{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "title": "Journal on Michael Descy", "icon": "https://cdn.micro.blog/mjdescy/avatar.jpg", "home_page_url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/", "feed_url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/feed.json", "items": [ { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/10/18/the-once-and.html", "title": "The once and future lawnmowing man", "content_html": "

My monthly “don’t have a lawn that embarrasses me” budget has increased dramatically over the past few years. It has gone from a good buy (about $30/week) to eye-wateringly expensive (a little over $100/week). Part of the increase is that we changed lawn services from a company that did a poor job to one that did a good job. I have tried to shop around for a cheaper, but still good, service, but haven’t found one yet. My wife doesn’t want us to revert back to the old, not-so-good lawn service we used to use. Even if we did, I’m sure we would get a much higher rate than we used to, because prices have increased all around.

\n

Since this summer, I have been bandying about the idea of mowing my own lawn again (it’s been 10 years since I last did, when my mower broke). This week I decided that, by next spring, I will buy a good electric mower and make time to mow my own lawn each week. Despite having to buy a mower, which could cost $700-$800, I wills till save hundreds of dollars per month for a relatively small amount of my time.

\n

It’s true that I won’t be able do as good a job as the service does with edging and weeding, but I don’t care. I will also have to figure out how to buy and use herbicide, which is the main secret to a non-embarrassing lawn in my area; I think I can do it. It will feel good to know that I am saving money. I also think it will feel good—most weeks, at least—to get a little more sunshine and exercise each week.

\n", "date_published": "2022-10-18T20:59:36-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/10/18/the-once-and.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/10/18/it-is-stupefying.html", "content_html": "

It is stupefying to me that Apple’s new low-end iPad supports the first-generation Apple Pencil and requires a special adapter to pair and charge it. Who thought that would be a good idea?

\n", "date_published": "2022-10-18T16:42:38-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/10/18/it-is-stupefying.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/10/16/blah.html", "title": "Blah", "content_html": "

I stopped writing blog posts a couple months ago for no reason whatsoever. It has been very hard to get back into the habit of posting something regularly.

\n

I have not lost interest in blogging. Something stranger has happened: I have lost interest in myself. I don’t completely know why.

\n

I am not overly depressed or anything—just maxed out. My general feeling about the past couple months has been that I have put in more effort, and reaped fewer rewards for that effort, than I have in years.

\n", "date_published": "2022-10-16T10:03:29-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/10/16/blah.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/07/30/it-is-my.html", "content_html": "

It is my family’s annual drive off to vacation day. We are all excited. I will be driving pretty much all day.

\n", "date_published": "2022-07-30T09:28:25-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/07/30/it-is-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/07/20/rubiks-cube.html", "title": "Rubik’s Cube", "content_html": "

I taught my daughter how to visualize and calculate volume using one of my Rubrik’s Cubes tonight.

\n

Since school ended I June, she and I have covered most of the fifth grade math curriculum and some of the sixth grade math curriculum, too. We are just starting volume calculations, and still need to cover measurement unit conversions and graphing on a coordinate plane. Geometry is where things get tricky.

\n

She told me tonight she wants to get 100 on all her test so she could move up to the highest math level at the end of the year. I think she can do it, as long as the school will let her.

\n", "date_published": "2022-07-20T21:56:36-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/07/20/rubiks-cube.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/07/20/json-with-my.html", "title": "JSON with my son", "content_html": "

To my surprise, my son1 asked me to teach him how to use JSON in Python today. His grandfather showed him JSON files from his website earlier today, and now my son is mad for reading and writing JSON himself.

\n

We graduated from Turtle graphics to data structures and file I/O. I introduced to him Python dictionary and the list, showed him how to converted both to JSON, and then showed him how to write the JSON to a file. In Python, it is very easy.

\n

My wife is looking for computer science courses for him now.

\n
\n
\n
    \n
  1. \n

    Who is 5. ↩︎

    \n
    2. \n
\n
\n", "date_published": "2022-07-20T21:50:23-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/07/20/json-with-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/07/18/i-am-excited.html", "content_html": "

I am excited to teach my daughter division by unit fractions this evening. I have been telling her that multiplication and division, much like addition and subtraction, are inverse functions. Now I get to show it in action, and it may blow her mind.

\n", "date_published": "2022-07-18T19:49:31-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/07/18/i-am-excited.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/07/02/summer-computer-science.html", "title": "Summer computer science", "content_html": "

I started teaching my son Python turtle graphics this week. He’s only 5, but he is absolutely mad for computers and is thrilled to get to use them to do something.

\n

I first learned to program using turtle graphics in Logo when I was in third grade. It was back in the 1980s, when computers were too expensive for my family to own, so it was also the first time I ever used a computer. My mom signed me up for a class at the local community college. We all used Apple IIs in the computer lab, which were probably old even then. Most of those machines had green monochrome monitors, and all of them had two 5.25” floppy drives. Now, of course, he is using my old MacBook Pro on my couch, and coding with Python in Visual Studio Code.

\n

We have been working through some simple exercises, like finding different ways to draw a square. He understands looping already, and asked how to create an infinite loop to draw the square (and watch the turtle move) endlessly.

\n

He and I are progressing very slowly, mostly because he asks lots and lots of questions, and partially because he is interested in doing things with turtle graphics that I was not prepared to teach him. (I had planned to teach him to draw lines and shapes. He is more interested in turning the turtle into a rocketship and moving it all around the screen.)

\n

He is getting it. I installed Pythonista on his iPad last night, and this morning he used it to write a Python program all on his own, starting with:

\n
from turtle import *\n
\n

It’s pretty cool.

\n", "date_published": "2022-07-02T22:10:32-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/07/02/summer-computer-science.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/07/02/summer-math.html", "title": "Summer math", "content_html": "

It took a few days of cajoling, but I somehow convinced my daughter to study math with me over the summer—at least until we go on vacation in about a month. We are going through a “step up to fifth grade” packet that her math teacher gave us. I am making up my own problems based on the material and challenging her to think mathematically, too. She is an A+ student in the middle level of math in her grade, but she has been unable to pass the school’s rigorous, though largely arbitrary, criteria to gain entry into the highest level. I am hoping to be able to help her break through whatever glass ceiling the school is imposing on her. Our math studies have been a very rewarding part of our day.

\n", "date_published": "2022-07-02T22:04:32-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/07/02/summer-math.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/06/05/my-son-the.html", "title": "My son, the programmer", "content_html": "

Today I showed my son how to do a couple things in Python for the first time. We only spent about half an hour on it, but it was a lot of fun. First, I showed him how to to use a Jupyter notebook in Visual Studio Code. We made Markdown and Python cells. For the Python cells, I walked him through a Hello World example. I then had him print out whatever he wanted many times in a for loop. That was the first fun thing I used to do in BASIC on the Apple ][ in school. In a short amount of time, he learned print, for, and range, which is pretty good for a five-year-old’s first lesson. I plan to get turtle graphics (maybe this, I’m not sure) installed on his machine soon.

\n", "date_published": "2022-06-05T20:52:04-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/06/05/my-son-the.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/06/04/today-was-my.html", "content_html": "

Today was my son’s first playdate, which has been long delayed due to COVID. We met our son’s friend’s parents, who were very nice, and had a fun cookout this afternoon. I even made coffee ice cream in my new ice cream machine.

\n", "date_published": "2022-06-04T21:06:03-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/06/04/today-was-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/06/03/i-did-my.html", "content_html": "

I did my first workout at my new gym tonight. I am happy I did, and am proud to say that it was not as hard as I thought to get back into cardio and weights again after many years away from them.

\n", "date_published": "2022-06-03T22:59:22-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/06/03/i-did-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/06/01/i-joined-a.html", "title": "I joined a gym 💪", "content_html": "

I joined a gym today. It has been 12 years since I last had a gym membership. Getting to the gym has seemed impossible to me due to work and kids—and then the pandemic. Last weekend, my wife said I should try, and I jumped at the chance. I hope I like it, and can find time to go—probably after my kids are asleep (or, at least, sopposed to be asleep.

\n", "date_published": "2022-06-01T20:12:35-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/06/01/i-joined-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/05/21/today-was-the.html", "content_html": "

Today was the first 90º+ day of the year for us in Central New Jersey. I took my family out for ice cream, and later to the beach, to beat the heat. I think everyone had a great day.

\n", "date_published": "2022-05-21T21:23:57-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/05/21/today-was-the.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/05/19/thinking-about-my.html", "title": "Thinking about my next role at work", "content_html": "

I spent nearly all of my writing time this evening drafting a job description for the Senior Data Analytics Manager job I hope to be promoted to, sooner or later, at my firm. I feel good about what I wrote, which describes the specialist position that I have carved out for myself at my company, but I’m running it by a couple mentors for feedback anyway. I had a great year at work this past year, but promotion is by no means guaranteed. I am hopeful, though, that I will earn it soon.

\n", "date_published": "2022-05-19T22:25:39-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/05/19/thinking-about-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/05/18/i-am-starting.html", "content_html": "

I am starting to write a job description for what will be (I hope) my next job—or at least my next job title. As a start, I am researching all the other similar job descriptions from open job postings. I hope I can cobble together something good by the end of the week.

\n", "date_published": "2022-05-18T20:45:58-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/05/18/i-am-starting.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/05/17/i-finally-caught.html", "title": "I finally caught COVID", "content_html": "

My blogging interlude this month has been brought to you by COVID-19.

\n

For a long time I didn’t know I had it. It entered my house just as peak tree pollen season started, and its symptoms mimicked my springtime allergy attacks.

\n

At present, I am still getting over it. I hope to feel 100% by the end of the month.

\n", "date_published": "2022-05-17T21:04:37-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/05/17/i-finally-caught.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/05/04/my-seasonal-allergies.html", "content_html": "

My seasonal allergies have been worse this week than they have been in years. I can’t think straight. I’m hoping pollen season ends early this sprint. 🙁

\n", "date_published": "2022-05-04T20:34:37-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/05/04/my-seasonal-allergies.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/05/03/working-late.html", "title": "Working Late", "content_html": "

Because I seem to get far less done in the daytime hours than I think I should, I found myself working late tonight. I created a short presentation on data validation using Python. I dared to include a tiny bit of source code in this one. It will be fun to see how that goes over.

\n", "date_published": "2022-05-03T22:24:52-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/05/03/working-late.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/05/02/ah-choo-spring.html", "title": "Ah (Choo!), Spring", "content_html": "

I did bit enjoy being in an allergy-induced brain fog all day. My son’s allergies are much worse than mine. He is too little to willingly take his allergy medication, which makes helping him difficult. My wife identified a bush near our front door that flowered for the first time I years, and seems to be a major source of our allergies. She is wants to get rid of it, which is understandable, but it hard for us to do quickly enough for it to matter.

\n", "date_published": "2022-05-02T22:24:53-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/05/02/ah-choo-spring.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/05/01/im-writing-my.html", "content_html": "

I’m writing my self-evaluation tonight for work. I’ve blown past the suggested length, but hope it will be OK. I’m that good, after all. 😀

\n", "date_published": "2022-05-01T21:41:48-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/05/01/im-writing-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/04/25/feeling-old.html", "title": "Feeling old", "content_html": "

Playing basketball with my kids this weekend and moving a bunch of unwieldy deck planks around my property today made me feel old in ways that I was not expecting. I am not sure how to get back into shape at this point, because I have been away from strenuous exercise for so long, but know that I have to start out slowly.

\n", "date_published": "2022-04-25T20:44:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/04/25/feeling-old.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/04/22/prepping-my-old.html", "title": "Prepping my old MacBook Pro for my son", "content_html": "

My five-year-old son is really into coding. He doesn’t know how to do anything yet, but he wants to learn. Currently he plays around with Swift Playgrounds a lot on his iPad (which is a little too old and slow to run it properly). He also orders his grandfather to program a collection of JavaScript games, utilities, and other doodads for him on a personal website. I’m going to start him on Scratch and Swift Playgrounds on the Mac. Because he is very interested in websites, I promised to introduce him to HTML and “Hello World!”-level JavaScript.

\n

To get the ball rolling on this endeavor, I decided today that I will let him borrow (or use most of the time) my 15” 2013 retina MacBook Pro. It’s a little too big for him, screen-wise, but it’s the only machine I have. Tonight, I spent a half hour prepping it for him. Tomorrow, I plan to get NextDNS set up for web content filtering, and also to explore what other safeguards I can put on the machine to keep him out of trouble. He has a history, believe it or not, of setting up accounts on internet services and contacting the companies via web forms or email. I locked down his iPad, but he started to find ways around it today. I know I will have to keep a close watch of him.

\n

I know he’s going to love using a real computer, not only for programming, but for Pages, Garage Band, and Photos as well. I hope that things go well.

\n", "date_published": "2022-04-22T21:40:32-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/04/22/prepping-my-old.html", "tags": ["Journal","Tech"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/04/21/a-keynote-address.html", "title": "A keynote address", "content_html": "

This morning, my presentation group and I presented our InsurTech webinar for a third time. This time, our audience was a group of insurance regulators attending an in-person training seminar. We presented remotely to a large room that none of us ever saw. From our side, it was the same as presenting a webinar, except we got even less feedback from the audience until the Q&A period at the very end.

\n

Because we were the last presentation of the entire seminar, I called it the keynote address, which my group appreciated. I’ll be sure to remember that term when it comes time to brag about it for my annual review.

\n", "date_published": "2022-04-21T23:10:54-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/04/21/a-keynote-address.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/04/03/my-wife-and.html", "content_html": "

My wife and I hired a cleaning service for the first time since the COVID pandemic started. Of course we spent most of today frantically cleaning the house to prepare for them. 😅

\n", "date_published": "2022-04-03T18:56:17-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/04/03/my-wife-and.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/30/hot-sauce.html", "title": "Hot Sauce", "content_html": "

I have watched enough episodes of Hot Ones on YouTube to pique my interest in hot sauces. So far I have a bottle of a chipotle-inspired sauce and a bottle of sriracha. I am trying to enjoy them. So far they taste more acidic than hot to me. Perhaps I need to learn to cook with hot peppers instead of dabbing sauce on things.

\n", "date_published": "2022-03-30T20:55:53-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/30/hot-sauce.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/27/i-learned-today.html", "content_html": "

I learned today that one of my cousins died. Before this I didn’t even know he existed. I am not entirely sure how I should feel. Vaguely sad is all I can muster right now.

\n", "date_published": "2022-03-27T20:44:02-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/27/i-learned-today.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/25/i-have-not.html", "content_html": "

I have not been doing much writing lately. I looked over a white paper I started writing in the fall, and realized I haven’t worked on it since December. I do not wish to abandon it; I’m just not that interested in it right now. I have been busy—and have wasted time—elsewhere.

\n", "date_published": "2022-03-25T11:56:11-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/25/i-have-not.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/20/one-of-my.html", "content_html": "

One of my old websites is #2 on Hacker News right now.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2022-03-20T15:54:39-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/20/one-of-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/17/im-watching-the.html", "content_html": "

⚾️ I’m watching the Red Sox/Twins opening Spring Training game. I’m happy that baseball is back! Instead of following the Sox, I may watch the MLB free game of the day and jump around the league this year. It will be interesting to see how the new universal designated hitter rule plays out.

\n", "date_published": "2022-03-17T14:06:29-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/17/im-watching-the.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/17/we-are-having.html", "content_html": "

🍀 We are having a St. Patrick’s Day dinner tonight. I put the corned beef in the slow cooker and got the potatoes ready for roasting later. I’m even going to cook cabbage for the first time. I plan to sauté it, and hope it turns out well.

\n", "date_published": "2022-03-17T10:45:42-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/17/we-are-having.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/14/book-fair.html", "title": "Book Fair", "content_html": "

My daughter had a book fair at school today. She was so thrilled about it that she told me about it many times over the weekend before it happened, and several times today after it happened. She proudly showed my wife and me the books and the fancy pencils and erasers she bought there today. It is wonderful how much she loves to read and to write.

\n

I always loved book fairs in elementary school, too. It was fun, as a kid, to get a chance to shop with real money and actually make buying decisions. I’m happy my daughter gets the same opportunity.

\n", "date_published": "2022-03-14T21:04:46-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/14/book-fair.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/14/scratchjr.html", "title": "ScratchJr", "content_html": "

My son is starting to get interested in ScratchJr on his iPad. It is a visual programming environment for kids. It seems like a good way for kids to learn programming. I set him up with it on Saturday and tried to help him get started yesterday. So far his favorite part is the image editor, which of course is the non-programming part. He has been drawing and coloring with it most of the time. Tonight he showed me one of the animations he made with ScratchJr. Now I know he is interested in the programming part, too. Tonight he demanded I get him ScatchJr’s big brother: Scratch, which is just a web app. I look forward to seeing what he thinks of it.

\n", "date_published": "2022-03-14T21:00:48-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/14/scratchjr.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/14/i-have-not.html", "content_html": "

I have not had much interesting to say lately. I have been doing boring things like preparing my taxes and watching way more TV than usual. I hope to get out of my creative slump soon.

\n", "date_published": "2022-03-14T15:30:09-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/14/i-have-not.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/12/judging-by-the.html", "content_html": "

Judging by the weather—wind, cold, snow, sleet, hail, and rain—it is the last gasp of winter here in New Jersey. All I have wanted to do is sit under a blanket and watch TV.

\n", "date_published": "2022-03-12T18:14:15-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/12/judging-by-the.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/05/my-wife-and.html", "content_html": "

🍴 My wife and I ordered Indian food tonight. That may be a non-event to most people, but for us it was a revolution. My wife never tried it before. I hadn’t had any since before she and I got married. We absolutely loved it and are still excited about it.

\n", "date_published": "2022-03-05T21:55:07-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/05/my-wife-and.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/04/my-day-blew.html", "title": "My day blew up, but everything is OK", "content_html": "

My wife was in a car collision this morning. She was uninjured but was understandably shaken up. I cancelled my morning meetings to go help her. Most of my help consisted of coordinating the tow truck and the body shop.

\n

While this was happening, my son fell out of his chair at preschool, hurt his back, and was given an ice pack, and my daughter was sent to the school nurse on account of her chapped hands, which were bleeding.

\n

My whole day blew up, but it was fine. My wife and kids are fine. The car is damaged and we won’t drive it until it gets fixed, but it will be fixed someday this month. I didn’t get all my work done today, but my coworkers understand that sometimes things don’t work out the way they are planned.

\n", "date_published": "2022-03-04T22:36:46-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/04/my-day-blew.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/02/23/on-a-break.html", "title": "On a break", "content_html": "

I have been taking a brief, unplanned blogging break. I overloaded my brain last week with too much work, too much programming which led to the same dead end I always end up in, and too little sleep. I also had an important doctor appointment yesterday that I was very uncertain about. Fortunately I am past that and can start to think more clearly again. Overall I am well and am looking forward to the future.

\n", "date_published": "2022-02-24T00:02:10-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/02/23/on-a-break.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/02/13/today-was-my.html", "content_html": "

Today was my son’s fifth birthday. We had two family parties for him this weekend and all had a great time. He got presents. We ate cake. We spent a lot of time together. The important thing to me is that he knows he is loved.

\n", "date_published": "2022-02-13T22:23:01-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/02/13/today-was-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/02/13/grounds-for-sculpture.html", "title": "Grounds for Sculpture", "content_html": "

My son turns five tomorrow. As part of our celebration for him, we all took a trip to Grounds for Sculpture. It is a huge sculpture garden that my kids love to visit.

