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Hey, RFK, Jr.: Go fuck yourself.: I’m the proud parent of two kids on the Autism spectrum. I love my kids. I love them as they are. I love the way they think. I love being a part of their lives. And Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. can go fuck himself. Stay the fuck away from my kids, and stop thinking they’re a fucking problem you brain-worm …

Spent the first day of a new year clearing out from under four years or so of email cruft. Also lined up some todos, set up some email clients and cleared the decks to start building some things this year. By the end of 2025: Would have run a half marathon Built a SaaS app Released a course LFG!

Software engineers solve problems for a living. If you don’t give them interesting problems and leave them bored, they’ll manufacture their own. Then you end up with Kubernetes, React, things of that nature. And that’s the best case.

Having to break out my rusty sales deck skills for a presentation next week. Kinda like the direction things are heading.

gulp Just registered to run the Indy Mini - a half marathon that ends with a loop of The Indianapolis Motor Speedway - next year. Still weird to think of doing that - running more than 13 miles - when it also feels so doable. My long runs each week are halfway there already and growing steadily.

I’m so incredibly proud of my son, Benjamin. He’s worked really hard his freshman year in high school and came away with an unreal number of academic awards (11, I think?) at the end of the school year. And it’s a huge school! His class is the size of my entire high school. So proud and amazed.

Happy “Your options expire today” to all who celebrate! Served as a good reminder this morning of how far I’ve come on self-sustainability in such a short time since being laid off.

Still ramping up my running post-holidays and work drama, but did my first 5k of the year at the Donut Dash and clocked my second-fastest time: 32:45. Great fun.

So, I made a thing. It’s a fairly useless thing, but I wanted somewhere to link to from the footer of my blog and other future things, so I went and made a thing to link to. To say I’m not using AI to generate my content. noai.omg.lol

Sent my first email newsletter (not from here, but buttondown) in a good long while and nobody has unsubscribed yet! Bits about AI, coffee, and software engineering hiring. buttondown.email/chrisvann…

It’s hard to not take rejection personally. And both searching for a job and trying to spin up a consulting business come with a lot of rejection. Rough couple of days for that. Nothing a run followed by a Culver’s double won’t fix, though. Probably.

Fired up a new home for my software engineering management writings and cut it back to the bare essentials for now. First up: As a manager, it’s your job to communicate context, even the “obvious” stuff. chrisvannoy.com/the-world…

Experimented with my aeropress recipe, changing the water from 180 to 185. And was astonished by the difference. In a bad way! Said recipe: 20 grams coffee - 8.5 on encore grinder 180-deg water (third wave classic) 100 grams water. Stir 100 grams water. Plug, wait 2min Plunge. Fill with hot water

Let's talk about intent: In a recent life, I used to joke that I was in charge of all the “creepy stuff” at a Marketing Technology startup. I was a product manager in charge of things like identifying anonymous visitors, intent (more on this soon) and advertising targeting. I helped build systems which would …

Life is funny sometimes. Was laid off from a company ~two weeks ago. Picked up a consulting client and the engagement starts today. They’re located in the exact same coworking location. At least I know where the coffee is!

Anyway! New folder created: shipping_news Fiddling around with something new since I have a few.

Spending the evening rummaging through my old personal projects to see if there’s anything interesting and salvageable in here. Some folder names: landslide la-jetee cybernetic garbageman playbook Can only vaguely remember what some of those are …

I was laid off today, but before then I had written down as a goal for this year to build at least two non-day-job income streams. Thinking: Custom travel itineraries Cookies Writing something about engineering management Have time now to make progress on some of these alongside job applications.

A parting message from the dwindling moments of 2023. Happy New Year, folks! Let’s make it a good one with plenty of cheer.

Day 12 of the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, featuring my daughter’s favorites: Black and White Rolly Balls. Another family recipe that I might write up later - but these are dangerously good and might not last for the big man in a few days. Now, a break before prepping cinnamon rolls on the Eve.

Nearing the end of my Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies - and still so many cookies I’d like to to make! For Day 11, I made shortbread in honor of a trip to Edinburgh I’m planning for next year. King Arthur again. Surprisingly addictive.

I’ve baked cookies for ten days in a row as part of what I’m calling The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies. Tonight: Chocolate Peppermint Snaps from King Arthur again. I think I made them bigger than the recipe expects - but I probably like them softer anyway. Also used white chocolate chips.

Day Nine of my Twelve Day of Christmas Cookies! Ginger molasses cookies - another King Arthur Flour recipe, but a family favorite. www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/s… Used a bit more flour and chilled the dough which made shaping way easier.

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies! Day Eight! Cocoa Kisses! From another family recipe, and a full batch baked this time as a) a favorite and b) close to time to deliver a batch of cookies to folks. Dusted the cookies instead rolling them in the sugar. I like how they look snow-covered.

Recipe: Cocoa Kisses: As part of this Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies shenanigans I’m undertaking, I occasionally slip in a family recipe. In this case, these chocolate cookies have a Hershey’s Kiss in the middle and were one my favorites growing up - though dangerous because they looked very similar to another cookie …

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies! Day Seven! Gingersnaps! Recipe: www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/g… Had this saved for a whilee but had never made it before - mostly because I don’t use shortening a lot. The batch for tonight I burned the bottom of a bit, but still tasty.

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies! Day Six! Mexican Wedding Cookies. This time, a family recipe. Notes: Wait a bit before rolling in sugar Maybe less food coloring next time Tastes like nostalgia!

Recipe: Mexican Wedding Cookies: As part of The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies thing I’m doing, I’m mixing in a few family recipes. This is our version of Mexican Wedding Cookies. I always remembered them as being the one green cookie we made each year - though they don’t taste anything like green. It’s just food coloring after …

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies! Day Five! Peanut butter cookies! Cross-hatched and everything! Dipping back into King Arthur for the recipe (because they’re solid, in grams, and haven’t let me down): www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/c… Peanut buttery!

Day 4! Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies! Today, I broke out the disher and made some chocolate cookies, again with a King Arthur recipe (I find theirs to be pretty straightforward and good). www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/c… Missing espresso powder, but still tasty!

Twelve days of Christmas cookies, Day 3! Good ol’ chocolate chip. Trying this recipe from King Arthur Flour: www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/c… Didn’t have enough corn syrup, so I swapped in molasses for the remainder. Worked!

Twelve days of Christmas cookies, Day 2. Sugar cookies courtesy of Serious Eats: www.seriouseats.com/soft-and-… Three baked for tonight, the rest headed into the freezer for baking later in the month. Notes: Not bad. Could probably cook a little shorter.

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies. Day one. Eggnog Snickerdoodles. Recipe from NYT Cooking. Couldn’t find run extract anywhere, so went with actual rum (Smith and Cross). Really tasty. cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1…

Settling in for my 35th stadium and school in my quest to see a game at every FBS football program. Today it’s Missouri at Arkansas for the totally-not-made-up Battle Line Rivalry. 🏈

Today was a good reminder at how effective exercise is at improving my mood. I’ve been a bit in the dumps lately (nothing specific, just ennui/malaise), but the moment I finished my first set of deadlift today it was like it all melted away. Looking forward to getting in a run tomorrow, too.

I suspect I might be more of a Cal person than a Stanford person after seeing games at both back to back today. Stanford is just so, and park-like. And maybe a quarter full. It’s objectively great in amenities and symmetry and fit and finish, but it lacks soul. Except the band. The band is great.

I missed a whale of a game when I had to leave stop one for the day (sorry Cal). But howdy from a 7-7 game in the second quarter at stop two: Washington at Stanford. This is the 34th stop in my quest to see a game at every FBS college.

Folks, Cal is the most fun college game atmosphere I’ve been at in a long while. I hopped off the BART, walked uphill through campus to a beautiful stadium nestled in a canyon with a chill, fun crowd vibe. Just awesome. Kind of bummed to leave early to make my next kickoff.

It strikes me as very Cal that kickoff is being delayed by a sit in protest of some sort at the 50 yard line.

Hi from California Memorial Stadium and today’s first stop - and my 33rd FBS stadium visited in my quest to see a game at them all. Settling in for a bit of USC @ Cal before I hightail it over to Palo Alto for my second stop today.

Rain and wanting to get back home after a week-long family road trip meant it was a quicker visit than usual, but marked off my 32nd trip to an FBS football home stadium today with Akron at Bowling Green. Best MAC facility I’ve been to so far. Including a bucket of mini donuts!

