mastodon now that there is such deep integration with Micro.blog. Really has me rethinking everything.

All these big legged pants are giving me major flashbacks.

Photo from our neighborhood park over the weekend. This little place has become a central part of our lives and one of the best parts about where we live. There must have been at least 25 kids and their parents there, from diverse backgrounds, just in the short time we were there on Sunday.

One of the worst parts about anxiety is the persistent mind reading. I know I’m not alone when I say I often have to drown out the imaginary voices I hear when I look at other people’s faces looking back at me. It’s gotten better as I’ve gotten older, but has never completely gone away.

This Baked Crunch Hot Chicken recipe my wife made tonight was delicious. Instantly saved to the Mela app.

I still think we should be able to delete / detach any comments on our own micro blog posts, wherever our site may exist in the Fediverse. For me, this is easily the biggest issue with ActivityPub.

From Elderly Instruments. #eclipse2024

Figures.

I realize not wanting to do self checkout makes me a grumpy old man, but what pushes me over the edge into full-on curmudgeon territory is when a line attendant tries to redirect me there from a longer, human-powered line that I’ve clearly chosen on purpose. #gtfo

Bumming around Southwest on this rainy Saturday. #pdx

Saturday morning jam. Younger and Dumber by Indigo De Souza

At a conference today at Ilani Casino and the whole place smells like the inside of an Abercrombie and Fitch.

Of all the types of people I have trouble understanding, it’s the people who never ask questions who baffle me the most.

“Hulk and Thanos”

Went past the light rail yard yesterday on one of my walks. I’ve always been a lover of trains.

One of the downsides of having an electric range is not being able to cook tortillas directly on a gas burner. Slightly charred tortillas were a staple of my childhood growing up with my grandmother.

What is something you discovered or got into later in life (hobby, interest, activity) that brings you a lot of joy or excitement? I’ve gotten stuck in my routine and identity. I’d like to branch out and do a little self discovery, but it’s been difficult with two kids under 5.

I’m skipping Easter with the in-laws today for my physical and mental health. I have some guilt about it, but I’m putting it out of my mind to enjoy the peace of this beautiful day by doing some minor maintenance on my car out in the sun. It’s well past time I started prioritizing my own care.

I’m not feeling Apple’s poor implementation of content restrictions. Not only with explicit music sliding though even when content restrictions are turned on, but also how it’s impossible to filter movies or TV shows by rating in the Apple TV app. Wish they’d improve the experience.

Thinking about having some work done on our house, including renovating the kitchen. I like the contemporary look of no upper cabinets, but what do people do about their glassware? Dishes look fine on a shelf, but I’m not so sure all our mismatched coffee cups would look good on a display.

If anyone knows of any excellent food blogs, I’d be gratefully if you shared the love. I’ve been experimenting a lot more with new dishes and building my recipe book. TIA!

While I’m not sold on reincarnation, heaven, or hell, I often find myself hoping that karma or judgment might come into play based on how someone treats animals.

Ever ponder the reach of pros' blogs vs. TikTok, Instagram and YouTube stories on the same topics? Millions view the latter. Is the goal spreading ideas or writing for its own sake?

“California is a state that looks like a sock.” -my kid

I guess Zoomers are calling VCRs “VHS Players”. There are entire debates going on about this on Instagram like VCR has been Inceptioned. VHS tapes, yes. VHS player? Never.

My second story got up to 85° today in Portland and opening windows didn’t budge the temp. I’m a little ashamed to say I turned on the AC on March 18th to cool down my office. I can’t focus when I’m sweating.

The sidewalks never stood a chance.

You might have ADHD if stimulants make you sleepy. I’ve been sleeping so much better since being more consistent in taking them.

Mela is straight up the best iOS app I’ve found in years. It’s changed my meal planning and eating habits. The only thing that could possibly make it better is if its grocery lists somehow integrated directly with grocery store ordering apps. I love it.

Dealing with Tough Family Stuff

My little mischief makers started the day with a giggle takeover!

Keep my old ICE car or get an EV?: My car is 13 years old and recently turned over 150,000 miles. I got it used in 2013 with 55k miles on it, so I’ve done fewer than 10k miles per year, including several cross-country trips. It’s been a great car with very few issues, but it’s showing its age and I’m debating if I should put the $4k …

My car is 13 years old and recently turned over 150,000 miles. I got it used in 2013 with 55k miles on it, so I’ve done fewer than 10k miles per year, including several cross-country trips. It’s been a great car with very few issues, but it’s showing its age and I’m debating if I should put the $4k …

No one told me T/Gel was discontinued 😑

Made this homemade pot pie recipe tonight for dinner, with some modifications. Mine of course didn’t look this beautiful, but it was a hit nonetheless! https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/one-skillet-rotisserie-chicken-pot-pie

The world has changed and our children no longer smell of smoke. writings.bryan.lv

Continuing to struggle with my weight. writings.bryan.lv

I guess she likes Future Islands.

The zeitgeist of the last half century would have us believe that Elvis was a morbidly obese man near the end of his life. Some so-called sources claim he was 350 lbs. Ain’t no way. This is a photo from his last performance (1977). The dude had a bit of a double chin, but he barely even had a belly.

The barber gave me a senior discount today, and while I can appreciate that their heart was in the right place, I’ll be at happy hour after work if anybody needs me.

Arapahoe Basin, CO. 2012. #tbt

Proud of myself for getting up at 6:00 today and heading straight for the treadmill before the kids woke up. I’m not a morning person, but I’ve been sleeping better with exercise. I’ve had a good streak going in February despite lots of celebrations with food. Back on CICO, doing my best.

Four weeks after New Year’s and I nearly had the place to myself.

While I’ve been doing a decent job of meal planning and trying out new recipes, I think much of the time I’d be happier just eating a bowl of cereal or having a sandwich.

Hey @maique, happy anniversary! Beautiful couple. Apparently we got married within a few weeks of each other because this month also marks 6 years married to my best friend (Feb 10).

I had a very writing and editing-heavy day at work. I started making dinner early, which took about an hour, and then played outside with the kids and roughhoused for 45 minutes. This somewhat shockingly only got me to 2500 steps. I did 40 more minutes of walking on the treadmill (2.2 miles) and now …

Moonrise on the Oregon Coast and a few moments of peace while walking the dog last night before settling in with the kids.

Perfection

Sticking with our yearly tradition that we started in 2016 of going to the coast the week of my birthday. Fingers crossed for some decent weather, but in all likelihood we’ll be at the pool!

I was between site visits today and lucky enough to have a few moments to spare, so I stopped at one of my favorite little pull-offs where I used to sometimes stop to eat my sack lunch. A lovely day, and grateful for where I landed in this world. #pdx #pnw

Seeing the crazy drop off and pick up line at our neighborhood elementary school makes me so grateful that we live less than a half a mile away.

When your organization requires you to take a 12 week leadership course but the only time you have to do it during the day is typically your lunch break while on the treadmill.

Out for an evening stroll.

Test drove a Model Y today (my birthday) and this was my first time seeing a Cybertruck in person. Honestly a bit smaller than I expected by the photos I’d seen.

Sometimes I look at my daughter and she looks a bit like my brother did when he was a kid. Wish he could’ve met her.

Any ideas as to what would cause iOS Safari to very regularly do this after a page has already fully loaded? I search for a page, click it, it loads, then moments later it reloads to a screen like this. No extensions are enabled and it happens most often to news sites.

Love being a dad, but one of the most difficult things for me having little kids is not being able to talk with my wife without some sort of constant interruption. Every time I open my mouth to speak, there’s a kid yelling, needing help, getting hurt, fighting, etc. The struggle is real at this age.

I must be a masochist, I woke up at 5:45 to book a campsite at the coast on a weekend in mid-August before they evaporated.

They say success in life is 80% showing up. For a person with anxiety, that’s exhausting. It means constantly mustering emotional energy to be braver than you are naturally capable of being, every day.

This weekend I booked a beautiful rental in Venice and started looking at places in the Dolomites. It’s starting to feel more real and I’m getting excited for my first real trip abroad since 2007. Hopefully the first of many to come given how different my life circumstances are these days.

Fun in Olympia today on our 6th anniversary.

I’m at the age where my back cracks whenever I sneeze.

You’ll have bad times, but it’ll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren’t paying attention to. - Good Will Hunting Taking a moment to recognize this time in my life as “the good stuff” and to pay attention.

I know it’s a necessary evil sometimes, but it’s really frustrating when you pay for a premium app that goes from a pay-once and done to a subscription model, and then they continue to hound you to join the subscription plan. I think devs should go the Feedly route of grandfathering early adopters.

I haven’t watched the Grammies in probably 2 decades. Even as a musician, I couldn’t possibly care less.

Taking a training today so I can evaluate buildings for safety after a Cascadia Subduction Zone quake.

I’ve had less to say lately.

We took our restless animals to a farm and soaked up the sunshine.

2 years and 3 months after ordering it, my Italian ‘social security’ card arrives. 🤣

I’ve visited a couple of times, but I just don’t get why Austin continues to explode. Good food and music would not be enough. Crazy heat and a climate set to make it worse, awful state politics, sprawled out suburban development style, poor infrastructure, high property taxes, tiny historic center.

Feeling pretty burnt out lately. writings.bryan.lv

Almost spent $1000 on 7th row Mitski tickets but fought hard against my ADHD impulse control demons. It’s the small wins.

What I’d love is to have my own personal start page on the web. I plug in the services I already use and love, and there’s little widgets giving me updates. Bands in Town, Meet Ups, Things To-Dos, meal planning, reading list, etc. Maybe AI-assisted date planning.

Anyone seen the price of Disney World lately? Honestly think our trip to Italy will be cheaper.

Pampering myself with the tanning booth and massage chairs at Planet Fitness 🤣 it’s the only reason I haven’t cancelled.

The marriage problem-solving flow chart: Husband expresses a feeling about wife’s actions and how it could be resolved -—-> wife deflects, listing 10 things wrong with husband —-> husband apologizes —-> peace is restored

My oldest turns five tomorrow. It’s hit me hard that he’s going to be in kindergarten this year and I’m having all those normal, uncomfortable feelings wrapped up with hopes for him to have a good experience and that we’ve got him at the right school.

After last week’s weather, today’s sunshine and warmer temps were very much welcomed.

The cuter my kids get, the more people say they look like their mom 🤔🤣

Our first Amazon delivery from a Rivian electric cargo van.

How is Canon’s wireless photo transfer software so bad?

Lions! 🦁 🏈

We grew some crystals this week and unveiled one tonight. He’s pretty excited about it.

We are thawing and the sun is shining, but here’s a photo of the pup from a few days ago. She’s 7 now and is slowing down a bit, but still has some spunk. 🐕‍🦺

I’m a glutton for punishment. I put together a Wordpress site focused on my blog posts vs microblogging posts. I used the Shoreditch theme with font inspiration from Atilla on Ghost. Thinking about starting there for long-form posts and here on Micro.blog for short-form posts.

I don’t care what someone’s politics are, making negative comments about their body is so cringe.

Just realized that yesterday morning I clipped the fingernails on my left hand and then didn’t finish the job on the right.

One of the coolest things about learning Italian is seeing all the Latin rooted words and how they’ve influenced English words and their cognates or synonyms. For example, the Italian word for “window” is “finestra”. From there, it’s not a big leap to “fenestration”. They’re all over the place.

Difficult to think about gardening too much given the weather lately, but we’re really only a few weeks out from seeding indoors. So, I put in my order last night through Territorial Seed Co. Picked up a few varieties I’ve never planted. I also have to start thinking about moving my beds.

That’s a wrap! Another day on the hedonic treadmill comes to a close.

“Hey Siri, how might Michael Foucault approach the term “urbanist” as a discursive object?”

“Hey Siri, how might Michael Foucault approach the term “urbanist” as a discursive object?”

Given the development patterns that emerged in the U.S. after G.I.’s returned home from WWII flush with cash, I often ask myself: did we really win?

Shout out to all your coworkers who are wrangling little kids and still working remotely during these storms. They’re barely hanging on but still keeping your shit running. Also shout out to libraries. Today’s work is sponsored by Spider-Man books and Scooby-Doo DVDs.

A coating of ice on everything. I’ll be staying here today, if anyone needs me. #pdx

On some of these dark and cooped up winter nights, I have too much time with my thoughts and memories. Tonight I was feeling nostalgic for the places I used to live, even though I know I’m better off with where I’m at now. Still, the present can feel so suffocating at times.

Signed up for a 3-week language class at PCC and the first two classes are cancelled due to weather.

Another snow day.

I’ve been trying to figure out a way include my kids' grandparents in my POSSE adventures since I will never pry Facebook from their hands. Every time I leave the site, I invariably get complaints about them wanting updates. This is pretty much the only reason I wish Threads would federate.

Our silly girl

Did I mention we went sledding yesterday?

Word of caution: if you show up at my house unannounced on a holiday weekend, you may find me still in my underwear before 10.

I was 9 years old the last time the Lions won a playoff game. 🏈

One of my favorite accounts on Instagram is Zillow Gone Wild. It’s a great study in the American mind.

After a 25 year hiatus, I’m thinking about getting back into hacky sack.

Learning about custom routing and collections in Ghost. I’m thinking this might be the key to hosting two blogs at one address (micro and otherwise) while keeping their content separate.

Got our wish

Offloaded my new planning blog from a subdomain to its own domain. Hoping I didn’t break too much in the process.

I need to research easy-to-use (and free/affordable) data visualization tools for web publications, particularly map data. Looking like maybe Leaflet with Mapbox.

Today is my daughter’s 2nd birthday. It’s been a fun-filled year, and a joy watching her grow and explore the world! Happy birthday, little one!

Had some fast food for lunch today and the sesame seeds reminded me of this bit by Mitch Hedberg: youtu.be/F8kmeCAd4…

Tech companies who use two-factor e-mail verifications where the numbers are visible directly from mobile banner notifications are doing god’s work. Few things are as unnecessarily annoying as having to click over to open the email to copy/paste.

Garden Notions: For the last five years or so, I’ve used the space next to my driveway for raised beds. I’ve got a 3,100 gallon rain cistern in my backyard and I hand dug a trench to the front yard for my drip irrigation system. It’s worked pretty well, but there are pros and cons. For starters, the beds are pretty …

Couldn’t stand the guy or his cult, but I’ll concede Reagan got one thing right: ~If you’re explaining, you’re losing.

Currently experiencing the complete meltdown of the Fred Meyer curbside grocery pickup system. Been here almost 2 hours waiting on a pickup that was already an hour delayed.

My boss signed me up for this leadership development program over the next 3 months, and although I appreciate the content, it has filled my plate beyond capacity. Crazy week and I’m ready for a snow day.

I let the floor go while I was trying to keep the ship running the last few days. Cooking, laundry, dishes, homework, regular work, walking the dog, keeping the kids entertained, baths, etc. The floor is always the thing that gets so gross so fast, especially in the winter. I think I’m ready to hire …

Lego has become fun now that he can do so much more himself.

Power outage and a rough night’s sleep: We had some wind last night and it knocked out our electricity at around 1 a.m. My son was already sleeping in our bed, but my daughter woke up screaming bloody murder and wouldn’t go back to sleep, so I had to bring her into our bed as well. The worst part about power outages is that I can’t sleep …

We had some wind last night and it knocked out our electricity at around 1 a.m. My son was already sleeping in our bed, but my daughter woke up screaming bloody murder and wouldn’t go back to sleep, so I had to bring her into our bed as well. The worst part about power outages is that I can’t sleep …

Raising kids on the U.S. west coast sure has a way of making even a so-called ‘comfortable’ household’s budget feel pinched. I look around and wonder how others seem to be living so much better.

Veggie chili tonight, accompanied by Chelsea, Michigan’s finest. #jiffy #michigan

Cheapened by abundance: This morning, I accidentally bumped my HomePod while cleaning off the desk and some music started. Land Locked Blues by Bright Eyes came on, from his 2005 album I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. It’s making me nostalgic. That is about the time I stopped listening to Bright Eyes and stopped buying CDs …

This morning, I accidentally bumped my HomePod while cleaning off the desk and some music started. Land Locked Blues by Bright Eyes came on, from his 2005 album I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. It’s making me nostalgic. That is about the time I stopped listening to Bright Eyes and stopped buying CDs …

Booked a spot at a State campground…for a weekend in July. Pretty wild that this is how things work.

After dropping my wife off at the airport this morning: “Mom’s going to California, which means we can do whatever we want, sister!”

Last night we went to Hapa Pizza in downtown Beaverton. They have been included in several recent articles as a top pizza parlor in the region, so we decided to give it a try. Their Asian inspired pies are unique and tasty. We had one of the peanut sauce pizzas with tofu and it was great.

An old photo of us on NYE, when my wife and I first started dating. Time flies.

Working for the weekend: Recently I got into the world of management and I’ve noticed e-mails coming my way in the evenings and on the weekends from director types and such. I am committed to my job and enjoy the work, but I’m not sorry to say that I’m not getting into a habit of responding to emails on Friday night, midday …

Sabato: I slept in until about 8 this morning and watched some Italian IPTV after I blogged a bit about our trip planned for later in the year. I’ve been trying to get into the mindset. Our friend offered to watch our kids for a couple hours, so we took her up on it so that me and my wife could go to the …

The thing that makes me nervous about Apple’s Journal app is that there’s no apparent way to get the stuff you put in there, out. I’m sure I’m missing something, but from the app itself, it’s definitely not obvious. Are the moments you record available in other apps that can ask to connect?

I realized recently that 2024 marks 20 years since I got my Gmail account. It was invite-only back then and I broke Google policy by buying an invite off eBay for something like $15. I can’t even fathom how many emails I’ve sent/received, or services I’ve signed up for with it.

Long Distance Family: Before the holidays, I had my first phone conversation with a distant cousin I connected with on one of those genetic testing sites. I don’t make it a habit of reaching out to complete strangers with loose genetic ties, but I had been looking for Italian family on my father’s side in the United …

Spending half my time on Micro.blog unfollowing mastodon accounts. And won’t ever be able to get my Micro.blog followers back here that I migrated away. Wish I would’ve known the implications of my migrations before I made those decisions. Follower management is not good.