\n

Part of their fun, which my wife and I can’t fully understand, is that they both bring their nearly-identical stuffed penguin toys there to stomp on some of the sculptures. They have also named a bunch of the sculptures and enjoy visiting them and pretending to have a chat with them.

\n

We have been there four times now, and have discovered new things to see and marvel at every time we have visited. I took a bunch of great shots of the family today, but for my blog I will only post pictures of some of the cool sculptures we saw there.

\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"

\n", "date_published": "2022-02-13T01:09:33-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/02/13/grounds-for-sculpture.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/02/10/knockoff-laser-toner.html", "title": "Knock-off Laser Toner", "content_html": "

Tonight I performed some surgery on my color laser printer’s empty toner cartridges and installed knock-off ones in their place. I feel a little dirty, but I saved about $400.

\n

I resent that toner cartridges now have microchips in them that are required for the printer to print. The chips help the printer report its toner levels, but otherwise are there to make a rather generic toner cartridge into into something proprietary and overpriced. The knock-off toner cartridges I bought came with tools and instructions for transferring the chips from the original printer cartridges to them. It was pretty easy to do, and the printer prints in color again with the new cartridges installed.

\n

The printer will always report low toner now, no matter what the toner level actually is. I expect to field questions about it from my family for the rest of my life.

\n", "date_published": "2022-02-10T22:22:36-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/02/10/knockoff-laser-toner.html", "tags": ["Journal","Tech"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/02/10/my-soontobefiveyearold-son.html", "content_html": "

My soon-to-be-five-year-old son is typing…something…into Swift Playgrounds and thinking he is programming. It’s not that different from what I do most days. 😂 At least he is very excited about it.

\n", "date_published": "2022-02-10T22:07:14-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/02/10/my-soontobefiveyearold-son.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/02/08/maybe-im-lying.html", "title": "Maybe I’m lying to myself, but it’s working", "content_html": "

Last month I started a new, private ritual. Every morning, before I start work or before cleaning up the family breakfast table, I say to myself, “This is going to be a good day.” Sometimes I say it to myself again in the middle of the day when I have a break from work, or when I see the moon or stars in the evening at the start of an errand. I could be imagining it, but I think that doing this is helping me stay positive when things get stressful. It’s my way of saying to myself, “It’s OK. We’re going to get through this. Things are going to end well.”

\n", "date_published": "2022-02-08T23:18:40-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/02/08/maybe-im-lying.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/02/05/recent-wins.html", "title": "Recent wins", "content_html": "

I tend to minimize good things that happen to me, but am trying to change that. To that end, here is a list of small wins for me this week.

\n
    \n
  1. I got a complimentary email about my productivity guide, PlainText Productivity.
    2. \n
  2. I got a complimentary email about my free call blocking app for iOS, Simple Call Blocker.
    3. \n
  3. I responded to a bug report in my todo.txt app, SwiftoDo for iOS, fixed the bug, and published the update.
    4. \n
  4. I recently resumed work on the next version of SwiftoDo for iOS. It uses the Swift Package Manager for dependencies, rather than CocoaPods.
    5. \n
  5. In Xcode, I learned how to override a Swift package with a local copy of the package to make editing and debugging to the package code much easier1.
    6. \n
  6. My Chess Elo rating for daily chess on Chess.com rose to over 800.
    7. \n
\n
\n
\n
    \n
  1. \n

    It is actually pretty easy. From the Finder, you drag the package’s folder to your Xcode project (in Xcode). ↩︎

    \n
    2. \n
\n
\n", "date_published": "2022-02-05T16:15:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/02/05/recent-wins.html", "tags": ["Journal","Chess"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/02/02/moonlighting-as-a.html", "title": "Moonlighting as a terribly inefficient coder", "content_html": "

One of the bad parts of moonlighting as a programmer1 is that, at the time of day I can code, I am often a terrible inefficient coder.

\n

The time I have available for coding is very late at night, typically 11 PM to 1 AM. For the most part this is fine. I can’t get to sleep until 1 AM or later most nights, no matter what I do, and going to bed before I feel tired is counterproductive. Rather than staring at a ceiling in bed for hours, it is far better for me to stay up doing something I enjoy, like coding on my Mac while listening to music on my headphones.

\n

Lately I have noticed that I am getting very little done in these coding sessions. The night before last I fixed one tricky bug, then decided to quit coding (but not yet go to sleep) for the night. Last night I wrote about half of one feature. To be fair, I wrote several implementations of the feature until I found one that would be most compatible with Apple’s frameworks. Still, I quit for the night before finishing it because the other part of the feature seemed too tricky to tackle after midnight.

\n

Fortunately, when I brain is tired, I don’t end up coding a buggy mess. I have the sense to slack off for the rest of the night, so I don’t spend my next evening throwing away the garbage I coded the night before. Still, I get very little done compared to the time I spend on it. At least I enjoy the time I spend doing it.

\n
\n
\n
    \n
  1. \n

    To be clear, I am a hobbyist and don’t have a second job. ↩︎

    \n
    2. \n
\n
\n", "date_published": "2022-02-02T22:17:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/02/02/moonlighting-as-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/02/01/tom-brady-announced.html", "title": "Tom Brady Announced His Retirement Today", "content_html": "

Tom Brady finally retired today.

\n

For most of my adult life, I was a football fan. The whole time, my love of the game sat uncomfortably beside my real concerns about how dangerous it is.

\n

In the 1990s and early 2000s, there was some false controversy about whether the NFL was dangerous to the athletes who played in it. I never got caught up in it: I was always certain football was a dangerous sport. As a kid, my parents said they wouldn’t let me play tackle football. (They didn’t have to worry.) My high school fielded no football team (at least in my first one or two years), nor did my college for the same reason: Back when both schools fielded football teams, kids died of injuries on the field.

\n

Still, a combination of learning about the strategy of the game from Madden games and John Madden broadcasts with his telestrator and the fact that almost everybody around me was a football fan led me to become a fanatic myself. As a New Englander, the Patriots were my default football team. It was not much fun watching them, though, until Tom Brady took over as quarterback. Watching the Brady/Belichick team outsmart and outplay opponents was a little like watching an expert play Madden: thrilling if you are a fan, and boring for everyone else. Football games catalyzed house parties, bar nights, conversations with friends, minor holidays, and generally acceptable excuses to eat junk food, drink beer, and do almost nothing on the weekends.

\n

I promised myself I would stop paying attention to football when Tom Brady retired. I actually gave it up a few years ago, before Brady even moved to the Buccaneers. At some point, I could no longer ignore the dangers of CTE or the horrible physical toll that professional football puts on athlete’s bodies. Watching the big hits on the field became dreadful rather than exiting. Seeing injured players carted off the field became so upsetting I could no longer shrug it off after the inevitable commercial break.

\n

I fell out of love with the sport entirely. I no longer want to watch any sport where people intentionally hurt each other. Instead of helping me have a good time, seeing people battered on the field—or long after they stopped playing the game—now makes me sad.

\n", "date_published": "2022-02-01T21:45:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/02/01/tom-brady-announced.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/30/i-have-discovered.html", "title": "I have discovered that past me was also me, at least on the page", "content_html": "

I have been converting my high school essays from their borked Word .doc format to Markdown, to preserve them for future readability. So far, I have converted my ninth grade work and half of my tenth grade work.

\n

As I go, I don’t read each essay in depth, but I have read some of them and found them to be incredibly, unmistakably me. I could have written them yesterday—even my very first high school paper. Sure, I would have made fewer spelling mistakes and would have employed the em-dash (which I did not know how to type at the time) a lot more, but, for the most part, I would make the same writing decisions now as I made back then.

\n

It has been unnevering to see that I already knew how to write pretty well as a newly minted high school freshman. It makes me worry that I have not grown that much as a writer since then.

\n

I am certain, however, that I have grown much as a thinker and as an organizer of information. Writing long papers in college and grad school (20+ pages) encouraged me to prioritize structure over style, to plan my writing process, and to organize the work and pre-work that goes into writing each section. In my career I developed technical writing skills that built off these concepts and techniques. Lastly, as I shifted more into non-technical work in my career, I also developed an intense focus on clarity, which can only gained through experience writing for many people over a long time period.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-30T22:46:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/30/i-have-discovered.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/28/things-are-going.html", "title": "Things are going pretty well", "content_html": "

The last two days I have been busy doing work for people and myself, busy achieving things, and have gotten positive feedback from my coworkers, my family, and the world. Things are going pretty well.

\n

I have been so active doing things that I have not been reading the news, engaging with politics, or thinking deep thoughts all this time. Maybe that’s why things are going well.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-28T22:16:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/28/things-are-going.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/25/converting-my-old.html", "title": "Converting my old school papers to Markdown", "content_html": "

Last night I started converting the essays I wrote in high school from the old Microsoft Word .doc format to Markdown, so they will be readable as long as plain text files are readable. My process is simple:

\n
    \n
  1. Open the Word .doc in LibreOffice.
    2. \n
  2. Copy the text and paste it into Ulysses
    3. \n
  3. Replace double-spaces after periods with single spaces.
    4. \n
  4. Fix all the paragraph breaks, using the version opened in LibreOffice as a guide.
    5. \n
  5. Fix all the italics that were dropped in the copy/paste operation, again using the version opened in LibreOffice as a guide.
    6. \n
  6. Create a title and a brief heading (with the document date and the subject I wrote it for, if they are in there) in Ulysses.
    7. \n
  7. Run a spell-check in Ulysses.
    8. \n
  8. Export the document from Ulysses to a Markdown file.
    9. \n
  9. Close and delete the Word .doc version.
    10. \n
\n

Strangely, many of my essays have no titles. LibreOffice displays a blank page and some random junk at the top of every file. This leads me to believe that my paper headings—which were required, because I wrote them for school—have been lost in file format translation somewhere. I have been adding titles to my old papers, which is challenging sometimes because I have no idea why I wrote some of them.

\n

I found some interesting files in my archive that are actually worth preserving: humorous essays from my freshman year; serious papers about nuclear power and Chernobyl; and brief biographies I wrote of my father and grandfather, which are now treasures to me because they died years ago. I also found a some topical essays full of ten-dollar words and purple prose that I no doubt learned how to write by reading syndicated newspaper columnists every day. The teachers who read them must have thought I was precocious and possibly insane.

\n

Overall, converting these files has been a rewarding diversion from my normal computing tasks. Unfortunately, between high school and college essays, I have hundreds of these Word .docs to convert, so I will be at it for a long time.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-25T22:22:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/25/converting-my-old.html", "tags": ["Journal","Productivity"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/23/the-writing-life.html", "title": "The Writing Life", "content_html": "

When I find myself struggling to be creative or productive, I always think of a story I read in Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life. It was about a rower who was pulled out to sea one evening by the ocean tide. He rowed and rowed all night and kept being pulled farther and father from land by the ebbing tide. In the morning, however, the direction of the tide reversed, and he was pushed back to the shore to safety.

\n

I remember this story so vividly because I had to write a very short essay about the book in my A.P. English class. We had to answer three specific questions about the book in one paragraph each. The teacher stressed how important it was for this assignment to be brief; only one page and three paragraphs.

\n

I chose to answer the last question by writing about the story of the rower. Unfortunately, my explanation of the rower’s story stretched to two whole paragraphs, making my essay far longer than the one-page limit. At that time in my life, I had no idea how to pare down my writing even if it meant cutting parts of it I liked. I agonized over how to cut it down, but decided, uneasily, to turn it in as it was, despite it exceeding the one-page limit.

\n

Happily, my overlong essay was a big success. I may have I understood the story of the rower better than even the teacher did, because the day after I turned it in he began the class but projecting my essay—all two pages of it—onto the classroom’s pull-down screen, and asking the whole class to read it. He seemed genuinely touched by it, too.

\n

This evening I pulled the essay out of my archives to reproduce below. The last two paragraphs are about the rower. I think about the ideas expressed in them on a weekly basis to this day.

\n
\n

An Approach to The Writing Life by Annie Dillard (20th century [1980s])

\n

Michael Descy

\n

AP English

\n

10/26/95

\n

A main theme of Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life is the importance of overcoming all the difficulties faced in the fulfillment of one’s dreams. The life of a writer can be dark and lonely, demanding much introspection and many late nights alone with an unruly manuscript. The writing process itself is difficult beyond most people’s conceptions. It is so harrowing, so haphazard, and so time consuming that most people that have one burning idea for a particular novel or story are never able to actually follow through its capitalization. Most never really even start, and the few who do often form such an attachment to their work, because it was so hard for them to accomplish, they will not allow themselves to alter it in any way, even to tie up loose ends or discard the beginnings of dropped themes and plot turns. Thus, their piece is never perfected; their dream is left to waste. Despite all these trials, however, writing is a very rewarding activity. Writing is like a passion eating at you, an aching, a hunger that can kill if not satiated. Only persistence, slogging through the murk and endless toil of the process, will enable one to fulfill his dream.

\n

A dominant tone of the work can be described as enthusiastic. Dillard is intense as she explains the writing process. She describes writing in exhilarating terms, comparing it to playing tennis, lion taming, and stunt flying. Her metaphors are powerful, zesty. She shows your work as a line of words pulsing through your bloodstream and shooting across the universe. She tells us committing a vision to paper is a futile fight with the jealous, tyrannical page, the forces of time and matter working against you. Her chapters are choppy, broken down into many vignettes and tiny observations. There is a break on almost every page. They are so frequent each seems to be a gasp of breath between her quickly blurted images.

\n

A strong scene that feels as though it will provide a good doorway for thoughtful attention to an important aspect of the work is the story of Ferrar Burn, which her painter friend, Paul Glenn, told her. One evening, years ago, Ferrar Burn caught sight of an eight-foot log of Alaska cedar floating out in the channel by his house. It was high tide, the water slack, so he rowed out, tied the log to his little eight-foot pram, and proceeded to tow it in. The tide turned, however, catching him, pulling him farther and farther out to sea. But Burn kept rowing against the tide, stubbornly, obstinately towards his house. He strained against it all night to little avail. When the tide finally changed the next morning, it finally pushed the still-rowing Ferrar Burn back home.

\n

This scene connects very well to the aforementioned theme. Through persistence against terrible odds, the rower Burn was finally able to succeed. Had he given up, stopped rowing, he would have drifted so far out to sea that the tide change which eventually pulled him back in would not have helped him. A writer too must pull against opposing forces to accomplish his or her goal. There is much about the process that pushes people away. Most would just assume go along with the tide, take the easy route, and be led far away from their dream. But the few with the dogged insistence to stick with their craft, pull through their troubles, and never lose sight of their objectives are able to ride out the tough times and sail swiftly and smoothly through the good times. These few are steeply rewarded in the end. Their prize: accomplishment of a dream.

\n
\n", "date_published": "2022-01-23T22:57:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/23/the-writing-life.html", "tags": ["Journal","Thoughts"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/21/i-got-a.html", "content_html": "

I got a raise today. It’s off-schedule—a total surprise. I feel it is uncouth to take a victory lap, but I did promise myself last year to celebrate my wins. Right now I feel happy, and think my hard work and change of attitude last year paid off.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-21T21:12:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/21/i-got-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/19/how-old-is.html", "title": "How Old is Your Brain?", "content_html": "

Back in 2006, I bought a Nintendo DS and was fanatical about the game Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day. It was a game that promised to make you mentally sharper, as long as you did solved simple cognitive training puzzles every day.

\n

For several months I played it daily, for five minutes or so, before I watched TV or played a more conventional video game. I told everybody about it. My best friend was a fan, too. After several weeks, I became blazingly fast at most of its puzzles, which included performing simple arithmetic, memorization, and doing a Stroop Color and Word Test. (The Stroop test was the hardest for me, due in no small part to my red/green color-blindness.) At the time, I thought that the daily training was making me smarter. Aside from being able to calculate restaurant tips more quickly, however, I noticed no other intellectual gains.

\n

After some time, I stopped playing Brain Age—at least the brain training part. I had read that it didn’t really improve your cognitive abilities, and had come to the same conclusion myself by that point. Despite that conclusion, I still believe that playing games can make you smarter. That’s why I picked up Sudoku (which was included in Brain Age), the New York Times crossword puzzle, and, more recently, chess. I also do computer programming as a hobby, which is a little like playing a game against the compiler sometimes.

\n

I play all these games to stave off what I fear is inevitable in my old age: mental decline. It think it is inevitable because I watched it happen to my father. At the tail end of his career (he worked until age 75), his mind started slipping away, little by little. I thought it was because he no longer had challenging work to do. Eventually, he developed dementia, and it became clear that the cause was medical in nature.

\n

I realize now that I played Brain Age at the very start of his decline. Perhaps it was the trigger. I also realize that I still want there to be something I can do—mentally, that is—so that I don’t end up with the same fate.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-19T22:37:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/19/how-old-is.html", "tags": ["Journal","Thoughts"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/18/i-am-grateful.html", "content_html": "

I am grateful that I have meaningful work to do today. I hope I can get it all done.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-18T09:00:38-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/18/i-am-grateful.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/13/vba-will-never.html", "title": "VBA will never die", "content_html": "

I spent all day coding in VBA for work. I’m creating Excel templates for data submissions. These templates need (at least I think they need) data validation routines that the people filling them out can run. Those routines will help prevent some data quality problems down the line.

\n

The only tool for the job to code those routines is VBA, which is bar far the oldest language I code in on a regular basis. It is creaky, feature-limited, and its runtime is rather unstable. But if it works well enough for federal agencies (I have seen some data input forms in my time), it will work for me.

\n

I used to think VBA was a trash language, and only trash code could be made from it. Once I learned I was stuck with it for certain tasks, though, I tried to make the most of it. Now I treat VBA like the proper object-oriented language it is. The result is that I have a lot more fun writing it, and I think that the code is easier to debug and modify in the future, too.

\n

I keep my code clean. I keep methods as short as possible. I use long, descriptive names for methods, classes, and variables. I structure the code into classes extensively. I create classes for intermediate data structures to make other parts of my VBA code easier to understand. I refactor my code into numerous smaller classes when I find I am writing too many, or overly complex, private methods. I create and use factories to create and set up objects. I apply the principle of least privilege everywhere. I am pedantic about whether arguments are passed by reference or by value. I even use interfaces sometimes, too.

\n

The result is code that is rigorously structured—perhaps hilariously so to the next person who will look at it. It is unlike any VBA code I have ever seen before, but it is probably a lot like many VB6 applications written in the early 2000s.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-13T22:19:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/13/vba-will-never.html", "tags": ["Journal","Programming"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/11/long-division.html", "title": "Long division", "content_html": "

I’m pretty sure I re-learned long division tonight as I helped my daughter through her homework assignment.

\n

That was a skill that bedeviled me when I took the GMAT twenty years ago. The GMAT, at that time at least, did not allow for the use of a calculator. To make it worse, none of the figures on the math problems divided evenly. Many of the math problems were painful to get through, not because I didn’t know the math, but because I could not remember how to calculate the final answers with long division. At the time, I was a recent college graduate, and I hadn’t done long division since the seventh grade. I’m pretty sure I got a bunch of questions wrong because I had forgotten how to perform long division. In the end, my math score paled in comparison to my language score, all due to me not remembering, or at least reviewing, long division.