Ran my second 5k this morning - right down the road at Fort Ben State Park. Shaved three minutes off my last one, but still a little bit to go before I break 30 minutes. Had never run before I started in March - and will keep at it. Maybe next year, I’ll run the half marathon here … 🏃🍁

Howdy from stop 31 on my quest to see a game at every FBS football school. Settling in for a weeknight game of Jacksonville State at Middle Tennessee State. Second CUSA visit (WKU), second TN visit (Vandy). Next trip: Out west.

I started running - for exercise at first, and increasingly for fun - earlier this year. I spent some time NYC last week, and running there - up the East River Esplanade and under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges in my case - is kind of magical thanks to the views and the surrounding bustle. 🏃🗽

Went on a trip, finished reading “Station Eleven”. Got kinda sick, tested positive for Covid after all these years. Now watching “Station Eleven,” because that tracks.

Hi from West Point and stop 30 on my quest to see a game at every FBS football school for Delaware State at Army. Of note: Highly recommended pregame. Nice to have access to military hardware for such things …

Doing a lot of trip planning lately - trying to cram in the family vacation list now that we have one kid in high school - and finding AirBnBs to be a bad deal these days. Hotels are better and cheaper almost always.

Greeetings from sunny San Diego and Snapdragon Stadium - stop 29 on my quest to see a game at every FBS college. Tonight’s game is Idaho State at San Diego State.

I’m now rotating four different notebooks on a daily basis: Log of gratitude and wins and goals (one page a week) Daily task book Work todos and notes Evening News I would try to consolidate - and might combine some of this - but I also like each of things having their own home and purpose.

I bought a notebook recently, intending to try writing Morning Pages - three pages of whatever first thing in the morning. But the notebook was so handsome that I couldn’t bear to fill it with never-to-be-read drivel … So, it’s for Evening News instead. At least one page a day of how the day was.

What we call AI today is basically scalable Fiverr. About the same quality, just faster and cheaper. Pretty much the same work tasks, too.

Reflecting on visiting Gettysburg as a grown adult with kids in the year of our lord 2023: As a kid, we visited Civil War battlefields like some folks hunt Pokémon. We stopped at the ones along the way, and the ones that were a bit out of the way. We did the Shenandoah Valley, all four near Fredericksburg (Federicksburg, The Wildness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, and Chancellorsville), …

Things I’ve said lately that seem to resonate with people. Some of these might be stolen, but I can’t recall from where: Perfect is the enemy of done Assume positive intent Progress happens slowly then all at once That which must be done eventually, should be done immediately

I began running on a whim - running between electrical poles. I ran in rain, cold, with knee pain, through therapy for that knee, and everything else before running my first 5k this morning. Each time, I take a selfie when the run is done. This is first and last of those. Think I’ll keep doing this.

Every time I visit NYC, I like it a little more. Had a great weekend with my daughter, even with the rain.

Finished reading: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 📚 reminiscent at times of Kavalier & Klay, but slighter. Or perhaps just my memory of K&K

Finished reading: A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine 📚… Fun to revisit these characters and environment. And great themes around colonization and collectivism.

I’ve been trying to get three runs - still kind of walk/runs for now - a week. First this week was rainy. I went anyway, and did 2-1 run/walk (best ratio yet). This morning was cold, but I went anyway. I went longer, still 2-1 for 3.75k … still building for a 5k in April/May.

The Shipping News: One of the more powerful things I do at my new job is at the end of the week I update a running document I call “Shipping Department News”, which is a list of all the stuff we deployed to production in the week. It’s a bulleted list, and each item has a little description of what it does and why it …

I’ve been doing a daily meditation lately. Not long, but helpful to me. Mostly to keep me from burning bridges which I emotionally wish to burn, but ultimately does no one any good - even me. So. Many. Bridges. So little good. I notice the urge, and let it go. So it goes.

So, since early November, I’ve been watching/tracking what I eat. And I’m down ~23 pounds. A few weeks ago, I decided to pony up for a personal trainer for six weeks. And I just walked back in from the closest thing I’ve ever been able to call a “jog”. And I kind of liked it?

Finished reading: The Caledonian Gambit by Dan Moren 📚 Fun read as far as the words go, but the audiobook grated a fair bit and I had to power through. I guess the Scottish accents shouldn’t have been a surprise …

Finished reading: The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin 📚

Finished reading: The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin 📚

Finished reading: The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin 📚 I had read and enjoyed the Inheritence Trilogy a while back, and dipped back into Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy with this on audiobook over the new year. Wow.

Amazing views from the top of the Gateway Arch this morning! Had fun anyway, though!

Favorite places for nature very near Indianapolis: I read a blog post recently by a fellow resident of Indianapolis who’s having a hard time lately and found themselves lamenting the lack of places for “Forest bathing” in Indianapolis (and cities like it). It seemed familiar to me - as one of the ways I reset myself often is to go …

Finished reading: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers 📚 Really good moments - dampened only slightly by my forgetfulness of the book it’s a sequel to.

Recently finished reading: Lock In by John Scalzi 📚 Nothing earth-shattering, but a fun read over the holidays.

The biggest thing I learned this year: The mental strain from sticking with a bad situation robs you of the energy for so many impactful things in life. If something doesn’t feel right, quit sooner.

When I was a kid, I would doodle by splitting a page into a series of triangles. Tried it a bit today and kind of like the result. Scanner didn’t pick up some of the lighter lines. Debating if I keep fiddling with it or leave it as-is.

Introduce yourself with 5 TV shows: Better Off Ted 👔🥼 X-Files 👽 Scrubs 🩺 Good Eats 🥘 Rick Steves Europe 🌍

On November 6, I stepped on a scale at home and had a 298.5 staring back at me. Since then, I’ve watched what I ate, made tweaks and restarted daily walks. Also started weighing myself each day - as a reminder to pay attention. Early, but close to dipping back below 280. 🎉

At my favorite work-from-a-coffee shop place (Porter Books and Bread), the Endless coffee comes in a thrifted coffee mug. I smiled at the one I randomly got today.

First time I carved the turkey ahead of time - roasting it in parts - and it was great! And I made turkey stock with the carcass last night while it dry brined, which made the gravy and stuffing fantastic. Might stick to this technique in the future. Low stress, great taste!

Pies (pumpkin and pecan) are finished, and the turkey (in parts) is in the the oven for round one. Brief break and then it’s time to prep what goes in the oven after the turkey comes out (stuffing, sweet potatoes, carrots, rolls).

Stop 28 on my quest to see a game at every FBS college hit South Bend for BC at Notre Dame. This season finale also had some very special guest stars (and not just Touchdown Jesus).

My home for the next couple of hours as I’m running inspection for a robotics tournament. I ask the teams some questions and then make sure their robot fits in the contraption to the right.

After the last two years or so of feeling stuck, this week’s burst of activity - while still taking time to care for myself with walks and mindfulness and watching what I eat - feels almost magical. It’s unreasonable to expect this every week, but this week felt really good.

Two weeks into a new job, and this week I: Shipped new code to prod Finished a draft of our roadmap Did an intro that closed a sale Had a chat with every team member Sent an internal newsletter Went for a walk each day Meditated each day Tired. But a bit wired, too.

Finding Mastodon folks and following them here is a bit tricky, but once you get past that it works great! Fun to add some fresh and some familiar folks to my timeline in recent days.

Twitter’s been a large part of my career and life, but it’s time to say goodbye. In the coming days, I’ll be downloading my Twitter archive, hosting it, then deleting everything. I’m over at micro.blog/v and followable in Mastodon via @chris@micro.chrisvannoy.com

Settling in for the Great Pumpkin after a bout of trick-or-treat and a full first day at my new job. Said new job, for the non-LinkedIn folks: VP, Product & Engineering at The Juice 🧃 (@TheJuiceHQ over on Twitter, thejuicehq.com otherwise). Tired but still stoked.

I start a new job tomorrow. I’m preparing like it’s the first day of school. Feels like that, too. Giddy with excitement!

Some news: www.linkedin.com/feed/upda… More news Monday!

Enjoying a few dogs and a beer at the workplace of one of my childhood heroes, Enrico Pallazzo.

Watching games at UCLA and USC on back to back nights brings some observations - nothing to do with the games themselves, but atmosphere. USC is like watching a show. A really well put together performance with all the bells and whistles. UCLA is like a backyard BBQ. Both fun

Hiya from Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for Arizona State at USC and stop 26 in my quest to see a game at every FBS school. I’m (practically) 20% done! Also: Hi Dad. Nice hat!

Great time catching PAC12 AfterDark in person.

Howdy from the Grandaddy of Them All, The Rose Bowl! Stop 25 on my quest to see all the FBS home stadiums. With another guest appearance from my Dad! Excited for Washington at UCLA, too!