A quote I’ve always remembered from an old coworker: With average effort comes average results. With extraordinary effort comes extraordinary results.

This week, we started going back to 100% analog books at bedtime for the boy and I feel good about it. He’s almost 5, and we’ve read to him nearly every night of his life since before he was able to understand what was going on. It started out as 3-4 children’s books. We ran out of material after a …

Currently reading: The Kid Stays in the Picture by Robert Evans 📚

Working from home today and my dog keeps bugging me to go for a walk. It’s pretty cold and wet outside and I just want to stay warm and dry in my hoodie. I’ll probably relent, but I wish we had an indoor dog park nearby on days like today.

Getting back into RSS feeds after discovering NetNewsWire. Reading the developers’ blog post, Brent Simmons responds to questions about whether the app should support Mastodon. Personally, I’d be happy with just the ability to sign in and comment directly on articles that implement ActivityPub.

At brunch this morning: “What did you get, dad?” “Biscuits and gravy.” “But where are the biscuits?” “Oh, they’re in there. Somewhere.”

#holdup

Decluttered a bit this past weekend after Christmas filled our house with too many things. On the highest shelf of my bedroom closet is where I’ve kept my brother’s ashes for almost 3 years. I can’t bring myself to part with them, but my heart keeps telling me they deserve to be somewhere else.

Happy New Year to all. Wishing you inspiration in 2024.

Best thing about west coast New Year’s Eve is celebrating at 9 p.m.!

Spotted my first Amazon branded Rivian EDV while out and about running errands in the Portland area. I think they’re kind of cute.

Pretty excited about VPN now being on Apple TV. Big fan of Channels DVR for watching Italian IPTV channels for language learning, but so many are geo blocked.

Started The Creator last night and had to finish it this morning. Great movie, but it might be a sign I’m getting older when I can hardly finish a movie in one sitting 🤣 🍿

The battery died on my wife’s key fob for the van, so instead of just replacing the battery she…swapped her key fob for mine. Classic wife move!

Not sure why I’m surprised by the language being used by all sorts of young kids at the neighborhood park, but I am. I need to check my inner grumpy old man in those moments to counter the urge to scold them while they’re cursing like sailors in front of my little ones.

I never know the right way to pronounce ‘dachshund’.

I just learned our IT dept finally added Power Automate to our enterprise 365 subscription. I asked for access to this for two years in hopes of making my last job more sane considering the vast amount of form work I did. No idea how this could be useful in my new position yet. Anyone use it?

According to Portland Nursery, there are only 48 days (Feb 15) until the ideal time for seeding tomatoes and peppers indoors. OSU says the last chance of frost is May 31, and to count backwards 8 weeks (March 31). That’s a pretty wide spread.

To make living itself an art, that is the goal.

Still one of my favorite scenes that ever chose me

My personalized stations on Apple Music have been so strange since they started including starred songs. I was diligent about starring things way back in the day but then fell off. Suddenly, songs I starred over a decade ago are making their way into my mixes. They are dredging up memories of past …

Reflections on my quit anniversary and the new year: 

I had my last cigarette 7 years ago yesterday. Since that time, I've saved something like $25,000 in direct costs and have hopefully added years to my life. I don't write about this anniversary for praise or pats on the back, but instead to honor myself and explore my own feelings on the subject, …

Smirking my way through the doldrums

My kids will eat curry, tofu, sushi, Thai, Indian, Tibetan, Vietnamese and Chinese food, but they won’t touch Chef Boyardee if their lives depended on it. I guess I’m raising some bougie kids.

Just applied to community college.

Heading into the chaos of my in-laws’ house. Just a self reminder to relax your shoulders and take regular deep breaths. A Klonopin or two might also be in order.

My new boss got me a nice gift box from Made in Oregon. I think this is the first time a supervisor has ever gotten me a gift. A small thing, but it made me feel appreciated.

Testing syndication without titles

Someone sent me a photo of myself I'd never seen before from my high school graduation.

I blinked and Sufjan Stevens came out with a new album.

My new gym keeps its outdoor pool open all year. It’s 40° outside.

A tale of two children visiting Santa

The winter solstice is nearly upon us.

Here goes nothing. Update: this site is currently being mirrored on an 11ty site. Things seem to have transferred really well, but I haven’t had a chance to polish the starter theme. I'm not sure what the advantage is to going the headless route when Ghost seems to be fine. I'll continue testing.

As most of us are sick this week, we didn’t do much this past weekend. So I’m looking back at last weekend’s photos. This is my favorite one from our visit to Zoo Lights at the Oregon Zoo. We all rode the narrow gauge train and had a lot of fun. A few friends J, H & K even showed up.

The holiday blues: I'm just not feeling the holiday spirit this year. Both my kids are young and I am trying to show up for them. I even saved up quite a bit of cash to pay for toys and gifts and take some of that stress off us, but I just can't get in the mood. I think more than anything, I'm feeling tired of Oregon …

Holiday Festivities: We had a very busy but fun weekend with the kids celebrating the holiday season. We went and saw Santa Claus in North Plains on Saturday, and then went to Steeplejack Brewing for pizza. Then, on Sunday, we went to the SHARC for swimming and later went to Zoo Lights at the Oregon Zoo.

Today was an interesting day. I got to tour our old jail, part of which is now empty, to hopefully repurpose it. Also made some progress on understanding the historic building in which I work, to hopefully rehab. Feeling good, but tense from the desk, so I spent some time in the hot tub and sauna:

Went to a ninja gym last night and it was a lot of fun!

For all the effort being made for alt text, how do I even read it in other people’s posts on Micro.blog?

My kids are growing too quickly : Lately, both of my kids have been learning so much and it’s intense seeing them grow before my eyes. No. 1 is 4 and has known his ABCs and how to count for a while now, but he’s become so articulate, annunciating every letter perfectly (no elemenopee anymore). He’s also counting into the 40s and …

Lately, both of my kids have been learning so much and it’s intense seeing them grow before my eyes. No. 1 is 4 and has known his ABCs and how to count for a while now, but he’s become so articulate, annunciating every letter perfectly (no elemenopee anymore). He’s also counting into the 40s and …

That high noon sun.

Thankful for this day.

Beautiful outside.

I had a lot of things in my Amazon cart that didn’t change in price at all today, but suddenly said 18% off next to that same price due to Black Friday.

My loves.

I have my in-laws over for Thanksgiving this year, so we had a full house and it was a lot of fun! My first time cooking a turkey…turned out pretty good. Now we are just drinking old fashioneds, eating coconut cream pie, and huddled around the living room watching football and playing with the kids.

Santa almost forgot to close up the attic. Happy Thanksgiving, friends. I’m cooking this year, pray for me.

I have a theory that eyeglass companies switched to polycarbonate lenses from glass, not because of weight or safety concerns, or because polycarbonate was better, but because polycarbonate scratches easily, so you have to replace your glasses more often. Even with coatings, they just suck in my …

Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. 10 years ago.

This PNW rainy season

I’m about a month into my new job and I’ve got to say that I’m loving it compared to my old one. Much like being in a bad relationship, sometimes it’s hard to see just how toxic your old employment situation was until you’re out of it.

Commute.

Tillamook

#doggo

Lost Lake, Oregon.

Lake Tahoe

Moved back over to my Mastodon server as my primary platform from Micro.blog. Too many issues lately, and I missed the iOS clients. Still copying over most things with RSS, but the biggest downside is that I’ll have to post images directly to Micro.blog since they’ll be linked to this server if I …

When people complain about PNW winters, I send them pictures of Michigan. Grayer, colder, flat as hell, farm desert tundra, and a land use program that allows this.

Dealing with Italian bureaucracy is fun. I need a SPID (electronic credential) to order my Italian birth certificate online from my comune where I’m registered. I need a physical card of my Codice Fiscale (Social Security Card) to get the SPID. I snail mailed for the card 2 years ago, sent to the …

Do others on Micro.blog truly get RSS updates in their timelines? I’ve subscribed to one and even though there have been new posts, I’m not getting the content. Same goes with a Tumblr blog I follow. Wondering if it’s just me.

Keep getting this error.

Do others on Micro.blog truly get RSS updates in their timelines? I’ve subscribed to one and even though there have been new posts, I’m not getting the content. Same goes with a Tumblr blog I follow. Wondering if it’s just me.

At a friends’ kids’ birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese and I’m pretty sure this is how Covid started.

This last week has been kind of hellish in a sort of funny but not too funny sort of way. We’ve all, at various overlapping times, had colds and conjunctivitis. Yep, pink eye. Thank goodness for the extra days off. Sleeping but not well, and my wife has it in both eyes 👀. Looks awful 😖😳🤣

New air fryer owner, here. So I picked up some Starbucks Sous Vide Egg Bites from Costco to try cooking them in it. Might have a new addiction. This is about the most American post I could conjur.

An excerpt from an interview with Noam Chomsky prior to the October 7 conflict. For 50 years, Israel has been explicitly trying to use the Holocaust as a propaganda weapon to justify crushing the Palestinians, occupying Palestinian territory illegally, practically destroying Gaza [which is] almost …

People have tried to get me to eat fish my entire life. It makes me gag. One of my favorites protests is: “you’ll like this, it doesn’t taste fishy at all!” But why are people trying to get me to eat something that’s threshold for quality is that it doesn’t taste like the thing that it is? 🤔

Maybe a weird question, but anyone know if there are any free and open source budgeting apps for iOS with bank account sync? Or is that just way beyond what anyone should expect from FOSS?

I hadn’t logged into my Pixelfed account in a while. The Progressive Web App is a lot nicer now, IMO. Very polished.

Thinking of my brother on his heavenly birthday today. He would’ve been 41. Miss you.

When I see a “Log in with Google+” 🙈

Wrapping up week 4 in the new job and enjoying it. The first few months are all about finding your bearings. I’ve got a supportive team helping me grow into the role, but I’ve already had a lot of uncomfortable situations. Just picking up the discourse, the new language, is always a …

Micro.blog down?

Impromptu bedtime snacks ... https://indw.blog/2023/11/08/impromptu-bedtime-snacks.html

Apologies to anyone following my music listening history and sees everything from Elmo and Fugazi.

Apologies to anyone following my music listening history and sees everything from Elmo and Fugazi.

After two days of public transit and traveling around downtown Portland and Seattle, I’m really saddened by the fact that that my son was just about the only child I saw, and I honestly questioned my parenting by exposing him to certain things on this trip. I left with him for the KISS concert …

After two days of public transit and traveling around downtown Portland and Seattle, I’m really saddened by the fact that my son was just about the only child I saw, and I honestly questioned my parenting by exposing him to certain things on this trip. I left with him for the KISS concert wondering …

On a packed bus and some lady is on speaker phone buying something and repeated her credit card number, expiration, and security code, OUT LOUD. Seriously, how dumb can you be?

More Seattle fun. We rode up to the top of the Space a needle with a load of Hindu monks. They were very kind to my son and let him ride by the windows in the elevator. Nice littlle extended weekend getaway for us boys.

Me and my boy saw KISS in Seattle tonight!

Waiting for our…bus.

Figures. Haven’t taken the train in forever and now it’s going to be a bus ride due to a landslide.

Looks like Micro.blog forgot to fall back today, all the time stamps are an hour in the future.

Three years ago, I was recognized as an Italian citizen and I’m going to visit the Veneto region where me and my children are registered. I’m really excited.

The paint I got on my watch yesterday unlocked memories of seeing similarly speckled paint on my dad’s digital watches growing up.

“Dad, can we put the skeleton away? I don’t want Santa to be freaked out.”

Just began training the new person for my old job as a courtesy, and I got such a strong deer-in-headlights look from them that I’m wondering if they’ll still be here next week.

Being with your partner for a while is to know them. This morning’s convo with my wife went something like this: Me: You know who I think you’d like? Sade. Wife: How do you spell that? Me: S-A-D-E Wife: What the hell? Me: Yeah. Wife: ~Playing it on her phone~ Omg I love this!

I got really tired of scratching up all my polycarbonate lenses so I sent in my WP frames to have real glass lenses put in. It’s going to take a few weeks before I get them back, but I’m so excited!

I feel like Apple might’ve done something sneaky in the most recent update and removed my wife from the sharesheet in iOS Photos in order to force Family Sharing adoption.

So this happened. Happy Halloween! 🎃

Halloween Part 1: Preschool Batman. 🎃

Happy Halloween 🎃

Don’t wait to tell the world you love someone until after they’re dead.

What is the best concert you’ve ever been to?

The false advertising on Google’s hotel pricing is amazing. Even with actual dates plugged in, the advertised prices in downtown Seattle have sometimes been over $100/night off from reality (+). And I’m not talking about third parties like Expedia, but prices advertised from the hotels themselves.

It doesn’t happen all the time, but for the last several weeks or so, I have been ticking so many items off my to-do lists and feeling very accomplished. I attribute this primarily to better sleep. My focus and energy have improved as a result. Not sure why, by my insomnia has subsided.

Somehow missed that my lil old car surpassed 150k. Knock on faux wood, but I’ve never had it in the shop for anything other than routine replacements. I’ve had this car for over 10 years and it was a few years used when I bought it. #subaru

Invariably, when I’m watching clips of the Rich Roll podcast, I find myself not even listening to what the guy is saying. Often I’m just thinking: “dang, this guy has a good tan. I wish I had a successful podcast where I could hock underwear and plant-based protein so I could afford to …

Searching for painted rocks at the park on this beautiful day.

My phone updated last night and the Journaling app showed up. And I’m sort of relieved there isn’t a share option on entries. The last thing I want showing up in the Fediverse is the minutia of every person’s day.

As a musician, perhaps the most egregious example of my own ignorance that I’m willing to admit is that, for too many years, I thought the hippie folk music of the 60s was real folk music. It’s taken a lot of unlearning. I chalk it up to being an 80s child of a teenage parent who worked nights.

Lows in the 30s this week. House is chilly and my little girl (21 months) keeps waking up, even well layered. So…she’ll be absorbing my body heat in our bed tonight.

Rembrandt, Monet, Picasso…

Time to turn up the heat and put a nice tropical scene on the TV while I work on the couch today. 🌴

Project mystery machine in progress.

The teens at one of my lunch spots were playing Postal Service in the dining room. Wild to think they weren’t even alive when that album came out.

Anyone use Smartsheet for project management? Thoughts?

One of those kinds of days.

A little old lady pulled up in a classic Porsche in front of the library. As she got out, I turned to my 4-year-old and said, “hey, check out this beautiful Porsche!” so that the lady could overhear me. She just responded with, “it’s por-SHA” and walked away all huffy. My god, my faith in humanity.

Heard a second and a half of Tainted Love on the radio this morning before I was able to change the channel and that damn thing will be stuck in my head for 3 months. Who does that to their listeners?

I think this week we’re supposed to get the season finale of Invasion S2. I’m a sucker for these alien shows.

It’s amazing how long home improvement projects take me these days. Gone are the days the days of knocking out projects over a weekend or two.

I caught some flack from family for not responding quickly enough to texts. Yo. I have two kids under 5. Rest assured I’ll get to your text next time I have a moment, which will likely be 1) when I’m taking a dump or 2) in those fleeting moments of consciousness before I pass out from exhaustion.

20 years ago Elliott Smith took his own life. I think what I loved most about him was that he was sort of an Everyman musician, which was inspiring. I recorded this cover of Pitseleh with a computer mic not long after his death. SoundCloud

It’s very odd when your Apple Watch asks you if you’d “like to start your day” after more than 30 minutes on the treadmill.

From Peninsula Park this morning.

When you ask Siri to play OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting) but it plays OPP, you just let it play.

Whenever I hear somebody say that the roads in Portland are awful, the only logical response is “so, you’ve never been to the upper Midwest, eh?”

I mean, there truly isn’t a better restaurant name in the region.

This is so obviously fake, but every time the memory pops up this time of year, I have a good laugh.

I see this kind of parking job in my neighborhood all the time. Do I be that guy who calls/reports this? Mostly I’m worried about sight distance and kids getting beaned by cars. Also a safety hazard for emergency vehicles.

I have a hard time taking companies like The Atlantic seriously in articles like this. I was a long-time subscriber to their magazine, but their entire site went up behind a paywall and subscribers didn’t get digital access. Now its $90/year. Silicon Valley Ditches News, Shaking an Unstable Industry

Just figured out that you can add custom emojis to saved Google map items. So, if anyone needs me, I’ll be updating those for the next several weeks.

Pea soup on the morning commute. #pdx

The very large box my treadmill came in is coming in handy for Project Mystery Machine.

The air is crisp this morning (46°) and the sun is burning off the fog. There is piano jazz playing in our main lobby, which, strangely enough, gets me sort of amped up for the holidays.

If you had to: Sit through an all-day active shooter training; or, Go on a date with someone whose every Instagram picture is of themselves What would your choose?

It’s been a busy couple of weeks. But I guess life is just sort of busy now anyways. In no particular order: The weather has officially turned over to Fall and we’ve been getting a lot more rain lately. I don’t mind it yet and the cooler weather has been a welcome change. The next couple of days …

Sono stanco…

I was on a roll cooking and baking this afternoon. Definitely not a healthy food day, but the weather has had me craving comfort food 🥘

Fun new park in the area.

I was there when Captain Beefheart started up his first band. I told him, ‘Don’t do it that way. You’ll never make a dime.’ James Murphy

Snagged a used KitchenAid stand mixer at Goodwill.

Someone out here living my alternate reality dream 😂

Walking around outside the courthouse and there are 4 or 5 wedding parties…I guess Friday the 13th is a popular day to get married.

Leaving for work on my last day after 6 years at this job.

Rolled my ankle today on a walk during my lunch break. It’s sore but very grateful I didn’t tear anything. I did that a few years back and it took over 6 months to heal.