\n

I got A’s and A+’s all throughout business school. I concentrated in finance. Never once did I have to perform calculations without a calculator. Sometimes life—or at least the typical qualification exam—is not fair.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-11T22:25:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/11/long-division.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/09/we-lost-power.html", "content_html": "

We lost power for the second night in a week. I’m not sure what’s going on. My kids do not think it is as fun as I did when I was young.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-09T19:56:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/09/we-lost-power.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/05/since-i-started.html", "content_html": "

Since I started intermittent fasting a few days ago, hunger feels less like a had headache and more like disappointment. So far I am doing pretty well with no breakfast, a cheese omelet and coffee for lunch, and a low-carb (but certainly not no-carb) dinner.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-05T23:04:30-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/05/since-i-started.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/05/checkers.html", "title": "Checkers", "content_html": "

My kids are really into playing checkers since winter break. I have played a lot of games with my son and daughter in the past week or so. To get a better handle on the rules and strategies, I also played some games alone on my iPhone (there is an Apple Arcade Checkers game).

\n

Checkers is a game that, until last week, I had not played more than once or twice since I was five. I’m pretty sure I read the rules the first time about a week ago on my son’s checkers set. I never knew that you are forced to capture the opponent’s piece (or pieces) if the opportunity to capture them arises. I don’t think my father or grandfather knew that. I mostly remember card games becoming far more interesting to me soon after I learned how to play (or, actually, not how to play) checkers.

\n

I have realized that the game is deeply flawed. Many games reach an endgame state with a few pieces left (mostly kings) and a wide open board. At that point, unless your opponent makes a mistake, it is impossible to win. Of course, kids and inexperienced players make mistakes, which makes the game more fun. I am teaching my son and daughter checkers strategy when I play with them, and intentionally making mistakes and showing them how the opportunities to jump multiple pieces occur.

\n

I have starting hinting at my kids to play together, too, because they would be on more or less equal footing with each other. The idea hasn’t sunk in yet. Of course I will still play with them, but they have more time available to play.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-05T21:34:54-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/05/checkers.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/04/i-should-never.html", "title": "I should never have bought my daughter an iPad with only 32 GB of storage on it.", "content_html": "

I never imagined she would use it as a camera and fill it with photos and videos. iCloud Photo Library has been enabled from the start, and we have plenty of cloud storage space. Unfortunately, Photos will not free up space no matter what I do. If you delete a photo or video from Photos, it is deleted everywhere, so that is not an option.

\n

Tonight, as I update iOS via tethering the iPad to my Mac, I am weighing my next move. Do I wipe the iPad and set it up as new, which would at least forestall the problem? Or do I simply turn off iCloud sync, wait a while for the photos on the device to be deleted, and then turn it back on? I can’t remember if I have tried the latter before. I think I may wipe the device because my daughter’s notes app has 39 notes and is taking up over a gigabyte of space, too. Strange things are afoot.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-04T22:04:14-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/04/i-should-never.html", "tags": ["iPad","Journal","Tech","Apple"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/04/i-have-a.html", "content_html": "

I have a big, scary pile of “important” papers in my office that I have started scanning and shredding this week. It’s something I don’t do often enough. I am finding papers from 2019 at the bottom of the pile. 😳

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-04T19:39:09-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/04/i-have-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/04/the-republic.html", "title": "The Republic", "content_html": "

Last night I started reading Plato’s Republic again. I have been unsuccessful finding a good book to read start-to-finish, and have had a desire to read something intelligent for a change. Naturally, I decided to return to first principles and go back to the dawn of modern Western thought.

\n

I read through Book 1 last night and enjoyed it very much. I had read it—or at least large portions of it—when I was a freshman in college, in a very eye-opening seminar course on justice. I may go back to that syllabus and re-read more of the great works on it.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-04T13:44:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/04/the-republic.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/04/work-day-two.html", "content_html": "

Work day two of my 16:8 (or no breakfast) fasting regimen has been a greater success than yesterday. I have been more alert and more productive at work, and have not been hungry since before lunch yesterday.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-04T13:32:38-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/04/work-day-two.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/03/still-no-snow.html", "content_html": "

Still no snow where I live.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-03T15:02:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/03/still-no-snow.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/03/intermittent-fasting.html", "title": "Intermittent fasting", "content_html": "

I started 16:8 intermittent fasting a couple days ago. It basically means I skip breakfast, then eat a normal lunch, dinner, and maybe snacks, between noon and 8 PM. So far, during the tail end of my winter vacation, it has worked out all right. But today is my first day of work in almost two weeks, and I feel very rusty. I don’t know if I am hungry, or if being away from work for so long has slowed down my mental processes. I am looking forward to lunch soon and I hope it gets better.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-03T12:07:41-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/03/intermittent-fasting.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/01/03/an-omicron-snow.html", "title": "An Omicron snow day", "content_html": "

The Omicron wave has been a source of concern for my family and my town. School systems north of us have pre-emptively closed schools and have gone remote for the week. The school superintendents where I live are adamant that they cannot (or, really, will not) close schools unless (or until) there is a breakout in a particular school building. Because schools have been closed since December 24, there can be no outbreaks inside particular schools.

\n

Early this morning, all the schools in my town were closed for a snow day. Snow is in the forecast, but it has not snowed yet. I think the superintendents took advantage of an iffy weather forecast to close the schools for the day, to push off the whatever outbreaks occur for another day. Parents in town seem to think that the closure has more to due to with teacher- and bus driver shortages than with the weather forecast.

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-03T10:56:38-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/01/03/an-omicron-snow.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/29/i-saw-my.html", "content_html": "

I saw my best friend for the first time since the pandemic started (since February 2020 really). It was great fun and I wish we had gotten together sooner.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-29T22:33:04-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/29/i-saw-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/24/christmas-is-about.html", "title": "Christmas is about family", "content_html": "

My feelings about Christmas are complicated. There are numerous legitimate reasons why, which I won’t go into. But they are there, and they have left me feeling and seeming like a villain in a Christmas movie. I don’t love Christmas (any more). I have heard enough carols. I have seen too many Santa Clauses. I don’t care much for Christmas trees, or elves, or angels. The lights and decorations overwhelm, rather than delight me. I am not proud of this disdain. I disappoints me that I ended up this way.

\n

Still, I have made an effort for today and tomorrow—the second “COVID-ruined” Christmas without travel to the actual Christmas-celebrating side of our family—to be nice for my family. I cooked a big dinner tonight, using an Omaha Steaks package my mom bought us, invited my in-laws over the share it with us, and we had a very nice time. We even played bingo (my kids love bingo) together after dinner. Thanks to a lot of effort from my wife and myself, the bottom floor of our house is clean and ready for more company tomorrow, when my brother-in-law’s family and my in-laws come over. We are having a Jewish Christmas party, I guess, though we will be ordering Kosher deli instead of Chinese food because of my son’s sesame allergy.

\n

Even though we are a Jewish household, I grew up with Christmas, and want my kids to have some special memories associated with it, even if the trappings of Christmas aren’t really for me anymore. I want them to remember that Christ is not about presents and Santa; it’s about family.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-24T22:24:39-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/24/christmas-is-about.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/23/now-that-my.html", "content_html": "

Now that my vacation has started, my mind has turned off. I am sinking into a few days of family time, TV, and video games.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-23T22:11:38-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/23/now-that-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/22/last-day-of.html", "title": "Last day of work in 2021", "content_html": "

My employer has always been generous with holiday time at the end of the year. We always get extra time off. This year, for some reason, it is being especially generous. Today was my last day of work for the year. The rest of the year is paid vacation or holiday time, and none of it comes out of my bank of “self-managed time off” hours.

\n

I also got a gift card from my employer in the mail, and used it to buy an Apple Magic Trackpad, which is something I have always wanted but could not justify spending the money on.

\n

I am not great at having fun during my time off. My wife and kids have school tomorrow, while I am off, and I plan to spend the morning vacuuming, mopping the floor, and cleaning the bathrooms. Not fun at all, I’m afraid. Once everybody is home, though, I can imagine playing board games and watching movies with my kids. We’re also having family over on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, though, due to COVID and an abundance of caution, we are not traveling to see my mom and the rest of my family on Christmas.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-22T21:33:18-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/22/last-day-of.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/22/finally-back-to.html", "title": "Finally back to iOS programming again", "content_html": "

I am working on one of my iOS apps for the first time in about half a year. For many different reasons, I couldn’t bring myself to work on it for a long time. The problems I was facing with it seemed insurmountable. In truth, some of those problems still seem insurmountable, but I feel ready to move forward again with it.

\n

Last night I stayed up late (which happens to me a lot when I am coding) and fixed a build that had been broken since the last time I touched it. I had moved a ton of functionality from a mostly-written app into a Swift package, and the transition necessitated updating hundreds of files and a few dozen method calls or property references. It was tedious work, but now that part is done. The app builds and runs, and the parts that still don’t work seem easy to fix. The new parts I have yet to write will still be a challenge, but I feel up for it now. It feels good to be back at it.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-22T21:20:19-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/22/finally-back-to.html", "tags": ["Journal","Programming"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/20/my-article-on.html", "content_html": "

My article on Big Data and data call projects was published in my company’s newsletter today. I am happy another one my goals for the year is complete.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-21T00:02:39-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/20/my-article-on.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/18/i-brought-the.html", "content_html": "

I brought the family to a drive-through holdiday lights extravaganza this evening. It was a little underwhelming, but we are all glad we went. I will never forget the animated “prehistoric Christmas” Santa sleigh being pulled by pterodactyls, though, even if I try to.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-18T21:52:19-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/18/i-brought-the.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/17/today-was-one.html", "title": "Today was one of those days where everything went wrong.", "content_html": "

First, my wife decided to keep our oldest child home from school, out of extreme caution related to the TikTok school shooting challenge, which I immediately dismissed as a hoax. My wife stayed home as well.

\n

At breakfast, my four-year-old son sneezed and coughed once or twice, so I suggested we give him a rapid COVID test before sending him into preschool. He did not seem sick, but I thought we should do the responsible thing. He, being a typical four year old, did not want (loudly!) a cotton swap stuck up his nose at the breakfast table, but we did it anyway, despite his tears. The test confirmed that he was COVID negative, and my wife drove him to preschool shortly after.

\n

I was working by the time my daughter woke up. We let my daughter sleep late, and she woke up crying. She ran into the office and told me she had a nightmare in which she lost her favorite doll. I made her breakfast soon after, during which she complained frequently and loudly that she was missing out on school. With no prompting from me, after she tried to keep to her academic schedule as much as she could, even though she was home.

\n

A couple hours later, in the mid morning, I had to take some time off work to drive to two doctor’s offices and pick up medical records. While I was out driving, my wife called me, saying that my son’s preschool called her saying that our son had thrown up all over and needed to come home. My wife went out to get him, with our daughter in tow.

\n

By lunchtime, we were all back together at home. My son wasn’t coughing or throwing up, but felt very tired and was running a low fever. My wife had already made a doctor’s appointment for him, and planned to take him mid-afternoon while I was working.

\n

At this time, my daughter complained that she was starving, which is very rare. Of course, I had no food to give her, so I had to cook something while she waited, steaming. She complained that she was having a bad day, and explained to me at length what she was supposed to be doing at every hour of the day that had elapsed so far.

\n

By mid-afternoon, I thought things would start to return to normal. Unfortunately, fifteen minutes after my wife left with my son to go to the doctor’s office, she called me saying that her car was making a terrible noise. It was so loud that I could hear it over the phone, over the road noise. I said I thought she had a flat tire (it turns out she did), and I told her to park in the nearest parking lot and wait for me to get her. Of course, I couldn’t just leave by myself—I had to take my daughter…who wasn’t dressed yet and would not get moving as fast as I wanted her to. It took us (her, really, but don’t want to be mean) about twenty minutes to get out of the house. My wife—desperate to make it to my son’s doctor appointment—called me again, livid.

\n

On our drive to my wife’s car, just before reaching the highway, a deer that I had noticed in my peripheral vision leapt out onto the street about five feet in front of my car. I slammed on the breaks and barely missed it. Luckily, the car behind me barely missed me as well. Of course, stopping abruptly caused every loose thing in my car, including my daughter’s favorite doll, to fly forward and crash into the my arm, the center console, and even the dashboard.

\n

When we finally got to my wife and son, I saw a completely deflated rear passenger-side tire on her car. She told me she had called AAA, and they would be there in about an hour. She then took our son in my car (we exchanged keys) and drove him to the doctor’s office, about an hour past her appointment time. My daughter and I waited in my wife’s car for help to arrive. My in-laws came in about half an hour and took my daughter away to bring her home. I stayed in my wife’s car for another half hour, waiting for AAA to come. I had thought that they were going to tow the car to a tire shop, but instead they put the space tire on, which I started to wonder if I could have done myself. (I have not changed a tire since I was a teenager, and that was with my dad.)

\n

After AAA put on the spare, I started the car and found it had almost no gas in it. I drove to the nearest service station and filled the tank. Then I drove home. No one was there. When I got to my front door, I realized that my wife’s keyring had no house-key on it. I was locked out of my house. Out of sheer coincidence, at that exact moment, my in-laws drove up my driveway. They had taken my daughter to her art class, went all the way there, and realized that they had forgotten her face mask. To fetch one, they drove her all the way back home. Fortunately, my father-in-law has a house-key, and was able to let me in before they took my daughter, a second time, to her art class.

\n

Almost an hour later, after my wife brought my son home—he was deemed by the doctor to be doing fine, but he has some non-COVID, non-flu virus—she asked me to pick up our daughter from her art class. When I got into my car, I noticed it had no almost gas left (my wife used it up on her trip to the doctor), so I had to squeeze in a fill-up before getting to my daughter’s art school. Fortunately, I made it in time. On our drive home in my car, the low tire pressure warning light came on, meaning I have a soon-to-be flat tire on my car to contend with as well.

\n

It’s going to be a fun weekend after all this.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-17T23:18:48-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/17/today-was-one.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/16/i-may-have.html", "title": "I may have a problem when it comes to AirPods", "content_html": "

Last night I misplaced my AirPods. I didn’t realize it until this morning, when I always take them off of my dresser and put them in my pocket. At 7:15 AM, they were gone.

\n

I didn’t mind at first. I knew they were at home, because I wore them while I was unpacking the groceries, but I had no idea what became of them. I looked for them at breakfast time, and couldn’t find them. After I finished a project at work this morning I looked again, more thoroughly. They weren’t in any of the usual places I put them. They weren’t in my clothes. They weren’t in the couch cushions.

\n

I started to get worried that something weird had happened to them. Perhaps someone threw them out. Perhaps they had fallen somewhere I could never retrieve them. I started to wonder if I would them years from now when we move out.

\n

By lunchtime, which is when I use my AirPods most often, I started to get desperate. Instead of going for my daily walk, I turned over the entire house looking for them. I started looking for my AirPods in crazy places throughout my house where they never could be: inside the refrigerator, inside various drawers and cabinets, and on the floor between my desk and the wall.

\n

I almost ordered new ones from Amazon, just to make the problem go away. The generation 2 AirPods were at an all-time low price today, but they wouldn’t be delivered until sometime in January, so it didn’t seem worth it. But, I saw that the new generation 3 AirPods could be delivered tomorrow. They just cost about $100 more. I almost bought them, but stopped short because I had to go back to work.

\n

At long last, in the middle of the afternoon, when I decided to prepare a load of towels for the wash, I found them hiding at the bottom of the towel hamper. I have no idea how they fell in there, but I was enormously relieved to get them back.

\n

It’s so silly, isn’t it?

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-16T22:33:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/16/i-may-have.html", "tags": ["Journal","Apple"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/15/i-completed-my.html", "title": "I completed my final presentation of the year", "content_html": "

Today my group and I presented on InsurTech to for an industry group’s free training day webinar. It went really well, which I expected because it was our second time making the same presentation. Still, I think that we all improved as speakers. We made our points more clearly and more cogently than we did the first time, and did so with greater focus and energy. We did some ad-libbing, answered some questions from the audience, and covered all of our material with only a minimal amount of rushing at the end. The best feeling for me was that I very much enjoyed listening to my speaking partners as they presented their sections.

\n

Overall, I think the presentation went very well. Human nature being what it is, though, I remember the two very minor vocal stumbles I made during the talk more than the thirty minutes of good performance I put into it. I also second-guess whether my reliance on a script—which I was not reading, per se, but did need to remember my lines—makes my part of the talk sound like I am reading an essay, which could be exhausting to listen to. No one has ever said that to me, but I wonder about it just the same.

\n

Working out what I am going to say out loud has always been part of my process when preparing a talk. Writing it down and editing it to exactly what I would want to say is a newer approach, which I think works out very well. It does, however, lead to an unnaturally efficient way of speaking, where no word is wasted—as long as I can remember my script. The next time I present to a live audience, with less accessible speaker notes and interruptions from the audience to handle, will put my new approach to presentations to the test. At this point in the COVID-19 pandemic, though, my next live presentation will likely be somewhat far in the future.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-15T22:37:32-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/15/i-completed-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/13/my-data-analysis.html", "title": "My data analysis bot", "content_html": "

Today I spent the majority of my work day creating a massive Excel template. Tomorrow I will code the data analysis bot that will fill that template with data tables and command logs that document the analytical procedures. Over time, these two days worth of work are going to save me many, many hours.

\n

I have always automated the data analysis part of my job, but never enough of it for my tastes. Although I am not a programmer by trade, I think like one. One of the creeds of a programmer is “don’t repeat yourself.” Sadly, at work, I repeat manual data analysis procedures all the time. Certain parts of my job resisted automation for years. Lots of work I do is ad-hoc and may never be repeated, so it rarely makes sense to automate it fully or to generalize the approach for other data files and projects. Other work I do, like pulling samples, happens all the time. I get fed up when I am performing it the same way, and no better than, how I did it years ago.

\n

I put some though into it earlier this year and discovered that documenting the work, rather than performing it, was the biggest time-waster in my day. Documenting my work in work papers has always taken a very long time. While necessary, it is the least productive time I spend on an analysis project. (In audit, work papers are critical. They support our observations and can be followed, step-by-step, to reperform our work.)

\n

This year, I finally figured out how to create a bot that would not only run a “standard analysis” on a certain type of dataset (that is the easy part for me), but would also document the work in an Excel work paper (that is the hard part). It is not perfect yet, but it has saved me a lot of time over the past six months. I plan to keep working on it, mostly by building new work paper templates and standard analyses, next year and into the future, so that it keeps payment me dividends.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-13T21:52:17-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/13/my-data-analysis.html", "tags": ["Journal","Programming"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/12/i-am-presenting.html", "content_html": "

I am presenting my InsurTech slides to a new audience on Wednesday after about a month away from the material. I have to start rehearsing soon. Hopefully it will all come back to me quickly once I look at the slides again.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-12T13:41:55-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/12/i-am-presenting.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/10/why-do-i.html", "title": "Why do I even bother running a home file server?", "content_html": "

Over the past year, my TrueNAS Core server has been bugging me every few months about one of my boot failing. In this case, the boot drives are simply two USB sticks, run in a mirrored configuration. If one fails, the other one handles the load. (The reason I use a USB stick for a boot drive is that my server has an internal USB port for that very purpose, and no other place for the boot drive to go.)

\n

This week, after yet another USB stick failed, I tried to resolve the problem by buying new USB sticks and installing TrueNAS onto them. The OS installs took hours and the server would not reboot. Eventually I discovered that I could buy an SSD drive with the form factor of a USB stick, which is what I have wanted for years. It fits inside my server like a USB stick, but contains a fast, durable SSD drive instead of slow, fragile flash memory. I installed TrueNAS onto it, which seemed to take seconds rather than hours, but I could not boot from it. I spent an hour swapping USB drives and trying to boot the server until it would not boot TrueNAS from any USB drive I had. It was a disaster.