Good morning from the last day of the CubingUSA Great Lakes Championship! Benjamin is already done with his first event with two more personal records: 3x3 Single: 13.21s 3x3 Average: 15.64s Those are both huge improvements. Suspect we’ll be around for the second round

Finished our first day of competition with another pair of personal records, making Benjamin 6 for 6 - a new personal record single and average in each event. 4x4 Single: 1:03.09 4x4 Average: 1:08.23 Tomorrow: 3x3, 3x3 One Handed, and Pyraminx

Two events in and we’re 4 for 4 in competition personal records New 2x2 single: 4.83s 2x2 average: 6.25s Skewb single: 7.11s Skewb average: 11.25s By the way, for those not in the cool kids cubing club, this is “Skewb” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skew…

Greetings from the CubingUSA Great Lakes Championship in Port Huron, MI. We (well, Benjamin) are competing in six events. As always, the goal is #NotLast. And maybe a few personal bests. www.worldcubeassociation.org/competiti…

Coming back from Hawai`i with good coffee - and tasting it there - has forced me to tweak my brewing technique a fair bit. Lower temperature, more coffee, better water. Still not quite there, but much better. And should work on my locally-roasted stuff as well.

Noodling on the idea of a course or courses (kind of booster packs) intended to help crosstrain JS bootcamp grads on Ruby and Rails. Not much past the outline stage yet, but curious if there’s anything that feels missing for that purpose and audience.

Next question for folks: In ye olde days, coding bootcamps were cranking out junior Rubyists like crazy. At this point, it feels like they’ve all shifted to JavaScript. Pity. But, for those still working in Ruby, do you hire and crosstrain JS juniors? Or would like to?

That said, our absolute favorite meal was the Family Pack from Kona Grill House. So great - and a great value! - that we made the effort to have it twice, including for our last meal on-island. konagrillhouse.com If you’re ever on the Big Island with ~4, go there.

I did my research before going to Hawaii and knew about poké … but came away longing for more loco moco. Such a simple - rice, hamburger patty, brown gravy, egg - dish, but so tasty. Oh! And mac salad. So much mac salad.

For reference, these are some of the ideas I’m considering right now for fun-size screencasts of Ruby/Rails things.

Working on a thing and could use your help: What smallish thing about Ruby or Ruby on Rails would you value an explanation or walkthrough of? Carving out time tomorrow morning to explain such things in (very) short screencasts.

Taking a jet lag day after returning home late yesterday from a two weeks+ vacation that hit Disneyland and Hawaii’s Big Island. Still processing many of the experiences. And missing the ocean and jungle already.

Went for a hike today. Grabbing dinner above an active volcano. No biggie.

Final tally for the day! Benjamin: Set six new personal bests (out of six possible) Made the second round of 3x3 for the first time and had his first few sub-20s solves Made the cutoff for 4x4 with a solve in less than 1:20 for the first time Fun day!

First cubing competition since the pandemic started. Benjamin has already racked up personal bests in Pyraminx single solve (10.25s) and average (13.10s). 3x3 and 4x4 still to come, but he’s already in his element and with his people.

A work story about magical elves: An email to a client: That custom report is generated by magic dwarves. To ensure they produce at the quality we and our customers expect, we keep them supplied with medical-grade peyote. Unfortunately, the week you requested this report, they had run out of their supply, and given global supply …

Really enjoying Glass. Giving me an excuse to scrub through my photo library and pick out the good ones to highlight. glass.photo/chris-van… Today’s of St. Paul’s.

Great morning to get out for a quick hike at Fort Harrison to break in some new hiking shoes. Aside: Have yet to find a bad trail at Fort Ben. Well worth the annual state park pass if you’re Indy-adjacent.

Find myself wondering if the NONULLS vanity license plate in front of me belongs to a database administrator or not. Tempted to wait for them to come back to their car and ask …

Hi. I’m trying my level best not to read Twitter anymore these days. Luckily, I already have had a home over at micro.blog/v for a while now. And posts start there. I miss yinz, though. If you’re also on Micro (or Mastadon or something), let me know.

Did an overnight backpacking trip on the Bloodroot Trail at Salamonie Lake State Park here in Indiana. Close to 13 miles over two days. Some corn fields and such in the front half, but worth it for the morning views on the way out. Now to wait for these blisters to heal …

Spend a day in Paris and now I can make baguettes. Weird.

Westminster Abbey, on the other hand, feels old. Ancient, even.

The thing that strikes me in retrospect about London’s St Pauls Cathedral is that it feels relatively modern - and not like a relic. I have to remind myself that it’s from the 1600s instead of the 1960s.

Whenever I get around to writing that novel, or some future speaking gig, I think I’ve got the photo for it now …

Our day trip to Paris was a snowy April Fools Day. Trying not to judge on our short time, but felt like traipsing through the beautiful remains of a decadent, depraved, and dead civilization. Beautiful but doomed. Might feel differently with more time (and better weather).

Happy to be home after a week spent traveling to London (and a day trip to Paris) with the family. Planned and arranged everything myself and, frankly, kinda nailed it. With a hat tip to @RickSteves guidebooks and videos.

Achievement unlocked! Dinner without a single recipe. Brown butter garlic salmon, with cucumber-tomato-balsamic salsa, lemon-basil couscous and corn with peppers, butter and honey. Corn turned out a bit too spicy for my family, but otherwise 👍

Kids home from school and solo parenting again means you get Fancy French Grilled Cheese for lunch. (This way I can coast on those Croques Monsieurs laurels the rest of the day)

I know they want us to call it “monobob”, but I prefer “Soapbox Derby on ice”

Each year for the Super Bowl, I whip up party food for our family of four (typically making enough for a party even though it’s just us). This year: Boneless wings (Buffalo, BBQ, Soy Ginger) Potato Skins Queso & Chips Party Meatballs Most from scratch.

It’s been a good week. I made an observation over the weekend. I’m the only one making me miserable or anxious. Nobody and nothing else. And I don’t have to make myself any of that. So, I notice when I’m doing that, and remind myself it’s only me doing it. It’s helping.

This is an known technique for most, but one I’m working on training myself to remember/rely on more often when making big decisions: If it’s not a “Hell yes!”, it’s a “No”.

Since Friday afternoons are the best time to launch something … Excited to introduce exitimpact.com It’s a curated marketplace for Central Indiana small-to-medium-sized businesses. Tell your friends!

See. Sledding was fun for all.

Said hill for the curious.

I’ve lived in Indy for nearly fifteen years. Today it snowed enough that I could take the kids (and my wife) sledding for the first time in their lives at the Fort Harrison State Park sledding hill. Wish I’d done this sooner.

Stick around at a startup post-acquisition for long enough, and it starts to feel like the Career of Theseus.

Update! Managed to hold off on that fancy French beef stew until today. Yum.

Making tomorrow’s dinner - boeuf bourguignon - today means the house smells amazing … but I’m not eating it until tomorrow. Assuming I can restrain myself …

“Make more things more obvious” A goal coming out of this week’s therapy session. Now I need to figure out how to turn that into specifics …

Volunteering at Second Helpings, a beginner's guide: Toward the end of 2021, I started itching for a way to get out of the house and do some good. Over the course of the current pandemic, I got more and more into home cooking and found that time spent in the kitchen - even doing prep work - really gave me a considerable peace of mind, so I figured …

Behold my fancy ass: I wrote the below yesterday, planning to post it today. Over the course of driving back to Indy today, it gave me pause, though. I mean, for all the “I don’t have fancy stuff” below, I am inherently a privileged, and fairly “fancy” person. I mean, I grind my own coffee …

52 Things Learned in 2021: It’s 2022 today, and Happy New Year to you and yours. The year past was at a macro level, a bit of a hellscape, but at a micro/personal level, far rosier. We managed to travel safely - around Indiana, to a relatively secluded beach, a weekend in Chicago, and then NYC/Boston. I switched from …

The first thing Dan mentions here is the new thing I alluded to a few days ago: www.linkedin.com/feed/upda… Working on the name, site, email and whatnot to try and get past starting friction and launch v0.1 in early 2022.

Building a thing with a friend. It’s at the exciting part where we give the thing a name and start turning it into a real boy - landing page and google form and domain name and such. I’ve done this solo before; it’s kinda fun to bounce ideas off someone else and have some help.

Not sure who needs to hear this, but it’s the time of year many do. It’s ok to feel adrift sometimes. Drift a while - as long as you need. Maybe the current takes you somewhere interesting. You can row again when you know where you want to go. Save your strength, float on.

Went for a five mile hike yesterday on the nation’s longest scenic trail - to make room for more cookies and eggnog. Had a nice view once I got up on the ridge top.

New thought technology from therapy this week: It’s not that I should do things, but rather that I want to do things. I carry around a lot of guilt and shame over the things I should do but don’t. Rather than I should pay that bill, I want to be a person that paid it.