For some reason I have not been able to get the Tinylytics kudos buttons to show up on my Micro.blog posts. I follow the instructions and use the specific plugin for the Tiny theme, inserted the appropriate code in the footer. Alas, nothing. I’m sure it’s just user error but this seems …

Looking for fitness trackers for my parents. They’re reasonably tech savvy 60 something’s that use Android phones. Simple is good but we’d like to “compete” to motivate each other. I have an Apple Watch. Looking for wearable and app suggestions that work with both. Any thoughts?

People from Michigan sometimes ask me how I deal with the rainy season in Oregon. What they don’t tell you is how often the clouds break up. I had severe SAD while in the Great Lakes region because the overcast was so low and persistent. Between the evergreens and cloud breaks here, I’m good.

Pretty excited that Duolingo is coming out music and math courses.

Google Maps is always so buggy for me, especially when viewing aerial imagery. Crashes a lot, both on my work computer (Windows) and MBP at home. Sort of shockingly bad given that it’s one of their flagship products.

Last night I went down one of those rabbit holes that led me to watching the Elliott Smith documentary: Heaven Adores You. I went through my concert tickets and found the one for his show in 1999 at St. Andrew’s hall in Detroit my senior year in high school. Oct 21 marks 20 years since his death.

One of my favorite rock albums of all time is 2003’s Deja Entendu by the band Brand New. The album’s final track is called Play Crack the Sky. As Jesse finishes the song, he puts the guitar down and sings “never to see any other way,” a nod to the ending of the Beatles’ A Day in the Life.

Setting up my new office space. A little bit darker than my old one, but it’s Fall on Oregon…it’s to be expected. Digging the greenery, though.

Europeans who complain about Americans forget that they made us.

On the list of things I didn’t care for as a child but love now are in-season pears.

We had a really fun weekend, decorating and spending time with friends at their family farm where we got to feed a mule, play putt putt, make apple cider, pet a chicken, and share good food with friends. Happy 40th to our friend Penny.

Where can I get a couple very large boxes for an art project? I looked at Home Depot and they weren’t large enough. Maybe U-Haul?

Tutti would be an excellent name for an Italian Mastodon client.

IMO, Portland realtors should be subject to truth in advertising laws. Here’s a home listed as being 2,246 square feet when the Multnomah County Assessor lists it as just 1620 square feet. Far from an isolated occurrence, too. Nearly all of them are like this.

Literally nobody cares 😂

The missus is away for a friend’s 40th birthday, so me and the kids picked up some Halloween decorations and probably went over budget, but it was worth it.

If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life Never make a pretty woman your wife So from my personal point of view Get an ugly girl to marry you “If you wanna be happy” by Jimmy Soul

It’s amazing how often Mexican restaurants in the U.S. try to pass dishes off as vegetarian when their refried beans contain lard. It’s the standard, not the exception.

Lately my body feels like it’s my enemy.

If anyone can recommend a treadmill, it would be appreciated. Looking on the used market but also new ones that won’t break the bank.

There is this guy on YouTube I love whose channel is called CityNerd. He used to be a transportation planning consultant. I just watched for like an hour, completely engrossed. My wife’s guilty pleasure is reality TV, mine is nerding out with transportation planners.

Evidently I’ve reached the point in my DIY home improvement career that my wife has begun offering my services to her single friends. This must be a little taste of what it’s like to own a truck.

If you ever want some cheap entertainment, pack a lunch and head over to the parking lot of your local Habitat ReStore. Watch as people who are spatially challenged attempt to load furniture into their cars.

I just finished up re-watching Season 1 of Arrival in its entirety with my wife on Tuesday night because she hadn’t seen it and I wanted to start Season 2. I think she’s a bigger fan than I am. Two years between seasons is a long time to wait.

More rambling on housing affordability: Real estate prices have been going down a little, but affordability is still a major issue. For example, a 984 sq. ft. house with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths in my area just sold for $400k. To put this price into perspective at current interest rates, a buyer would need an annual household income of …

Another parent at my kids’ preschool drives one of those electric Porsches. Every time I pull up beside her in my beat up old car, I chuckle. While exchanging niceties, she looks at me with disdain as one of the “poors” and I watch amusedly as she struggles with the carseat.

I added a second phone line on my iPhone for work. I used a budget MVNO called Tello for $10/mo since Verizon wanted to charge me $35. Almost everywhere I go, the Tello number has had more bars. I guess they use T-Mobile’s network.

I was listening to a podcast this morning that used the phrase “toxic positivity” to describe LinkedIn. Perfection 👌

Holy crap, that national alert just scared the bejeezus out of me. Thought the aliens had arrived.

Having been in a software developer heavy social media world for the last year (Mastodon et. al), I’ve come across the word “opinionated” often to describe certain FOSS or site templates. I understand it doesn’t exactly have the same meaning in that context, but it got me thinking that being …

The photos app is always showing me memories of all the fun times I had pre-kids! Halloween 2010, Lansing, Michigan. Quality Dairy parking lot, on the way to a party on the River Princess.

Some happy little Micro.blog news for me. I had been struggling to find a simple username I liked. Someone already had the @bryan handle but he hadn’t updated his blog in 5 years. I reached out to him on Mastodon and he agreed to let me take it over! Very gracious of him and I’m …

Currently writing a personal bio as a professional introduction for other staff in my new department. One of my least favorite things. Striking a balance between accomplished yet humble is a struggle. Stick to the facts I guess.

In about a month I get to take my son to his first concert. Ever since watching the Scooby-Doo and KISS movie, he’s loved KISS. So, in yet another experiment in parenting, we’re taking a trip up to Seattle on Amtrak to see them for their farewell tour. Should be entertaining!

Man, the Hudson Tower in Detroit is getting massive. What a beauty by SHoP Architects. Photo by dcholmes on Instagram.

Just got a second line for work on my phone with eSIM through Tello. Surprisingly easy and affordable, so hopefully the service is OK. No more desktop-based NEC Softphone for me! Looks like I can also run a time-based iOS Shortcuts automation to disable the secondary work number after hours.

This album dropped 28 years ago this month and it rocked my 14-year-old world.

Does the iOS share sheet to the Micro.blog app work for anybody? This is what I get no matter what I try to share.

I have the hardest time remembering how to spell the word for ‘weekly’ in Italian: settimanalmente. That word is far too long for its meaning :)

Hopefully, as we mature, we reach a certain point in our lives when a combination of self-awareness and good judgment of others’ character keeps us out of bad relationships. Too many times I’ve seen close friends get into bad relationships for the wrong reasons and it just pains me to see.

I heard Saddle Mountain in the Oregon Coast Range is back open. I miss that hike. It’s a few years old, but here’s a photo at the top.

Signed up for a premium Micro.blog account to host audio, so here’s a quick and dirty test. A cover of ‘Hard Times’ by Gillian Welch. link

Getting into the spirit. #halloween

This Michigan-Nebraska game is a blowout.

At the in-laws’ place for my FIL’s birthday. This view will never get old. Columbia River looking across to Oregon from Washington.

I can’t name a single song of Paul McCartney’s since 1980’s “Wonderful Christmastime”. Pretty amazing considering every beloved Beatles song was written during a span of just 10 years but somehow the man hasn’t written anything memorable in 43 years.

Reminder to always look at insurance billing in detail. Just had a crown put in and the dentist tried to charge me an additional $230 when in fact they owned me that money from overpayment. As if this stuff isn’t expensive enough 😬

Imagine being such a megalomaniac that you start a magazine and put yourself on the cover every month 😂

Dad, this is like a chicken nugget potato. It’s crispy on the outside, potato on the inside! ~My son upon eating a McDonald’s hash brown for the first time today.

This is my lunch. Taquitos and chocolate milk. -my wife

It’s amazing how critical we can be of ourselves and our art. All these years of playing guitar and singing and I’ve never released anything official because of fear of my abilities and anxiety about what others will think. I get a lot out of playing for myself, but it would be nice to put something …

Played a 00017 today. It was a return at guitar Center. Nice Guitar for the money. Ultimately passed on it but it was hard. Lol.

Yesterday I got the news that after a nearly 5-month background check, I got my security clearance and can finally start the new job I first applied for way back in February and accepted in May. Now I can finally let the stress and anxiety of the unknown go and focus on more important things.

Without a beard I’m feeling very Bill Murray-esque. Of only I had the personality.

Ah yes, the $1000/mo student loan payments are back.

I don’t care if it rains or freezes Long as I’ve got my plastic Jesus Sitting on the dashboard of my car Comes in colors pink and pleasant Glows in the dark cause it’s iridescent Take it with you … when you travel far. Get yourself a sweet Madonna Dressed in rhinestones …

Finally got the garage mostly cleaned up today. Living in a small house, our family’s spillover ends up cluttering up the garage where it acts as a catch-all for everything from half finished projects to underutilized baby paraphernalia. Felt good to get it somewhat organized. Then we played.

Yesterday we went to the rhododendron garden in Sellwood for the first time. Today, me and the wife are taking turns with the kids so we can alternate in the hot tub and sauna here at the community pool before we grab something for lunch at the new cart pod in downtown Hillsboro.

Shaved my face for the first time in maybe a decade and people keep looking at me strange…including myself !

First day of seasonal depression.

I have very evidently entered the phase of adulthood where everyone I know in the Northwest is moving back to the Midwest. Another good friend announced they’re moving away from Portland so that they can finally afford a house. It’s getting pretty lonely out here. Honestly, if I could convince my …

Weekly Update, Sept. 22: The kids are watching a movie (Spy Kids: Armageddon) and my wife is off with her girlfriends paddle boarding. We’re winding down after a somewhat stressful week while DW gets some much needed time for herself. I finished a big report I was writing for work early in the week, a few weeks early no …

Every once in a while, a lyric so profound hits you in the face so hard that you never forget it: Somewhere in the asshole of my eye There’s a muscle which relaxes when you cry Inoculate the Innocuous by The Unicorns Happy almost 20th anniversary of the release of Who Will Cut Your Hair When …

Day 22: Road. Snapped this while walking from 10 Barrel Brewing to Pioneer Square for the Built to Spill concert a few weeks ago. As a planner, this makes my heart go pitter-patter.

Eastern Oregon is as backwards as anywhere.

I see that Nikon has released a retro camera called the Zf. Looks neat. I wish Canon would do the same.

I think I was going into overload trying out all the various federated platforms and blog options. Also super burnt out on boosts and likes over on Mastodon. So I’m taking a break from all that noise and back here at my home base of Micro.blog.

Some thoughts today: Sometimes a breakfast burrito can reorient the direction of a bad morning and turn your day into a better one. Be more careful with knives. I almost sliced myself pretty badly being careless with my pocket knife while cutting a fishing line for my son. Thankfully I was only …

Some jaggoff has a trombone at the neighborhood park, and you know what? I’m here for it.

Every time I hear Joe Biden say ‘Bidenomics” I cringe.

Having one of those types of days where you kick a whole lot of ass but now it’s 7:30 and time to get into bed. 😵‍💫

You don’t need to be a land use planner to figure out there are probably some untidy loose ends around the land lease, but that hasn’t stopped me from daydreaming about buying this former Trout Lake lodge. Zillow

20 ounces of coffee down, 20 more to go. ☕️ #monday

Finally got my first “but you can’t be X years old, you look so young!” Karma really is a b, folks.

Get things done around the house or go on an adventure, that is perpetually the Sunday question.

Tore out a cabinet soffit from the ceiling and ripped out the side wall to replace some leaky plumbing. Now trying to finish the drywall sometime before the kids graduate. Note to self: hire somebody next time.

Does Micro.blog defederate with abusive or racist Fediverse instances?

You ever been so mad at a family member that you don’t think you can ever forgive them? That’s where I’m at. I am seriously so hurt and disappointed by someone’s words and actions that I honestly don’t think I can talk to them ever again. My family is exhausting.

Finished watching Foundation Season 2 tonight. I guess I’m going to have to read the books because I hate waiting.

Lunch break heaven @ Thunder Road

Considering shaving my face today for the first time in perhaps 10+ years.

Growing some pumpkins for my munchkins. 🧑‍🌾🌱

To be perfectly honest, I thought Sidecar for iPad was sort of gimmicky when it was first announced. But I actually use it all the time when I’m out and about. I often write long (too long!) reports where I need to reference other materials and Sidecar is perfect for this sort of thing. I love it.

Occasionally I erroneously think that I’m not that out of touch with music. Then I randomly come across some musician I’ve never heard of on Instagram with millions of followers, or their YouTube music video with a billion views, and I never feel older than in those moments.

September photo challenge: statue.

Next week marks the 20th anniversary of my father’s death. This is a weird one for me in so many ways, but what’s been coming up for me lately is that I’m about the same age he was when he killed himself in a drunk driving accident. This life has required far too much forgiveness.

Anxiety as a parent and raising good humans: As a parent with anxiety, I can already tell that raising two young children to have confidence in themselves, and to approach new and uneasy social situations with bravery, is going to be difficult for me. I had a difficult childhood, complete with a fatherless upbringing and abuse, which affected …

The spirit begins early around here.

Today’s hike.

I started reading a book in Italian last night called Short Stories for Beginners. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I could understand. I guess I am picking up the language, however glacial the pace feels.

One of my favorite songs of all time. Windows by Angel Olsen.

I learned something over the weekend. After a lot of research and forum browsing, I learned that my cheap Art & Lutherie Folk Cedar guitar is basically a copy of the storied Gibson LG-2. I measured out the dimensions and they are the same. That explains the woody mid-tone sound I love.

Beautiful day at Cape Lookout.

Today I played some higher end small body guitars trying to see what might sound similar to my Art & Lutherie $200 guitar, but honestly I was not impressed. I came across a brand recently called Iris out of Vermont that I’d really like to get my hands on, but I haven’t found any locally.

It’s fun watching Zoomers misattrubute things to millennials. Just saw a meme complaining that people over 37 can stop putting two spaces between sentences because that’s from “typewriter days.” Dude, I’m 42 and we had a Commodore when I was like 8 and I was 12 when AOL came out.

Mood. But they’re playing “Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton. And just like Phoebe Bridgers said, I hate this song, but it is sad that his son died. Listening to: Moon Song by Phoebe Bridgers

That whole 7-year itch thing is very accurate for me. I start to get really bored with wherever I am on about that timeline.

Walking back from a coffee shop in Nob Hill this afternoon, I saw this beautiful home and decided to look it up on Zillow. The property taxes are just over $19,000 per year, which means $1600/mo in property taxes alone.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

We’re getting a little taste of fall this morning in the Portland area, with the overcast skies and mist. I’ve missed it! When I first moved here, several of my friends and family asked me how I could stand so much rain in the winter. Well, to be honest, I’ve always had more of a problem with the …

Personally, I think Google’s best product is News, by a long shot. After 20 years of harvesting my data, they’ve got my interests dialed.

Pumping my own gas for the first time ever while in Oregon. #pdx #oregon

When your old 1st Gen iPad Pro is commandeered and de facto inherited by your children.

My only criteria for friendship is an ability to use “its” or “whose” properly. Apparently I’m judgmental and my standards are too high.

Autobiographical: Twenty-Year Anniversary of a Course Correction: I had a flashback this morning as I was getting the kids ready for school that reminded me of a time in my life when everything was so unsettled and chaotic. This seems to happen to me a lot more whenever summer starts to give way to fall, when I can smell the change of season in the air and the …

It’s a Waylon & Willie kind of morning.

One of the many things we do as planners…connect neighborhoods with bike/ped facilities for safe routes to school, walking routes to transit, etc. The neighborhood behind me was separated from the elementary school by a creek. Nice to see plans become reality.

I’ve always been left of center politically, but there’s a quote often credited to Reagan that I’ve kept above my computer screen for years: “If you’re explaining, you’re losing.” It’s a loaded saying, but to me it boils down to the idea that people can sometimes be more emotional than logical, so …

I’ve thought about making video content as a side gig but I don’t think I can look at my own face that much. How do YouTubers stand to see their own faces so often with all that recording and editing? I’m on TV pretty regularly but never go back and watch myself on video. Ever.

I think I need a new method to organize my favorite locations. Ugh this gives me anxiety lol.

Summertime and the livin’ is easy.

Whenever I feel like I don’t have enough, I try to meditate on the thought that my maternal grandmother grew up in a one-room shack with a dirt floor and had 2 of her 8 kids before her 18th birthday.

Japanese Breakfast at Pioneer Courthouse Square. #pdx

Built to Spill at Pioneer Courthouse Square. #pdx

One thing the Portland region should absolutely be embarrassed about is how many of our light rail stations are just surface lot park & rides. Given our current housing crisis, there’s no reason why there shouldn’t be a thousand housing units or more at each of these. #pdx #oregon #transit

Arizona Bay: I was having a text conversation with my brother this evening. He hadn’t heard of ChatGPT yet, so I showed him an example and he told me that this reminded him of that song by Tool about California being flushed away into the Pacific Ocean. I said, “Arizona Bay?” “Yeah,” he said. I asked ChatGPT …

Got my cheap-o guitar back from Portland Fret Works. I had some Waverly tuners installed that I had lying around. I’m pretty sure I spent more on the tuners than the guitar. But hey, I’m thoroughly enjoying it and that’s all that matters.

Some days I absolutely feel like the subject of ‘Once in a Lifetime’ by Talking Heads. How prescient of David Byrne. music.apple.com/us/album/…

One of those Halloween stores opened up at Cedar Hills Crossing on or about August 1. What a time to be alive.

Last year we lost our neighborhood Indian restaurant, our favorite. We were pretty upset when it closed, and quite honestly, we still are. But since then, we’ve learned of all sorts of new things moving in nearby. In the place of the Indian restaurant, we’re now getting a brewery, one that we can …

It’s still 90° out at 10 p.m.

Likely heat island effect, but ugh. It certainly feels like 110°F. #pdx

I despise LinkedIn, but they get at least one thing right. There’s a setting to allow or disallow political content in the home feed. I would pay money for that feature.

Happy birthday to my lovely, compassionate, hardworking, thoughtful, fun, and caring wife. My best friend and amazing mother to our two children, you only get better as the years go on and we are so grateful and lucky to have you!