\n

I gave up and installed Ubuntu Server onto the new SSD drive. I knew that Ubuntu supports ZFS now and could import my existing data pool. Luckily, it boots like a champ. After the install, I found some instructions to help me set up ZFS, Samba, and Minio, and—after editing file permissions—everything is set. I didn’t lose any data during the OS switch, but I did mess up my Arm backups when I tried to move them into a new Minio storage location. Luckily, I wasn’t depending on those backups for anything, because my important data is in the cloud and I have backups on Backblaze B2 as well.

\n

I use the NAS daily for media sharing and backups. It takes very little maintenance except once in a while when it becomes a headache and money sink. I sometime wonder if I should go back to having an external hard drive instead, now that 8 TB external hard drives are pretty cheap. The problem with that approach is that external hard drives get hot and die, which happened to me so many times that I bought a NAS.

\n

I will miss running TrueNAS (which used to be called FreeNAS) because I have run it for ten years and used to be really into its FreeBSD underpinnings. Now, all the servers I rely on run either Ubuntu Server or Debian, and I will just have to deal with administering them via SSH rather than via a web page.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-10T22:14:58-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/10/why-do-i.html", "tags": ["Journal","Tech"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/10/i-shared-the.html", "content_html": "

I shared the article I wrote to one of my mentors today. He said he loved it and that he would help me get it published in an industry journal. Things are looking up!

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-10T01:10:08-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/10/i-shared-the.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/08/my-first-adjustable.html", "title": "My first adjustable desk ended up non-adjustable", "content_html": "

I received a motorized sit/stand desk today for my kids to use in the family room. I assembled the whole thing this afternoon, which was not too hard but took about an hour. Once it was done, I discovered that the left side would not lift. It was a frustrating way to end up. I emailed product support and hope to get some kind of answer. I’m afraid that, no matter what, I’m going to have to disassemble the whole thing to fix it. That will be a pain.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-08T21:31:36-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/08/my-first-adjustable.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/08/some-days-i.html", "content_html": "

Some days I feel like a hero just because I got dinner on the table and my kids’ homework completed.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-08T21:16:58-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/08/some-days-i.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/07/my-wife-and.html", "content_html": "

My wife and I had parent-teacher conferences with my daughter’s teachers. My daughter is doing great (which we already knew) and her teachers love her. I am very proud of her.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-07T21:25:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/07/my-wife-and.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/05/my-main-or.html", "title": "My main (or only) contribution to gift-giving for my kids this holiday season", "content_html": "

My main (or only) contribution to gift-giving for my kids this holiday season was a biggie: I bought them a multi-function color laser printer. (Don’t worry, my wife bought them a ton of other presents that are a lot more fun.)

\n

I got the idea to buy a color printer because my son’s preschool prints everything in color, and the administrators there said that color printing is phenomenal for kids’ worksheets. Beyond filling out preschool worksheet, my son loves to take photos and to draw. Once he gets a newer iPad I’m sure he’ll draw more electronically and will love the ability to print out his creations in full color. My daughter will likely be printing out book covers. She likes to write and illustrate story books, and a color printer will allow her to do that with even more panache. She also makes lots of presentation slide decks for school, and I thought she might need to print them out to turn them in. It turns out that she submits everything to her teachers electronically, so that use case probably won’t pan out.

\n

I didn’t intend to get a big, multifunction printer, though. I had wanted to buy a color printer, which was much cheaper. Due to the global supply shortage, I had to buy what was available, which meant ponying up for the next model up in the lineup, which includes a scanner, too. It cost a lot of money, and I’m well aware of how much toner and paper are going to cost me each year. I think will be worth it, though, to have a mini print-shop running in the family room from now on. My kids are both very excited to have it. I can’t wait to see what they do with it.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-05T23:19:13-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/05/my-main-or.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/05/feeling-dispirited.html", "title": "Feeling dispirited", "content_html": "

I had a couple dispiriting meetings toward the end of the week that killed the enthusiasm I had for what I have been working on over the past few months. First, one of my co-presenters said he thought that the lack of audience questions during our webinar indicated that everyone in the audience was just playing on their phones while we talked, waiting to collect their CPE credits. Then, later in the week, one of the partners I report to on technology initiatives seemed unenthusiastic about the automation bot I created, which took basically all year to figure out how to do.

\n

I have started to doubt myself again. I am wondering if the presentations I give and the white papers I write are too basic to be useful. Even worse, I am wondering again if my tech skills are not the best fit for my company.

\n

Even outside of work I have felt my creativity drop. I have struggled to think up new ideas to write about or to muster the energy to work on my writing until the ideas start to flow again. I want to start coding a lot more again but have been too tired to get into it almost every night.

\n

What I want is inspiration and energy. What I probably need is a diet, exercise, and more sleep.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-05T22:55:10-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/05/feeling-dispirited.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/04/a-hanukkah-covid.html", "title": "A Hanukkah COVID exposure scare", "content_html": "

In the middle of our Hanukkah celebration tonight my wife got a text that informed us that our son had been exposed to a classmate with COVID a couple days ago. My brother-in-law’s family left immediately because my son and his kids are unvaccinated. (They are all too young.) I’m not concerned that my son is sick (pre-symptomatic) because the rest of us as vaccinated.

\n

My son’s entire preschool class must stay home all next week, due to the exposure rules. My wife and I will have to figure out how to make that work.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-04T19:41:12-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/04/a-hanukkah-covid.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/03/tonight-i-fell.html", "content_html": "

Tonight I fell asleep in my chair in front of my whole family. I have officially become my dad. 😅

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-03T23:43:09-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/03/tonight-i-fell.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/02/success.html", "title": "Success", "content_html": "

Today, after almost two months of not having any usable time work on it, I finished coding the automation project that has been bedeviling me for half the year. I got over the technical hurdles months ago; all I needed was eight hours uninterrupted, so I could rewrite my code and test it. It took me a long, long time to find that time, but I found it today. It felt great to finally get it working, and even better to remove about half of the code as I optimized it. I am relieved that it is done. I will present it to one of our partners tomorrow, and plan to turn my attention to other things after that.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-02T22:44:39-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/02/success.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/01/final-revision.html", "title": "Final revision", "content_html": "

Today I made my final revision to the article I wrote for my company newsletter. It is an article about Big Data, which is a term that is both readily understandable and has no agreed-upon definition, which I intentionally did not bother to define in the opening paragraph. I was asked to define it anyway, right up front, and to cite it from a source. I did so and ended up with a real head-scratcher of a second sentence. I hated it so much that I ran it by my mentor. He confirmed that the definition I inserted was awful, and he sent me over a paragraph that helped me see a new way to open the essay. I ended up re-writing my first paragraph entirely, and came up with something that I am more proud of.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-01T23:01:21-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/01/final-revision.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/12/01/i-am-starting.html", "content_html": "

I am starting to miss coding in Swift every day. I must get back to it.

\n", "date_published": "2021-12-01T12:44:14-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/01/i-am-starting.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/30/hanukkah-is-a.html", "content_html": "

Hanukkah is a great holiday, but does it have to be eight nights in a row? It’s night three and I am exhausted. 😀

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-30T22:03:33-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/30/hanukkah-is-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/25/i-finished-the.html", "content_html": "

I finished the article I was writing last night just in time for Thanksgiving. I am relieved and hope I don’t have to revise it hastily next week after I turn it in.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-25T23:42:09-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/25/i-finished-the.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/24/trying-to-land.html", "title": "Trying to land the plane", "content_html": "

Right now I am trying to finish the article I am writing for my company newsletter. At turns I love it and I hate it. I don’t think it is my best work. I don’t even think I can give my best work right.

\n

The article resembles an introduction to the (huge) white paper I am working on far more than a standalone article. This was my intent, but because of that, it lacks a proper ending.

\n

Tonight, I am trying to wrap it up. I have been trying, little by little, for the past two weeks. I feel like I’m piloting a plane, circling and circling, and don’t know how to land.

\n

I don’t know how to end it, and even if I did, I fear that it is longer than my company wants it to be (by a lot). The good news, if I could call it that, is that it is due on Monday. That means that it will be done when it has to be done, no matter what, because I don’t have a choice.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-24T22:24:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/24/trying-to-land.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/24/my-day-was.html", "content_html": "

My day was actually really good. My mom and I had a nice time together on the long car ride from her house to mine. We did not hit much traffic, either. We all had a big family dinner this evening, too, and it was great. I’m surprised and grateful at how chill everything has been.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-24T22:18:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/24/my-day-was.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/23/i-am-driving.html", "content_html": "

I am driving to Connecticut tonight to pick up my mom and bring her back tomorrow for Thanksgiving. I am hoping that I left late enough to avoid a lot of the nasty rush hour traffic.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-23T19:50:56-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/23/i-am-driving.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/22/my-car-cat.html", "title": "My car cat", "content_html": "

The oddest thing happened to me today. My neighbor texted me this morning saying that she heard a cat crying and thought it was stuck in my car, which was parked in my driveway. I went out to look—and looked pretty thoroughly—but saw and heard nothing of a cat. I thought my neighbor must have been mistaken.

\n

An hour later my neighbor texted me again saying the cat was still in there, but stopped crying when I went outside to look. I went out again dutifully, looked again but far more quietly for the cat, and still found no trace of it.

\n

An hour after that, my neighbor texted me again and said that the cat was crying louder and louder, and that she wanted to call animal control to get it out of my car. She asked me if that was OK with me, and I said yes. I went out a third time, and still did not observe in any way a cat in my car.

\n

Finally, about 10 minutes after that, while I was in my house, I opened the window and then for the first time I heard a cat crying over and over and over again. I went out and heard the cat and the sound was coming from the engine block of my car. I still couldn’t see a cat though and did not know what to do.

\n

Fortunately, a police officer and the animal control officer in my town came over and, after about half an hour of trying, were able to pluck out a tiny, tiny kitten that had m crawled beneath my car’s engine and lodged itself in there. Fortunately everything is all right with my car and nothing bad happened to the cat. They took it away in a cardboard box I gave them, and presumably brought it to a shelter.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-22T21:14:56-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/22/my-car-cat.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/21/my-wife-and.html", "content_html": "

My wife and I went grocery shopping together (without the kids), for the first time since my daughter was born 9 years ago. We went to a huge Italian market we had never been to before, bought a bunch of stuff we didn’t plan to, and had a really great time together. It’s funny that these little things can be so wonderful.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-21T21:11:47-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/21/my-wife-and.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/20/this-is-my.html", "content_html": "

This is my handiwork for the night. Most of the kids’ Hanukkah presents are wrapped. 😮‍💨

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-11-20T23:32:18-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/20/this-is-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/20/writing-to-move.html", "title": "Writing to move forward…in my career", "content_html": "

After a week away from it, I finally sat down and wrote a little bit more of my article for my company’s newsletter. I still have about a week and half to complete it, and I am most of the way there.

\n

My topic has drifted a bit from what I intended to write. I started with the intention of writing about how to execute a data call project. (A data call project is when a government organization asks private companies to send it data, which it then uses for analysis and reporting.) What I actually wrote so far is an introduction to how the insurance industry (which is the industry I worked in) extracts value from Big Data, and a call to action stating that insurance regulators should also leverage Big Data to help them regulate the industry. The whole thing will eventually serve as an introductory chapter to a much larger white paper (or is it a short book?) that I plan to complete over the course of next year.

\n

It’s all very dry stuff, especially to those outside my field. It is important for me, though, to start writing down the things I know about at work. I think that getting published in industry journals, starting humbly with my own company’s periodic newsletter, will help me improve my profile in the industry, and is the best way for me to advance in my career and to make a difference. I know how to write clearly, which is a skill I have been undervaluing for many years. Now I plan to rely on that strength to move forward.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-20T20:17:37-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/20/writing-to-move.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/19/a-rebuilding-year.html", "title": "A rebuilding year", "content_html": "

A real “rebuilding year” is when a sports team is broken down and reassembled, basically from scratch, after—and as a response to—a dreadful season. 2020 was a dreadful season for, well, everyone on earth due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It certainly was for me. I experienced some deep trauma back in 2018 when my father died, which I thought went away after a few months, but never really did. Watching my father die (of Alzheimers and old age) completely messed me up. The emerging pandemic in early 2020 let the lingering feelings I had from that time metastasize into full-blown depression and anxiety. Work and home life were both stressful to me all the time. My relationships with everybody suffered. I was a wreck. So was everyone else at the time, which blinded me to how much of a mess I was. At some point, my eyes slowly opened to what was really going on with me, mental-health wise. My problem was that once I realized that my brain wasn’t working right (as in, rationally), I could not trust any of my thoughts, even the ones that could lead me to getting better. It took me months to figure out how to get help, even though, in hindsight, it wasn’t really that hard. By the end of 2020, I was well on the way to recovering from my mental health problems, but I hadn’t rebuilt my life yet.

\n

2021 has been a rebuilding year for me, pretty much from its first day. I made it a point to reach out to people. At work, I set up one-on-one meetings with everybody in my department, and asked for coaching sessions from people higher than me in the organization. At home, I made efforts to listen and to be more present in my relationships with my family members. Internally, I tried to be less hard on myself. I gave up some activities that were productive but stressful. I decided to write a blog entry every day. I allowed myself to waste time on mindless fun, like just listening to music or playing video games, after the kids were in bed (or supposed to be in bed, at least). I had thought that I would get the COVID vaccine and society would get back to normal. Of course, that hasn’t quite happened yet, but I am optimistic that next year will be the time when masking and social distancing pretty much go away. (I’m aware that a lot of people don’t wear masks when they go out, but my wife and kids wear masks at school for hours and hours each day, so masking and social distancing are very much going strong for my family.)

\n

Over the course of this rebuilding year, I have re-learned what I love to do, which I had forgotten over the past few years: Break complex things down to make them understandable; ask big, deep (or maybe dumb) questions; and to communicate ideas, especially in writing.

\n

I am both doing less than I used to and doing more. I am programming less and writing more. I made it a point to improve my presentation skills, and I did that. I taught myself how to make better slides, even though it was very challenging at first, and how to rehearse and revise a talk until it is brisk and concise. I have given …five or more presentations at work this year, on department-level and company-level Webex calls. I created a slide deck for our managing partner to present to the board of directors. I am getting more well known for my technical skills and presentation skills at work, too, which makes me feel great about my job for the first time in years. I also made it a point to write an article for my company’s newsletter, and I am about 85% done with that now, and plan to wrap it up next week. Lastly, I learned to type in the Colemak-DH layout on an unusual, ortholinear keyboard (still really slowly, I admit), and that proved to me that my brain was flexible enough to do it. I am literally rewiring my brain.

\n

By the end of the year, I will not be rebuilt, but will keep rebuilding. That is the most important thing I learned this year.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-19T22:53:52-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/19/a-rebuilding-year.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/17/i-dont-journal.html", "content_html": "

I don’t journal anymore, and I think…”what am I hiding from myself?”

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-17T22:46:48-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/17/i-dont-journal.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/17/my-wife-and.html", "content_html": "

My wife and I brought her car into the dealer tonight because its passenger-side-mirror lane-checking camera stopped working. I wonder if the global chip shortage is going to make a repair pretty much impossible.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-17T22:37:10-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/17/my-wife-and.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/17/i-gave-my.html", "content_html": "

I gave my presentation today. It went very well. It was all I achieved today, though. As soon as it was over, I couldn’t do anything for the rest of the day.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-17T00:54:11-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/17/i-gave-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/15/my-next-presentation.html", "content_html": "

My next presentation for work is tomorrow morning. I am really looking forward to it. I think I created a solid concept and structure for my team’s talk. I hope good things come of it.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-15T22:51:34-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/15/my-next-presentation.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/13/211038.html", "title": "Instant Pot beef stew update", "content_html": "

My Instant Pot beef stew came out very well. I didn’t use a recipe; otherwise I would share it. I simply dumped all the ingredients in raw, cooked it under high pressure for 40 minutes, let the pressure naturally, and let it sit on the warm setting for 40 more minutes. It was nearly perfect.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-13T21:10:38-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/13/211038.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/13/instant-pot-beef.html", "title": "Instant Pot beef stew", "content_html": "

I’m attempting to cook a beef stew in the Instant Pot right now. I’m not sure if it will come out right. I don’t make stew that often, and when I do I usually use a slow cooker or (gasp!) my stove and oven. If it works, though, it could be a game changer for me. I both need to use the Instant Pot more often, to justify its place on my counter, and I need more convenience in my approach to cooking big meals.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-13T18:32:50-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/13/instant-pot-beef.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/12/i-dont-know.html", "content_html": "

I don’t know what I want for Hanukkah or Christmas. I feel like I’m letting down the people in my family who want to buy me a gift. It makes me sad to think about it.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-12T21:58:11-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/12/i-dont-know.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/11/i-learned-that.html", "title": "I learned that I can actually do something about my awful, monolithic office furniture setup", "content_html": "

I have a corner desk that is connected to a second, straight desk, which looks really cool, but is a pain (literally) to use. While it offers me enough space for two desktop computer setups: a necessarily sloppy-looking windows laptop-and-monitor setup for work, and a more streamlined Mac mini-and-monitor setup for home, it causes a lot of problems. The desktop is so high that it puts pressure on my forearms when I use the keyboard, which leads to wrist pain. The desktop on the Mac side is not level and there is no way to adjust it, so the monitor is always tilted slightly, which drives me crazy. The desk drawer and keyboard tray are too low and bang into the top of my legs. Lastly, the keyboard tray, when open, blocks the desk draw, which is super annoying.

\n

There’s a lot more to it than just the desk setup. There are low cabinets and high bookshelves stretching across two walls of my office, all connected into a big L. You can see that it is made up of many different components, but they are all stuck together with no space between the seams. For the past eleven years I thought it was glued together by the house’s prior owners, but my father-in-law pointed out to me tonight that I was mistaken. The furniture is screwed together; it was designed to attach. Therefore, it will be a straightforward (though physically demanding) process to separate it and get it out of my house. I could even keep the bookcases and low cabinets that aren’t bothering me especially, to make room for a new, completely separate desk.

\n

I am relieved to know that something can be done that falls short of hiring a demolition crew to break all this stuff apart and haul it away. I can get rid of the desk portions only, which I didn’t know was possible. That would leave me with 68 inches of space for a new desk. It will be more difficult to figure out how to accommodate both my Mac and PC setups, with all the USB peripherals and so on, but that is a problem that technology and money can probably solve.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-11T22:34:04-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/11/i-learned-that.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/09/sharing-presentations.html", "title": "Sharing presentations", "content_html": "

One fun thing I did with my daughter tonight is to compare the slide decks we are developing. I’m working on an InsurTech presentation for work, and she created a Civil Rights & Women’s Suffrage presentation for school. I think it’s fun for her to see that we are doing a similar thing.

\n

Tonight I walked her through the concept of a build slide using one I created for my talk next week. On a build slide, the content pops in one element at a time, which allows you to step the audience through a step-by-step process without overwhelming them by showing all the steps up front. (If overused or distractingly animated, build slides are annoying. Judiciously used, they can be very effective.)

\n

I also showed my daughter how I use different and varied visual layouts to make my slides visually appealing. I showed her that good slides tend to have only a few things on them—six or fewer, usually. I tried to explain how to incorporate icons with text, but my business-y examples of icons meant nothing to her, so I don’t think she grasped it.

\n

She was most impressed to see that I write a lot of text in the speaker notes section, which is displayed below the slides. She said that they didn’t teach her to write speaker notes in school, which surprised me a little, because she is giving live presentations, not just turning in completed slide decks.