It’s been an excellent morning.

“Remember, remember the fifth of November …” Happy Guy Fawkes Day (or, in America, “V for Vendetta” Day) to you and yours.

Communing with the spirits* at home this delightfully spooky Halloween evening. (#mboct Day 31/31) * - Maple Old Fashioned - with Indiana maple syrup and Old Grandad (my favorite inexpensive bourbon)

Hanging out with Benjamin for Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra this afternoon for “The Nightmare Before Christmas” with live accompaniment. He’s a beginning cellist, and I accidentally got our seats right in front of the cellos!

Spending my Halloween midday with a BBC adaptation of “The Turn of the Screw” I stumbled upon on Amazon Prime. I’ve heard the phrase, but am wholly unfamiliar with the work … but it seemed appropriate from the description. Wish me luck!

Four years ago today. Still going.

Leaves are finally starting to turn into shades of red around here. (#mboct Day 30/31)

Cycle. (#mboct Day 29/31)

Interesting pattern underneath the roof of the back balcony at The Breakers in Newport, RI. (#mboct Day 28/30)

Likely not a good sign for - an admittedly beautiful looking - movie that I needed an explainer afterward to fill in all the context needed to understand the thing. For folks like me unversed in Dune, this one’s good: maxread.substack.com/p/dune-an…

Taking our time sorting through the chaos that is our filing system here at home. Lots of old junk headed to the local shredder. (#mboct Day 27/30)

I don’t know about “bliss”, but a freshly baked chili-cheese baked potato makes for a darn tasty (and easy!) lunch. (#mboct Day 26/30)

It’s the time of year when gravity does its thing to leaves, making my daily walk treacherous - if pretty! - in spots. (#mboct Day 25/30)

Pretty strong connection between the first dreary, rainy day of fall and a warm bowl of chili (with lots of crackers!), if you ask me. (#mboct Day 24/30)

Story behind that pizza: Had a need for a bathroom. The pizza place seemed like the best option to buy some slices to get access to a toilet. They talked me into a whole pie. We had a train to catch. Wasn’t our favorite pizza of the trip, but might be the most memorable.

I don’t have a photo of it - my hands were full - but a favorite memory of this trip will be sharing a to-go large pepperoni pizza with my family on a bench next to the statue of Bewitched’s Elizabeth Montgomery in the early evening in Salem. Here they are just after.

Also snagged a fresh photo of my previous lock screen- ~15 years later. Things are a fair bit lighter now. :)

Each time I visit MoMA, I end up with a new iPhone background or two. New ones from this trip are Monet’s “Water Lillies” on the lock screen and “The Town of the Poor” by Sonja Sekula elsewhere.

Now that I’m back home, here’s more travel photos featuring more than just me from the last week!

Travel, especially with family, has always been a deep well of meaning in my life. Happy to be home after a week away, though. (#mboct Day 23/30) (Photo of my family and I at The Breakers Mansion in Newport, RI, from Wednesday late afternoon/early evening)

Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton turned out to be a fine place for a rest about halfway through the longest driving day of the trip - from Boston to Western Pennsylvania. (#mboct Day 22/30)

Not a bad birthday: Walked the Freedom Trail Had chowda and lobsta roll in Quincy Market Did a guided walking tour of Salem through dusk into night Sat on a park bench and ate pizza with my family Took public transit for almost all of that (winding our way back to the car now)

When I travel, my favorite space is often either the train station or the public market. In NYC, it’s Grand Central. Here in Boston, it’s Quincy Market. (#mboct Day 21/30)

Stretching for the theme a bit, but I reckon this is a lawn that has seen a croquet match or two in its day. (#mboct Day 20/30)

Why thank you. It was good to be back after 15 years away.

Me and Frida at MoMA. (#mboct Day 19/30)

Finished a day traipsing around the Hudson Valley with the #pumpkinblaze at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson (just up river from Sleepy Hollow). It got bigger in the last 15 years since I last went. (#mboct Day 18/30)

I didn’t need a compass to tell which side of Pennsylvania I was in today. (#mboct Day 17/30)

In the seemingly random rotation of my facial hair cycle, things came up clean shaven this time. (#mboct Day 16/30)

Far from ethereal, today’s dinner celebrates National Cheese Curd Day with Culver’s CurderBurger - yes, that’s a patty-sized fried cheese curd. Still processing this - literally and figuratively. (#mboct Day 15 / 30)

Well. One of my wheels at least. They can’t all be winners. (#mboct Day 14 / 30)

Got my daily walk in early today - Four miles or so amongst the fog and the animals at Fort Ben. (#mboct Day 13 /30)

The legend: Puccini’s Campfire pizza. Summer sausage, sweet onion marmalade, gorgonzola & fresh rosemary. (#mboct Day 12/30)

When I think of hygge, I think of family time. Like this photo from New Year’s Eve last year. To be that close and that together and that happy at the end of such a tough year brings me comfort even now. (#mboct Day 11/30)

Lots of bridges on yesterday’s hikes, but the highlights were the falls and the tunnel (from an abandoned railroad line) at Clifty Falls State Park. (#mboct Day 10/30 … and posted from glorious home internet)

This part of this morning’s four mile hike didn’t feel safe, but turned out ok. Highly recommend the trails at Clifty Falls - and the ranger-led Railroad History hike. (#mboct Day something/30)

Missed twilight (barely), but got the tent set up for a weekend with the kids at Clifty Falls State Park. (#mboct Day 8/30)

Took the kids to the grocery store after school today, stopped by the spice rack for cinnamon. Came home and cooked fish sticks and fries. Livin that Dad Lyfe. (#mboct Day 7 / 30)

Since I got an Apple Watch at the beginning of the year, I’ve been walking more. These days I shoot for a walk of >2 miles each day. Vast majority of those miles are on the trail right across the street from my house - one mile out and one back. (#mboct Day 6/30)

Since I’ve been working from home, I’ve kept a few toys on my desk or close at hand. But this one? This one’s my favorite. (#mboct Day 5/30)

Based on the leaves on the trail at Fort Ben this morning, we’re about to take a sharp turn into Autumn proper here soon. (#mboct Day 4/30)

Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes are the majority of my lunch this week. Note to self: Have a good snack plan. (#mboct Day 3/30)

A fresh college football Saturday - this one at home. Still thinking about Michigan State after dark last week, though. (Day 2 of #mboct)

We found our way out eventually, though.

Got a touch lost in a corn maze this evening.

Now that I’m not in engineering, I can name a git branch “at-the-coco-coco-kibana” and not feel the least bit guilty about it.

Even before the pandemic, it had been far too long since I went to Shapiro’s Delicatessen here in Indy. Was a great father-son lunch today as I introduced Benjamin to the Rueben.

Next up for The Quest. September 25, 2021: 12pm FIU at Central Michigan 7pm Nebraska at Michigan State Best combo out of five (!) home games in the state of Michigan that day.

I tend to interpret “Only in theaters” these days as “Welp. Won’t see that until later.”

Closed out the long weekend in Chicago with more walking around, a fountain, a big shiny bean, and the Cubbies with my family and a few friends.

A few photos from walking around and gawking at buildings in downtown Chicago today. Bonus points to those who can identify both.

A few notes from tonight’s experience: Missed kickoff because of traffic Parked on a golf course Healthy MSU contingent The above all seems 👍 An opportunity to sing the WVU-approved lyrics to “Sweet Caroline” on one of these trips gets some odd looks, but is always a treat

From the shores of Lake Michigan, greetings from Ryan Field for Michigan State at Northwestern. And my 20th stadium of The Quest.

These trips are always better when the home team wins. Congrats Illinois Football Team. And a Happy Scott Frost Day to you and yours! 🏈

Halftime at the kickoff for the 2021 college football season with Nebraska at Illinois. And my 19th visit of 130. #HappyScottFrostDay #19of130 #TheQuest

18 of 130: The Quest to see every FBS team: I grew up in my home state of West Virginia around college football. Each fall was spent either listening to the Mountaineers on hunting trips or traveling up to Morgantown for games. After a while, I started going to road games as well here and there. Later on, I started my career in sports …

Working on consolidating my old Jekyll blog into my micro.blog blog today. I have had an urge to write some things for a while now and the upkeep on that old one gets in the way.

We’ve lived in our house for nearly 13 years now. In that time, we’ve never hosted anyone that wasn’t family. I might have expelled some pent up hosting for tonight’s PFA meeting.

