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 lives.
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, which are complex.
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