Unfortunately, I have noticed my attention span being whittled away at slowly over the last 10 years. I have ADHD, but no supprise that it’s gotten worse since about the time I picked up my first smartphone. I consume the news, but a lot of the time I can’t even be bothered to read a full newsletter …

Follow-up visit to get the permanent crown fitted. I swear, these glasses they give you are purely for comedic relief.

We were talking to a young family at the park tonight who lives at some apartments in our neighborhood. The mom casually mentioned they’re moving because their rent is $2300/mo for a 1-bedroom. ☠️💀

For some reason, I am still experiencing disappearing text while writing posts using the official Micro.blog app, Test Flight version. Anyone else experiencing this? Basically makes the app unusable, so I’ve reverted to Gluon. Reported it in-app.

I dropped the cheap folk guitar off at Portland Fretworks last week to have them install the Waverly Ivoroid open-back tuners. I could’ve done it myself but figured I’d be safe and have a pro do it. But now I’m wishing I had it back and they are only open 22 hours per week. I want those hours.

My favorite Paul Reubens character will always be Derek Foreal in the movie Blow. Thanks for the laughs.

Since picking up that cheap Canadian folk guitar last week, I have been seriously considering selling my Martin 000-28. It’s a beautiful guitar, but I’m really wondering now if a 00-12 fret might be more my speed. Punchier, more balanced tone. Looking at other Martins, Santa Cruz, and Waterloo. Drop …

Every time I walk by this giant redwood in these people’s front yard, I can’t help but chuckle a little bit about its scale in proximity to the house.

I have 6 invite codes to Bluesky. Not sure if anyone is actually still waiting on one, but let me know.

Just noticed you can cross-post to Pixelfed now from Micro.blog. Nice!

The neglected cuttings I took into the office right before Covid: thriving. The plants I took them from and cared for at home during this time: long gone.

Sinopah Mountain from Two Medicine Ranger Station in Glacier National Park, July 24, 2021.

So, if I set up cross posting from Micro.blog to Mastodon and then set Micro.blog to import my Mastodon feed as posts, how long will that go on mirroring itself? Forever?

Sometimes I feel bad when I’m a little late for work on in-office days. Then, invariably, people without two little kids roll in after me.

On our walk this afternoon. When the earth just starts taking things back. Reminds me of the World Made by Hand series by James Howard Kunstler I read a few years back.

Lately I have been struggling deciding if I want to keep posting to my Micro.blog. There are parts of my life that I often want to write and post about, and even though I don’t necessarily want them private, I don’t want to share them on a public timeline. How do others handle this?

Big Thief and Lucinda Williams didn’t disappoint. Hard to believe yesterday was our first full day alone together since both our kids were born. Also, my first concert since Covid. Thanks to my mother-in-law for giving us a day off.

Grateful to have this Japanese bakery nearby. Treated ourselves to some donuts this morning.

A memory popped up in my photos today of the time I sumitted South Sister, Oregon’s third tallest mountain at 10,358’. This was my first time doing anything of the sort, but I’d like to do it again when the kids are a little older.

I’ve dealt with anxiety all my life. Despite this, I have a job that requires me to present to government boards and the public very regularly. So imagine my surprise when my Board recently thanked me during a busy session for the great job I do on my presentations. Following that, someone remarked …

Hear me out: curry scalloped potatoes…

I hope the person who gets my job after I leave appreciates that I took 95% of the monotony out of the role by automating the mindless, repetitive tasks, like public notices and other bureaucracy, saving time for the employee and a lot of money for the general public. Nah, they won’t.

Y’all ever had a peach so good you start reconsidering your nonbelief in god?

Dealing with hair loss is pretty emotionally uncomfortable in itself, but add scalp psoriasis to the mix and things can get socially awkward pretty fast, too. I hear “just shave it off!” all the time. Thing is, shaving my head often makes my psoriasis much worse. Not sure why people are always …

Very excited to see Big Thief and Lucinda Williams at Edgefield this Friday! I haven’t been to a concert since pre-COVID, so it’s long overdue.

What bedtimes often devolves into in my household.

I never felt much like a country boy while growing up in rural Michigan, but sometimes I feel like it amongst Portlanders.

Walked to the school playground for a bit and then to the nature park. Son was really interested in the boxelder bugs and spent a lot time in the dirt with them. He’s covered from head to toe in dirt lol. We’re lucky to have so many parks around.

The whole fam aside from me has been sick for most of the week, so the house is a snotty mess from kids and holding down work. I’m sure I’ll catch it right before I need to go on TV or something.

Thinking about volunteering as a bartender trainee in order to have a social life again.

It’s taken forever, but finally getting some ripened tomatoes.

My sleep game has improved so much over the last 6 months. After my younger brother died in 2021, I couldn’t shut off the anxiety at night, so I often distracted myself with my phone. I got maybe 3-4 hours per night for like a year. In addition to working through my grief, a combo of putting the …

As I finished my last two staff reports today and sent them off for review, I realized the person I’ve been under has never told me “good job” or “nice work” in nearly six years.

Looking at all these 30-somethings with kids eschewing their childrens’ college savings in favor of $1,000/mo truck payments 👀

There is this weird habit of planners and other urbanists to rag on suburbs in the Portland area, especially Beaverton. I know there are still a lot of parking lots, but that is changing fast. Western burbs are quickly urbanizing, and have some of the densest census tracts in the region.

I get real weird vibes from people expressing interest in musicians only after they’re gone.

More and more, we live in a know-it-all culture where professionals are doubted and disrespected. It’s sad.

Tonight’s dinner was mac ‘n cheese from a box and canned Hormel chili. Ain’t proud of it, but it’s been just one of those days. Had my first crown today. Needed something soft and comforting because I think I’m a little traumatized.

Brady Bunch-like house on my walk around the neighborhood this morning.

We just found out our neighbors, who rent a townhouse behind us, are moving to Texas because they can’t afford a house here. Their 5 year old son climbed the fence and was talking to my son about how he wishes they could stay and just have our house when we are done with it. Gave me all the feels.

That feeling when you work for the government and the network serves up Acrobat instead of it being a local install and it takes 30 minutes to convert two one-page PDFs to JPG.

There is certainly something to be said about practice and hard work in music, but sometimes it can be so difficult to find the motivation to write and perform when there is just so much talent and natural-born ability out there.

We got a little bit of rain today, which is out of character for this time of year, but always welcome.

A beautiful deer we saw on our hike this morning at Cooper Mountain Nature Park.

Had a lot of fun celebrating my wife’s cousin’s wedding last night. Longest we’ve both been away from our kids in a while. Felt a little strange, but good.

Controlled chaos

Hanging out with my kids on a slow morning while listening to this absolute classic. 🎵 Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol - ★★★★★

Staying up far too late, watching S2 of The Bear.

A couple years back, when life was a little lighter. Lincoln City, OR.

Excuse the crude drawing, but when did it become socially acceptable for drivers turning right to pull up next to you, where there is only one lane, blocking your ability to see and safely turn left? Am I the asshole for wanting to now hug the right curb while waiting to turn left?

It’s sort of hard to follow a Micro.blog account if you don’t have a link to your actual m.b page on your blog. I’ve noticed this a lot more frequently lately with people using the Tiny theme. If I come across a M.b through a Mastodon profile, for instance, there often is no link to follow you.

One of the craziest things I never expected to experience as an adult is being part of a two-earner household, both with graduate degrees, in the top 15% of earners, making almost double the median income, and still feeling pinched by finances. Don’t get me wrong, we have a lot to be thankful for. …

Still trying to exercise the negative thoughts out of my brain. Walked 3 miles this morning. Maybe I can parlay this into a couch-to-5k thing, or have a goal to get in shape enough to join a trail running group.

July can go to hell: Normally I try to keep things fairly light and impersonal here. I may tend toward the dark or sarcastic from time to time, but over all, I’m usually a pretty happy person. However, lately I’ve been feeling a little more easily bruised, overly sensitive, and just generally melancholy. I’ve been …

Some people will just never understand how much harder us folks with resting bitch face have to work to get ahead.

I’ve been waffling between getting a Leaf and a small hybrid truck as my next vehicle. The answer may have been hidden in plain sight.

Ironically, things really went downhill with my health since quitting smoking nearly 7 years ago, and then becoming a parent shortly after. I’ve been walking a couple miles with my dog each morning this week, trying to change trajectories with my health, both mental and physical. I don’t know if it …

Apparently we also have our own See See Coffee now, too. So many changes lately.

Newest Breaskside Brewery location has officially opened. Still wish Matt’s BBQ hadn’t pulled out, but I’m looking forward to this patio.

Started watching Season 2 of Foundation not realizing they didn’t release the whole thing at once and now I actually have to wait until Friday to watch Episode 2. What is this, hell?

I did something a little strange today. I visited the place I’m considering as my final resting place. Even though both my wife and I want to be cremated, we also would like someplace our children can visit once we’re gone. Cathartic in some small way.

I dislike the phrase “emerging artist”. It seems to imply that you aren’t an artist until you’ve reached a certain level of success.

My neighbor, who has one kid, looked me dead in the eye and asked me how we afford to send two kids to daycare. I asked him how he affords to have a landscaper come every week when he’s been unemployed for over a year.

I have only one conspiracy theory: The makers of Q-Tips put crack cocaine in their cotton.

My main problem with cycling activists and lay urbanists is that many think it’s all about sidewalks and bike infrastructure when it’s more about land use. You can live in a community of 20,000 ppsm, with sidewalks and bike lanes, but it’s all pointless if you have no place to go.

I have my suspicions that the Apple Watch artificially lowers your VO2 Max if you’re a frequent dog walker. There’s no option to pause your walking workout like with a running workout. My dog likes to get her smells in, stopping frequently.

“In the 70s, my interest rate was 17%” Ok, but…it was on 30k. Average home price here is $544,000. You have to have a household income of $136,000/yr to barely qualify for the median home today, assuming no other debt. That’s 22k per year over the median household income for a family for 4.

Whoever told me about the Japanese micro seasons calendar, you’re on my shit list. I copied them over to iCal not knowing they were daily and not weekly. Have spent the last half hour deleting.

I think the reason it’s harder for me to make music is the same reason it’s hard for me to find music I like anymore: the older I get, the less I care.

Been trying for two days to explain what the word ‘Español’ means to my 4-year-old.

Is it as good as a Yeti? No idea. But I put this ice in at noon on Thursday.

Likely selling my mirrorless camera after this trip. I haven’t taken it out once, and it’s just an extra thing to lug around. It’s not adding value anymore.

Went on a nice hike today, but my kids really tested my patience. 1.5 and 4.5 year old kids, day full of tantrums and meltdowns. Plus I’m feeling sick now. And out of shape/overweight. And grumpy. Hoping another decent night’s sleep will help.

If a restaurant doesn’t have a baby changing station in their men’s room in 2023, they can be sure we won’t be back.

Camping the Southern Oregon Coast, Cape Blanco State Park.

Walked to the edge of the earth today with my dog. Well, the lower 48, anyway.

“What’s this one say dad, they must’ve been really good.”

Made it, and set up camp just before sunset.

The Firth of Forth, Scotland. More than a handful of years ago. Edinburgh definitely left an impression on me.

Vigo di Cadore, BL, Veneto: where my paternal great grandparents were from (Laggio). This is where my kids and I are registered as IT citizens. My wife and I are planning a trip to Italy for next spring and I’m looking forward to exploring this region. (Photo: u/Roykamso on Reddit)

Recovering after adventuring with my boy: Long couple of days, but feeling more alive today after some rest and lots of coffee. Got in about 2 a.m. (5 a.m. Eastern) the night before last. Had a couple hour delay with our connecting flight out of Seattle. All told, a 13-hour travel day with my 4 y.o. Carried him (40lbs) and his cargo about a …

New Grand Central Bakery(!), Sizzle Pie, and Backwoods Brewery locations dangerously close to my work. This can’t be good.

Beautiful sunset in Seattle.

My step dad turns 60 this weekend, which is why I’m in Michigan from Oregon. My brother just got partial custody of his kid after a weird stretched out, ass backwards Michigan court battle thing. So his kid (5) and my kid (4), first cousins, just met for the first time (in person). We’re all …

16 years ago, London.

Feel free to add me: https://www.threads.net/@bryanrobb

Cross-country boys’ trip. This kid has probably been on more flights before he’s 5 than I did before I was 30. PDX->DTW

Something that really bothers me about my Canon RP mirrorless is that the bokeh in the digital viewfinder and display is completely non representational of your aperture setting. Pictured here is the display vs. the actual photo. Makes me just a little bit crazy.

First ever solo trip with my son tomorrow, heading cross country back to the Great Lakes State. Looking forward to seeing family and friends.

Did a good bit of cleaning up around the front garden beds this morning and fixed a sprinkler that my wife ran over with the lawnmower. My son always likes being by my side when I’m working on stuff, especially when it involves water. It’s sunny and pretty hot out, so we decided to get a little wet …

I may have messed up my Micro.blog? Am I still showing up in the feed? Can someone comment if you can see this? I thought I transferred my mastodon followers to mastodon, but does that also include your Micro.blog followers? I’m confused, lol.

One of the best things about journaling is that you can start off on a path thinking you know where it ends, only to arrive at a completely different conclusion. Very cathartic at times.

Looking at the LinkedIn profiles of people I went to grad school with can be incredibly deflating. My own personal experience with career has been one of roadblocks and wrong turns.

Currently reading: Incognito by David Eagleman 📚

Connected my Micro.blog bookshelf to Libby. Can you tell I have a 4-year-old? 📚

Perhaps I’m being a little too sensitive, but yesterday a superior of mine told me to tuck in my shirt, and it offended me. I was dressed in navy chinos and a nice button down shirt, but I’d been at my desk for almost 8 hours and wanted to be comfortable. I was preparing for a televised night …

So looking forward to watching Season 2 of The Bear when I get back from my Michigan trip next week. My wife has to catch up on S1 while I’m away.

Thank you, Andy!

6 years ago, I proposed to my wife on a hike at the top of Cape Perpetua. The Oregon Coast is full of great hikes with dramatic views. Another one of my faves is Cape Lookout. @Monday 🥾

Waiting for a the doctor to fit us in.

Someone is tuckered out.

We have an annual pass for the Oregon Zoo. We can hop the train from our house to avoid the parking hell.

Farmers Market. Gorgeous day out here.

One super shady practice by Oregon realtors is the almost universal inclusion of unfinished basement space in the overall square footage in home listings. I often see houses listed at double their actual livable square footage. Buyers should do their due diligence and get the actual livable area …

My property abuts two roads that don’t connect. My yard is often the shortest path between two points, for kids coming and going to school, or adults trying to catch a train at the MAX station. My camera catches people cutting through my garden all day. Recently, some kids trampled my acorn squash. …

I’ve never been much of a pop music fan, but I can’t help but rock out when Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart by Alicia Keys comes on.

I grew up in a very poor neighborhood in Saginaw, Michigan. I lived in a 900 square foot house with 7 other people. 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. My mom was a teenager when she had me. My mother and I, and later my two brothers, all lived with my grandmother, also a single mother, who still had 3 kids …

Apologies for swapping instances, yet again. My waffling stemmed from an inability to cross-post to my own instance from Micro.blog. I’ve ultimately decided to go with a different host, so I’m hoping this one sticks.

The final piece of the puzzle on my guitar build: a flipped Telecaster control plate with push-pull series mode.

I didn’t get to drywalling the kitchen ceiling yesterday. As I was squaring up some existing drywall in preparation for placing the patch, I noticed another small leak in the drain pipe below the master bath. My wife was just finishing up giving the kids a bath, and a small amount of water was …

Me: Stands for 6 straight hours working on drywall and plumbing in a ceiling Apple Watch: “Time to stand!”

“Sympathy for the Devil” is kind of a mess, musically. A beautiful mess.

I was never much into serated pocket knives, but I love this Little Native. My first Spyderco.

My 18-month-old sleeps great at night, but she has a hard time napping by herself during the day. My presence is usually enough to calm her anxieties so she can sleep, so I just hang out with her a bit after lunch on the weekends. I’ve come to really enjoy this hour (sometimes two) of downtime with …

Just got home a little bit ago from a barbecue at my in-laws’ house. They had a Costco size bag of those Ruffles chips with homemade French onion dip. The kind I can’t keep at the house or I’ll obliterate them. Oof, I always have so many food regrets coming home from their place.

It’s been a while since I’ve had the time to conquer anything this big in terms of home projects. Honestly, I don’t have many full days to dedicate to projects like this, but I’ve been sneaking in an hour or two here and there. Even though it’s nothing fancy, it feels good to work with my hands. …

Exposé, Mission Control, Stage Manager…. I still use Hot Corners. Nothing can break me of it!

Here’s a photo of me (center right) and my brothers with my stepdad (~1992), rocking an undershirt in public at Niagara Falls. He was 30 when he took on 3 kids who weren’t his own. Happy Father’s Day. 

I don’t know if it’s a result of my upbringing, or just a desire to do something with my hands in direct opposition to my desk job, but I love DIY home renovation. And boy, did I ever buy the right house to feed that desire. The last 7 years have been a lot of work just to get it to …

Given the weather at the coast was questionable today, we decided to head out to the Columbia River Gorge instead. Got some pizza at Double Mountain and now doing more exploring.

Few things bother me more than land use planners peddling the same ideas or practices over and over again that don’t work in the real world.

Fun fact about me: I was named after my dad, but he left my mom when I was 2 years old. Later, he changed his last name in an effort to not be found. So I have a “II” suffix after my name for someone who no longer exists.

NYTimes: Your special introductory rate is changing from $6/mo to $25/mo NYTimes after I start the cancellation process: Please accept our special offer, reducing your $6/mo rate to $4/mo for the next year! They must know I was happy paying $6/mo, right? Right?

Doing my meal planning, I decided it’s been too long since I’ve had poutine. A lot of places in Detroit had this on the menu when I lived there, but I’ve only ever seen it once here in Portland. Not something you want to eat everyday, but it’s ok to have some comfort food once in awhile.