I think I’m getting better at this bread baking thing … 🥖

My quest to see a home game at every FBS football team is back on after taking year off for pandemic. Ticket in hand to kick off the season with the first game of the season: Nebraska at Illinois, August 28, Noon Central

Happy Fourth! I celebrated of a sort by making everything you see here: Fresh tagliatelle Ragu Bolognese Bread Now, to nap!

Good morning! I made muffins! From scratch! With fresh blueberries!

I will make a longer post about this, but I’ve been thinking lately about my phone’s role as the mortar of my life - the thing that fills the gaps, no matter how small, between other things. And what might have been there instead.

Sure. Snow in late April kinda sucks. Makes for a damn pretty hike, though. (Fort Harrison State Park, Indianapolis, IN. Camp Creek Trail)

Finished up our Indiana adventure yesterday. Hit New Harmony, Harmonie State Park, Lincoln Boyhood Home National Memorial and Lincoln State Park before winding home.

Pictures in the previous are from: Cataract Falls (Indiana’s largest waterfall by volume) Shakamak State Park (nice hike around a lake) George Rogers Clark National Historical Park in Vincennes

Fun day exploring parts of Indiana we hadn’t been before with all my favorite people.

Three-mile hike at Mounds State Park this morning with my other favorite person. So much chillier than yesterday, but a nice loop through the woods.

I bought myself an Apple Watch back in January and started filling my Exercise and Move rings with walks. Back then, I’d walk a mile and a half or so, fill my rings and call it a day. Yesterday, I did a four mile walk and now I’m thinking of hiking and building up a ten-miler.

A year ago today, I tearfully reunited with my family after a two week cautionary quarantine away from them. Today, I’m sitting in a Kroger parking lot in Shelbyville, IN, waiting for my first vaccine appointment.

Fun morning hiking around Spring Mill State Park with two of my favorite people. (The other one’s at Boy Scout camp)

I’ve filled out two brackets this year. I have WVU losing in the Elite Eight in one, and the title game in another. In my heart of hearts, though … I figure they’ll lose in the second round. Everything else is gravy.

Of course, the 2009-2010 team also has a place in my heart. Beating this Kentucky team in the Elite Eight, singing “Country Roads” at Scotty’s Brewhouse and watching them play Duke in the Final Four here in Indy is also 😎. youtu.be/lQR9jnEvT…

As a WVU alum and fan, the 2005 team still has a special place in my heart. The first 17 minutes or so of this Elite Eight game remain among the most excited I’ve ever been as a fan - even 16 years later. (The final is also very WVU) youtu.be/pSIsUK6V-…

A year ago today, I woke up in a hotel room in Atlanta, read that someone at a company all hands the day before had been second hand exposed to COVID. I spent the next two weeks in various hotels - quarantining from my family while my wife had surgery.

I ordered some delicious Kimchi for the fine folks at Fort Wayne’s True Kimchi (link below). Been experimenting with it all week, but this morning I went with Kimchi Fried Rice (recipe came with shipment) and this is this awesome. www.truekimchi.com

Yesterday, I posted something with a cryptic headline, that I figured I’d give another shot. In late 2018, I helped write down our engineering principles, and looking back, I’m quite proud of them. micro.chrisvannoy.com/2021/02/1…

When shoveling snow, you make a big pile of snow. My kids took a break to play in said pile. They were too cute not to post (and I don’t have the ’gram anyway)

Principled Speed: I joined Sigstr fairly early on its journey, and for the first time, I was at a place early enough to help set the philosophy and direction of the engineering group. We had a VP at the time who was very big on principles, and forced us to stop and think about them from time to time. Looking back, …

Making a recipe that includes a 50-50 mix of soy sauce and Worcester sauce. Midway through, I realized I’m out of Worcester sauce and swapped it for fish sauce … And I think it’s better?

Each year for the Super Bowl, we make a bunch of stuff like we’re throwing a party but it’s just our little four-person household. This year, we started the prep today with these: www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/p… They’re awesome!

I had a therapy session for the first time in twenty or more years this afternoon. I cried a lot more than I expected. And got homework out of it. Some of which I’ve already started on.

Just finished “Ancillary Justice” and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️‘d. It took me a while to tie the bits together, but once I did, it flew by and stuck the landing rather well. Fun and interesting concepts at play - just a little work to follow it early on. 📚

If, like me, you have trouble following or sticking with “Ancillary Justice” … it picks up a little over halfway through. Now I need power through the rest of this before the library takes it back.

In the later stages of this pandemic, I’ve started using a produce delivery service or two. This week, on a whim, I threw a pound of red lentils into the basket. Any suggestions of how to cook/consume them? 🍳 I’ve googled enough to get the idea.

As a further aside: Why, yes, I am in a good mood this morning. Why do you ask?

A quick story from this morning that reveals entirely too much of my personality: For a year or more now, @alfredapp (which I love) hasn’t been finding stock apps like “Music” when I use it. It’s annoyed me for that long. A little frown every time I exit out of the search box and Shift-Command-A to …

So. I can make tiramisu. And it’s delicious. And it was easy to make. This is a dangerous moment.

Today’s kitchen output: Proteins packaged and frozen for next week Potato salad for tomorrow Casserole for dinner Homemade tiramisu! (Also for tomorrow) Four lonely egg whites. Talk me out of four whiskey sours, people.

I really am hoping this feeling I have right now is “I’m an old, out of shape man that ‘slept’ in a tent without a rain fly in a thunderstorm” and not “I forgot to wash my hands that one time”

Camping in with the Boy Scouts. And introducing my kids to the Hillbilly Firepit.

I know they look the same as yesterday’s pepperoni rolls, but today’s versions are filled with scrambled eggs, cheese and seasoned potatoes. And almost as delicious.

Today’s production: 13 cups of chicken stock Eight pepperoni rolls Untold dirty dishes

Cinnamon rolls in for the night. Pop them into the oven and make the icing tomorrow morning.

Pierogi time! (verdict: tedious to make, but pretty quick and easy and delicious out of the freezer)

Y’all can keep your bread. I made muffins. (And probably making bread in a few days anyway … oh, and cinnamon rolls for Easter morning)

So far this fine morning, I’ve made: Two cups of coffee 24 beef pierogi (in the freezer now) One roasted vegetable frittata My family happy (said frittata was good)

Made a quick trip to a deserted downtown Indianapolis to pick up my office stuff to hunker down for WFH starting next week and the foreseeable future. Still tweaking things, but feels pretty comfy.

So far, a lot of this quarantine time has felt like living in a secret Chopped kitchen. “What can I make with a microwave, taco seasoning, iqf chicken breast, and frozen stir fry vegetables?” “Ok. How can I make something chicken parm like with chicken tenderloins and no spaghetti noodles?”

My kids’ taekwondo place (http://geistmartialarts.com/) is doing private lessons over zoom while we’re all in stay-at-home mode. Just did one and it was awesome!

I’m home a couple of days early! Because my wife’s surgeon tested positive for Covid-19 and there’s no sense in my staying away! Whole range of emotions going on right now, I tell ya.

Considering leaning on home schooling resources for my kids while they’re elearning/home with us. Thinking mostly software, mostly scheduling … but maybe curriculum if we want to supplement. What do folks like? The less Jesusy, the better.

Catching up on “The Expanse” and was surprised and delighted to see David Strathairn pop up. He’s been a favorite of mine since “Matewan” (which, as a WV kid, should be required viewing).

Thinking of taking advantage of the crushing loneliness and boredom* by recording a few screencasts over the weekend. Anything anybody want to learn about? I knows me the Ruby, the Rails, and a host of other miscellanea. *- this is mostly said tongue in cheek. I’m fine.

Today has been a far better day than yesterday. I only cried once (at the generosity of others), had an awesome dinner (considering microwave), and have just now discovered this comfy chair in my room is actually a recliner!

Discovered on Hulu, for those like me that have run out of Rick Steves’ Europe episodes to comfort watch (well, other than very viable rewatches): “Travel Man”: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trav… Starring Richard Ayoade!

My wine glass for the night is a 2015 Indianapolis Indians souvenir cup, but I’m stocked up, made the bed with my own sheets, pillow, and a family (Christmas) quilt. Hunkering down here, trying to stay healthy, for the next ten days. May they go fast.

STATION REPORT ALPHA - Day Four: CLASSIFIED. TOP SECRET CLEARANCE REQUIRED. I suspect our time here at Station Alpha is limited. Our few vegetables - bagged lettuce and a pair of tomatoes - are beginning to turn, and by the time the night’s out our strategic rum reserve will run dry, as well as our stocks of American beer. …

STATION REPORT ALPHA - Day Three: CLASSIFIED. TOP SECRET CLEARANCE REQUIRED. It’s my third day stationed here in Safehouse Alpha. Accommodations remain pleasant enough - and the communication relays are up enough for me to get communiques from Agents Disney, Netflix and Prime. Agent Hulu has not been heard from for quite some …

Jokes aside, I’m looking at two and a half weeks away from my family. Coinciding with my wife undergoing major surgery. Because somebody knew somebody who knew somebody who had coronavirus. I feel fine (physically). A test for this sort of thing sure would be nice.