\n

I use speaker notes extensively because I prefer to script my talks and revise the scripts as I rehearse them out loud. That process helps me cover my points in as few words as possible. It also helps me fit the words to my mouth, which is how I describe editing my text to sound more natural when I say it.

\n

By the time I’m done, I have practically memorized the script, so I do not have to read it, and it feels very natural to say what I have prepared. That method requires writing skills that are beyond the fourth grade level, I’m afraid, but hopefully my daughter will be ready to learn how I do it someday.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-09T23:38:37-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/09/sharing-presentations.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/09/time-to-bail.html", "title": "Time to bail", "content_html": "

I have been writing for an hour and forty five minutes tonight and have come up with, maybe, one paragraph of useful text for the Big Data/Data Calls article I am writing for work. I am not blocked. I am not distracted. I am pushing sentences around like a kid pushing peas around on a plate. The right way to connect my ideas and my sentences together is just not coming. Time to bail—at least for tonight.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-09T22:50:27-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/09/time-to-bail.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/09/one-of-my.html", "content_html": "

One of my coworkers called me today and, before talking about business, he praised me for my presentation skills, based on presentations I gave weeks ago. 😊

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-09T19:40:10-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/09/one-of-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/08/writing-for-three.html", "content_html": "

Writing for three hours at night sure makes me hungry. It’s nearly 11 PM. Do I risk eating a snack so late? How could I even avoid it?

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-08T23:41:18-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/08/writing-for-three.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/06/why-i-have.html", "title": "Why I have been playing so many video games lately", "content_html": "

Looking back on last week, I played a lot of video games. A lot more than usual actually. It’s a sort of thing I do when my brain is so tired I can’t do anything else, not even focus on a TV show. I have been working really hard writing system walkthroughs or performing data analysis during the day, and working on a presentation and an article for publication in my company’s newsletter during the evenings. I realized that I have been staving off mental exhaustion by escaping into the world of Pokémon or Metroid in the late night hours before I go to bed. This might keep happening for the next few weeks. It is an absolute sprint for me until December 3, I’m afraid. At least at the end of the year we get the last week off.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-06T20:11:31-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/06/why-i-have.html", "tags": ["Journal","Gaming"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/05/my-daughter-got.html", "content_html": "

My daughter got her first COVID-19 vaccine today. I am grateful that she will be fully vaccinated relatively soon. I think my 4-year-old son will have to wait until his fifth birthday to get the jab.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-05T19:23:15-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/05/my-daughter-got.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/02/im-working-on.html", "content_html": "

I’m working on an article for my company newsletter right now, and it feels like I am just pushing words back and forth and nothing is gelling together. I write, I delete, I move things around, and my word count stays the same, and each section remains unpublishable.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-02T22:01:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/02/im-working-on.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/02/election-day.html", "title": "Election Day", "content_html": "

It is Election Day today in New Jersey. Everyone in my family voted early, by mail (as it should be), so there’s nothing to do but wait until evening when the results start rolling in. I’m hoping that Phil Murphy wins re-election, and that we don’t have a repeat of the 2009 gubernatorial race. The year after Obama won the White House, Republican Chris Christie was voted in as our governor. His disdain of funding schools and infrastructure set our state back for his entire tenure. I’m not ready to go through that again.

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-02T13:43:04-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/02/election-day.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/31/i-carved-a.html", "content_html": "

I carved a happy jack o’lantern this Halloween.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-10-31T19:51:12-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/31/i-carved-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/31/double-chocolate-cupcakes.html", "content_html": "

Double chocolate cupcakes for Halloween.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-10-31T15:58:03-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/31/double-chocolate-cupcakes.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/31/lots-to-do.html", "content_html": "

🎃 Lots to do today for Halloween! We’re making cupcakes (my kids can’t eat much candy due to allergies), chili, and cornbread for a family party, and we’re trick-or-treating, too.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-31T10:21:17-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/31/lots-to-do.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/29/a-vaccination-blood.html", "content_html": "

A vaccination, blood test, and an MRI all in one 24-hour period was too much for me. 😮‍💨

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-29T18:12:27-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/29/a-vaccination-blood.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/28/today-i-watched.html", "content_html": "

Today I watched some videos from Great Art Explained on YouTube. The videos on Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, Hokusai’s The Great Wave, and Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights are fascinating. Watching them have me some serious flashbacks to my art history class in college.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-28T18:13:48-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/28/today-i-watched.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/28/i-just-got.html", "content_html": "

I just got my Moderna booster shot. They are in such demand that CVS called me and asked me to come in three hours early to get it.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-28T17:51:32-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/28/i-just-got.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/28/i-have-completed.html", "content_html": "

I have completed the New York Times crossword puzzle every day for years, but for some reason I stopped about a month ago. I have been having trouble getting back into it, too. Too many lousy puzzles turned me off.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-28T17:49:52-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/28/i-have-completed.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/25/i-have-been.html", "content_html": "

I have been working all evening on my InsurTech presentation and totally blew through my self-imposed blogging deadline. No worries. My mind was engaged and my time was well spent.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-25T00:31:22-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/25/i-have-been.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/23/im-voting-by.html", "title": "I'm voting by mail from now on", "content_html": "

I mailed in my request for a mail-in ballot for all future elections. (My state has an off-year election cycle for state-wide offices, so this is timely.) I did not do so before because I had thought it would be better to take my kids to the polls to show how voting works. I realized that I can also do that from home. Really, we should all be voting by mail. It would expand the franchise, and give us more time to consider the down-ballot candidates, like school board members, who are not covered by the media and can have a direct affect on our lives in ways that governors and presidents cannot.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-23T14:36:05-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/23/im-voting-by.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/23/my-daughters-ipad.html", "content_html": "

My daughter’s iPad wont take system updates because over a third of its storage space is taken up by “Other”, which I cannot delete. Hooking it up to my Mac and doing the update from the Finder is working a treat. Who knew?

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-23T14:24:05-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/23/my-daughters-ipad.html", "tags": ["iPad","Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/22/i-was-so.html", "content_html": "

I was so tired this afternoon that i couldn’t talk good (er…) and stuff at my last meeting today. Thankfully it was not a meeting with a client. 😅

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-22T20:04:50-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/22/i-was-so.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/22/i-scheduled-my.html", "content_html": "

💉💪 I scheduled my COVID-19 booster shot appointment. I hope to be able to vaccinate my kids soon, too.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-22T20:02:15-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/22/i-scheduled-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/21/saying-something-old.html", "title": "Saying something old, but saying it better", "content_html": "

I have thought so many Big Thoughts about the InsurTech presentation I am working on that I have come full circle. I realized today that what I have built thus far contains pretty much the same information and ideas as my prior presentations on the topic, going back four or five years.

\n

I think my current presentations slides and speaker notes are much better, and that the talk will be have better focus and clarity, but I am surprised at how much I want to say seems to be recycled from what I already had thought about the topic.

\n

I started off trying to say something new. I hope that saying something old, but saying it better, counts for more than I think.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-21T21:23:17-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/21/saying-something-old.html", "tags": ["Journal","Thoughts"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/17/working-on-my.html", "title": "Working on my slide deck, in the zone", "content_html": "

I have been diligently working on my InsurTech webinar slide deck this evening. I was so locked in the zone that I forgot about everything else for the last four hours. I completed 20 slides, which is probably about half of the slides I will end up creating entirely. My presentation team partners will be creating the rest.

\n

I don’t have enough time to make my slides look perfect, which is unfortunate. While I have one good visual that I build up throughout the section, most of the images on my slides are just floating out there next to my text, instead of being full-bleed across the slide or otherwise better integrated with my ideas. At least I am using whitespace instead of bullets.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-17T23:53:03-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/17/working-on-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/15/breaking-things-down.html", "title": "Breaking things down", "content_html": "

I have tons of different “extra-curricular” projects right now, mostly for my job, but also to satisfy my own desire to build, develop, and share. I have systems projects, programming projects, presentations, and a white paper to write. This is on top of my normal job and home life, and my desire to read a book or play Metroid Dread sometimes, too. I have started to break down each project into discrete tasks, and plan for only the next couple. I know my deadlines, but I don’t have hours and hours in a row to work on any of these things. I think this is the way forward. I don’t want to stress myself out when everything becomes due.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-15T21:13:50-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/15/breaking-things-down.html", "tags": ["Journal","Productivity"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/14/an-insurtech-webinar.html", "title": "An InsurTech webinar", "content_html": "

Tonight I started preparing a slide deck for a presentation on the topic of InsurTech that I, and a couple coworkers, will present online next month. I presented on InsurTech several times before, dating all the way back to 2017. This time is different, however, because I have leveled up my presentation skills. I am excited to get the chance to present again, and am embracing the opportunity to find something new to say about technology, insurance, and investments.

\n

This year I have been presenting so much more than I ever have before. One reason, I think, is that we are not doing training in person due to the pandemic. I hope we keep doing webinars; they could be one of my specialities going forward.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-14T22:59:16-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/14/an-insurtech-webinar.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/13/cake-day.html", "title": "Cake day", "content_html": "

It’s my birthday today. My in-laws bought me dinner and my wife baked and decorated a delicious birthday cake for me (her best one yet, I think). I am now in a post-cake coma, and will be taking the rest of the night off.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-13T20:53:14-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/13/cake-day.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/12/i-fixed-my.html", "title": "I fixed my office ergonomics and ruined everything else", "content_html": "

A few weeks ago, prompted by a flare-up or RSI pain in my wrists and forearms, I moved my keyboard and trackball from my desk (which is a corner desk that is apparently too high for me) to a siding drawer beneath my desktop. Now I have to sit almost a foot further away from where the monitor was, which necessitated moving my monitor forward almost to the edge of my desk. Overall, the change has been beneficial to my RSI (I stopped using a wrist rest for the first time ever), but it ruined everything else.

\n

Now I have no room on my desk for my stuff, can no longer reach my speakers or headphone amp well enough to use them, and, because my trackball is taller than the depth of the keyboard drawer, I can’t close my keyboard drawer. The always-open keyboard drawer interferes with my main desk drawer where I keep my headphone cables. I stopped listening to music at my desk, which brings me joy, anymore because the setup is unworkable. Also, my desktop is a mess now because the monitor is in a stupid place, and I have no place for my iPad, my computer headset, or anything else.

\n

I need a new and different setup, but that is almost impossible for me to get right now. All my current home office furniture came with my house, is glued together, and takes up two entire walls of the room, so it will take some heavy lifting, literally and financially, to make any changes.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-12T22:06:55-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/12/i-fixed-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/06/breakthrough.html", "title": "Breakthrough!", "content_html": "

After hours of struggle last night on an automation project I am doing for work, I had a breakthrough today. I feel good about the project for the first tome in months.

\n

In my experience, robotic process automation (RPA) cannot be coded in the same way as, say, VBA to manipulate data. I am very good at coding in VBA, even though it is my least favorite programming language. VBA was built for traditional programmers like me. I am used to using code to manipulate data, which is how VBA works. I am not used to using programming (not even code, but commands) to manipulate the user interface around the data, which is the most important part of how RPA works.

\n

Automating applications and websites to work on data is tricky for numerous reasons. First, unpredictable things happen at runtime, like error messages for the application or the operating system that pop up and interrupt the program flow. Websites change unpredictably, and what you expect to be there suddenly is gone. In addition, if one step in an automation does not work right, and that is not handled appropriately, the automation will just barrel on and do goodness knows what in the wrong place or in the wrong window or application. Lastly, every action takes an unpredictable amount of time to finish, for a myriad of different reasons. It is hard to predict all of the weird things that might happen at runtime, but you have to deal with them as best you can.

\n

The one thing that has been especially bedeviling to me is that, when an automation (or, colloquially, a bot) runs, the amount of time any task within it takes is completely unpredictable. If the bot does not wait long enough after something finishes, what it needs for the next task (typically a window, menu, or other control) may not even exist yet. The bot I am building would run one day, and fail to finish the next day, solely because my computer ran more slowly sometimes.

\n

I found that my bot started working consistently only after I stopped trying to wait a fixed number of seconds between tasks, but instead told it, every step of the way, to wait until the control it needs to interact with next exists on screen. This leads to a lot more steps that I have to add to the automation, but also to a lot less guesswork about how long a pause is necessary between actions.

\n

I also figured out a better way to wait for long-running data tasks and macros in Excel to finish. It’s simple, but I did not know it was possible until I looked for it today: wait for the mouse cursor to change from the hourglass cursor back to a normal one. It’s just what you would do as a user, but my programmer mindset, always focused on the data rather than on the user interface around the data, made me blind to it for a long time.

\n

With these few changes to my coding approach, my confidence, which admittedly had been shaken by the project, has grown. I now feel that a lot more is possible to build with RPA technology. It just will be more tedious to build it than I would like it to be.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-06T21:09:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/06/breakthrough.html", "tags": ["Journal","Programming"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/02/gratitude.html", "title": "Gratitude", "content_html": "

Today, to thank my in-laws for all the help they give to my family (which is a lot), I cooked them a nice dinner—chili and cornbread, which they love—and my daughter wrote them a thank-you note for the various nice things they do for her. I am trying to teach my children to express gratitude. I’m not sure that part was completely successful, but we all had a great time.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-02T21:03:52-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/02/gratitude.html", "tags": ["Journal","Thoughts"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/24/yesterday-at-work.html", "content_html": "

Yesterday at work I was asked to give a status update on my team’s status call, which is a Webex. I decided to create a slideshow and make a good presentation out of it. I have decided to take every opportunity, even the little ones, to improve my presentation skills.

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-24T20:23:15-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/24/yesterday-at-work.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/24/i-played-too.html", "content_html": "

I played too much Scott Pilgrim vs. the World this week, and have been rewarded with wrist pain in my left hand. I should have known I was overdoing it because my typing became more and more inaccurate as the week progressed.

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-24T20:21:02-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/24/i-played-too.html", "tags": ["Journal","Gaming"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/23/the-tree-service.html", "content_html": "

The tree service my wife and I hired accidentally severed the internet connection cable outside my house. Did I mention that I work from home and my kid has Google Classroom-based homework?

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-23T19:03:03-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/23/the-tree-service.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/21/writing-for-other.html", "title": "Writing for other people", "content_html": "

I have been busily writing a bunch of stuff for other people this week. First there were work papers for my day job. Yesterday and today I wrote three long product reviews for Amazon. Since late last week (and for hours last night) I have drafting a white paper that covers a topic at work that I am an expert in—that’s going to be a rather long project. I was just drafted into a presentation team on Friday, and I spent last evening brainstorming and I spent this evening writing an 800-word outline for it. I am teeming with ideas all of a sudden. It’s wild. But ironically I wonder what to write for myself, in my blog posts, as if I don’t have anything to say.

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-21T22:53:17-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/21/writing-for-other.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/21/two-of-my.html", "content_html": "

Two of my wife’s students went home today because they came to school with COVID. We’re doing great. 😅

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-21T18:53:54-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/21/two-of-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/19/parenting-is-indeed.html", "title": "Parenting is indeed a verb", "content_html": "

I have been emotionally exhausted from all the deep conversations I’ve been having with my daughter this weekend—mostly on account of dealing with bad behavior rather than with her wanting to sit and learn at her father’s knee.

\n

I am not upset about these talks—I think I am good at this stuff, and firmly believe that it is my responsibility as a parent to shape my children into good, well-adjusted people—but it does take a lot of energy out of me by the end of the day. Whoever claims parenting shouldn’t be a verb is either not a parent, a lousy one, or a damn liar.

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-19T21:25:28-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/19/parenting-is-indeed.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/18/i-do-this.html", "title": "I do this every day", "content_html": "

On Thursday I embarked on an ambitious project related to my job. I am writing a white paper based on the presentation I wrote earlier this year, with the goal to publish it—or articles based on it—in an industry journal. It’s about how to do a certain type of project that I specialize in at work. That’s a topic I know a lot about, but have lacked the confidence to understand that it really is something valuable. By communicating my ideas to others in my presentation, I have realized that I really am knowledgeable about the area I work in, and that I have valuable ideas that I can share.

\n

I am writing and editing somewhat furiously now (for me—I’m not an author) on my Mac and on my iPhone (thanks, Ulysses). I can’t stop. It is great to feel excited about and energized by a writing project again. I credit my daily writing habit on my blog for giving me the confidence to tackle a bigger writing project again. Writing something like this is no sweat for me. After all, I write for publication every day.

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-18T19:19:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/18/i-do-this.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/15/i-have-been.html", "content_html": "

I have been working at a more measured pace to increase accuracy at work. Hope no one notices in a bad way that I am spending more time on some tasks, because I am double-checking more thoroughly than before.

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-15T19:42:09-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/15/i-have-been.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/12/pasta-party.html", "title": "Pasta party", "content_html": "

On Saturday, my nine-year-old daughter hosted a pasta party for the family that she had been planning for weeks. She created invitations that listed a schedule full of activities. She also created a menu of four different types of pasta (spaghetti, ziti, farfalle, and elbows), homemade meatballs, homemade bread, and for dessert, chocolate pudding and homemade shortbread. My wife, my mother-in-law, and I cooked. During the party, my daughter led us through telescope painting and decorating (the telescopes were paper towel rolls) and a pasta parade (we walked around the block while my kids held toy pots). After dinner, she gave each of us a goodie bag containing a thank you note and a ten-page short story that she wrote about making a new friend. She worked so hard on everything, it brought tears to my eyes. I am very proud of her.

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-12T21:54:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/12/pasta-party.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/08/lost-sleep.html", "title": "Lost sleep", "content_html": "

Tomorrow is my daughter’s first day of school—in-person school—since March 2020. Thinking about the sleep schedule changes this will require for all of us has been nerve-wracking all day. Remote learning and remote work have, for the last year and a half, given all of us in my family an extra hour of sleep every night. Because my daughter and I are all night owls, it will be impossible for us to make up the lost sleep. We will just have to adapt to getting less, I’m afraid, and the transition will be difficult.

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-08T21:27:39-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/08/lost-sleep.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/03/i-am-proud.html", "title": "I am proud of my wife today", "content_html": "

After getting very upset at our daughter’s elementary school’s plan for lax COVID safety protocols announced during a webinar last night, she woke up at 4 AM this morning and wrote impassioned emails to the superintendent of schools, the school board, and the principal. She emailed and talked to other teachers at the school, our rabbi, our pediatrician, and her doctor friend to ask for advice. She and I seriously talked about disenrolling our daughter and home schooling her. After a lot of thought, though, we decided that we have to accept more risk than we are really comfortable with, for the sake of our daughter’s mental health. It was a stressful day, and we did not get what we wanted, but I am proud of all the effort that my wife put in to try to push for something better.

\n

As for me, my main contributions today were cogent conversation and homemade chicken noodle soup, fresh baked bread, and salad.

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-03T22:27:29-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/03/i-am-proud.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/03/i-didnt-get.html", "content_html": "

I didn’t get everything I wanted to do done this week. I’m OK with that. Life intervened. Stressful things came and went. I did right by my family each day. That has to be the most important thing. It’s time for a holiday weekend and then Rosh Hashanah. Onward.

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-03T19:22:14-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/03/i-didnt-get.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/02/covid-mask-mandate.html", "title": "COVID mask mandate temperature exceptions make a mask requirements a joke", "content_html": "

My daughter’s elementary school will not require masks if the outside temperature is 75°F or over. They said that means masks will effectively not be worn on classrooms for the entire month of September, and probably through October as well. In general, the COVID measures are based on outdated conjectures about how the disease is spread, and will be ineffective against an airborne pathogen. My wife wants to pull our daughter out of school. I’m not sure what the right call is, because I’m not sure how to quantify the risk or be sure about what would be equitable for my daughter.

