What's been happening since last posting in October of 2023 ·

This is a dump of all the memos I wrote at my memos site.

took some photos at the SF office today and stitched them into these panoramics #sfba #sanfrancisco

Completed the hat for the A’s game

It was great to see so many colleagues from around the world who came for our bowling showcase, which happened to coincide with a global org symposium :)

Making hats for the A’s v Yankees game. Realizing I probably should have added the topstitch sooner.

Morning bike ride on the mountain bike at Calero before it got too hot.

Peppers are actually starting to grow on the Mad Hatter plant

I know this is a week late, but it’s hilariously hypocritical to hear the same people who scream about how “you can’t trust mainstream media” also trying to tear down Kamala for not having sat for an interview with mainstream media mere days after her convention.

Date Day
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Every couple of weeks my wife and I rotate ‘Date Day’ responsibility, where we plan something fun for us to do together that day (committing to a night activity proved to be too much for both of us). This often means a trip to the beach (Asilomar, Rio del Mar, etc) and/or a special meal. Sometimes we go to a museum. When it’s not too hot and if we’re both healthy we go for hikes at one of the many local trails. It’s something fun that we take very seriously. We have calendar holds for these days and everything. I need reminders for when it’s my day. This sounds unromantic I know, but it’s just how I operate :)

Today is my date day. We’re planning to get croissants, go for a hike, and try out some new cards that I just got, Let’s Get Deep. It’s a set of prompts and questions for us to ask one another, sometimes very basic but sometimes very deep. Having been together for many-ish years, I don’t know that we learn a lot of new things about one another, but we are reminded of some of the things that we love about the other person, and it’s a place to talk about things that we might not normally bring up any other time.

I highly recommend scheduling something similar onto your calendar with your significant other. It may feel strange at first, but you’ll be glad you did it.

fatty infiltration of the liver

Dog Park Sans Dog
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My wife and I go to the dog park sometimes, despite not currently having a doggo. We like the shade, it tends to get a good breeze, the people are always interesting, and we get to meet some of the sweetest little dogs. We met a 16 year old Chihuahua with all of her teeth who could still move around pretty smooth.

The dog park is a great place to go to meet both humans and non humans alike.

Calero County Park
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Morgan Hill, CA
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Sunset walk at Coyote Creek trail lived up to its name

#coyote #hike #walk

Made a new hat! Not perfect but it fits.

First fig of the season!

#fig #gardening #harvest

Montaña de Oro, Bluffs trail, 7/4/2024

Made another tragic article of clothing for the 4th

Did not watch the debate. People are saying that Biden didn’t do well.

I remember meeting Willie Mays when I was about 9 years old. There was a campaign to bring the #sfgiants to Santa Clara and he was scheduled to appear at a park a block from my house. He was running late and someone must have called Ronnie Lott, because he showed up and signed some autographs in the meantime.

I don’t remember a whole lot about meeting Willie, other than he was pretty old (in the eyes of a child) but still had a lot of spunk and excitement about meeting everyone, especially the kids. I got a glove and a shirt signed. I don’t think that we even thought to bring a camera with us, because I’m certain that there are no photos of that day that I have. I vaguely remember a photographer from the SJ Mercury News being there, so there’s probably an article someplace.

Anyway, not a real story, but I do remember the feeling of being in the presence of a sports legend.

RIP, Willie!

This week

Watched:

Hacks (HBO)

Dial M for Murder (Hitchcock)

Erin Brockovich (Soderbergh)

Books/Reading:

Dune

Slow Productivity

A World Without Email

Peregrine

Big week with a lot that happened. Tired and ready for the weekend.

Holy cow, he was actually convicted! My faith in the justice system has been renewed! I’m so glad those jurors were able to do the right thing, and hope that they are not targeted by any of TFG’s cult followers.