This is a brilliant idea (he said as he stockpiles freezer foods for an upcoming situation and already has lasagna accounted for). Send A Friend Lasagna

I bought this on a whim (and a Wirecutter recommendation) and it turned into a really fun family game night tonight. Like Clue on steroids.

Pinewood Derby update! He won fastest in his den! And finished in the top 10! With a car that looked like this!

It’s not the prettiest car, but after a last minute weighin of a quarter ounce to heavy, Benjamin’s pretty ecstatic that is Pinewood Derby car came in at exactly 5 ounces.

👋 Idle Saturday thought. If you use Shopify, how do you do marketing attribution? As in: Sales by UTM campaign or source/medium?

When I was a kid (or more likely a teenager), my grandmother suggested I moonlight at a bartending school of some sort. Because the world will always need bartenders.

How I cook, January 2020: I’ve been diving deeper and deeper into a cooking rabbit hole over the last several years, and it really accelerated this year after a work colleague asked me “What do you do for fun?” and I couldn’t think of an answer and blurted out “Cooking”. And here we are. I’m going to ramble a bit in …

For Christmas, I got some actual bar gear. Things like a jigger, a set of shaker tins, and a Hawthorne strainer. And folks, this whiskey sour I’m drinking is a damn sight better than the one I made by shaking it in a mason jar and straining it through a Clever coffee dripper.

One step toward the stuff I talked about here, I also need to be reading Twitter a heck of a lot less. Somebody mentioned at some point being able to disable seeing retweets. I suspect that would be a huge help. micro.chrisvannoy.com/2020/01/0…

I just don't know what to do with myself: While reading Brent Simmon’s blog post on his New Years resolution to better channel his anger, it struck me that I’ve been struggling with similar misdirected (and frequently swallowed) anger over the last three years. It’s also been getting worse. I find myself tipping quickly …

Hindsight is 2020: In the just passed (observed) decade I: Had a second kid. Found out both kids are on the Autism Spectrum. Went into massive medical debt getting them therapy. Had five jobs - plus a wee bit of freelancing. Got fired for the first time. Started a ridiculous quest - to see a home game at every FBS …

We are visiting with some friends for New Years and tonight was my night to cook. Last weekend, I made a batch of these carnitas (and salsa verde) and stuck in the freezer before crisping it up today for a taco/burrito bar. And oh my lord, was this stuff tasty (and surprisingly easy) …

Started the day with homemade cinnamon rolls and ended it with a sous vide turkey porchetta. Along the way, I made gravy from the trimmings and homemade chicken stock, helped my wife make a kickass chocolate roll cake, plus a whole bunch of sides. Nothing left now but to finish this bottle of wine I …

Currently rewatching “The Force Awakens” post-“Rise of Skywalker” A) Yeah. The creators knew the ending from the beginning. It’s all in there. B) Rise deepens a lot of this movie. C) I like TFA a _lot_more now. 🎥

And we finish with a personal best single solve for 4x4, his first solve in less than 2 minutes. Three new personal bests, all crossing a threshold (below 30s or below 2m). Not a bad day all around.

That said, Benjamin still ended up trimming almost 10 seconds off his personal best single solve for 3x3 and more than 10s of his personal best average.

He missed making the second round by a quarter of a second. 0.25s. So. Close. (He’s taking it all in stride)

Gosh darn it. They trimmed the number of competitors. Meaning you had to finish in the Top 69 to qualify for the second round (instead of Top 74). Benjamin finished 70th. No second round after all. Barring something weird.

The live scoreboard has switched to “Done” … and Benjamin’s name is still in green. HE DID IT! ON TO THE SECOND ROUND!

Update! Benjamin finished with personal bests for a single solve and average over five solves - and that average is sub-:30. Which means I’m furiously refreshing the live results page to see if he qualified for the second round. (I suspect he has)

If for some reason, you’d like to follow along with today’s competition, live results are here: live.worldcubeassociation.org/competiti… Benjamin finished 56 of 95 in 2x2. #NotLast

An interesting wrinkle to today’s competition: There are a lot of first time competitors, and the top 60% of 3x3 (the standard cube) make the second round. Benjamin finished in the top half of his last competition. pins and needles

With Benjamin at another cubing competition for the day. And this time, not only is it here in Indy, but he brought a buddy.

The Louis CK episodes of Parks & Rec take on a different sort of tone these days … but maybe that’s just me.

Closing the weekend with red wine and Samoas. As you do …

I’ve made better steak and the failure mode of popovers is an eggy muffin, but this didn’t turn out bad at all.

Hawaii-Arizona 🏈 on the TV. Whole family’s asleep. First ever try at from-scratch biscuits in the oven (so I don’t have to worry about them in the morning/can take a mulligan if I need it). This ain’t bad.

As much as I’m enjoying Week Zero of college 🏈 this evening (and especially the Arizona-Hawaii nightcap), I’m starting to get mega-stoked about kicking off Week One in person for UCLA at Cincinnati Thursday.

Today: Homemade red sauce and chicken parm. Tomorrow: Grandma’s biscuits and sausage gravy, then steak for dinner.

So, I had been eyeing a Michigan-Michigan State doubleheader in my quest to (eventually) see a game at every FCS stadium. Turns out, same weekend, a Vanderbilt-Western Kentucky double looks way more doable (assuming Vandy gets the JP nooner spot)

Spent the long holiday weekend cleaning up our playroom/library and found this baby in an open Amazon box.

If I have any Michiganders listening: Say there’s a football game at Michigan at noon and another at Michigan State at 4. Say I’m willing to leave in the third quarter of a laugher … chances I could make kickoff in East Lansing?

Whenever we forget or grow complacent with the fact that we’re parents of special needs kids (and we’re quite lucky all things considered), we get days like today.

Things I said to my daughter today after struggling with martial arts board breaking: “Most of my job as a parent is to help you believe in yourself as much as I believe in you. You are so strong, and so tough and capable of doing anything you want. And you’re way tougher than a measly board.” Right …

This isn’t fair because “The Doctor’s Wife” might be my absolute favorite Doctor Who episode (plus or minus “Heaven Sent”)

I enjoyed the last series of Doctor Who (significantly so in parts), but (and this isn’t fair) settling into “The Doctor’s Wife” and it feels like home.

Surprising things that get me emotional: When Scarlet Witch confronts Thanos in Endgame The first Falcon flying sequence in The Force Awakens The launch sequence in “Apollo 11” “For the First Time in Forever”

Played more Fallout 76 Nuclear Winter tonight and logged my first frags and dragged a team to third place. It’s fun. Even for shitty gamers like me.

My git confessions: Never rebase. Never squash. Avoid like the plague anything that touches/edits/changes commit history. I like a messy commit history - time spent grooming your commit history robs future you of context and takes mental energy better spent on more interesting things.

Happy to be home after a filled Memorial Day weekend in the Bay Area with Dad and my kids. A lot of unforgettable moments.

Current status: Waiting in an orthodontist’s office. And not my kids, but for me.

Also, TIL and struck me funny: The Indiana Women’s Prison is located off Girls School Road.

My perch for the bulk of the day today as I’m a Game Monitor for the Division III National Math Pentathlon tournament* National really just covers a couple of states. It’s a decidedly regional thing.

Congratulations #WarEagle. Take it as a WVU fan, beating an overconfident UK to punch your ticket to the Final Four feels awfully nice.

All done. And #NotLast all around. Benjamin also got geeked about meeting a recent 2x2 record holder (pictured).

Two events down and so far Benjamin has shaved 2s off his 2x2 average solve and also set a personal best for his 3x3 average. Oh! And he placed 50th in the 2x2. That’s (I think) his first top-half finish of a competition. #NotLast indeed.

He’s competing in 2x2, 3x3, and 4x4. 4x is a new event for him. As always our only goals are to have fun, nerd out, and finish #NotLast.

At another Cubing tournament with Benjamin today. This time, it was a short drive. www.worldcubeassociation.org/competiti…

Planning my 2019 football trips already. And noticing Michigan State and Michigan are both at home on September 28. And wondering if I can pull the double. Oh, and Vanderbilt is home the day before. Might be a busy weekend.

Today’s fun with @benvannoy: A robotics competition.