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-02T20:15:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/02/covid-mask-mandate.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/29/full-decaf.html", "title": "Full Decaf", "content_html": "

My caffeine experiment is almost at its end. For the past week, I have only drunk decaffeinated coffee. One funny thing I noticed is that decaf coffee is not nearly as disappointing when you are no longer addicted to caffeine.

\n

My caffeine free (or almost free) lifestyle thus far has left me with no downsides: my energy level is just fine all day. I am not tired at all during work hours, and I no longer desperately crave an afternoon coffee each day. I do fall asleep earlier at night and more easily, which is a benefit. Instead of not being able to sleep until 2 A.M. most nights, I am ready to turn in by midnight, and sometimes even earlier, which puts me more in sync with my wife.

\n

All in all, after a rocky start with three days of withdrawal symptoms, my experiment has been a success.

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-29T10:27:21-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/29/full-decaf.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/26/we-stayed-at.html", "content_html": "

We stayed at the beach until it got dark tonight, which was a first for us. We like to go at dinner time and stay until dusk. It is quieter and cooler then. Sunset was pretty, if a bit subdued compared to the last couple times we have gone. This time, I brought my camera, though.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-08-26T21:39:01-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/26/we-stayed-at.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/26/work-has-become.html", "content_html": "

Work has become stressful again. I don’t have enough time to do everything I have to do—not just work, but taking care of my family and house, too. I’m taking my wife and kids to the beach tonight to just hang out, which is wildly irresponsible, but may be the thing I need to clear my head.

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-26T17:32:51-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/26/work-has-become.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/20/drip-drip-drip.html", "title": "Drip, drip, drip", "content_html": "

After over twenty years as a coffee drinker, I am now the owner of a drip coffee maker for the first time. Its make and model are nothing special, and it doesn’t actually brew better coffee than my AeroPress or French Press or Chemex ever did. In fact, the coffee it produces (with far less manual effort) is actually a little worse. Strangely enough, that is the whole point. I want coffee to be less enticing to me, because I am trying to wean myself off caffeine and maybe even cut coffee out of my diet entirely.

\n

I think my (modest) coffee habit is causing me some health problems, and I finally came to a mindset where it seemed possible to do something about it. So far, in the few weeks since I drastically reduced my daily caffeine intake, I have noticed digestive benefits, which I expected, and also, unexpectedly, a decrease in day-to-day anxiety—which is something I didn’t even know I had until it was gone. Up until this week I worried about removing something pleasurable from my daily routine, but I am finding that there is something pleasurable in being even keeled, and, of course, in not being dependent on a drug, albeit a socially acceptable one.

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-20T11:05:09-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/20/drip-drip-drip.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/19/quarter-decaf.html", "title": "Quarter Decaf", "content_html": "

Last night I told my wife I was going to go entirely to decaffeinated coffee starting today. After one look from her, I chickened out, and revised my goal to “quarter decaf”: half decaf in the morning, and full decaf in the afternoon. I still plan to eliminate (almost all) caffeine from my diet, but I am not sure if I will just drink decaf coffee twice a day, to preserve my warm beverage habit, or if I will forego coffee altogether. The latter would probably simplify my life a little bit, and is attractive, but I might go crazy drinking only water day and night.

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-19T13:53:15-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/19/quarter-decaf.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/18/presenting.html", "title": "Presenting", "content_html": "

Today I, along with a small team, gave the biggest presentation I’ve done in years: a webinar for my company’s clients. We did an outstanding job. Now that it is over, I feel relieved and exhausted.

\n

I spent several months earlier this year gearing up for this day. I decided early on to level up my presentation skills, which I thought were already very good. I took the learning process very seriously. I watched hundreds of hours of video: other people’s presentations, TED talks, Apple keynotes, lectures on speaking and communication, and instructional videos about visual design, slide decks, and PowerPoint. I made prototype slide decks in which I tried different techniques, and also tried to make some of the new techniques I liked work with my company’s PowerPoint template. I threw out and revised every slide I created several times. I practiced the entire talk out loud and made revisions to the visuals and to my script to communicate my ideas more succinctly. In the revision process, the true message of my presentation became more clear, and I was able to focus more on that. Lastly, I wrote almost the entire talk down in the speaker notes, to preserve the best part of my presentation, even though I had nearly memorized the entire thing while working on it.

\n

This is all probably normal stuff to professional presenters, but I’m not one of them. For the past ten years or so, I have typically presented only once or twice a year, and most of those presentations were to my coworkers (sometimes the whole company, but it’s a small company). Before this year, I didn’t rehearse my talks, and my slides, while uncluttered, were usually not visually interesting. Now, after having put in so much hard work, I think I can present very well. I have gained confidence in myself for future presentations, and feel proud of myself for what I have achieved.

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-18T22:13:32-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/18/presenting.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/16/background-music-and.html", "title": "Background music and Endel", "content_html": "

Sometimes when I’m working, I want music playing, but I don’t really know what I want to listen to, and I don’t have the patience to think about it. In these situations, I have tried listening to classical music, jazz, and lo-fi (hip-hop/trip-hop, etc.). Over the past week, I gave Endel an honest try, too.

\n

While I enjoy classical music in a live setting, I don’t like listening to it in my headphones. Its wide dynamic range makes it so that I can’t hear some sections of it, and other sections are too loud. That doesn’t work for me; I want something that is not too loud, but is completely audible, all the time.

\n

Jazz (especially classic jazz) was what I listened to almost exclusively during my senior year of college. It got me through reading and writing hundreds and hundreds of pages of text. However, I find my engagement with jazz to be all over the map. I love some of it and I hate some of it, and the kind of jazz you can just have on, not listening to—smooth jazz, I suppose—is just bad. All in all, I find jazz too distracting to listen to while I work, unless I listen to a single album that I already know and love.

\n

Lo-fi hip hop is my favorite background music at this point. I appreciate its nearly constant beat, somewhat consistent tempos, and there appears to be a never-ending supply of it. My wife hates when I play it in the house when I am doing chores or writing, though, which means I can only really listen to it via headphones when I’m around her. It works great on my headphones while I read on my iPad, or through my loudspeakers when I work.

\n

Over the past two weeks, I tried to get into Endel, which offers an AI-based soundscape that constantly changes and continually evolves as you listen to it. I like the idea a lot more than the reality of it, though I think it has a lot to do with my tinnitus. Endel is extremely treble-heavy and bass-light (really, there is no bass at all), and only one of its scenarios, Focus, has a beat. I would not describe the sounds as shrill, but they aggravate my tinnitus instead of helping me ignore it. Last week, I listened to Endel exclusively through headphones (my B&O H9s and my AirPods) while I did chores like the dishes and laundry. This morning, now that I am back at work, I tried listening to the Focus soundscape for a few hours through my loudspeakers. It drove my wife and both my kids absolutely bananas. Each of them yelled at me to stop playing it, even though it was not playing loudly, and they were on a different level of the house. After that experience, I think I will not be buying an Endel lifetime subscription.

\n

Tomorrow I plan to listen to Lofi Girl for much of my workday. That is the best bet for me, when I can’t make up my mind about music and need to focus on my work more than what I am listening to.

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-16T21:47:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/16/background-music-and.html", "tags": ["Audiophile","Journal","Productivity"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/16/today-is-my.html", "content_html": "

Today is my first day back at work after my vacation. I have found that, now that I consume less caffeine, I am finding all of the catching up, surprises, and unexpected requests to be less stressful than in prior years. Let’s see how I feel (maybe tired?) later this afternoon and evening.

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-16T13:15:44-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/16/today-is-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/15/my-wife-and.html", "content_html": "

My wife and I are unpacking and cleaning house after our time away from home. I always need this buffer day after a vacation to reset the house and, most importantly, the kitchen before I return to work. (I wouldn’t need a buffer day if we ever got back home before midnight. 😀)

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-15T12:05:24-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/15/my-wife-and.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/14/my-day-will.html", "content_html": "

My day will be all about packing and driving, and a visiting my mom for a little while, too.

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-14T09:56:19-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/14/my-day-will.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/13/halfdecaf.html", "title": "Half-decaf", "content_html": "

I have been lowering my caffeine intake over the past month or so. While I don’t drink that much coffee, but I think that my two (strong) cups per day allotment is causing me some minor health problems. I am at the point where trying to quit (or at least drastically lower) caffeine consumption seems like a reasonable approach to try to improve things. In retrospect, it is embarrassing how long it has taken me to even consider lower caffeine intake as a possibility.

\n

It has not been easy. I am trying to step down my caffeine intake by substituting decaffeinated coffee for some of the normal (good) beans in my brew. That experiment failed a couple of times; the normal ebb and flow of work-related stress led to a couple of relapses, all for a mid-afternoon boost. I restarted it when I started my vacation. I think I have been drinking about 25-30% of the caffeine in had been consuming. After a day or so I legitimately went through withdrawal symptoms: chills, headaches, and depression. I am perfectly fine now, but, from what I have read about caffeine withdrawal, I can expect even worse symptoms when I drop from some caffeine to none. I plan to stay at half-decaf levels for the next week or more, to delay that pain to a more manageable time.

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-13T17:31:22-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/13/halfdecaf.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/12/i-am-at.html", "content_html": "

I am at the point I my vacation where I am contemplating how I can be a better person after I return home.

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-12T18:02:30-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/12/i-am-at.html", "tags": ["Journal","Thoughts"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/12/i-am-not.html", "content_html": "

I am not able to attend Micro.camp due to vacation travel-related reasons. I wish everyone the best. 😀

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-12T15:42:30-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/12/i-am-not.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/11/this-afternoon-at.html", "content_html": "

This afternoon at Burns Lake in Whitefield, New Hampshire.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-08-11T22:48:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/11/this-afternoon-at.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/11/lake-winnipesaukee-is.html", "content_html": "

Lake Winnipesaukee is a fun, low-key place. We spent an afternoon there with some old friends yesterday.

\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-11T19:15:22-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/11/lake-winnipesaukee-is.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/10/im-driving-to.html", "content_html": "

I’m driving to Lake Winnipesaukee today. We are going to see one of my wife’s college friends who we haven’t seen in years.

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-10T10:11:07-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/10/im-driving-to.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/09/lies-i-tell.html", "title": "Lies I tell myself, vacation edition", "content_html": "

One of the lies I told myself when I packed for vacation is that I would spend more time writing and coding (for fun) each day. My MacBook has sat in a box in the closet, unused for all but one evening. I did not expect:

\n
    \n
  1. My kids going to bed at 10:00 or 11:00 PM
    2. \n
  2. My RSI to make typing in the MacBook quite painful (at home I use an external keyboard exclusively these days)
    3. \n
  3. Me taking up reading through the prose of James Joyce (I recently started Ulysses, after reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Dubliners) and all sorts of related background material
    4. \n
\n

I am OK with this. I am resting and recuperating. I am also studying James Joyce fairly seriously late at night, which is something I would not have attempted during non-vacation time. I don’t have to churn out essays and source code to be productive.

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-09T12:06:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/09/lies-i-tell.html", "tags": ["Journal","Thoughts"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/08/todays-activity-was.html", "content_html": "

Today’s activity was blueberry picking at a nearby farm. My kids really loved it. We have a ton of blueberries now, and plan to bake something yummy with them: a blueberry buckle, perhaps.

\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-08T20:38:50-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/08/todays-activity-was.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/07/we-found-a.html", "content_html": "

We found a new lunch spot today at Moore Resevoir, and had a conversation about the Connecticut River (the river I lived near my entire childhood) while we were there.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-08-07T13:59:31-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/07/we-found-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/06/we-spent-the.html", "content_html": "

We spent the afternoon at Echo Lake in Franconia State Park. It is a great place for the kids to swim and play. They made sand castles, lakes, and swimming pools for their toys on the beach.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-08-06T20:09:41-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/06/we-spent-the.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/05/here-is-a.html", "content_html": "

Here is a view of “our lake” in New Hampshire. We spent the afternoon there a couple days ago. The kids played in the sand and water, the adults chatted, and I took pictures. More recently we went on a couple short hikes and spent an afternoon at Santa’s Village, a theme park.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-08-05T22:38:29-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/05/here-is-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/03/the-old-man.html", "title": "The Old Man of the Mountain", "content_html": "

My family’s plans for a picnic lunch and an afternoon of swimming at Echo Lake, in Franconia State Park, were cut short because tickets for the lake were sold out. Echo Lake is one of my family’s favorite spots in the White Mountains. The mountain views are beautiful and there is a large (artificial) sandy beach to sunbathe and play on.

\n

We went to the nearby Profile Lake instead, and ate our lunch at the Old Man of the Mountain viewing area. Because the Old Man rock formation fell down in 2003, you can’t see it anymore. The park set up clever “steel profilers” that you can line up your vision with to create an optical illusion of what the old rock face looked like.

\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-03T17:39:01-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/03/the-old-man.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/02/beaver-brook-falls.html", "title": "Beaver Brook Falls", "content_html": "

Today I drove the family to a tiny park in northern New Hampshire that consisted of a picnic area, a waterfall, and a couple of short trails. We ate a picnic lunch when we got there and then explored the place. We enjoyed experiencing the roar and spray of the falls and had multiple great vantage points to view it from. It was a great time.

\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-02T19:45:18-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/02/beaver-brook-falls.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/02/its-day-three.html", "content_html": "

It’s day three of my vacation and my sleep schedule is already completely messed up. 😬

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-02T10:57:13-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/02/its-day-three.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/01/a-lowkey-day.html", "title": "A low-key day in Littleton, NH", "content_html": "

After a sunny, exciting day at the fair, today was overcast, cool, and low-key.\nWe took the kids to a playground (with a view of a mountain) and to the bookstore/toy store in nearby Littleton, New Hampshire. The kids had great fun, but we had to cut our visit to down short due to rain.

\n

Ironically, for the warmest year on record, this has been the coldest stretch of days that I have ever been in the mountains. It is a welcome respite from the heat in New Jersey, but it feels like I have traveled back in time. Nighttimes feel crisp, like late August/early September when I was a child.

\n

We plan to go to a lake or to a theme park soon, once the sun returns and the temperature rises.

\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-01T19:24:49-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/01/a-lowkey-day.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/31/the-north-haverhill.html", "title": "The North Haverhill Fair", "content_html": "

My family and I very much enjoyed the North Haverhill fair today. We had perfect weather, and I lucked out with the fair food (my wife and I shared the best fried Oreos I have had in years). My kids loved seeing the animals (one thing we saw was a goat obstacle course contest) and enjoyed the rides. I find that I enjoy fairs—especially the agricultural aspects—a lot more as an adult than I ever did as a kid.

\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"

\n", "date_published": "2021-07-31T22:06:53-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/31/the-north-haverhill.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/31/my-vacation-starts.html", "content_html": "

My vacation starts today. My family is going to the North Haverhill fair in New Hampshire. We always have a fun time there. My daughter is mad for rides and I am looking forward to fried Oreos. The rest of the family gets ice cream (maple soft serve) there.

\n", "date_published": "2021-07-31T10:52:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/31/my-vacation-starts.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/28/my-wife-took.html", "content_html": "

My wife took this picture while I was working today. I missed a beautiful day at the lake. Fortunately I had a good day, too.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-07-28T19:24:51-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/28/my-wife-took.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/25/the-workation.html", "title": "The Work-ation", "content_html": "

It’s a uniquely American thing, I have read, to work while on vacation. I have had to, as recently as last year. Some of my coworkers were reading, reviewing, and revising work papers and memos while on vacation last week. My vacation this year hasn’t technically started yet, but I am now in my family’s summer-vacation spot, my in-law’s lake house, primed to report in for remote work in the morning.

\n

Next week, for me, is planned full-time, remote work, while on vacation with my family. I hope to have no unplanned work time after next week, when my vacation-proper finally begins. That kind of thing has happened in the past, and it could happen again this year.

\n

I feel guilty each year for taking off two weeks with my family and finagling a weeks’ worth of remote work to tack onto it. It seems near impossible and nigh immoral to take off such an extravagant length of time from work. The idea is coming entirely from my own head at this point; no one explicitly tells me I’m doing something wrong, but it certainly feels like I am. I also wonder if my vacations are taking away from my opportunities for promotions, raises, or bonuses. In the end, it is more important to me to spend vacation time with my family, even though it feels like I am stealing that time from work.

\n", "date_published": "2021-07-25T15:27:10-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/25/the-workation.html", "tags": ["Journal","Thoughts"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/23/tonight-i-learned.html", "content_html": "

Tonight I learned my son has a LinkedIn profile. What’s more, he works for Microsoft.

\n

My son is four years old.

\n

🤯😁😅

\n", "date_published": "2021-07-23T23:06:58-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/23/tonight-i-learned.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/23/my-family-is.html", "content_html": "

My family is at the county fair this evening. It is a little hot but we are having a fun time. The kids love the rides.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-07-23T19:22:51-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/23/my-family-is.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/23/im-going-to.html", "content_html": "

I’m going to be driving most of the day tomorrow, so, via Ulysses, I’m scheduling tomorrow’s blog post to be published tomorrow. I am not sure if the post hits the Micro.blog timeline, though. If it did, I would probably use that feature more often.

\n", "date_published": "2021-07-23T15:37:20-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/23/im-going-to.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/20/my-new-grill.html", "content_html": "

My new grill was delivered today, but it arrived damaged and I had to refuse it. No grilled hamburgers for me today, I guess. At least I noticed the dent and scuffs before the installers got far along with its setup. Hopefully a replacement will come before the end of the week.

\n", "date_published": "2021-07-20T10:29:39-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/20/my-new-grill.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/18/today-we-are.html", "content_html": "

Today we are going to a family birthday party, then restocking the fridge for a week’s worth of camp- and work lunches.

\n", "date_published": "2021-07-18T10:05:52-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/18/today-we-are.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/10/the-cake-i.html", "content_html": "

The cake I made for my wife today came out tasty but a little messy. I am wildly inconsistent when it comes to frosting layer cakes. This one ended up with crumbs mixed in, and I didn’t have any frosting left over to put flowers on the top. The ganache and raspberry filling was great, though.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-07-10T16:49:39-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/10/the-cake-i.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/09/after-ten-years.html", "content_html": "

After ten years of service, my gas grill rusted out to such an extent that it is unusable. I thought I could get another couple months out of it, but, alas, part of it fell apart today. I ordered a new grill online right away. Fortunately, I won’t have to assemble or lift it.

\n", "date_published": "2021-07-09T21:31:43-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/09/after-ten-years.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/08/i-have-a.html", "content_html": "

I have a bunch of half-finished blog posts lying around, but not enough time to spruce any of them up into something presentable.

\n", "date_published": "2021-07-08T17:15:12-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/08/i-have-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/03/some-of-my.html", "content_html": "

Some of my neighbors appear to have town-sized budgets for their Independence Day fireworks displays.

\n", "date_published": "2021-07-03T21:49:43-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/03/some-of-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/01/my-carpal-tunnel.html", "content_html": "

My carpal tunnel flared up so much today that I won’t be writing a proper blog post. 😕

\n", "date_published": "2021-07-01T18:52:04-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/01/my-carpal-tunnel.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/28/decamped.html", "title": "De-camped", "content_html": "

One of the difficulties my family has had due to the pandemic is finding a suitable summer camp experience for my nine-year-old daughter. She loves camp, and there was no camp last year. This summer, we opted for what we thought was the safest camp option: a drama camp that promised to be outside only (under tents and such) or virtual if the weather was bad (presumably, if it rained).