Started the gardening year late, but I think we’re gonna be okay. My tomato plants have grown quite a bit since transplanting. Just pruned the bottoms and put the side supports up.

One thing I really wish Apple would do is force in-app browsers to follow rules you’ve setup within Safari on iOS. For example, if I have my local news outlets set to automatically convert to Reader mode when opening an article, it should also do that when I click an article in Google News.

Rule No. 1 as a land use planner: be very careful what you tell real estate agents.

Remember that the biggest predictor of work happiness is nonwork happiness. I have witnessed this throughout my own career, in myself and in others: When things are good in the rest of your life, they seem more stable and less bothersome at the job. The Happiest Way to Change Jobs - The Atlantic

Despite getting a lot of rain 8 months out of the year, the PNW gets virtually zero precip during the 4 hottest months. With worsening droughts, I’ve become a big water conservationist. 5 years ago, I had a 3,100 gallon rain cistern installed. I can burn through this in 2 mos. on just 3 raised beds.

People are often surprised to learn that I have Italian citizenship because I don’t look like a stereotypical Italian. My great grandmother was fully Italian, but she and her family were from the Veneto Region, specifically Cadore in the Dolomites. She had blue eyes and blonde hair.

I created some iOS shortcuts awhile back that check Pitchfork’s Best New Music RSS feeds, presents a menu of recent items, and opens your selection in Apple Music if available. Here’s the Best New Albums Shortcut I made, if anyone is interested: iCloud Shortcut Link

A peaceful morning walk with my first-born.

Current home improvement project: removing a soffit in my kitchen. It only took me 7 years to get this far after removing the cabinets when I moved in. Check back in 2026 when I have this thing patched.

Any other eldest siblings of the 80s and 90s wish they would’ve had some musical guidance during that time? Like, I should’ve been listening to Sonic Youth and New Order but instead it was Bon Jovi and Boyz II Men. I mean, I do appreciate the comedy of it all.

What do you want to be when you grow up? : On the drive to school this morning, the kids were being unusually quiet, so I asked my 4-year-old son if he’d thought anymore about what he wanted to be when he grows up. He’s been really interested in Spider-Man lately, so I was expecting to hear the usual stuff like ‘super hero’ or ‘fireman’. But …

Hard to believe I’ve had my car for 10 years, almost a quarter of my life. Just waiting for that head gasket to go. (Photo from 2013)

Can someone create a guitar tuner app that’s accessible from iOS control center?

I did a Barre3 class with my wife this morning and it really helped me understand how my personal health has taken a backseat the last couple of years. I get out a lot, but rarely do full body workouts. Hope this helps motivate me moving forward.

I’ve started selectively blocking JavaScript with a Safari extension, mostly on news sites. Just can’t take the garbage anymore, like banners and auto-playing videos. Most of the web is just unusable anymore, in my experience. Can we start over?

Is participation in the Micro.blog timeline an all or nothing affair? I saw the update about post-specific sharing for cross-posting, but what about right here on the Mb timeline? @help

Yesterday at the park.

I experience this thing where people talk over me all the time at work and it causes me to not want to speak up very often. I work overwhelmingly with women and I find my experience ironic given that the media has focused on men dominating work discussions in recent years.

I had some issues with incompatible pickup screw sizes, but I got most of my Telecaster build put together yesterday. So far, I’m happy with how it is turning out.

Every once in a while, that sentimental feeling creeps in, and I miss the friendships and relationships that have come and gone. I know those relationships wouldn’t be the same today, even had we stayed in touch. I’m not the same person that I was. But I’m still in there, even if just a little.

Folks on the East Coast are getting a small taste of what the West Coast has experienced every year since I moved here in 2015. Here’s a screenshot I took in September 2020. At one point we were over 1,000 ppm here in the Tualatin Valley.

This is what I mean about men’s sizes not making sense to me anymore. This is a 2XL. I realize I’m not exactly a small man, but this is cotton and will shrink. In what universe should a 6 ft’ tall, fairly average-built man, be wondering if maybe he should be buying a 3XL?

As humans, we get so easily accostomed to things. Whether great or awful, almost anything can become normal.

If I could talk to my teenage self: If I could talk to my teenage self, I would try to convey just how much value there is in being in a field that’s in high demand, and to maybe try to focus on getting a creative role in such a field. For the most part, I like what I do as a planner, but there is very little creativity, and the …

One bummer about not being an early adopter of Micro.blog is that my first name is taken as a username by someone who posted 4 short updates in 2017/2018 and hasn’t posted since. Fists to the sky, @bryan.

One of my favorite lyrics: A good woman will pick you apart A box full of suggestions for your possible heart But you may be offended and you may be afraid But don't walk away, don't walk away “Land Locked Blues" by Bright Eyes

Trying to remain grateful for what we have despite feeling like we're outgrowing our house. : I bought my house in 2016 before I was married or had kids. Coming from the Midwest, housing prices were pretty crazy out here in the Portland region. Not like the Bay Area by any means, but I only had my own income. I was pre-qualified for a mortgage based on my Midwest salary the year prior. I had …

After napping on me for 2 hours, she was all cheery this afternoon.

Having been on Bluesky for a couple weeks now, I can see that it’s turning out to be a carbon copy of Twitter. Mastodon still seems way more positive to me.

There are few things I miss more than summer weekends on a lake somewhere in northern Michigan. Seeing everyone’s pictures this time of year sure doesn’t make that any easier on me. Oregon has a lot going for it, but that kind of lake cottage experience just isn’t one of them.

You folks who put links to longer blog posts in your timeline posts, how do you do that? I know if I post a longer one, it will automstically put the URL, but how are you pre-emptively doing that when the post apparently hasn’t been created until it is?

What’s one band you used to listen to (or still do) that never got any traction in terms of popularity?

One rabbit hole I find myself in sometimes is looking up bands who disbanded or who had one or two hits and then faded away. Often you can still find a few of the former members on YouTube. Neil Young is often quoted with the lyric, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” I choose neither. In a …

That Bill Burr bit where he talks about his wife finding open days on the calendar and filling them up with shit? No truer words have ever been spoken.

First harvest.

Just learned there’s a Zappa documentary from a couple years back on Hulu. Guess I know what I’m watching this weekend. https://www.hulu.com/movie/a3d996df-569c-4e33-be35-f18667a8dd1c?play=false&utm_source=shared_link

I sat in a fast food joint for an hour recently because our wifi was out and it is shocking how many delivery orders I watched get picked up. People are really out there spending $50 on fast food delivery.

In today’s algorithm headaches, three artists Apple Music just won’t stop trying to play for me as a middle aged dad: 1. Fleet Foxes 2. Iron & Wine 3. Bon Iver I wish they had a ‘block’ button.

People at 80% area median income spend 20% of their monthly budget on cars in the U.S. #cnu31

Spotted a pretty good dust devil at the ball fields.

It’s been too long since I’ve had one of Barb’s burgers at the Polish Hall in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

I keep getting these Uber notifications not related to me ordering a ride. Uber Eats, discounts, etc. I think it’s a terrible business practice for an app to ask for permission to send notifications for a certain thing (e.g. car arrival) and then abuse that privilege with ads.

@monday In keeping up with the Micro.blog trend, I have just one state left to visit: Alaska I’ve only been to 6 counties, but my wife and I are planning a trip to Europe next year without our kids. Hopefully the first of many, especially after our huge daycare bill is gone!

Spent a good chunk of the weekend cleaning the house and making the yard look presentable because we had some friends and family over on Sunday for a barbecue. The kids played with water balloons and a cheap slip and slide I picked up from Sierra. It was kind of cold but they didn’t seem to mind. …

My week in review - An Elephant in the Delta Waves https://inthedeltawaves.blog/2023/06/01/spent-a-good.html

Tomorrow is my 8-year work anniversary. Total time warp feeling.

Ended up having so many healthy tomato starts that I gave a half dozen to my neighbors. I have too many pepper plants too, makes me wish I had more space.

Our roses are looking pretty good this year.

I’d like to thank our janky office printer for helping me hit my step count today.

I almost never see replies in my timeline. Are people really that diligent about changing replies to “unlisted”? Is that the culture? Or do I just follow a bunch of people who don’t reply to things?

Years ago, an old coworker taught me to always save those kudos you receive from coworkers, business contacts, and customers, in an email folder. Whenever I’m having a rough day, I open a few. They’re also pretty useful for annual reviews, or when issues arise with management.

A friend started talking about the old Kmart on State Street in Saginaw. Got me thinking about all kinds of memories, like getting new clothes and those nasty submarine sandwiches at that Kmart with my mom as a kid, being dragged into Fashion Bug or Payless, getting the slightly off-color Cub Scout …

Today I start working on a task I asked someone else to do a year ago.

I need to put a self ban on looking at Zillow listings in the Midwest.

Beautiful day on the Oregon coast.

Remembering my brother today and every day.

And while I’m old-man ranting, have you seen the eye rolls they give you nowadays when you refuse self checkout? While paying for said $7 deodorant?

Has anyone seen the price of deodorant lately, or are we all collectively ignoring that along with everything else? $7 for Old Spice.

Perhaps the biggest difference I’ve noticed between suburbs in the Pacific Northwest versus those in the Midwest is that the PNW has much better landscaping. If you’re going to have parking lots everywhere, you might as well have trees and bushes and berms blocking your sea of parking.

Yesterday was hard to beat.

I almost always feel awkward taking videos on my phone. But I have never regretted having even just a few minutes of a recorded memory to look back on. That’s especially true on weekends such as this when I’m thinking more about my brother. #memorialday

Sick kids again.

All you folks who eat fish and seafood, were you born without tastebuds? I can barely stand the smell let alone put it in my mouth lol.

Mac ‘n cheesin’

An annual zoo membership is the best bargain in town when you have a couple little ones.

Is there no way to mute keywords on #bluesky?

I’ve been thinking about new volunteer opportunities I could do and I think Habitat for Humanity ReStore would be great except for the fact that my garage would be filled with materials for home improvement projects I’d never complete.

I should know better at this point to never wear light colored shirts. My kids are always using me as a napkin.

It’s been a couple years now and you’d think Apple would’ve fixed their weird glitch where the Apple TV remote randomly freezes at least once per day and needs to be restarted.

I had to quit certain social media sites long before a certain dude took over, simply because of hatefulness and politics. I’ve seen a big uptick in politics on Mastodon lately, which makes me sad. I’ve been using that unfollow button pretty liberally, but maybe I just need to figure out how to …

An absolutely perfect Portland evening for some back porch lounging.

Sometimes I think it would be cool to have a Jeep or a Bronco to take to the beach. But let’s get real, there ain’t no way I’m taking a carload of kids and a dog anywhere without the van. I’m a convert.

Never thought I’d say this, but I’m ready for my son to be past the Scooby Doo phase. Watching every episode and movie dozens of times is beyond my limit. Time to expand your horizons, boy.

Took a chance on the Grammarly plugin for Outlook. Verdict: the free version is unusable. Anyone have a decent alternative?

Nothing quite like the feeling of scrimping and making smart choices to put away over 50 grand into retirement since 2021, only to have the balance remain about the same as it was 2 years ago.

Got my tomatoes planted outside yesterday. Really wish I had more space because I only have room for 6 plants or so and I have a lot of good starts left over. I might put a couple in some 5 gallon buckets. I did get the zucchini and acorn squash out of the raised beds and into mounds this year, …

Had kind of a weird day. Broke the news to my coworkers that I had taken a promotion in a different department, but didn’t feel supported by a few teammates I thought would be happy for me. Trying to not let my thoughts get the better of me, but it makes me kind of sad. Maybe just another indication …

One crazy thing about taking stimulant medication as a person with ADHD is that it paradoxically helps me sleep at night. I used to have to take a sleeping pill just to shut my mind off.

I have neighbors who bought the house two doors down from us over 3 years ago now that I still have never met. This sums up American culture.

I swear, men’s shirt sizes are meaningless anymore. I can wear anything from a large to an XXL, depending on material and brand. I think we need an oversight board or something.

S is away for a few nights for some much needed girls’ time, perhaps the longest she’s ever been away from our kids. She’s probably stressing about them so much she can hardly enjoy herself. I could hear the tenseness in her diaphragm as she spoke when I dropped her off at her friend’s house this …

PSA: Despite what the athletic and “athleisure” wear industry wants you to believe, underwear made from synthetic fibers is not good for your nether regions. This includes rayon, polyester, and so-called bamboo. There’s a reason why doctors recommend cotton underwear, and that goes for men as well …

I’ve been chewing a bit on the saying: “[don’t take] the path of least resistance.” Knowing full well that much of life is work and few things are worth a damn without putting in at least some sort of energy toward them, I still have my doubts about focusing on something too much. I find myself …

The first rose of the season. The Rose City isn’t just a fancy moniker.

This must be the place: You ever look in the mirror and wonder, “who the hell is that?” Seems every day my beard gets a little grayer, my skin a little worse, my body a little more exhausted. I’m trying to age gracefully but the thought of death has been living rent free in my mind since my younger brother passed two years …

I know whenever my wife says we’ve got to put the kids to bed early it means she’s got some seriously psychotic movie for us to watch. Never fails.

What started off as a trip to the library…

Anyone on Micro Blog run their own Mastodon instance and run into trouble authenticating for cross posting from Micro.blog to Mastodon?

My 4 year old yesterday: “I’ve had a really hard day mom, I just need to lay in the hammock for awhile.”

Met up with an old friend downtown yesterday. It was nice to get out of my bubble.

Watching Silo on Apple TV+.

It’s every parent and pet owner’s favorite night of the year: the air show. /s

Not really sure why I wear an Apple Watch anymore when it’s just sort of a daily reminder of how out of shape I am.

Just washed my car today. Pollen.

One of the most unfortunate things about public sector urban planning is that we tend to farm out the most creative work to the private sector and then keep the boring and monotonous work for ourselves. Personally, I think we should be doing the opposite.

Still hoping to check out Bluesky if anyone has an extra invite.

We’ve had a couple of car break-ins over the last year. I caught them on the security cameras but the outdoor lights just aren’t bright enough to show enough detail. They are just kids, I think deterrence is the best we can do. Picked up a 15,000 lumen LED floodlight. Maybe this will do the trick.

My wife asks me at least once per week if the shirt I’m wearing is new, even when I’ve owned it for years. This woman watches our checking account with a microscope and thinks I went to Target without her 😂

I wonder about those in my industry who hire people who have bounced around to a new job every 1-2 years. What is it they think will be different this time around?

Who needs ChatGPT when Google Photos randomly creates slideshows of pizzas I’ve eaten over the past 5 years. 🍕

“Okay daddy, I’ll go to sleep but I’m NOT tired.” Truth be told, my favorite part of the day is chatting with my son about life through his eyes before he falls asleep.

One sad thing about getting older is that now when I wear a polo on a 90+ degree day, I just look like any frumpy middle aged wanker in a polo on a hot day. Back when I was 20 with a BMI to match, I could make anything look cool.

3 of the ‘best lake towns in the U.S.’ are within driving distance of Portland - Oregonian Spoiler: there are no real lake towns in Oregon.

Waiting for a haircut today, I decided to grab a quick lunch. With so few choices, I figured I’d give Panda Express a try. I was surprised that they don’t have a single vegetarian option. Puzzling business decision in 2023.

Sometimes I initially feel bad when I’m a few minutes late to my job in the morning. But then when people who don’t have two young children come in after me I just have to laugh.

It’s crazy to me that the only apparent way to circumvent the product-steering happening on Amazon is by doing a Boolean search on Google.

I have a Strava account that I started pre-kids when I was a lot more active and going on lots of hikes. I follow all these really active people and ultra runners. Now I just hit record when I’m getting the mail or walking the dog. I love flooding their feeds with these B.S. ‘workouts’ ;-).

Got all the yard work done. Got a new-to-us lawn mower from my wife’s coworker who is moving into a condo and no longer needed it. Pretty nice! Maybe it’s my blue collar midwestern roots, but I’m one of the few in our neighborhood who doesn’t hire out the work. Lawd knows I need the exercise.

Definitely going to have some tomatoes this year.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers. Hope you get pampered today.

An awesome day. Got out to Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge before it got too hot and hiked a couple miles with some friends and the kids. Stopped off for a beer and some food on the way home. Looking like nap time now that it’s 90°F.

Off to do a little hike with some friends in Ridgefield, WA. There’s a nature reserve there along the Columbia River that’s flat and easy enough for our 4 year old to walk himself. Our daughter is 1. She can walk some but mostly goes with us in a pack.

I ended up accepting the promotion yesterday and I’m actually pretty excited about it. Initially I was nervous because I have a young family and change can throw life into a tailspin. But more than the money or the extra time off, it was ultimately the more interesting work that swayed me.

I recently switched over 100% of my microblogging from Mastodon to Micro.blog. I thought I would miss seeing reblogged and tagged content. Honestly, I don’t. Previously, it was a lot harder to see content from the people I actually follow. So much less clutter.

In a reflective mood tonight. Just 14 years ago I graduated during the Great Recession and landed in a kitchen making $6.50/hr. What a wild ride it’s been.

Somehow I missed that Michael Hurley is opening for Horse Feathers on Sauvie Island later in the summer. Of course it’s already sold out, because, well…Portland. www.etix.com/ticket/p/…

Fun fact: I applied for and received a grant a few years back for a 3,200 gallon cistern that collects rainwater from my roof all winter long. There’s a pump inside that I connected to a drip irrigation system and I use it to water my garden all summer long since our summers in the PNW are very dry.

Is it just me, or is SMS spam getting out of control?

I was offered a promotion today in a different department but I’m not sure if I should take it. Several other promotional opportunities within my department just opened up. A big part of me is saying to take the one offered and not wait for something else that may not materialize, but I’m nervous.

Planted my zucchini starts outside last week and I worried it might be too cold for them. Now we’re heading into another weekend in the 90s. Our weather here in Portland can’t figure out what it’s doing. #pdx #gardening

We had some pictures taken over the weekend and I’m really happy with how they turned out. Jenkins Estate was in full bloom.