January 2 and a resolution already marked off! (Just canceled my gym membership)

Yesterday: bought a whole chicken on sale ($5). Roasted said chicken. Ate it for dinner. Today: Chicken salad for lunch. Then made chicken stock from yesterday’s carcass. Then made chicken tortilla soup from that. Tomorrow: two more soups from that stock. Cooking-wise, 2018 is ending on a pretty …

So. Things got weird at the office Christmas party last night …

I spoke at our quarterly company meeting yesterday. Afterward, a coworker called me “charismatic.” My response: “No. I’m aggressively not.” My wife’s response to this story? Aggressive laughter (and not at my response)

Smaller #Fallout76 detail for a native West Virginian. The sign for Flatwoods is immediately recognizable and perfect to real life. www.roadsideamerica.com/story/614…

I quit smoking a year ago today. Notes from that day: Today was rough. Very distracted. Many cravings. I persisted. And did for 364 days thereafter. 🎉

#Fallout76 is especially fun as a native West Virginian. Last night’s session involved the delightful discovery of The World’s Largest Teapot. In the real world, that landmark is located in Chester, WV, the northern most city in the state. chester.lib.wv.us/teapot.ht…

At the Ohio State game I went to a few weeks ago, I told Buckeye fans around me that this defense would lose them a game. Looks like tonight’s that night. 🏈 #BoilerUp

Had anticipated this game being a rainy and fairly miserable experience, but it seems the rain’s stayed north of us and it’s a perfect fall day. Bonus: The home team is also winning.

If this game has an instant replay, there’s a very good chance Lauren and I are making the (ESPN3 Streaming) broadcast.

One more stadium to close out the birthday month. Greetings from The Glass Bowl, home of the University of Toledo Rockets. Featuring: A special guest.

More photos from a crappy WVU game, but a top-notch game to catch at Iowa State (as in: as a CFB fan, you get one game in Ames? Make it a night game upset over a top ten opponent).

Sliver lining: I was here for a patented Saturday Night in Ames. Shame my team on the receiving end, but here’s to Jack Trice Magic.

Whelp. This sucks.

Another week, another stadium. Greetings from Iowa State’s Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, IA. No rooting for the home team this week. Let’s Go Mountaineers!

More photos from the cheap seats at Ohio State’s win over Indiana today.

When I do these stadium visits, I have three rooting interests: WVU, Chaos, and the Home Team. In that order. Late in the third quarter, and Chaos is still very much in play.

Kicking off my birthday month with another stadium off the list (100 or so to go, next up Ames, IA). Greetings from The Horseshoe.

I doubt they flew from Chapel Hill, but does UNC find an airport tarmac to fire Fedora at just on principle? Woof. 🏈

I’m not a gamer. I suck at video games. I just bought an Xbox One (mostly for the kid). I have a GamePass trial. What should I play?

🏈 I tear up a little every time. twitter.com/belkbowl/…

🏈 Let’s Go Mountaineers! That’s about the most enjoyable season opener I’ve watched in a while. #WVU #TakeThatHerbie

Every time I travel to a city that has a light rail system (this time, Salt Lake City), it makes me madder that Indy (and, to be fair, the northern suburbs) refuses to do it.

Anybody I know heading to Pluralsight Live in SLC this week?

Welcome to the TV kickoff of Week Zero of the 2018-19 college football season! Here’s to you, Hawaii and Colorado State (and CBS Sports Network). 🏈🌈🐏

Said during my wisdom tooth removal today: “Next time I do this, remind me to take the sedation option.” Ouch earlier, but feeling pretty decent right now (this might be the pain meds talking).

Wondering if there’s a secret undercurrent of college football nerds like myself lurking in the micro.blog community. 🏈 (Still miss TIY’s #sportsball Slack channel)

Quick trip home to visit family and we squeezed in a visit to the New River Gorge.

A lot of today’s general awfulness was magically washed away by singing along with my kids to “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” on the way home from dinner. (Before anybody worries, I feel fine)

I’ve sworn off DIY plumbing for nearly a decade (since almost burning down my house). But: I just successfully replaced a garbage disposal and feel like Bob Vila.

Somebody eventually showed up, so there’s that.

Is @IndyPopCon trying to say something by having nobody show up for the opening day newbie panel? I kid. I think?

Hofstadter’s law rules everything around me.

Thinking of taking my son and daughter to @IndyPopCon this weekend. Crazy idea or not?

We got fresh Engineering team laptop stickers thanks to @Sigstrapp’s amazing design staff and our loud, clacky keyboards.

Couple of notes while I cool off for a bit: It’s loud, but not as loud as I expected. Today, it’s hot af. Good lord, there’s a lot of people here. The parade laps and race start are awesome The event vibe is Vegas underbelly plus fervent militarism and patriotism theater.

Views from my seat (front straightaway).

I’ve lived in Indianapolis for nearly a dozen years. This is my first trip to the Indy 500.

Fort Wayne’s been fun.

All done with today’s three events, and Benjamin finished NotLast in all! He even made the initial cutoff time for the two that had them (you have to beat a certain time in your first two to finish the round). This calls for ice cream!

Benjamin’s first event of four - the standard 3x3x3 - is underway. Just waiting for his heat. As a reminder, Vannoy family goals are for NotLast.

This competition is way bigger than our last, and Benjamin’s already gotten to freak out while meeting a YouCuber (YouTube Cuber … this isn’t actually a term, I’m just trying it out) he knew. Big thanks to @brodythecuber …

Greetings from another cubing competition with @benvannoy. This time the CubingUSA Great Lakes Championship in beautiful downtown Fort Wayne, IN. www.worldcubeassociation.org/competiti…

As an aside: 15 years has been at once a blink of an eye and a lifetime. It’s a milestone, sure, but we’ve been generally having enough fun that it kinda snuck up on us. Going to have to plan a bit more five years from now I suspect.

Took the day off to spend with my wife on our 15th wedding anniversary. No real plans. We went out for lunch. Grabbed some ice cream. Just low-key hanging out otherwise. Just like we love to do. It’s been a good day.

Mindlessly formatting bad data, listening to Weezer for the first time in years and having to work very, very hard not to start belting it out in the middle of a quiet office.

On a long enough timeline, every whittler makes a shiv.

New outpost.

My outpost for the next few hours.

Here’s the full layout of today’s tournament. There were about 60 participants in total. Next one we’re planning to hit up has ~300 and lasts three days (more events).

Home now, and forgot to update y’all. Finished with an even better not-last! 50th our of 57! And his fastest time was actually significantly higher. m.cubecomps.com/competiti…

Benjamin’s finished his first event (the Pyraminx) and finished not-last! Woohoo! cubecomps.com/live.php (We set a very high bar in the Vannoy family … also, he’s likely the youngest competitor here)

The first competition of the day is Megaminx (a ball/hexagon shaped puzzle with solve times in minutes rather than seconds).

The other competitors here are being really nice so far, letting Benjamin try out the timing mats/equipment (like this one: www.amazon.com/SPEED-STA…)

The event also promises live results. If you’re wanting to follow along, he starts with the 3x3x3 Cube First Round after lunch. Of note: I don’t expect him to make it far. He’s fast for mortals, but way off competition times. cubecomps.com/live.php

Today’s event is being held in a high school cafeteria. Ben’s off nerding out with other cubers right now, but I captured his excitement when we got here this morning.

This is his first competition, and goodness, there’s a lot of rules: www.youtube.com/watch He’s hoping to do two events: The standard 3x3 and a Pyraminx (pictured here).

I’m at a Rubik’s Cube solving competition in Findlay, OH, today with @benvannoy. This one: www.worldcubeassociation.org/competiti… This is a subculture I wasn’t aware of until he got excited about it, so I might share some stuff as the day goes on

Feed Wrangler. Pinboard. Fastmail. Ngrok. Honeybadger. More Mac/iOS apps than can fit here. And Micro.blog. twitter.com/anildash/…

Slowly dawning on the realization that I could really use a Gantt chart right now …

Braces day for Benjamin.

Happy to see this, especially if it means Anthem will do less of this in the future. Having two kids on the spectrum and in ABA therapy at the same time taught me more than I ever wanted to know about health insurance. twitter.com/indystar/…

Some one recently asked me who my favorite Star Wars character is and I eventually came up with Rey. And for humanoids, that holds. But, really: It’s the Millenium Falcon. Every time in the new movies I see her, I nearly squee with joy.

The only way I interact with Twitter is through Tweetbot and I have zero interest in interacting with it otherwise. So, basically, what I’m saying is, if you have an account over at Micro.blog, shoot me your handle and I can follow you.

rails new cybernetic New side project time. This time something to use with the day job.

Other meal prep stuff today: Snacks and salads to go to work with me (inc. homemade hummus). Four dinners for four: Sweet-n-sour chicken, beef tacos, pork tenderloin sandwiches, and honey garlic chicken and veggies. It’s been a busy day.