\n

Yesterday, a day before camp starts (which is today), the camp changed its terms. It would count heat and humidity as bad weather and would move camp indoors pretty much full time, based on the weather forecasts we have around here. The camp surveyed parents over the weekend and the majority of the parents presumably agreed to this. We, however, did not.

\n

My wife is trying to find an alternative camp now, which is not easy last minute (at least around here). Camps start enrolling in October (which seems absolutely crazy to me). I hope she can work something out.

\n

What I find frustrating about summer now (and this is in New Jersey, not exactly in the South) is that the heat, humidity, air quality, and afternoon thunderstorms make outdoor activities incredibly difficult. It seems like summer is not a good time for summer camp anymore, which doesn’t make sense.

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-28T09:27:53-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/28/decamped.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/27/i-cleaned-out.html", "content_html": "

I cleaned out my closet today, which is both exhilarating and depressing. So many clothes to get rid of! So many things held onto for too long. Now I have empty shelves and drawers and nothing to refill them with. May it stay that way, at least until I get an office job again.

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-27T12:28:13-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/27/i-cleaned-out.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/25/we-visited-the.html", "content_html": "

We visited the beach tonight and really enjoyed it. Sunset is my favorite time there.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-06-25T21:13:33-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/25/we-visited-the.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/24/all-speech-is.html", "title": "All speech is persuasive speech", "content_html": "

My wife teaches speech, debate, and dramatic arts to high school students. I love it when she asks me to help her with her lesson plans, because it gives me the chance to take a subject that she has to teach, however uninteresting it may seem (especially if you’ve taught it for 10+ years in a row), and blow it up into something that is the foundation of everything.

\n

Here’s an exchange we had this spring:

\n

Me: What’s the curriculum?

\n

Her: Persuasive speech.

\n

Me: All speech is persuasive speech.

\n

Her: That’s not helpful.

\n

Me: But it’s true!

\n

I always encourage her to start new topics with audacious statements that demand defending. I’m not sure if she ever does, but I think it is important to tie everything you learn about writing and speaking with the fundamental forces that drive communication.

\n

In another life, I would have ended up teaching English at some level, too. I think I would make an excellent high school teach for one or two very smart kids, and a potentially disastrous one for everyone else.

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-24T18:33:36-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/24/all-speech-is.html", "tags": ["Journal","Thoughts"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/21/i-finally-got.html", "title": "I finally got a Prime Day Deal, but it was from Best Buy", "content_html": "

I picked up a Product (RED) Apple Watch 6 at Best Buy for my wife for a great price. Her Apple Watch 3 broke a couple weeks ago, and I ordered her an Apple Watch SE with a red band from Apple. It wasn’t supposed to be delivered until late July, which meant I was able to cancel it and pick up the Apple Watch 6 for her, tonight, for the same price as the Apple Watch SE, thanks to the insane Prime Days sale that other companies glom onto, too.

\n

The red case on her new watch looks really good and matches her phone. The only weird thing is that its battery was completely dead when we opened the box. I bet the red ones did not sell well, which is why there was a fire sale today.

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-21T21:48:20-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/21/i-finally-got.html", "tags": ["Journal","Apple"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/20/i-think-this.html", "content_html": "

I think this is the best Father’s Day I have ever had. I think the work I put into being a better dad has been paying off. I’m a little misty-eyed right now. 😀

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-20T19:07:50-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/20/i-think-this.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/20/as-of-right.html", "content_html": "

As of right now, I am very glad that, twelve months ago, I bought the extra temples for my daughter’s eyeglasses. 😮‍💨

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-06-20T09:50:59-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/20/as-of-right.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/19/fathers-day-blanket.html", "title": "Father's Day Blanket", "content_html": "

I already know that one of my Father’s Day presents is a nice warm L.L. Bean blanket. It’s not because I’m old and need a nap. It’s for watching TV at night in the summer. To keep our upstairs anywhere near comfortable for sleeping, our central air has to work very hard. This makes our TV room, which is one of the lowest rooms in the house, absolutely freezing.

\n

My house has central air but we also have room air conditioners in two of the upstairs bedrooms because the central air is not enough to cool them. I think that the root of the problem is that our house does not have enough ductwork upstairs. My house was built in 1980. I wonder if the central air system was designed for 1980 levels of heat, which were lower on average, because it certainly can’t keep up with 2020 levels for the top half of the house.

\n

I could be wrong about that, because I see climate change all over the place around me, and it might just be fatalism on my part. But I think I am at least partially right.

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-19T19:58:19-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/19/fathers-day-blanket.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/19/it-looks-like.html", "content_html": "

It looks like someone stole my credit card info again. Fortunately, I was able to lock the account online to prevent more transactions. Unfortunately, the credit card company’s fraud center closed before the time stated on their website, and I couldn’t talk to anyone last night about what transactions I need to dispute. What kind of huge credit card company doesn’t have a call center running 24/7?

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-19T09:51:54-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/19/it-looks-like.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/17/i-hit-a.html", "content_html": "

I hit a technical snag at work that is absolutely killing me right now. The first step in fixing it, I think, is to uninstall Microsoft Office 365. If only that were the last step, too!

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-17T15:13:32-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/17/i-hit-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/13/i-wish-i.html", "content_html": "

I wish I could be more methodical at work, but my stupid, whimsical mood is hard to overcome. I get things done, but not always in the orderly way I had hoped.

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-13T12:02:46-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/13/i-wish-i.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/12/we-are-going.html", "content_html": "

We are going (in person) to a (real) birthday party today, for the first time in…oh, never mind. Anyway, my daughter is jumping up and down in excitement, and that’s what is important. 😀🎂

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-12T09:49:06-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/12/we-are-going.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/11/this-is-turning.html", "content_html": "

This is turning out to be a terrible year for Apple device spending for my family. I had to buy my wife a replacement Apple Watch yesterday because the screen stopped working on her Series 3 and it is out of warranty. It is the fifth Apple device I have purchased this year. 💸

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-11T09:36:05-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/11/this-is-turning.html", "tags": ["Journal","Apple"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/04/i-have-one.html", "content_html": "

I have one hour to work on important stuff right now, and here I am, looking at my Micro.blog timeline instead. 🤦‍♂️

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-04T08:58:21-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/04/i-have-one.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/03/its-my-third.html", "content_html": "

It’s my third day of attending a virtual conference. I have seen too many presentations in a row, and consequently my mind is now a blur. My biggest takeaway is that presenters often lack focus, which causes them to run out of time before they get to the most critical points.

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-03T15:59:32-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/03/its-my-third.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/02/i-am-feeling.html", "content_html": "

I am feeling much better about the slide deck I am creating for a data calls talk that I and my team will present this summer. I soaked up presentation after presentation for the past month, and put a lot of it into practice today without even having to think about it.

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-02T00:16:31-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/02/i-am-feeling.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/02/we-had-a.html", "content_html": "

We had a one-second power outage in my neighborhood two nights in a row, after 11:00 PM. I can’t figure out why.

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-02T00:04:40-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/02/we-had-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/01/i-have-been.html", "content_html": "

I have been attending a virtual conference most of the day today. Technically, today is the pre-conference training workshop/training day. So far, it is pretty good and I am learning something.

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-01T14:51:45-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/01/i-have-been.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/29/im-spending-this.html", "content_html": "

I’m spending this rainy morning listening to jazz and reading The New Yorker.

\n", "date_published": "2021-05-29T11:57:21-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/29/im-spending-this.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/28/today-was-a.html", "content_html": "

Today was a good day because I got to spend all morning outside with my kids, and because the family all shared a nice meal together in the evening.

\n", "date_published": "2021-05-28T20:58:28-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/28/today-was-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/28/i-am-on.html", "content_html": "

I am on Zyrtec, so I don’t get many allergy symptoms anymore, but I think this is the longest and the worst allergy season in many years. I read somewhere, years ago, that climate change leads to increased pollen levels, and I believe it.

\n", "date_published": "2021-05-28T14:37:18-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/28/i-am-on.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/28/i-have-the.html", "content_html": "

I have the day off to spend with the kids today. 😀

\n", "date_published": "2021-05-28T09:12:30-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/28/i-have-the.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/27/the-washing-machine.html", "content_html": "

The washing machine is installed and running an empty load as a test. After that, it will be deluged with all the laundry that has piled up since our old machine broke. I feel sorry for it.

\n", "date_published": "2021-05-27T13:37:52-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/27/the-washing-machine.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/27/i-am-waiting.html", "content_html": "

I am waiting for a new washing machine to be delivered to my house. Let’s just say that my family really needs it ASAP. 😂

\n", "date_published": "2021-05-27T11:51:32-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/27/i-am-waiting.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/27/i-dont-drink.html", "content_html": "

I don’t drink that much coffee each day, but I missed my afternoon caffeine dose yesterday and felt completely awful until I had a coffee at dinner time. It was scary! Now I’m looking into strategies to reduce my dependence on caffeine.

\n", "date_published": "2021-05-27T09:55:43-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/27/i-dont-drink.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/24/i-just-learned.html", "content_html": "

I just learned that I get Friday off as a “bonus holiday” before Memorial Day. Now my schedule is in sync with the rest of my family’s, which is fantastic. I look forward to letting them know at dinner tonight. 😀

\n", "date_published": "2021-05-24T09:10:13-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/24/i-just-learned.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/22/i-actually-achieved.html", "content_html": "

I actually achieved all my objectives at work this week. I am still floored by that! 😅

\n", "date_published": "2021-05-22T13:09:37-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/22/i-actually-achieved.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/22/it-is-starting.html", "content_html": "

It is starting to get hot outside and it is not even June yet.

\n", "date_published": "2021-05-22T11:26:33-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/22/it-is-starting.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/20/i-am-a.html", "content_html": "

I am a little too excited to be getting Office 365 installed on my work laptop tomorrow. I have been on Office 2016 for so long it is absurd.

\n", "date_published": "2021-05-20T09:51:12-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/20/i-am-a.html", "tags": ["Journal","Tech"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/02/my-daughter-and.html", "content_html": "

My daughter and I made some flower cookies to celebrate the lovely spring day.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2021-05-02T16:15:06-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/02/my-daughter-and.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/04/30/i-unblocked-redditcom.html", "content_html": "

I unblocked Reddit.com earlier this week because the domain keeps coming up in tech question-related search results. After only a few days, I’m back looking at mechanical keyboards and expensive headphones on Reddit like an addict. I just blocked the domain again.

\n", "date_published": "2021-04-30T09:23:29-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/04/30/i-unblocked-redditcom.html", "tags": ["Journal","Tech"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/04/28/i-did-really.html", "content_html": "

I did really well at my presentation today. Practicing over and over definitely paid off. The talk I ended up with was almost completely different than the one I started with, even though my slideshow stayed the same.

\n", "date_published": "2021-04-28T13:46:29-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/04/28/i-did-really.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/04/28/im-rehearsing-for.html", "content_html": "

I’m rehearsing for an online presentation to my entire company later this morning. I feel good about this one.

\n", "date_published": "2021-04-28T09:28:28-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/04/28/im-rehearsing-for.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/04/26/laughably-for-no.html", "content_html": "

Laughably, for no good reason, seeing a bunch of bad takes on new Apple products last week sapped my will to share, well, anything on my blog for many days. 😅 I’m trying to get back to normal now.

\n", "date_published": "2021-04-26T10:47:31-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/04/26/laughably-for-no.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/04/14/i-filed-my.html", "content_html": "

I filed my taxes and now I can spend my after-work time on more productive things again.

\n", "date_published": "2021-04-14T15:50:07-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/04/14/i-filed-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/04/13/i-spent-some.html", "content_html": "

I spent some time tonight working on my tax filing, and some time learning how to create and publish NuGet packages. I want to package up one of my .NET libraries soon. I think it will be a fun, short project—unlike filing my taxes!

\n", "date_published": "2021-04-13T00:06:30-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/04/13/i-spent-some.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/04/10/i-have-been.html", "content_html": "

I have been up way too late for the past three nights, because I am working on a website. I bet a lot of micro-bloggers can relate. 😀

\n", "date_published": "2021-04-10T00:53:24-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/04/10/i-have-been.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/04/04/we-are-getting.html", "content_html": "

We are getting ready to go to the zoo today. It will be our first post-pandemic outing as a family that isn’t to a local park. I’m looking forward to it, and think it will be safe for us because we will be outside pretty much the entire time.

\n", "date_published": "2021-04-04T11:24:20-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/04/04/we-are-getting.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/04/02/today-i-made.html", "content_html": "

Today I made the mistake to look up someone I knew while I was in high school. I was reading an article about illegal drugs, and thought about a high school friend’s younger brother who ran into some drug problems about 20 years ago. Sadly, I discovered that he died last year. I can only conjecture, but it seems, based on what else happened to him over the past few years, that drug problems led to his premature death. Learning about what happened to him made me very sad.

\n", "date_published": "2021-04-02T17:58:04-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/04/02/today-i-made.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/04/02/for-the-first.html", "content_html": "

⚾️ For the first time in over a year I have a baseball game on in the background as I work. I hope to get by the with MLB “free game of the day” offering this year, rather than paying to subscribe to the season package. There was no free game for the season opener yesterday, though, so I’m watching a spring training game.

\n", "date_published": "2021-04-02T11:11:09-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/04/02/for-the-first.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/03/27/today-was-mostly.html", "content_html": "

Today was mostly about family time and the Passover Seder. It was a great day.

\n", "date_published": "2021-03-27T22:18:08-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/03/27/today-was-mostly.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/03/23/on-and-getting.html", "content_html": "

🎧 on, and getting into the ⌨️ zone now. Maybe I shouldn’t have stayed up till 1:30 last night, but that’s what ☕️ is for, isn’t it? 😅

\n", "date_published": "2021-03-23T10:21:11-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/03/23/on-and-getting.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/03/22/i-have-been.html", "content_html": "

I have been feeling behind at work, even though I am probably no more behind in my work than anyone else I work with. It’s been a struggle the past few days. I think I am pulling out of it now, but I’ve had to work overtime to get here.

\n", "date_published": "2021-03-22T22:30:35-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/03/22/i-have-been.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/03/12/i-have-been.html", "content_html": "

I have been well this week, but not in the blogging mood. I am working on gaining momentum now on all my work projects and hope to get back to my personal projects—like programming—soon. I have been so into coding for work the past couple months that I haven’t even turned on my Mac mini (which I almost exclusively use for coding) in two weeks. (Shameful!!😅)

\n

I am at a place where I am feeling more positive about the future (and specifically my future) than I have in quite a long time. I am not euphoric or anything—just hopeful. And I am trying to be more grateful, too, for my family, and for the opportunities I have now to do good things.

\n", "date_published": "2021-03-12T21:56:08-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/03/12/i-have-been.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/03/09/i-am-grateful.html", "content_html": "

I am grateful that the weather has changed from snowy and blustery to warm and calm. I have been able to take a walk after my lunch break for two days in a row. It feels nice.

\n", "date_published": "2021-03-09T14:59:45-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/03/09/i-am-grateful.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/03/03/i-am-grateful.html", "content_html": "

I am grateful I received my COVID vaccine, but yesterday’s second dose has really knocked me for a loop today. 🤒

\n", "date_published": "2021-03-03T21:33:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/03/03/i-am-grateful.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/03/02/today-i-will.html", "content_html": "

Today i will receive my second COVID-19 vaccine. I am excited to be so close to finished with the process.

\n", "date_published": "2021-03-02T11:29:22-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/03/02/today-i-will.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/01/24/new-iphone-day.html", "title": "New iPhone Day", "content_html": "

After dithering on it for several weeks, I finally ordered a blue iPhone 12 mini late Friday night. I plan to keep it for the next four years, and also plan to keep using my iPhone 7 Plus as an occasional video player/video game player around the house.

\n

It was supposed to be delivered here on Tuesday, but it came late this morning—a couple days early. Strangely, I find myself not ready for it! I have too many things to do today, and will have to wait to open up my new toy until after the kids go to bed.

\n", "date_published": "2021-01-24T15:30:50-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/01/24/new-iphone-day.html", "tags": ["Journal","Apple"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/12/28/ive-gotten-to.html", "content_html": "

I’ve gotten to the point with my cooking that I always think that I have no idea what I am doing, but end up rejecting most recipes I find, and my dinners come out really good anyway.

\n", "date_published": "2020-12-28T17:05:11-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/12/28/ive-gotten-to.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/12/25/merry-christmas.html", "title": "Merry Christmas", "content_html": "

I have been busy with family most of the time the past few days, mostly doing Christmas-y things. I barely celebrate Christmas any more, mostly because my wife and kids are Jewish and I have a complicated relationship with Christmas. (Couldn’t we just celebrate Saturnalia or something instead?) This year, I found some Christmas music I actually like (the “Jazz Christmas” playlist on Apple Music, plus “Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas” and Nat King Cole’s “Christmas Music.”), and plan to bake cookies and host a family dinner this evening. It’s all very nice and a lot easier than the Christmas-related travel to see family that we always did before the pandemic.

\n", "date_published": "2020-12-25T12:02:58-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/12/25/merry-christmas.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/12/11/i-took-a.html", "content_html": "

I took a required course in ethics this morning, and wish I could have just watched a few episodes of “The Good Place” instead.

\n", "date_published": "2020-12-11T14:18:43-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/12/11/i-took-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/11/07/my-wife-and.html", "content_html": "

My wife and I watched the Biden-Harris acceptance speeches with our daughter, who has never seen anything like it before. We are feeling excited and hopeful. I am especially eager to follow Kamala Harris’s work as Vice President in the hopes that she will be a transformative figure in the office.

\n", "date_published": "2020-11-07T22:17:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/11/07/my-wife-and.html", "tags": ["Journal","News"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/11/05/a-pot-of.html", "content_html": "

A pot of chicken soup is bubbling on the stove, and some bread is in the oven. I’m looking forward to a relaxing lunch.

\n", "date_published": "2020-11-05T11:23:14-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/11/05/a-pot-of.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/11/03/nothing-that-will.html", "content_html": "

Nothing that will happen today will astonish me, I’m afraid.

\n", "date_published": "2020-11-03T15:34:18-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/11/03/nothing-that-will.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/11/02/new-jersey-made.html", "content_html": "

New Jersey made it easy for me to vote by mail this year, but I usually visit Vote Save America for the details I need.

\n", "date_published": "2020-11-02T19:51:54-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/11/02/new-jersey-made.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/11/02/i-am-trying.html", "content_html": "

I am trying to think of what to do tomorrow night, instead of watching (incomplete) election night results trickle in. I don’t expect the “election” to “end” (I’m not even sure where the scare quotes belong) for weeks.

\n", "date_published": "2020-11-02T15:03:39-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/11/02/i-am-trying.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/11/02/ok-i-just.html", "content_html": "

OK. I just wrote a link post. Now, time to concentrate on work again.

\n", "date_published": "2020-11-02T11:53:56-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/11/02/ok-i-just.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/11/01/its-dreary-inside.html", "content_html": "

It’s dreary inside my mind right now, The dank weather isn’t helping. 🌧

\n", "date_published": "2020-11-01T16:20:57-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/11/01/its-dreary-inside.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/09/17/rubiks-cube.html", "title": "Rubik's Cube", "content_html": "

After reading this article about Erno Rubik, inventor of the Rubik’s Cube, I ordered myself a 3x3 speed cube (not a Rubick’s brand cube).

