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.
Then: Reflections from 12.31.24
Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page. The last day of the year. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks leading up to Christmas and before New Years. A minor car accident complicated the already busy season. Everyone is fine, and it was the other driver’s fault, but now we are just waiting to find out if the damage is repairable. Thankful for good auto insurance.
2025: Incremental Progress
My themes for 2025 are essentially the same as they were last year. And the year before. I need to get healthy. I want to write and be creative. I need to stay organized. It’s somewhat boring that my major themes have stayed the same for three years. I’ve made progress, but I still have a ways to go. I thought about changing them up, but these four goals still reflect what I need to work on so I’m sticking with them.
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.
Then: Reflections from 12.15.24
Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page. First up, Happy birthday Norah! My oldest turns 20 today. Two decades is a long time and so much has happened… and yet, it feels like it has flown by. I’ve seemed to settle in writing these updates every other week instead of weekly. Since they are mostly for me, I going to be okay with it. But if you happen to be reading along, just a heads up.
My favorite eight pictures from 2024.
Tracking down a copy of my thesis from 1997
I want to find a copy of my 1997 honors thesis.1 I wrote it on a Power Mac 7500 in Word Perfect 3.5 on the classic Mac OS 8. It probably fit on a floppy drive, but I know I saved a backup copy of it on a Zip drive. At some point, I decided that I needed to move things off the Zip disks and consolidated all of my old files from college onto DVDs.
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.
Subscribed to The Verge’s new subscription plan. I think $7/month is a reasonable price for everything that the site offers and I’m happy that I can support quality tech journalism.
Enjoyed Skeleton Crew last night. It does feel like a Goonies + Star Wars mash up. They’ve built an interesting premise and there seem to be some interesting avenues for them to explore. Looking forward to rewatching it with my son.
I think professional wrestling might have more consistent rules than Formula 1.
Then: Reflections from 12.01.24
Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page. Thanksgiving week was busy. I worked Monday and Tuesday, took Wednesday off and the university was closed for Thursday and Friday. It was a much needed rest. We had Norah home from college so it was nice to have all of Team Wertz under the same roof for the first time for a while. Hard to believe it’s December.
Hey Siri. Play Sandstorm.
Down goes Clemson. South Carolina’s offense isn’t always pretty, but they fight to the end. LaNorris Sellers is a winner. 🐓🏈
As a McLaren fan, it was a fun F1 Sprint Race this morning. I imagine it was boring for everyone else though.
Post Thanksgiving date night at Craft and Draft Irmo.