One perk of taking the kids to preschool/daycare every morning is that on the way home I occasionally treat myself to a breakfast burrito from one of the many excellent purveyors of Mexican food in my area. Today was one of those days and it did not disappoint!

These clearer, warmer, longer days are everything right now.

Rocking my daughter sleep, listening to some chill music. Looking forward to seeing Lucinda Williams and Big Thief at Edgefield this summer. Lucinda Williams - Fruits of My Labor🎵

Although the view from inside a car may be perfectly clear, glare obscures us from outside. We know this as pedestrians, but forget it as we wave to them as drivers. A simple analogy of how our perspectives can be selfish and limited by our current experience, even with knowledge of other views.

I can’t believe I’m raising my kids in a country where, in just a few years, they will be participating in active shooter drills. I’m still trying to figure out a way to make a decent living abroad. If I could do my education over again, I’d choose a career that is in high demand.

A coworker lost her mother over the weekend. It wasn’t completely unexpected, but that still has to be one of the heaviest feelings we can feel. It’s got me thinking a lot about my own mom and how I wish I didn’t live so far away from her. Time is precious.

Went to the post office today to mail a package to my mom. I’m always struck by just how shabby our public institutions have become. Comparing the architecture of train stations and libraries and post offices today to those from 100 years ago really highlights how our priorities have changed.

We’re training her for the X Games.

We had our friend Alyssa watch our kids for a few hours today so we could have some time to ourselves, something that is so often in short supply. Went for a nice bike ride in the rain on the Banks-Vernonia Oregon State Trail and followed it up with a beer and some Texas style BBQ brisket at Hop …

Spring is still being moody but the redbuds are in full bloom.

Four food carts just opened in an underutilized industrial spot within walking distance of my house. Mexican with excellent birria tacos, Hawaiian-Filipino infusion, Salvadoran, Venezuelan. This is bad. Real bad.

This month marks 8 years since I moved to Oregon, and the same for my work anniversary. Time flies!

Just realized I think I put half and half instead of milk in my daughter’s sippy cup for daycare. Mornings can be chaotic sometimes! Update: Definitely did. it was so thick that her teacher thought we gave her spoiled milk. Whoops.

I guess our house is the one all the neighborhood kids like to crash.

Middle Age Experience: My wife and I are watching Fleishman Is in Trouble on Hulu and I’m really impressed by the writing. No real spoilers here, but I do talk about some basic plot info and some experiences of a supporting actor if you want to skip reading this. The main character of the show is Toby Fleishman, a …

I have this habit of planting too many veggie starts because I think I’m going to kill them all. But as I’ve gotten better at it, I’m thinking I might need to build more beds.

One of the occupational hazards of being an urban planner is that you’re constantly being critical of the built environment around you. While out and about, all I think about is access management plans, lack of pedestrian and bicycle facilities, crappy or non-existent transit facilities, single-use …

Went down a rabbit hole tonight reading my first blog on Livejournal, the first entries of which turn 20 this year. Thinking about exporting them to my current blog in spite of my embarrassment.

Watching the Tigers on TV and it’s cool to see the Hudson’s tower begin to rise over the outfield. It will be something to see once it hits 700 feet and becomes Detroit’s second tallest building.

Some unusually nice days this week in Portland. Decided to get up early and head over to the Oregon Zoo.

What’s one thing you used to love that you just don’t anymore? For me, I used to love staying up late and sleeping in on the weekends. But since having kids, I’m pretty exhausted early on. Anxiety still gives me trouble falling asleep sometimes, but my kids wear me out!

Have to applaud Cursive for performing their Domestica album two days in a row at one of Portland’s smallest venues instead of just getting a bigger venue.

90°F in my 2nd level office today. Ashamed to admit I broke down and turned on the air conditioning. A week ago it was ten degrees below average and now it’s like July up in here.

Had a scammer try to buy $600 in nonsense from a pharmacy 2,000 miles away this morning. Glad I got the email from Instacart saying my address on file had changed, and that I woke up early today. I was able to chat with the shopper and have the account shut down before anything was delivered or …

Getting back into Duolingo lately and thought I was doing so well that I’d try watching foreign shows on Netflix with the Italian subtitles on. Boy, was that ever optimistic.

It’s a point of pride for me that I treat people with kindness and respect. However, I get a kick out of proving people wrong who treat me poorly. As a public servant, we get served more than our fair share of angry know-it-all NIMBYs. #nimby #psa

As a man of above average height, it will never stop being funny to walk into a restroom and see a short man at the tall urinal when the short one was available. Whenever I’m forced to take the short urinal in this situation, I have to fight the very intense urge to look the man straight in the eye …

Not exactly sure why, but I get some sort of strange gratification pulling up next to Teslas and Mercedes at my kids’ preschool in my paid off 12-year-old Subaru with its bumper hanging off.

Why yes, those are my frozen corn dogs in the office freezer. I am an adult, I swear.

Overheard my kid today while working from home: “Mom, I need to see if there are any Weird Al costumes so I can use this accordion for Halloween when I’m 5.” #parenting #kids

I’m having a difficult time learning Italian possessive adjectives (my, hers, his, theirs, etc.). I think the hardest part for me is that they’re dependent upon the nouns that come later, so there are so many variations and my mind isn’t fast enough to work them out ahead of time. Not only do the …

Sometimes I like to watch old interviews with musicians. Often I’m surprised by how different my perception of them is compared to the reality. I’m sure to a large degree that’s an intentional curation, making gods out of men. I was just 13 when Kurt Cobain died in 1994, so at 27 years old he just …

In addition to our outdoor winter garden, I planted some starts a week and a half ago with my son, who’s 4. I should’ve started earlier, but I’m sure some will work out. Not sure why, but I’m always amazed when anything grows at all, and I like the vibes I get when they do begin to sprout. Gardening …

Say what you will about how technology has ruined this or that, here’s a list of places where I’ve found my keys or wallet via AirTag or Tile that I might not have otherwise: Kitchen trash (multiple times), roadside roller trash bin, bottom of my kids’ toy box, bottom of an umbrella stroller while …

I’ve been learning Italian and I love how Italians say okay…..like “okayee”.

Got tired of replacing the batteries on my mouse, so I got this thing - not sure if anyone has seen it before - but it’s a WIRED mouse. Plugs right into the computer you are using. Go figure, wonder what they’ll come out with next.

Weeded the second garden bed yesterday, feeling like I got hit by a truck today. Love getting older.

My child (left) having a full on meltdown after watching Super Mario Bros. because the arcade only accepts dollars and dad doesn’t carry cash 😂. Kiddo learned some life lessons today, namely you can’t always get what you want.

My 4 y.o. son kept referring to “goose tape” this past week and I had no idea what he was talking about. Turns out he meant duct tape all along. Kids!

Finally getting my garden into some sort of shape. Weeded this box, added some compost, soil amendments, etc. One down, one to go. Also put a band-aid fix on the broken corner (bottom left). Last year a moving truck backed into my driveway and smashed the corner. Caught the whole thing on camera. …

A mural I spotted in New York last week. #nyc #streetphotography #mural #einstein #cycling #love #photography #peace #love

Had such a wonderful time in New York. Can’t wait to go back. #nyc

What a great city. #philly

“And did you know the Liberty Bell is a replica Silently housed in its original walls And while its dreams played music in the night, quietly It was told to believe” — Mitski

Jeff Bridges is 73. Not sure why that surprises me, but it does.

I don’t think I can forgive Polar Seltzer for switching form 12 packs to 8 packs and keeping the same price. Shrinkflation at its finest. #inflation #foodprices

West coast consumer price index is up 15% since January 2021, yet my place of work decided to reduce their cost of living adjustments, so we’re doing the same jobs for about 7% less pay than we were two years ago. They’re eliminating some positions that had remained unfilled due to budgetary …

I wonder what the growth impact will be in the long term.

Realized today that between quitting smoking a little over 6 years ago, and not having a car payment for over 4, I’ve been able to save an additional 40 grand toward retirement.

As a parent, I’m horrified by mass shootings and live in fear for my kids. What perplexes me however is that motor vehicle deaths, although trending down, are on par with gun deaths. Somehow we keep building cities for cars and not people and the only outrage I see is when there isn’t enough …

We’re starting to think about our plans for Portugal and Italy next year with the ultimate goal of scouting out some potential places to live for something of a sabbatical. Beginning to believe it’s possible.

Today was one of those days where all of my next steps on a project are awaiting other people to finish theirs. Happens too often. So I threw on my headphones, caught up on some Italian language podcasts, and mindlessly did some spreadsheet work. I’m unfulfilled and want a new career but don’t want …

It’s 2023 and I still have male coworkers whom only ever talk about sports when interacting with others on topics unrelated to work. Honestly hadn’t heard this one guy’s voice in months until March Madness began.

Two shower thoughts tonight: 1) I have an absolutely awful memory for celebrity names and I don’t watch sports. Don’t invite me to trivia. 2) Isn’t the Buddhist belief in rebirth just a desire, given that we’re all just talking viruses with consciousness, biding our time until we’re space dust …

Life would be a whole lot more entertaining if we could comment on Zillow and Redfin listings.

You ever realize someone is still alive that you thought left this world a long time ago? Noam Chomsky is like 94 years old.

More often than not anymore, I find myself foregoing bringing my mirrorless camera due to the convenience of just having a phone in my pocket. There was a long time where the cameras in iPhones were so bad that it was an obvious choice to lug along my camera. But I think I might be over it.

I wonder how much of the day-to-day grind famous and wealthy people do for themselves. Like do they even make a sandwich for themselves when they’re hungry or pick up after themselves?

Started taking a new ADHD med again, which means I have slept a total of about 2 hours the last 3 nights. Back in the day, I could take a nap on Dex. Not anymore. #Today was pretty rough being extremely focused but absolutely exhausted. Wife had a meeting after work and happy hour with coworkers so …

Just asked ChatGPT to rewrite Paradise City in iambic pentameter. I’ve never been so impressively underwhelmed in my life. #ChatGPT

Really would love to have an activity tracker that fits completely hidden below a regular wristwatch. Why is this not a thing yet?

One hazard of taking stimulants for ADHD is that I’ll sometimes get sucked very deeply into podcasts directed at trades or occupations that I have absolutely no business listening to at all. I’m an hour and a half into an interview with a drug chemist who invented Vyvanse and I think I understand …

Until recently, I’d always thought that the question “what is the meaning of life?” was used solely as a rhetorical device to convey the shared existential dilemma of humanity, and the challenges of finding one’s true purpose in life. It hadn’t even occurred to me that it might also be asking why …

Witnessing a conversation unfold online about how more men need to support women’s college sports. But with 60% of college students now women, I don’t think men are the primary demographic they need to be targeting for more support.

Had an architect friend recently crap on neo-traditional home designs, calling them pastiche. This is why I don’t have many friends who are architects.

Hillsboro has nice stuff. Spent the morning and early afternoon swimming at Shute, played at the park, and picked up a big bag of books and movies at the library.

Finished modding my Jazzmaster a few weeks ago, so I was on the lookout for my next project. I have always wanted a double bound Telecaster but didn’t want to break the bank, so I picked up a Squier Classic Vibe. It’ll be fun swapping everything out and making it mine. First thing will be …

Quite a few years ago now I used to listen to the Minimalists podcast, but stopped when they started giving financial advice. The two most egregious tips they gave? 1) Pay off your student debt as quickly as possible, and 2) don’t take out a mortgage for a house unless you can put 50% down and pay …

Someone please make this winter stop.

Here’s a fun one. Ratio of Median Sale Price of Single-Family Homes to Per Capita Income, by Metro Area.

You know the old saying, “better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”? I have a new perspective on it. There was a time when I felt stupid around certain people because I rarely knew what they were talking about. Names, events, cultural references, …

Back home in Portland after a week in San Diego. We rented an amazing mid-century modern ranch in Point Loma (Zestimate $1.9M). Now we’re back in the dreary PNW weather. Took a peek at jobs and housing in SD, just for fun. Cannot comprehend how people can even afford a starter home there when the …

#Today was a good day.

A few years back, I hadn’t even heard of Dave’s Killer Bread. And now that it’s ubiquitous, I have no idea what the fuss was about. The white bread is like cardboard, the Good Seed bread is tasteless, and the bagels are just awful. Was the hype just about its name?

Picked up tickets to see Lucinda Williams and Big Thief at Edgefield this summer. Can’t wait! I’m starting to get the hang of this planning ahead thing. Everything sells out so fast these days.

We’re flying out of PDX on Wednesday to meet my Michigander parents for a week long vacation in San Diego. Figures that the week we chose and planned for months ago ends up being the same week Southern California gets record snow and colder weather. Detroit will actually be warmer than SD on …

One of the more embarrassing things for me about getting older is finally “understanding” something someone tried to introduce me to long ago, only to brush it off for years. I’ve gotten into so many musicians much later in life than I should have simply because I wasn’t ready for them.

Sometimes, when I start to get sad toward the end of winter, I just pull up driving tours on YouTube of the cities where I lived while in Michigan for 34 years, and suddenly I’m cured. #pnw #pdx #puremichigan #saginaw #lansing

Just helped my neighbor, who is a Spaniard, chain up his car to go retrieve his stranded girlfriend, somewhere on 405 near PSU. Man, that is about as close to a Hail Mary as I’ve ever thrown. Guess I’ll know sometime tomorrow how it all turned out. #pdx

Thinking back to my first sociology class at University of Michigan in 1999. It was a social stratification lecture and my professor asked every single student on the first day what suburb of Detroit we lived in, and he proceeded to rank our social status based on that. Of course it played into the …

Yesterday I thought I lost one of my favorite pocket knives. I looked all over for it, retracing my steps. Turns out it got hooked on a drawstring on a rain jacket I tried on at REI. Can’t believe I even recovered it.

My photos app reminded me I saw Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks at the Loving Touch in Ferndale 9 years ago today. Man I miss that place! I saw so many shows there in the early 2010s and you could get so close to the musicians. I’d like to start seeing shows again, just need to pin down a solid …

I swear, anytime I’m anywhere near Scappoose, some redneck shit happens.

Watched the Unsolved Mysteries episode tonight about the UFO sitings by over 300 people in Michigan in 1994 and realized I witnessed the same thing. Wild.

Just saw a lifted Prius with mudders in Washington.

My dog will eat fossilized cat poop out of a flower bed but won’t touch a pretzel to save her own life.

Ford Motor Company not making the Ranger look more like a Bronco was a failure of epic proportions. Can’t believe the current model made it to production.

Drove up to Bonny Slope in the western suburbs of Portland today. Had a hearing on a property located in the area last night so I wanted to go see it for myself. The houses were enormous and the views from the hills were splendid. Must be nice!

As someone who went into 6 figures of student debt to get a graduate degree just to allow me to get an entry level job in my field, I believe we need to fix this system. Not only do I believe we need widespread student debt forgiveness, we need to stop kidding ourselves about the true value of …

I used to think I was either very good at washing my hands to avoid illness, or that I had an incredible immune system. Having two kids in daycare quickly disabused me of those delusions. I’ve had cold symptoms from RSV for going on 3 weeks now. Someone please make it stop. #parenting #children #rsv

Environmental psychology is the study of how the natural and built environments shape us as individuals. I find it fascinating that much of the real world implementation of this field’s findings has been used to influence customer decisions within the context of retail shopping. I see the planning …

Today I was thinking back to some conversations I had with my grandmother before she died. I was trying to get some info from her to finalize my Italian citizenship paperwork. She was hesitant to help me because she thought Italy was way too liberal. She made me promise that I wouldn’t move there …

People sometimes seem like dogs in that we will gang up on a weak member of the pack. Even my normally chill Goldendoodle will join in on the hazing of a weak dog at the park if left alone. I’ve noticed humans are equally dark, often rooting for people with the quickest wit over the biggest heart, …

Two settings iOS Safari still needs in 2023: 1) auto deny all but necessary cookies; and 2) block the automatic playback of all embedded videos.

Although not quite on the same level as Salt & Straw’s Berry Slab Pie ice cream flavor, I just dug into some Tillamook Marionberry Pie ice cream and it’s pretty dang good. And you don’t even have to wait 12 months or in a line around the block just to try some. #pdx

Always throws me off whenever I see anyone over 30 wearing children’s mall brands like American Eagle, Hollister, A&F etc.

As much as I like Apple, I enjoy Google News’ content suggestions better than Apple News. Still, Google Amp web pages are annoying and I really dislike all the ads everywhere. My workaround. I ended up deleting the Google News app altogether in favor of just bookmarking it in Safari. Then I …

Keep seeing these videos of people being recovered from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. It’s all emotional, but the videos of parents found covering their children make me weep. Looking for the helpers, the humanity.

Just realizing I can mute people I don’t even follow. What a blessing!

Dunno if I’m just a jaded planner these days, but even being in the line of work that I’m in, nothing is quite as cringe as when I see people posting self-righteously about urban living.

I noticed that Warby Parker sells readers. Are people really spending a hundred bucks on the glasses you can get for $3 in the checkout lane?

Nice and sunny PNW day. Had to hit the food cart pod near my house for a beer and some grub. #today

Tried out #ivory and #mammoth the last couple months but I’m loving the #icecubes iOS client the most. One thing that’s huge for me is that the entire person’s @ is always visible, allowing you to see from where a post originated. Also just a clean and thoughtful implementation with plenty of …

How many more artists’ depictions of exoplanets and other space junk could we possibly need? I’m getting tired of clickbait space news headlines that try to pass off illustrations like they’re photos. To be sure, they add nothing and only serve to mislead. #space #nasa #jwst

Maybe I’m weird, but I think Raisin Bran as a nighttime snack is underrated.

Our grocery loader had a ulilikilt this morning. First time seeing one in the wild. I don’t blame them, either.

