Quick Thoughts
Enterprise has me in their system as “Roberta” instead of “Robert A.” They just called asking for Roberta, and were very confused.
Almost as funny as how Pet Smart has me in their system as “Bub” instead of “Bob.”
Today would have been my mom’s 80th birthday. Thinking about her today.
After two weeks of kids being sick and snow days, today I have the rarest of occurrences… a normal day without a single scheduled meeting. If you are looking for me today, I’ll be at my desk getting things done.
Big party at Craft and Draft Irmo to celebrate their 5th anniversary. That’s right, the opened in January 2020 right before COVID shut the world down. So glad our favorite local bar is still thriving.
Six years ago, I wrote a blog post encouraging people to ask “why” they post to Facebook? I reread it last night and at the end, I found this gem:
Now the hard part: Start asking “why” before you post? Understand the impact of your words before you comment. Or like. Or share. In all likelihood, this exercise will cause you will post less. Comment less. Like less. That’s okay. The only person who will get upset that you are using Facebook less is Mark Zuckerberg. (And honestly, he’s too busy trying to collect all your personal data to notice.)
Still true today. And not just for Facebook.
Iconfactory’s Tapestry is nearing release. I love being able to scroll through a unified feed with Micro.Blog, Bluesky, YouTube, RSS feeds and more. I’m so impressed with how it’s come together and steadily improved during the beta process.
For a class research project, I’ve been reading some journal articles about how to build more positive social media platforms. Sadly, I’m not sure it’s possible. I admire the people who are legitimately trying, though.
Had to take a few more pictures of the snow before it melts… the park behind our house is beautiful when blanketed in snow.
A little snow in Columbia, South Carolina is a big deal.
If the Bills win, it will set up a battle between Taylor Swift’s boyfriend and Hailee Steinfeld’s fiancé.
Helping my 7th grader understand linear regressions for his algebra class… I suppose this is normal? I was much older when I learned how to do linear regressions. As in, grad school.
Just ordered a custom Timbuk2 backpack to replace my 12-year-old custom Timbuk2 messenger bag. The messenger bag is still in good shape… pretty impressive for over a decade of daily use.
Enjoyed Star Wars Skeleton Crew. Fun show. Loved the 1980s Goonies vibe and would love more Star Wars like this.
I’m going to get a Micro.One subscription for my dad. He wants a place to share family geneology, stories and pictures and I think Micro.One is perfect for him.
My wife and I are making some changes around the house. Mostly rearranging existing furniture and cleaning out stuff we don’t use. But every time we make an improvement, we see something else that we need to tackle. It’s a seemingly never ending upgrade cycle.
People are talking about the “new” Honda logo that is used on their Honda Zero electric car prototypes they showed off at CES, but in reality, they announced that logo quietly last year.
I think it’s time to phase out bowl games. With opt outs, the transfer portal and and the playoff, they are an unnecessary relic. Switch to a 16-team playoff. Let everyone practice through December.
Our family has been going at full speed since Thanksgiving. Three birthdays, exams for the kiddos, a car accident (everyone is fine), parties, Christmas, family visiting… Thankfully, not much on the calendar for the next few days until I go back to work on January 2. I need some time to relax.
My daugther’s school has banned use of any unauthorized internet-connected device during school hours. She’s going to miss her music during study hall. I’m thinking about how to get her music copied over to my old iPod. Or even better, a cassette to use in an old Walkman…
Had to come back home this morning to pick up a package. And was able to confirm that my “Turn the Christmas Tree lights on when I get home” automation works as designed.
Thanks to the librarians at the University of South Carolina, I have a scan of my 1997 honors thesis. It’s not terrible… and it is full of fun 1997 acronyms, like UPN, CNNSI, ESPNET and CNET.
My favorite eight pictures from 2024.
Listening to a podcast this week and I realized that my 1997 honors thesis about media branding in the age of cable TV and the internet is actually relevant as media branding continues to change. I might dust it off and turn it into a history of media branding instead.
You say “Bless you” when someone sneezes. My son wanted to come up with something to say when someone coughs. We’ve settled on “May God have mercy on your soul.” 🤣
I started watching F1 this season with the Canadian Grand Prix and adopted McLaren as my team. So cool to see them win the Constructors’ Championship. And overall, such a great season for me to start with… so much fun to watch.