We did a puzzle last week. Finished another today too. I like the way that puzzles force you to observe small details, practice patience, use a system to problem-solve. I think puzzles would be a great way to teach someone about an artist’s work, since you have to see all of the smaller pieces removed from the context of the whole, which can make you see things that you otherwise wouldn’t see.

Saw a cloud that looked like Holly’s fluffy tail. I know it sounds crazy but sometimes I do think she’s communicating with me through the clouds.

Went for a hike at Rancho San Antonio yesterday at the Wildcat Loop trail. Felt good to get out; not too hot yet (though we’ve seen high 80s recently) and much of the trail is shaded. I haven’t been to Rancho much over the last several years, and that’s mainly because they don’t allow dogs there. I’m adjusting to a life without Holly shadowing me wherever I go, and realized that I had this opportunity while I was in the neighborhood with time to spare.

Here’s panoramic stitched from several photos using an open source Linux app called Hugin

https://flathub.org/apps/net.sourceforge.Hugin

On Friday I said goodbye to our precious Holly. The tumor that was discovered on her liver, and which we hoped was benign, was clearly growing and causing sickness, discomfort, and extremely elevated liver enzyme levels. We brought in a professional to administer the injections, and Holly passed into the next world peacefully, looking into my eyes, on her favorite soft blanket. It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made, and one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to witness, knowing that I had made this decision to end this precious little life. Even though I knew that the alternative was potential pain and a gruesome end (internal bleeding, swelling distended stomach, toxins going to the brain and convulsions/seizure, all after roller coaster sickness and ‘recovery’), I still wept and cried out for Holly to forgive me in the days following. It’s only Monday and I am starting to feel better- last night was easier than Friday/Saturday nights.

I can see her big eyes looking at me, confused at what was happening. She was resistant to the drugs so was probably a bit scared about what was going on. I know that asking a dog to ‘forgive me’ is a silly thing - they don’t hold that concept inside of them - but I’d like to think that she understood that the pain was getting worse in the weeks leading up to Friday, and she had been confused and frustrated about that for a while, and she felt relief from it in the moments leading up to her final breaths, and understood that this was a better path.

#Holly

Quakes game tonight. 0-2 loss to Vancouver.

Office. Saw the studio, lots of gear there from SF studio that was shut down.

Colin came by today. He’s such a sweet guy. I told him about therapy and how it helps me. I started showing him power chords on the guitar. He was having trouble keeping his pointer finger straight. I forgot how hard it is to do that with your fingers when starting out.

Here he is crafting with Kristen

Helping mom to look at cars today. First stop is Subaru Stevens Creek.

drying patterns on the street

A lady working at the garden center wanted to take a photo of Holly.

Another day another tree pic

Gilroy, Tuesday February 6th 2024

Jets turning after flying over Levi Stadium, Santa Clara, January 28th 2024

The fibers of my couch 🛋

Took Jonny to dinner for his birthday, Mio Vicino.

This happened a couple of days ago

#sunset #sky #clouds

Clouds in DT Sunnyvale, waiting for the train between the rains.

Reading ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ and I liked this part:

“… a man should keep his little brain-attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it."

#books #reading #learning

I made a few things this week:

•

AI Voice notes analyzer with weekly recap, all running on local open source software and LLMs (project Diane)
•

Daily journaling prompt emailer built with python smtplib and the journaling prompts found here

Back at work today. Out of the house. Already saw a flaming transport truck on the side of the freeway shooting sparks. Starting 2024 with a bang.

Finished Sean’s apron today!

#sewing #vinyl #cricut

Updated the chat UI for LM Studio

Working on some #Christmas gifts

I’ve often wanted a way to record timings of markers while recording a #video or a #podcast, which I could then import into my editing program, so that I’d know where the highlights, bad takes, review markers, edit points, etc were. I used AI to create this functional tool. It’s super bare-bones but functional, and there are options for both Audition and DaVinci Resolve:

https://thedridge.com/audition_timer/

https://thedridge.com/resolve_timer/