“In an odd twist, Astoria Chief of Police Stacy Kelly tells KOIN 6 News that the man, identified as Jericho Labonte, was the same person who left a dead fish on the porch of the Goonies House. Read more in the link above.” …

My wife and I have read 3 to 5 books per night to our son since he was about 18 months old. Every single night for 2.5 years. So it’s pretty safe to say we’re kind of experts on children’s books at this point. By FAR the absolute lowest effort books are the Hot Wheels ones. Can’t even believe this …

I don’t eat Taco Bell very often, but when I do, you can bet it’s because there’s one located in the Home Depot parking lot.

One of my favorite lyrics of all time: I was there when Captain Beefheart started up his first band. I told him, ‘Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime.' “I’m Losing My Edge” by LCD Soundsystem

TriMet is inviting local artists (#pdx) to submit their qualifications to design a full-color digital image(s) for printing on vinyl to be applied on a bus in recognition of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Pride Month bus wrap design. Selected artist will be paid up …

If it weren’t for bills and the occasional email from long lost friends, I’d probably just get rid of e-mail altogether.

Are there folks out there who actually leave their email notifications ON? Given that the vast majority of stuff that hits my inbox is garbage, I just have Gmail mark everything as read the moment it arrives. If it’s important, I’ll find it.

It’s strange that I’m in my early 40s and I still have to pretty regularly remind people that I’m in fact a Millennial. It’s like a lot of people older than me have solidified in their minds the image of a Millennial as a snot-nosed 20 something with unrealistic expectations, content on shaking up …

Closing in on 8 years in this town and the only lasting friendships I’ve made are a couple of prior coworkers I see once or twice a year. Men are weird and male loneliness is an epidemic. #pdx

"You're living this very bare, stripped down life, and you're with your thoughts, and you're hearing about terrible things and it's really scary," she says,…'why do I live a thousand miles away from my parents? Why have I chosen to work so hard that actually I'm not …

It’s sad to click on the Wikipedia page of an artist you’ve just discovered, only to have the first verb be in the past tense. Was…

Sometimes I think about all of the incredible music created in the 80s and how I managed to be born into a family of hair metal fans. A profoundly unfortunate comedy if you ask me.

Hate to see the economy suffer, but man, I hope home prices fall as a result of all these cuts. Quite frankly I’m shocked we haven’t seen a more dramatic correction yet. https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2023/02/intel-slashes-wages-bonuses-after-disastrous-quarterly-results.html

Not sure when middle age officially begins, but for me I think it started with refusing self checkout.

Sure, the comment sections are bad. But what gets me is that each of those comments represent a real human who is generally afraid to say those things out loud, but whom nevertheless still walk this earth with that junk seething inside of them. That’s the type of shit that keeps me up at night.

Not gonna name names, but imagine being the kind of celebrity who is only known to anyone because of the greatness of a relative. Just coasting through life, living off their estate, and living in the shadow of their deceased family member’s talents. What an utterly strange dimension of this world …

It’s wild that I went so many years thinking Portland didn’t have any decent radio stations simply because PRP’s signal is so weak. Thankful for the internet broadcast, but if any station needs a larger coverage area, it’s that one. Discover something new almost every day. I missed radio. Maybe …

Why yes, those are my Totino’s pizza rolls in the office freezer.

23° in Portland this a.m. This kind of weather gets west coasters acting all sorts of weird. Even though it’s supposed to be clear all day, I bet I’ll see some tipped up windshield wipers somewhere today.

Even as we approach our 5 year anniversary, my heart still sometimes skips a beat.

Did you know you can look up where you milk comes from with the code on the carton? I was curious where our Trader Joe’s organic milk came from. Turns out it’s Alpenrose. #pdx https://whereismymilkfrom.com/

Why I’ll never move to the country again. “Opinion | Can Anything Be Done to Assuage Rural Rage?” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/26/opinion/rural-voters-economy.html

I guess Mr. Bungle is on tour. Everyone used to talk about the feud between Mike Patton and Anthony Kiedis, but no one talks about how Incubus ripped off some of Mike’s sound.

Looking at real estate in #Texas just for fun. As a Portlander, the housing there is cheaaaaap. This must be what Californians feel like looking at real estate literally anywhere other than CA. #pdx

Being a parent has forced me to reevaluate so much of my own upbringing, in ways I don’t think I ever could have without kids. Every single day I think: “damn, how did my parents do it?” But also: “what in the actual f$&k were they thinking?!”

Don’t really understand the explosive growth of cordless power tools the last couple of decades. Y’all don’t have outlets at your house?

People today: “Something is just off about society after COVID. Can’t place my finger on it.” Also people today: “I would rather die a fiery death than go back into the office and have to interact with people and support local businesses.”

Someone is blasting Coheed & Cambria on the train like it’s 2003. #pdx

Google and #umich are taking away my unlimited cloud storage for alumni. This, after 10 years of me uploading all of my photos and videos from every device I’ve owned since. Gonna be fun offloading several hundred gigs and figuring out another solution. Most likely their plan all along. #Plex mobile …

Any #hamradio operators in western Oregon? Just getting into #shortwave and was hoping to pick up on some single side band but haven’t had any luck yet.

One day the world will see plank flooring like we now view linoleum over hardwood. Can’t stand it, especially in gray.

Shake Shack really be like “Hey, go ahead and put in your own to-go order. That’ll be $50, how much would you like to tip?”

Single-use plastic is awful, but we have got to figure out a middle ground between paper and metal straws.

Snowing in #pdx. Full on wtf this a.m.

Why do refried beans smell exactly like wet dog food?

Wow, guess I’m done using #ivory. That was short lived.

In 5th grade, me and my classmates in Midland, Michigan were each assigned a state and were tasked with writing letters to their tourism departments requesting information. I got California and I remember clearly that they just sent me a huge envelope of brochures for out-of-the-way places. Still …

Finally made it into the Chef Store for the first time and my eyes are at long last awakened to life’s glories.

Habitat ReStore will always be my happy place.

Will never understand people who do Zoom meetings and work calls at coffee shops. That should be a punishable offense. #RemoteWork

One positive about today is that I almost never see anyone smoking anymore. Maybe it’s just an Oregon thing, but when I do see someone light up, I do a double take because it’s so out of place.

When I was about 12, my parents took me and my two brothers to Niagara Falls. The cigarettes in Canada were quite a bit more expensive than in the U.S., so we drove over to Buffalo so they could buy a carton. It took me years to realize I hadn’t gone to New York City!

I dunno if the title of this article made me feel better or worse: “A 5 p.m. sunset is just around the corner for Portland” #pdx https://www.koin.com/weather/a-5-p-m-sunset-is-just-around-the-corner-for-portland/

Booked 4 nights at one of the last remaining campsites on the southern Oregon coast for middle of July. Nothing like having to plan 6 months out to sleep on the ground. #oregon #camping #hiking #parks #pnw

I’ve had the same Gmail address for going on 19 years. This is by far the longest digital relationship I’ve ever had, probably ever will. #gmail #email

Followed one conservative on the bird site this morning and within 10 seconds I saw a promoted tweet that was just the tailgate of a truck with the words “F#%^ Joe Biden and F%#^ You for Voting for Him”.

Every day while I’m standing at my standing desk. #applewatch #apple

Sometimes I have a really hard time not thinking that the entire hiring process for men is really just panelists thinking: “Wow, he’s tall. He must know what he’s talking about. We should hire/promote him.” I know, I’m jaded.

“But one problem with pinning everything on Elon is that it leaves open the possibility that maybe Twitter would be fine if the company was led by a different CEO who continued the Twitter API status quo. I don’t think so. Twitter wasn’t going to last forever because massive ad-based silos will …

Do I have to use my employer-sponsored FSA administrator? I get that it’s pre-tax deductions from my paycheck, but this just seems strange that I don’t have a choice. Honestly I don’t like my retirement savings administrators either.

Last night I found this photo from 1986 in my grandmother’s belongings. It’s of me and my brother. I’d never seen it before. Everyone always says how much my son looks like my wife, so I was blown away by how much I look like him here. I was just a little bit older than he is now. My dad left us …

Now that the Big Bang Theory is drawing greater scrutiny as observations from the James Webb Space Telescope come in, what are some of the plausible alternatives? #astronomy #cosmology #bigbang #space #universe #jwst #nasa

I imagine for most people, watching video walking tours on YouTube is about as interesting as watching paint dry. But as a planner, they are pretty zen sometimes. #urbanist

I wish there was a wearable activity tracker that looked more like the old Jawbones. So tired of having digital watches on my arm. I just want to wear a classic timepiece and a bracelet with no screen.

I don’t know that I’ll ever fully adjust to the fact that you’ve gotta reserve campsites 6 months ahead in Oregon. You just gotta chance a random weekend and hope other plans don’t come up, or better luck next year.

“I just feel like there must had been a time when the world had more...you know? Like mystery or something and now you come somewhere like this and it's beautiful and you take a picture and then you realize that everybody is taking that exact same picture from that exact same spot, you just made …

Finished The White Lotus on HBO last night. Surprisingly, it sucked me in and held my attention to the end. As much hate as I’m now seeing online about her, I loved the Portia character. One quote in particular caught me right in the feels. 1/2

52° and partly sunny. We’ll take it for January in Portland. #pdx

Really trying to reign in my gear acquisition syndrome (GAS), but heck if I don’t want a Fender Princeton Reverb Tone Master #fender #amplifiers

Power went out last night, so I woke up trying to suck air through a CPAP hose that wasn’t providing me with air. The whole house got bad sleep because of it. I would be married with kids without my sleep machine, true story.

Hanging out with my daughter on this #mlk day.

4yo getting out of the tub: “Dad, can you unwet me?” “You mean dry you?” “Yeah, dry me!”

My household also pays double our mortgage on childcare every month.

No village here, can verify. “It takes a village to raise children. Millennial moms say 'there is no village.'” https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-moms-tiktok-parenting-trends-it-takes-village-raise-children-2023-1

At the guitar shop and a teenager is playing Spoon Man by Soundgarden on an SG. I was a teenager when that song came out and remember jamming to that in my bedroom and with friends. The kids are alright 😂

How are there no Dr. Z amplifier dealers in Oregon? #guitar #guitaramps #oregon

Got my locked and dead car opened up and the battery on a charger. Battery had died last weekend bc my 4 year old turned on a dome light and I hadn’t needed the car so I just left it. Key slot was jammed up, too, because I never use it. But lots of silicon lubricant later, I’m in. Felt like a thief …

My first disappointment with #ivory is that there’s no filter for media on profile pages. One of my favorite features of the official Mastodon app.

I’m having one of those very rare days where my wife is away with both kids but I’m having trouble getting motivated to do anything because it’s raining pretty good and I’m just soaking up the silence.

When you save a meme with Jesus in it and Google Photos asks if your deceased brother and Jesus are the same person.

Is there anyone whose voice you heard for the first time just absolutely threw you? For me, it was Jimmy Page, guitarist for Led Zeppelin. I dunno what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that.

Waiting on that unlikely phone call after 2 interviews for a job I was actually excited about. I was supposed to know something by today. Trying not to continuously refresh my inbox for a rejection letter.

Skincare is not really a topic I’m accustomed to talking about as a dude, but I’ll be damned if my new moisturizer isn’t revealing more supple, radiant skin. Glycolic acid is the real deal. 😂

My car’s battery has been dead since Monday, likely because my son left the dome light on. On the one hand, feeling kinda lazy that I haven’t jumped it in a week. On the other hand, thankful that my current work/life situation is such that I don’t really need it very often.

I still have and occasionally use a couple of #MiniDisc recorders, strangely enough. Mostly nostalgia, but they’re great for teaching my kid about physical media and forcing myself to listen to entire albums. There is a small but passionate community of users, too. Someone even developed a browser …

Me opening #ivory for the first time: “My god, why is the text so large? Oh…that’s my system setting.” *laughs in needs reading glasses*

I think I’ve reached my quota for # of software developers I follow. Now accepting for social workers, librarians, astrophysicists, and urban planners.

Well this is fun. Full list of license plates rejected by the Oregon DMV in 2022 https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/read-full-list-of-license-plates-rejected-by-the-oregon-dmv-in-2022/ #pdx #portland #oregon #dmv

Just made the mistake of putting on HBO’s Velma for my 4-year-old Scooby-Doo addict. Pretty sure he now knows the word “bitch” from the opening monologue. #today

Our meal delivery service just sent us Hamburger Helper and billed it as French Onion Beef.

Can any Galaxy/Android users help me understand why, when I text short videos to my parents from my iPhone, the videos are tiny and super pixelated? Seems like this didn’t happen with friends who had Android. They’re on an unlimited data plan so this isn’t a concern. I understand the current war …

Alaska is the last of the 50 states I need to visit. Hard to fit that one in for a weekender, though. At least in any meaningful way.

I hope the Matter standard someday supports security cameras. Would be nice to not have to cobble together my own system with Scrypted, HomeBridge, Starling Home Hub, etc. It was nothing short of heroics for a non-tech guy like me to get my old Nest products to work with HomeKit Secure Video. …

You know a site has problems when they still have links to Google+

I wish Redfin took better care of Walkscore.com after buying it. I remember being so excited about the idea 10 years ago. Not only does it look like the site has never been updated, I’m told the data is only updated every 6 months. It seems much staler than that in my area. #walkscore #walkability …

My 3100 gallon rain cistern is finally full as of this week. Last year it was full by the end of October, but we had a drier start start to the season this year. I use this water all summer long to water my 3 raises beds.

It’s been such a joy to watch you grow, witness your wobbly first steps, listen to your frequent giggling, and just take pleasure in seeing you as a happy, fun, and playful baby. Feeling all around pretty lucky to be your dad. Happy first birthday to our Annie.

The turnaround I’ve seen in Portland since moving here in 2015 is pretty dramatic. https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2023/01/portlands-101-homicides-in-2022-set-new-record-at-some-point-we-have-to-be-tired-of-burying-our-children.html

Finally saw my first in-line Apple Pay button on a paywalled news article. Now give us the option to pay you 25 cents per article instead of subscribing.

As I cooked dinner tonight, I was struck by the fact that I have almost no memories of my dad cooking dinner growing up. Unless it was fish or on the grill, it just never happened. Mom also packed his lunch every single day. My how things have changed.

Truly wondering if half my coworkers are using mouse jigglers today. #wfh

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but it’s the merging party’s responsibility to slow down or speed up when entering the freeway.

I like how we all just collectively ignore the fact that yoga studio ‘new student specials’ are predatory because it makes us feel good to have a 5-class pack we know we’re not going to use in the next 3 months.

One great thing about living in an oceanic climate: growing food year-round. Just pulled these out of my raised beds.

Dentistry feels like such a racket at times. My 70-something-year-old ex dentist said I definitely needed a crown on a tooth that had been giving me trouble. Said there was a crack that couldn’t be seen. Seemed extreme to me, so I fired the guy and had it fixed by someone else for a thousand dollars …

I was never able to get Portland Radio Project to come in over the air on my car stereo or at home, so it’s nice to be able steam it in Apple Music now. Just wish there was support for displaying what song is currently playing from within the Music app. #pdx #portland #radio

There’s a guy in CA with the same name as me who keeps trying to use my Gmail account as an alias for another email address. I also keep getting receipts from his business expenses, and I’ve even received some legal documents from his attorney a couple times. I’ve emailed the guy several times now …

My car is seemingly getting close to its last leg and wouldn’t start this morning. My wife and I are considering just creating a ride-hailing budget instead of getting a new second car. Was looking at EVs but to get into anything new would be at least a $500/mo payment not including electricity, …

Sometimes when I’m milling about Metro #Portland I think about how shoddy some of the suburban construction is and imagine how absolutely fucked we’d be if we had some big employers evaporate like Detroit did a few decades ago (ahem, #intel *cough*). At least a lot of the building stock in #Detroit …

We’ve been looking at real estate a little bit. I don’t understand how people afford Multnomah County property taxes. It’s gotta be one of the highest property tax burdens in the country. In some cases, the monthly property tax payment would be as high as our PITI in Washington County. #pdx …

Every morning is like a game of whack-a-mole trying to make the phone notifications go away. I especially hate having unread emails. Lately I’ve been thinking maybe I’ll just have them marked as read the moment they hit the inbox.

A little over a month until I’m 42, which happens to be how old Elvis was when he died. I just watched him perform Unchained Melody live in Rapid City in 1977 on YouTube, and damn, he was looking pretty rough. I guess I do too, if I’m being honest with myself.

Looking back at my science classes growing up, so much stuff was taught like religion. Recently even the Big Bang is being called into question. I think we need to be more careful about how we teach sciences. No wonder people are skeptical of things like vaccines.

If the condition in which our post offices currently exist is any indication as to the health of our nation…

Was thinking today that by the time my mom was my age (41), she already had one kid in college, another was a soldier at war in Iraq, and a third kid with their driver’s license.

At Kaiser Permanente in Beaverton bc my kid cut the webbing on his thumb with a tape measure. Already been here an hour and they say it’s going to be 2 more hours before he can see a doctor and maybe get stitches. I feel like this location, despite being newish, is way too small to serve this area. …

Was having a conversation with some coworkers and they said that their kids, who are adults, can’t read cursive because they were never taught it in school. Also learned that a younger coworker has trouble with it, too. I’m blown away that apparently this is really common.

At this point of the winter, I’m just looking forward to the middle of March when sun sets after 7 p.m.

My 4-year-old: “Zoey just said ‘uh-oh’! “What? Dogs can’t talk dude!” “Yes she can! I heard her say ‘uh-oh’ in dog Spanish!” #spanish #dogs #kids

Detroit is truly one of the greatest cities in the U.S. Living in the PNW the last 8 years, I miss it. I miss the people, the architecture, the food, the music venues, the vibe. #detroit #cities

If I had a Time Machine, I’d go back to the 60s and early 70s and fill it with pre-CBS Fender Princeton Reverb amps. Absolutely obscene what these little 12W fart machines are going for these days. 🎸 #guitar #guitaramps

Speaking of movies, the first one I ever saw in theaters was The Boy Who Could Fly, in 1986 while I was in kindergarten. My mom took me to the Court Theater in Saginaw, Michigan. Hadn’t watched it since, so I’m watching it now.