Been prepping my work lunches for a few weeks now and hard at work today for next week’s: Breakfast = Western omelette egg cup and bell peppers. Lunch = Roasted sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts with duck sausage.

Also in the get-my-life-together department, I called Comcast today once I discovered I was still on a 3mbps internet plan at home from, oh, a decade ago. Same price, getting 150mbps, all the premium channels and home security. The most powerful force in my life is inertia.

This is my son’s Pinewood Derby car this year. We half-assed it in nearly every way. Somehow, in the preliminary rounds it got three firsts, a second, and a third. I’m not sure what to think right now.

Right before Halloween, I quit smoking after being a smoker (off and on) for 20 years. I feel better, sure, but the more impressive thing has been the mental state change. If I can do that (the quitting), I am capable of anything.

Fascinating thread about DACA/immigration and its reflection of World War II’s Japanese internment and farming economy. A reminder: Everything comes down to $ threadreaderapp.com/thread/95…

Stream of consciousness Walt Disney World tips and tricks: Fresh off a six-night trip to Florida’s Walt Disney World with the family (photos here, here and here), here are a few things I wish I knew before I went: Everybody there is also a tourist and everybody - from cast members to fellow park goers - is going to be super friendly and super nice …

Anyway. We had a lot of fun (even if the weather wasn’t great).

Even fireworks photos are pretty awesome. These taken from the train station at the end of Main Street (decent viewing spot, by the way).

Had a fun trip to Disney World last week. And the iPhone 8 Plus takes fantastic photos.

Tonight is the night we have “the discussion” about Autism Spectrum Disorder with our kids. Our son just turned nine and our daughter is 6.5. It’s time they knew what they have been dealing with/will be dealing with and how it makes them who they are.

Back from visiting family for Christmas. Waiting on a plumber to finish up with our two frozen and split laundry room pipes.

Early afternoon update: I won Trivial Pursuit. Of note: Kids filled their pies, too … so I’m not a monster or anything.

Not yet 11am and already this Christmas morning I’ve played MarioKart, Sushi Go, SpotIt and Rock Me Archimedes. Busy morning, with Trivial Pursuit Family Edition still lurking.

Birthday plans sorted out. Crossing a college football stadium off my list @BallStateFB Saturday. Front row seats, even.

Ending sucked, but that was fun. Think we’re going to be OK this year. #WVU

Ah, college football season. When I miss my @TheIronYard #sportsball fam most of all.

Ya’ll have fun with the fight tonight. I’m watching Tree vs. Food (aka Stanford-Rice)

Howdy, #Indy. Looking forward to seeing the whole shebang in seven years or so. Save those eclipse glasses! www.greatamericaneclipse.com/april-8-2…

Watching the new Duck Tails. Scrooge McDuck sounds familiar. Check IMDB. DAVID TENNANT!

Minor quibble on the newish MacBook Pros: The headphone port is on the wrong side for right-handed folks. The cord is always in the way.

TIL: Sidekiq perform methods don’t support keyword args. github.com/mperham/s…

Added a new “Talks” section to my blog: blog.chrisvannoy.com/talks/ … discovered an @indyrb talk from 2010.

Gotta be honest, one of my favorite pieces of company swag in a while. @SigstrApp

Last RT: @rposborne is a fantastic human being and Rubyist. He might not be avalable until Novemeber, but start recruiting him now. twitter.com/rposborne…

I wouldn’t be where I am today without @TheIronYard. My time there made me a better person and a far better developer. It’s a sad day. twitter.com/TheIronYa…

Same. xkcd.com/1865/

Watching a rerun of an Illinois win over a top-ranked Ohio State. Couldn’t remember the year, then realized, of course, it’s 2007. A year of CFB so crazy you forget a lot of the craziness.

I have invite codes handy for the excellent micro.blog. Ping me if you want one.

Spotted in the alley next to work today.

So many preemptive pardons coming. So, so many

It’s an awfully pretty day today.

We’ve started playing card games as a family - Spades and Hearts primarily. What else should we try (kids are 6 and 8)?

Took the kids downtown for fireworks. One fell asleep in the middle. The other has had her fingers in her ears for an hour now and wants to leave.

The true story of Purdue Pete, according to @edsbs. “Boiler up, my boy.” www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2017/6/20…

At Symphony on the Prairie with @benvannoy

Removed a poorly installed carpet from my son’s bedroom. Beautiful hardwood beneath. Not replacing said carpet.

Try having a kid on the Autism Spectrum and staying under a cap with Behavior Analysis Therapy. It’s not possible (if you’re going for effective care). twitter.com/jonfavs/s…

TIL: High Sierra apparently comes with Ruby 2.3.3 installed (first upgrade of system Ruby since Mavericks)

I’m presenting @indyrb next week on using Ruby for Mac automation. www.meetup.com/indyrb/ev…

Put together three separate IKEA pieces this afternoon. I AM A GOLDEN GOD.

Today’s Rails-API-I-just-discovered: Object#with_options - api.rubyonrails.org/v5.1.0/cl…

Today at work: Used Ruby’s Float::INFINITY for a practical purpose.

That was fun. Especially for a rather unholy amalgamation of Crystal and AppleScript.

cracks knuckles Time to try out @CrystalLanguage on something real. Wish me luck.

Folks have compared the news cycle to the BSG Cylon clock. I prefer Pacific Rim’s ever-accelerating kaiju clock as metaphor. media.giphy.com/media/tcW…

Woohoo! Another WV-based @lorepodcast episode: Lore: 60: If Walls Could Talk overcast.fm/+EW__62Ub…

Still getting used to writing code without needing to also explain what it does at the same time.

Working as a game monitor for a Math Pentathlon today. And, boy, there’s some nerdy t-shirts up in here. Fav: I √-1 ❤️ Math.

Five days in. > 5 PRs merged. Some of them deployed. Nothing broke (that I’m aware of). Fun to get back in the swing of things.

Who knew Congress itself was the death panel they were warning us about.

I don’t officially start my new job until tomorrow, but just submitted my first pull request for it. This might be setting a bad precedent…

SPUUUUURRRRRSSSSS #COYS

On the plus side: New shoes and new haircut out of the way. Throw in a proper shave and I’ll be ready for Monday.

In that awkward time between company Slacks. Starting to get the shakes.

I like John Denver’s “Country Roads” more than most and have zero idea why the new Aliens movie is using it in its trailer.

Current Status: https://media.giphy.com/media/xjJQ1QkJMyiuA/giphy.gif

Demo Day always makes me a bit wistful. This one more than most.

Unexpected perk of a new dev job: Going back to a dark theme in vim instead of a light theme in Atom.

What’s the opposite of St. Totteringham’s Day? I want to be able to mark the occasion correctly on my calendar for Sunday. #COYS

Testing from MarsEdit.

Excited to have access to ye olde micro.blog. Just playing around a bit for now.

Broken pieces and the anti-vaxx movement: Yesterday, in advance of Nova’s program on vaccines (embedded above), I tweeted the following: Vaccines do not cause Autism. To be honest, there’s likely nothing that “causes” Autism. It’s just there. That’s it. #vaccinesNOVA — Chris Vannoy (@chris_vannoy) September 10, 2014 I received …

Your hiring mindset: The reasons for why you’re hiring have a great deal of impact on how you go about the hiring process. If you’re hiring because of another developer leaving, you’re going to be much more time-crunched than, say, a situation where you need more developer bandwidth for upcoming …

A couple of "The Outsourcing Playbook" notes: I’ve had my short ebook, “The Outsourcing Playbook”, in the wild for a while now and I have made a few adjustments. First off, I adjusted the pricing on Gumroad to be pay-what-you-want on the pdf version (including free). So, go get that now. Additionally, because I wanted to get …

[Around the Web] Hiring and management links for July 3: I'm kicking off a new weekly feature today where I compile together links that caught my interest over the past week that are at least somewhat tangentially related to my in-progress book. Build Your Career: Michael Lopp (PeepCode) Lopp, better known as Rands in some circles, has been a huge …

Getting hired as a developer or designer: Before I started writing my current book (dingus down at the bottom of the post to get the first two chapters free) on hiring developers, I started a book on getting hired as developer or designer. I might come back to it someday, but I thought I’d share one of the early chapters I had written …

(no title): @nsbingham @coopman Done. In Reply To

'FollowIndy: An iTunes for News': I’m still waiting to hear back on FollowIndy’s status in Round Two of the Knight News Challenge for this year, but I wanted to take a moment to give a clearer picture of where I plan to take it, regardless of Knight funding. For several years now, I’ve found software inspiration in …