As a guitarist, the most disappointing part about watching Wayne’s World is when Wayne picks up the Stratocaster and is denied playing Stairway to Heaven…despite not even coming close to actually playing Stairway to Heaven.

Took my 4-year-old to the taco truck tonight. Kid was bugging me about it all week. Definitely my child :)

New Outlook out of office reply: Sorry I missed your message. My wife is on another Every Plate kick and currently we’re on week 3 of overly involved home cooked meals. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I’m now taking PTO starting at 3 so I can leave work early enough to make sure dinner is ready …

Wife is on an Every Plate kick again (like Hello Fresh), and currently we’re on week 3. Someone please just put me out of my misery, double tap to the back of the head. Nothing like having to leave work early just to make sure dinner is ready before the kids’ bedtimes. Think my clients will …

Neat little detail in the #mammoth client.

How do some tech jobs get away with using #architect in their title? I remember some dude who was calling himself an engineer got the smack down from Oregon’s licensure board.

Anyone thinking about going to the APA conference in Philadelphia this year? I’m interested in going, mostly because I’ve never been to Philly before and I like the project related conference tours, but I’m also kinda scared to ask if we have the budget for cross-country travel. Someone give me a …

Got a flu shot and a Covid booster today, one in each arm. 5 hours later, still no ill effects. Hoping I don’t wake up tomorrow with chills or body aches.

I understand hashtags don’t work on M.b but what I don’t understand is why they don’t work when a post that contains them is syndicated elsewhere.

Wish they made the Nissan Leaf in an AWD format. Front end is ugly but I can live with that. Too much trauma from upper Midwest winters to not have AWD though.

Watched White Noise on Netflix last night. Sort of a strange one, but I ended up googling one of the songs being played by a couple in the movie, Dean Wareham & Britta Phillips - The Cloud is Coming - music.apple.com/us/album/…

On a forum I follow, someone posted the ranking of large metros by urban density based on recently released ACS data. Portland was #10. Top 10 are as follows: SF @ 7,626 ppsm LA @ 7,476 ppsm SJ @ 6,436 ppsm NYC @ 5,981 ppsm Vegas @ 5,046 ppsm Miami @ 4,885 San Diego @ 4,550 Denver @ 4,168 …

Finished reading: Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Emil Frankl 📚

Quick outing today to shake off the lethargy, and Annie’s first hike as a walker!

I started going to the gym a couple months ago to improve my mental health. My times are not at all impressive, but they are slowly improving. When I was a teenager (half a life ago) I used to run a 5K in the 17s. One of my goals this year is to run a 5K in under 30 minutes.

Not sure how I ended up following mostly programmers, maybe they’re overrepresented on the indie web?

Sometimes I look at professional musicians who have small children and just wonder “how?”

My wife made the mistake of telling me the song to which she lost her virginity. There’s no limit to the fun you can have with this info. Having her parents over for dinner? Play the song! Celebrating Mother’s Day? Pregnancy photos set to the tune of the song!

I’ve noticed that the cuter my 1-year-old daughter gets, the more people say she looks like my wife. Not sure how I should feel about this given that when she was a bald headed roly poly she was apparently my twin.

Fun fact: my dog will eat almost anything but will not eat a pretzel if her life depended on it. Makes me seriously question whether I should eat them!

I ended up leaving the Urbanists.Social Mastodon instance. Even though I’m an urban planner by professions and a vocal advocate for transit, complete streets, etc., it’s completely overrun by cyclists.

Not sure where they get their artillery, but Aloha, OR sounds like a war torn country. Happy new year.

Wondering if I’ve got kidney stones or if it’s just gas 😳

Anyone have any good podcast recommendations that talk about guitar gear, particularly about the history and specs of electric guitars and amps, old and new? Hoping for podcasts specifically to listen while doing other things, not YouTube. 🎸 #guitar #podcasts

Not that I would ever even consider buying a Tesla, but I used to at least think they looked kind of cool, like 5 years ago. But lately I’ve been thinking they just look so dated in their design. KIA’s recent offerings look a lot better to me.

My first guitar (1995). Japanese made Lotus strat. My mom’s taste in home decor was also chef’s kiss. 🎸

Wife just realized her paychecks haven’t included the raise she got back in September. And this is why I handle the finances folks.

Tried watching His Dark Materials last night with Shar and was absolutely bored out of my mind. Having a dry spell with shows capturing my interest.

Do we know how large the Micro.blog community is?

Conversation with my 3-year-old son: “Dad, can we get a lollipop after my shot?” “Yeah, we can stop at 7-Eleven afterwords” “Is 7-Eleven a name because I thought that was when they were open?”

Several times now, I’ve written and posted updates with Gluon and the posts have just disappeared into the ether, never to be seen again.

People can be so small, lying for personal gain. I had a falling out with a long-time friend this year and found out our relationship was discussed on their (extremely obscure) podcast. If only their listeners knew what I know about them. Meh.

Is there no way to know who follows your Micro.blog?

Seems to be about a 20-30 minute delay before replies to Mastodon accounts from Micro.blog become visible on Mastodon itself.

When I respond to someone’s post on Mastodon with my Micro.blog account, I can only see my replies in Micro.blog itself (and Gluon), but not on Mastodon. I’ve looked for my replies with both the Mastodon web client and various apps, but no dice. What gives?

Updated the bridge and neck on my Custom Player Jazzmaster. Took the adjustomatic off in favor of a Halon, and replaced the MIM pau ferro neck with a American Professional II. Still needs a few tweaks, but so far so good. 🎸

Struggling lately with career vs. living a fulfilling life. Wishing me and my family could use our Italian passports to spend a year abroad without sacrificing the stability I have here in Portland. Government jobs don’t readily lend themselves to fully remote work.

After all the shopping for others was done, papa got a couple gifts for himself this year. Upgrading my MIM Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster with a Halon Bridge and a MIA Jazzmaster Professional II rosewood neck. 🎸

Santa had a lot of fun this year.

How do people integrate their long form blogging with their micro blogging? All on the same platform or somewhere else entirely? Still trying to figure out micro.blog.

Snuggled up on the couch watching Mickey’s Christmas Carol with my family. It’s not that often we get snow days here in the Willamette Valley. Hoping anyone that has to traveling today takes it slow and gets there safely. #pdx #snowday

Preparing for all of metro #portland to be brought to its knees tomorrow due to freezing temps and a little over half an inch of snow. Might as well get ready to work from home with my two small children present bc it looks like I’ll be paying my daycare to not daycare.

TriMet offers free rides on New Years Eve: https://katu.com/news/local/trimet-offering-free-rides-on-new-years-eve-bus-max-streetcar-holiday-free-fare-intoxicated-safe-celebrate-drinking-portland-multnomah-clackamas #portland #pdx #trimet #nye #2023

Today my dad would’ve been 64 had he not killed himself drinking and driving at age 44. Don’t be like my dad this holiday season.

School lunch in 1999 was $1.25, so that’s what I used to get from my mom everyday. I used to blow that every single day on either Starbursts or a bottle of Coke from the vending machines. It’s no surprise then that I weighed 139 lbs at 6 ft tall. So my New Year’s resolution is to eat nothing but a …

Brought my #Fender Jazzmaster into Portland Music Company yesterday. It desperately needed a setup and the jack needed some soldering done. Had fun looking around at all the different guitars, amps, banjos, etc. Reminded me of my days in Lansing after college when I’d spend my lunch breaks at …

Thought I had macular degeneration for a few weeks there until I discovered that it was just my LG TV’s backlight dimming energy saving feature that had been turned on, either by accident or firmware update. Whew.

The 90s clothes I wore in my teenage years back on full force. I tried on some Levi’s of that ilk this past weekend just to see if I could pull them off, but as a frumpy suburban dad in his early 40s, they just sort of emphasized my worst physical attributes. And anyone under 60 just looks …

Having lived in the PNW for going on 8 years now, it’s pretty jarring whenever I hear someone from back home in the Midwest speak. The accents are super thicker than I remember, and I can easily pick one out in a crowd now, usually to the speaker’s surprise. Most can’t hear it themselves. #michigan …

I would like to know why you still have to go digging deep into file trees in Microsoft Windows every time you go to open a common file in various programs. You know I just created this screen capture and the location of where I saved it, why isn’t this the first option that pops up in the Explorer …

Happy that we got down to California and back for Thanksgiving before all the precip hit in the Mtns. Beautiful as it is, I don’t miss driving in it, especially with steep grades.

My son is going on 4 years old and we’ve kept his hair at a medium length for a couple years now. We always get comments from my wife’s conservative family about how he needs a haircut, but it just makes me want to keep it growing. It bothers me, and I know they won’t be the same way with my …

Good lord is it hard making lasting friendships as a 40-something male. Doesn’t help that almost half of my 7 years in the #pnw has been during COVID, and as a new parent of two little ones. Wife is thriving with her mom groups, but the husbands stick to themselves. #pdx

Almost conducted a poll asking where most people do their Tooting, but decided against it. #mastodon #fediverse

When someone says “get out of your comfort zone once in awhile,” but you live with chronic anxiety and EVERYDAY is outside your comfort zone... #anxiety #gad

Just baked another loaf of rustic white. I love carbs. #baking #bread #dutchoven

We get to see Santa today and he asks my son what he wants for Christmas, to which he responds: “a gun”. The mothers in line behind us audibly gasped.

Why is there no U.S. government run electronic payments system? It’s weird that we are heholden to private companies that are incompatible with one another, compromise our privacy, or take a cut of the transfer.

Here’s the recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread?smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share

I’ve never been much of a baker, but I am a bit of a rustic bread addict. So I decided to give this recipe a try from NYTimes Cooking awhile back. Always turns out great. I plan on bringing some loaves to my holiday parties this year.

Test 1 2

TIL Dr. Dre is only about 3 years younger than my mom.

I finally spent a few hours over the last several weeks going through the 400+ password security suggestions my iPhone kept yelling at me about. Dark web, data leaks, reused passwords, etc. Made some serious headway, but passkeys can’t get here soon enough. I’m over it.

I finally spent a few hours over the last several weeks going through the 400+ password security suggestions my iPhone kept yelling at me about. Dark web, data leaks, reused passwords, etc. Made some serious headway, but passkeys can’t get here soon enough. I’m over it.

The clouds and rain bother some people, but living in Portland as a former Midwesterner is pretty great. Just went Christmas shopping in sandals and a t-shirt. 50° with light drizzle is perfect for a larger guy like me. These short days, however…

The clouds and rain bother some people, but living in Portland as a former Midwesterner is pretty great. Just went Christmas shopping in sandals and a t-shirt. 50° with light drizzle is perfect for a larger guy like me. These short days, however…

Is this...normal? Seems like a lot of activity in the Pacific.

Lingering place trauma : https://inthedeltawaves.social/2022/12/09/lingering-place-trauma.html

Lingering place trauma : It was what feels like a lifetime ago, but I still have some lingering trauma left over from my teenage years when my mom married my stepdad. I know she didn’t mean to do any harm and was in fact trying to do something positive for herself and her kids. She moved me and my brothers out of the city …

Invariably, when I'm watching clips of the Rich Roll podcast, I find myself not even listening to what the guy is saying. Often I'm just thinking: “dang, this guy has a good tan. I wish I had a successful podcast where I could hock underwear and plant-based protein so I could afford to live …

I’ve been keeping an eye on the housing market in metro Portland and I don’t think prices are going down much at all. Just a gut feeling, but it kind of looks like realtors are setting initial prices higher than normal and then reducing them to look like a real reduction. #pdx #housing …

Environmentally unconscionable or not, paper plates might just save my marriage.

We just booked a family trip to San Diego in March to visit my sister-in-law. Having a trip in the hopper always helps get me through the winter!

Must be solidly in the middle aged marketing category now based on how many ads for insurance I’m seeing lately.

Snapped this photo of Glacier National Park last summer as I rounded out states 46 through 49 on a road trip to clear my head. I had just lost my brother to brain cancer and the road was calling me. Glacier and the Black Hills hit me hard.

Snapped this photo of Glacier National Park last summer as I rounded out states 46 through 49 on a road trip to clear my head. I had just lost my brother to brain cancer and the road was calling me. Glacier and the Black Hills hit me hard. #nationalparks #roadtrip #montana #fuckcancer #nps #glacier

Oops, figured something like that might happen. Imported my posts AND replies through RSS and then those proliferated through cross post after cross post like a mirror. Apologies for the multiple tags and spam, should be resolved now. #indieweb #microblog

So…I know how to cross-post from Micro.blog to a Mastodon account, but what about the other way around? #indieweb #microblog

What are some of your go-to self care habits or treats to help you get through the darkest depths of winter? Lately I’ve been working on getting to sleep earlier (thank you, Trazodone). Also, being more intentional about regularly stepping away from the computer.

A friend with no kids recently added me on Apple Watch to challenge each other and he was shocked by how much activity I get. Just getting my 3 y.o. boy and 11 mo. old girl ready and to daycare everyday feels like a marathon. I’m usually done with my 45 minutes of “workout” by 9 a.m. #applewatch …

One thing I’m relearning as a parent of two young children is how to take better care of myself. As someone with #ADHD, planning ahead has never been a strong suit. I’m only recently realizing how beneficial it is to do things for myself during the day…while they’re in daycare.

I’m Bryan and I live in #pdx #Oregon. I’m new to: #microblog / #mastodon / #fediverse. Never cared for Twitter because it seemed so negative and stressful. Hoping to connect with others to get me started over here. I’m an #urbanplanner and interested in #livablecommunities #walkability #urbanism.

After literally weeks of trying to get the ActivityPub and WebFinger plugins to work on Wordpress, I’ve abandoned it and come over to Micro.blog. Hoping I can get all the details ironed out in the coming days, but at least these appear to be publishing. Still new to this #indieweb stuff.

Early sunsets

Found some manzano / orange rocoto peppers at a local mercato. Figured I’d better try fermenting them into a hot sauce.

Tech support getting philosophical on me #ziply

Mercedes T2 811D fire engine spotted in the wild.

Just a couple cue ball headed punks. #minime

Had to break out the 20 oz hammer to get these open, but Pax had fun today with these Dino fossils from auntie Gab.

The artist at work

This is where he requested to sit and eat his strawberries.

How easily life’s needless things pass to your periphery when purpose comes into focus. 📷:@lindsaybacaphoto

This weather.

“What I think is this: You should give up looking for lost cats and start searching for the other half of your shadow.” - Kafka on the Shore 📷:@lindsaybacaphoto

A boy and his mama

Sleepyhead

Nice day on the lake.

Bonding leave status update.

Baby Annette, 1.12.22

Sweet park

Playing in the snow!

Santa swung through for a visit last night 🎅🏼

“I’m an ice cream super hero!” -my kid, who hates wearing clothes.

Pax and Santa

We live in a forest.

From our walk on the Columbia earlier today in Kalama, WA.

Howdy, Pilgrim!

Some kids are just extra. Here I caught him sitting down with his mouth closed for 1 second.

Big ass tree

Life north of the 45th parallel.

Helping get some things ready for his baby sister.

Happy Halloween 🎃

Pax went into the bathroom and closed the door…sometimes he goes in there to hide, so we didn’t think anything of it. He moved the stool over to the toilet, sat on it by himself, and did his business. Opened the door and he said, “I can use the big potty now because I’m getting big!” Too …

Enjoying some Detroit style pizza in PDX. Pretty sweet nod to Diego Rivera with the pizza & beer production murals.

This came up in my memories from a couple of years ago at the beach. It’s strange to think about what my life was like before this dude. Really looking forward to our second.

It’s baaaack. I love the rain.

#nofilter

23 weeks

Hanging with my folks at the coast. Happy to have them here!

Dad ran to Costco and said “we could eat Taco Bell every day this week and still be good.” 😂🧻

Mmm, red chalk.

My kid does most things with his pants off now, and I don’t blame him.

Prom…1999

College roommates…20 years ago.

Happy birthday to my wonderful wife! She’s a great mom and partner and we’re thankful to have her in our lives.

Something came in the mail today! 🤌🏼 #alwaysbeprepared #pdx

Waking up sweaty and crabby from a nap. #momma

Ran into an old friendly face in Jackson. #porsche

Missing my boy!

An intensely amazing day.

That way.

These crows about gave me a heart attack this morning.

😎

Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Getting my steps in.

Glamping for the night. Thanks Tim and LaVonna, for letting us use your place.

Happy Birthday, America…from IKEA.

The neighborhood allotments in full swing.

This morning at school. He’s been getting these little dollar store toys as bribes for going on the potty. He wouldn’t leave the house without the skirt part of this ladybug outfit on.

This is what you get when your burger flippers are unionized. Just sayin’

Caught a pic of a hummingbird on my morning walk.

The office cuttings have been thriving despite my neglect over the last year and a half. The jade was a small cutting from my huge jade plant at home, which I got from a farmer several years ago, who got it from her neighbor who passed away. I’ve made a few cuttings from that plant. Some make it, …

Very excited that THE FOOD has arrived. Link in BIO. P.S., Chris: I never finish anything. @loveaxeofficial #tinydeskconcert #bobboilen #tinydesk @nprmusic #bandcamp #loveaxe #thefood #vinyl @tinydesk

Drive around up here and you start questioning your life choices.

Sharayah snapped this one and sent it to me at work. I’m sure he’s pretty pumped about the pool on this 97° day.

Wanted to help me pump up the “back tires” on the wheelbarrow only to find out “there aren’t any dada, we need some new ones.”

She loves it when I open up the dormer window

Quiet office vibes

Who needs a truck when you’ve got

My other company

Sometimes you’re the mule. Mt Adams (12,280’) barely visible in the back.

I’m still not done yet, but I’m getting close to finishing this little bathroom. (Before and After)

Spent all weekend alone with this kiddo. He survived several visits to the hardware. High energy, but such a good boy.

6 years in the Rose City. What a trip.

#laketahoe