\n

I had a Rubik’s Cube as a child, and never solved it. At one point, I remember having solved it except for two squares, and I peeled the stickers off and swapped them. (That was sort of my “en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gord…” moment, I guess. 😂)

\n

At this point, I don’t care if I ever do solve it on my own (there are guides to solving it that I might decide to follow), but it will likely be fun to play with while I’m on conference calls or watching TV. Hopefully it will be an object of fascination for my kids, too, and I will get them their own to play with.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2020-09-17T09:00:17-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/09/17/rubiks-cube.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/09/09/i-am-enjoying.html", "content_html": "

☕️ I am enjoying a freshly steeped cup of Yorkshire Gold (loose leaf) tea.

\n", "date_published": "2020-09-09T12:56:01-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/09/09/i-am-enjoying.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/09/05/i-gave-myself.html", "content_html": "

I gave myself a haircut today. It seems that it takes longer to do the less often I do it. It has been hard for me to keep to a once-per-week schedule, but I like the idea of having that kind of discipline.

\n", "date_published": "2020-09-05T10:32:25-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/09/05/i-gave-myself.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/09/03/my-anylist-subscription.html", "content_html": "

My AnyList subscription is expiring soon. I am strongly considering switching to Paprika 3 for my grocery list app. I already own it, it does what I need, and, most importantly, its Apple Watch app doesn’t require an annual subscription. My wife and I are going to try it out next week.

\n", "date_published": "2020-09-03T20:21:24-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/09/03/my-anylist-subscription.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/09/02/i-am-pretty.html", "content_html": "

I am pretty sure that I need scissors to open my new scissors. 🤦‍♂️

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2020-09-02T14:19:07-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/09/02/i-am-pretty.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/09/01/now-that-it.html", "content_html": "

Now that it is September, it is finally time for me to upgrade my iPhone to the developer beta. I have been running the developer betas of iPadOS 14 for some time now without incident.

\n", "date_published": "2020-09-01T11:03:51-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/09/01/now-that-it.html", "tags": ["Journal","Apple"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/08/19/stormy-weather-i.html", "content_html": "

Stormy weather. I am glad I’m inside.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2020-08-19T09:47:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/08/19/stormy-weather-i.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/08/02/i-am-on.html", "content_html": "

I am on vacation with my family, enjoying simpler things like walking outside.

\n", "date_published": "2020-08-02T13:39:02-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/08/02/i-am-on.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/07/28/im-working-really.html", "content_html": "

I’m working really, really hard this week. (Sigh.) I’m hoping for a chance to take a breath later this week.

\n", "date_published": "2020-07-28T16:16:46-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/07/28/im-working-really.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/07/26/i-spent-some.html", "content_html": "

I spent some time today preparing for my family’s vacation—about a week ahead of time. Unfortunately, I expect to work a bit while I’m on vacation, which is disappointing. To make things easier, I scrounged up and tested a setup with some B-level home-office equipment (my old monitor, keyboard, and trackball). Bringing that stuff with me will make whatever work I end up doing much easier.

\n", "date_published": "2020-07-26T19:52:19-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/07/26/i-spent-some.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/07/24/hmmi-dont-mind.html", "content_html": "

Hmm…I don’t mind them myself, but I think the swears on Taylor Swift’s new album might be too much to expose my 8-year-old daughter—our family’s resident Taylor Swift fan— to. I don’t mind the f-bombs in “Hamilton,” but the meaning there is different.

\n", "date_published": "2020-07-24T12:16:07-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/07/24/hmmi-dont-mind.html", "tags": ["Audiophile","Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/07/24/my-daughter-is.html", "content_html": "

My daughter is going to freak out when I tell her that a surprise Taylor Swift album dropped today. It’s getting rave reviews.

\n", "date_published": "2020-07-24T09:34:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/07/24/my-daughter-is.html", "tags": ["Audiophile","Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/07/20/work-this-week.html", "content_html": "

Work this week and next are shaping up to be an absolutely epic grind for me. After today I expect to be working overtime late at night. Hopefully I will find a groove each day and settle into it.

\n", "date_published": "2020-07-20T18:03:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/07/20/work-this-week.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/07/09/we-are-getting.html", "content_html": "

We are getting a ton of tall, wobbly pine trees taken down in our backyard today, because they are at risk of falling, and tend to lose boughs whenever there is a windstorm. It is a bit traumatic—the noise, especially—but it will be nice to not have to worry about falling boughs and trees. I guess we’re going to see a lot more of the sky and of our neighbors than we are used to. 😀

\n", "date_published": "2020-07-09T11:18:48-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/07/09/we-are-getting.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/07/04/214204.html", "content_html": "

I have been listening to thunderous fireworks for about an hour now from my home. I thought all the fireworks celebrations had been cancelled. Surely my neighbors can’t be responsible for all these booms.

\n", "date_published": "2020-07-04T21:42:04-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/07/04/214204.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/07/04/i-am-back.html", "content_html": "

I am back to tracking my food intake—because, well, reasons (haha)—with the Keto app. I am not on a keto diet, though. I don’t know how that would be possible for me with only going to the grocery store once per week now. Salad greens don’t last that long.

\n", "date_published": "2020-07-04T13:22:08-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/07/04/i-am-back.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/07/02/my-buyandhold-strategy.html", "content_html": "

My buy-and-hold strategy with flip-flops finally paid off tonight, in that I threw out my worn-out pair from last year and swapped them for the identical copy of them I bought at a tremendous discount off-season last year. I still have one more pair for next year.

\n", "date_published": "2020-07-02T22:49:20-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/07/02/my-buyandhold-strategy.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/07/01/right-now-my.html", "content_html": "

Right now, my family is in a weird state of (1) seeing each other more often again without PPE, and (2) starting to panic more about the recent rise in COVID-19 cases nationwide. We are all concerned about schooling in the fall; both in-person and distance learning seem fraught.

\n", "date_published": "2020-07-01T09:48:52-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/07/01/right-now-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/06/25/my-first-reusable.html", "title": "😷 My first reusable facemask", "content_html": "

I got my way-too-expensive, but hopefully useful for a long, long while, reusable facemask from Tom Bihn delivered today. I feel a little silly buying it, considering we still have a stack of disposable facemasks left, and they started showing up in stores around here (finally) a couple weeks ago. That said, I feel like we will be wearing facemasks—at least sometimes—for a long, long time.

\n", "date_published": "2020-06-25T23:18:56-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/06/25/my-first-reusable.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/04/08/bernie-sanders-dropped.html", "content_html": "

Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race. It is amazing that I didn’t get a New York Times news alert about this.

\n", "date_published": "2020-04-08T12:25:04-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/04/08/bernie-sanders-dropped.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/04/03/i-am-not.html", "content_html": "

I am not super thrilled about the articles and online advice entreating us to make our own protective masks. I don’t think I have the skills or the raw materials necessary for these projects—and, considering I can barely buy soap or paper towels right now, it is probably very difficult to acquire them.

\n", "date_published": "2020-04-03T12:07:22-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/04/03/i-am-not.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/04/01/well-i-just.html", "content_html": "

Well, I just (and finally) submitted my household’s census form. It was really quick and easy. Everyone in the US should get it done soon. It is vital to be counted: representation in government and social services money of all kinds are tied to population counts determined by the census.

\n", "date_published": "2020-04-01T19:38:04-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/04/01/well-i-just.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/03/18/i-havent-been.html", "content_html": "

I haven’t been microblogging lately because I just don’t know what to say anymore.

\n", "date_published": "2020-03-18T12:07:55-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/03/18/i-havent-been.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/02/21/i-am-starting.html", "content_html": "

I am starting to enjoy drinking Yorkshire gold tea (loose leaf) with a dollop of heavy cream and a few drops of liquid Sucralose. For many years I have taken my tea black.

\n", "date_published": "2020-02-21T17:04:44-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/02/21/i-am-starting.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/01/06/do-any-microbloggers.html", "content_html": "

❓Do any micro-bloggers use reusable grocery bags? I’m trying to find something suitable for huge shopping trips (imagine a shopping cart filled to the brim). The boxy, rigid-sided ones seem appealing, but I’m not so sure about machine washing them, which apparently is necessary.

\n", "date_published": "2020-01-06T18:12:05-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/01/06/do-any-microbloggers.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/09/13/083255.html", "title": "Why don't I just use an IDE for everything?", "content_html": "

I have been working on a PowerShell and SQL-heavy project at work for about a week now. To facilitate PowerShell development, I installed and configured Visual Studio Code, which is Microsoft’s Electron-based code editor. I was not a fan of Visual Studio Code (hereafter called, simply, Code), due mainly to its lumbering speed when compared to Sublime Text, and somewhat, too, due to its brutalist design aesthetic.

\n

I must say, after using it for PowerShell development and debugging, that Code has grown on my quite a lot. I can develop, run, and debug PowerShell scripts in an IDE environment, edit Markdown files, and can even run SQL commands against my SQL Server Express instance (though query running is really slow compared to SQL Server Management Studio). There are many, many powerful extensions—way more than I would have expected. Some of them let me do other useful things, like convert delimited files to Excel right in the editor, that just aren’t possible in Sublime Text.

\n

There are some drawbacks, though. RAM use is extremely high—nearly a gig even when there is only one file open—and runs, for me, about ten times as much RAM as Sublime Text uses. Also, it is really slow compared to Sublime Text. Loading even small files takes a few seconds, and I have to wait for syntax highlighting to be applied to the files after they are displayed in the editor for the first time. Still, I am liking it, and am using it, more and more.

\n", "date_published": "2019-09-13T09:32:55-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/09/13/083255.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/05/08/after-being-professionallyspeaking.html", "content_html": "

After being professionally-speaking, out to sea for about a week, I am now taking a different tack. Right now I am creating a fresh C# project in Visual Studio. I’m going to write a program to automate lots of analytical reporting creation drudgery.

\n", "date_published": "2019-05-08T12:52:19-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/05/08/after-being-professionallyspeaking.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/04/07/220000.html", "title": "Journal 2019-04-07", "content_html": "\n

This weekend was great.

\n\n\n

On Saturday, my wife and I took the kids to the Staten Island Zoo. One of my wife’s best friends is the director of education there, and she gave us (my 6-year-old daughter, mostly) a private tour. We all had a great time, and my daughter had an absolute blast. She loved everything about it, and got to touch a bunch of animals (sheet, goats, birds, snakes, lizards, an armadillo, a rabbit, and a chinchilla) that we never through she would touch. (You can’t touch most of these animals unless you’re on a field trip or you know someone who works there.)

\n\n\n

On Sunday, my wife and I took the kids to one park in the morning and let them play a long time. My 2-year-old son, of course, only wanted to be pushed on the swing, but my daughter wanted to climb and jump and slide and dig in the same, and so on. We had a blast. I took her to another park in the afternoon, where she played for hours, blew bubbles, and made some little friends.

\n\n\n

It was great to be able to watch my kids learn and play all weekend. We didn’t go too far from home, or spend that much money, but we all had a great time together.

\n\n", "date_published": "2019-04-07T23:00:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/04/07/220000.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/03/20/200000.html", "title": "Journal 2019-03-20", "content_html": "

I have been working pretty steadily on finishing version 4.0 of SwiftoDo Desktop. I feel pretty good about the app, in general. It is coded in Swift now, as opposed to Objective C, and has a much more mature, and hopefully easy to support, architecture.

\n

It will be a massive upgrade from version 3. While I would like to charge for it, even for my current customers, I feel bad enough about drastically changing an app I sold, even if it is for the better, that I am strongly considering just releasing it as a free upgrade. That’s basically my plan for the next version of SwiftoDo on iOS, which will be based on this codebase as much as possible.

\n

My day job has been super interesting lately. I have hundreds of data analysis work papers to write, and I coded some pretty sophisticated scripts to generate all the data analytics I need to run, review, and report on. If only the software I was using made it easier to generate my work papers. I still have days and days of work ahead of me writing all the work papers that document the process. I also re-learned today about VBA’s superannuated support for interfaces, polymorphism, and delegation, for another project I am working on.

\n

My wife has been baking cookies for Purim this week, which is a lot of fun, but incredibly tempting to me, as I have been on a low-carb diet the past few weeks. I have to loose all the weight I gained over the past 14 months, due to stress- and grief-related overeating. I am using MyFitnessPal, once again, to track my eating. I have also been doing low-paced treadmill workouts in the evenings, though not every night. So far, my diet and exercise regime has gone really well, but sweets can still be tempting.

\n

One new wrinkle in parenting that my family is dealing with is that my two-year-old son has recently developed separation anxiety, which is normal at his age. It has lead to a good deal of interrupted sleep late at night, when he wakes up and screams “Mommy!” My wife bears the brunt of it, though. He cries for her, but not for me. I am definitely second banana during these intermittent nighttime terrors.

\n", "date_published": "2019-03-20T21:00:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/03/20/200000.html", "tags": ["Journal","Programming"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/03/15/journal.html", "title": "Journal 2019-03-15", "content_html": "

I am going to try to post a journal entry now and then, because I have been neglecting my blog, and even my micro blog, for a long while now.

\n

Today was a good day.

\n

At work, I automated a data analysis process—and, just as importantly, the work paper creation process associated with it—that I will have to run about sixty times for one of my current projects. I am hopeful that all the effort will have been worth it when I can start using it next week.

\n

I am stressing myself out a little bit while doing this work, though, because it would look like I spent the past day or two not moving forward on actual output at all, even though moving forward next week will be much more efficient. I always have to compare the time it will take me to automate parts of my work with the time it will take me to simply ground it out. Of course, both time estimates are usually just guesses for me, because most of my work is one-off project work, which is never repeated (at least not in the same way) on the next project. Luckily for me, I have the weekend off to forget about time and budget pressure for a couple days.

\n

My daughter passed level 50 in Reading Eggs tonight, which she does at school and at home on her Chromebook. I am very proud of her. She has recently started working much harder at learning to read. My wife and I have been pushing her a little harder lately, too, and even hired her a reading tutor (who is super nice) to help her. The best thing to happen about it this week is that we are now all on the same page about, and saying aloud to each other, that increasing her reading skills is the top priority. It helps to be able to prioritize things.

\n

My son probably will never need a reading tutor, but he will need to go to preschool in the fall, and my wife and I have to figure out how to pay for it. We have already started scaling back our expenses (mainly monthly subscriptions and dining out), but have not gone into full-on budget mode just yet. We have started talking about money again, which is good. We may start using YNAB again, but I don’t care for the price of their subscription.

\n

I have been working on a huge update to one of my apps, SwiftoDo Desktop, which is a todo.txt task list manager for the Mac. The current version is super old now, and I re-wrote it from scratch, basing the model code on the iOS version I have been working on for a couple years now. At this point, the new Mac version is even better than the iOS version, but it is still not ready for release. Based on the brief time I can work on it, late at night, I imagine I have several weeks to go before I can release it.

\n

Also, today, I released a bug fix update to one of my other apps, Simple Call Blocker. I fixed a bug that made its call blocking extension not load for a lot of people. It turns out the problem had to do with calling an Apple API incorrectly—and I think the rules changed since I initially released the app, because it used to work without a problem. I had thought the bug was related to the app’s Core Data stack, which I had no way to fix, but it turned out to be something different. It feels good to fix that bug, and hopefully put a stop to all the customer emails I get about it.

\n", "date_published": "2019-03-15T21:00:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/03/15/journal.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/02/01/i-am-neckdeep.html", "content_html": "

I am neck-deep in Access and VBA coding at work, now that I am back from our annual training conference in Chicago.

\n", "date_published": "2019-02-01T11:43:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/02/01/i-am-neckdeep.html", "tags": ["Journal","Programming"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/01/15/i-spent-half.html", "content_html": "

I spent half the morning researching how to evaluate the results of attribute sample testing—once again. It’s hard to remember the parts of statistics that I don’t use very often.

\n", "date_published": "2019-01-15T15:44:20-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/01/15/i-spent-half.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/01/12/after-many-years.html", "content_html": "

After many years of avoiding it, my wife and I are seeing “Stomp” tonight. Ot was part of a theatre subscription we signed up for. It is good? I hope so.

\n", "date_published": "2019-01-12T17:58:51-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/01/12/after-many-years.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/11/17/after-a-nice.html", "content_html": "

After a nice lunch with my family, I will say that I am thankful for the little Italian market and deli nearby that sells yummy foods.

\n", "date_published": "2018-11-17T14:11:31-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/11/17/after-a-nice.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/09/05/a-sunflower-in.html", "content_html": "

A sunflower in the backyard. My daughter loves these, but we don’t admire them often enough.

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-09-05T07:23:52-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/09/05/a-sunflower-in.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/05/28/all-weekends-should.html", "content_html": "

All weekends should be 3 days long…if not 5! 😀

\n", "date_published": "2018-05-27T23:49:59-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/05/27/all-weekends-should.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/04/19/i-am-coding.html", "content_html": "

I am coding VBA and ripping CDs like it’s the year 2000 today.

\n", "date_published": "2018-04-19T11:38:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/04/19/i-am-coding.html", "tags": ["Journal","Programming"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/03/24/last-night-my.html", "content_html": "

🎭 Last night my wife and I saw “Motown: The Musical”. We enjoyed it but thought it was too sanitized and limited in viewpoint to be interesting. I would have liked to hear more (any?) complete songs. The music is fantastic, of course. We’ll be listening to those records today.

\n", "date_published": "2018-03-24T10:02:39-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/03/24/last-night-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/03/15/i-am-making.html", "content_html": "

I am making Excel hurt today.

\n", "date_published": "2018-03-15T10:11:12-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/03/15/i-am-making.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/02/18/we-had-an.html", "content_html": "

We had an enormous house party today. It was a lot of fun, but boy are we wiped out! 🎈

\n", "date_published": "2018-02-17T20:48:49-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/02/17/we-had-an.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/02/09/i-have-finally.html", "content_html": "

I have finally switched over from Drafts 4 to Drafts 5 (beta) as my daily driver. Its such a cool app, with tons of customizability and depth. I might try to create some JavaScript actions next, but the built in actions do just about everything I want.

\n", "date_published": "2018-02-08T21:54:57-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/02/08/i-have-finally.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/02/08/my-wife-inspired.html", "content_html": "

My wife inspired me to cook apple & sweet potato mash for my son this evening.

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-02-08T19:00:54-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/02/08/my-wife-inspired.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/02/06/work-today-is.html", "content_html": "

Work today is more about juggling priorities than anything else: data mining, sampling, database development, calls and meetings, and so on.

\n", "date_published": "2018-02-06T11:51:23-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/02/06/work-today-is.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/02/06/i-have-been.html", "content_html": "

I have been enjoying the Roughly app’s complication (on the bottom, in the picture) for the Apple Watch. It’s a little frivolous to display the approximate time in words, but it’s also a little frivolous to use analog watch faces on a digital device.

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-02-05T22:48:57-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/02/05/i-have-been.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/02/05/fact-decaf-coffee.html", "content_html": "

Fact: Decaf coffee does not count as real coffee!

\n", "date_published": "2018-02-05T19:47:13-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/02/05/fact-decaf-coffee.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/02/05/goal-for-the.html", "content_html": "

Goal #1 for the week: Reduce coffee consumption to one cup per day. But…does decaf count? Perhaps I am not off to a good start.

\n", "date_published": "2018-02-05T12:07:30-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/02/05/goal-for-the.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/02/04/my-super-bowl.html", "content_html": "

🏈 My Super Bowl menu: sirloin steak, caramelized onions, garden salad, French bread with brie or honey butter, as well as tortilla chips, pita chips, hummus, and salsa. Food is the best part of the game!

\n", "date_published": "2018-02-04T12:42:21-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/02/04/my-super-bowl.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/02/04/i-am-excited.html", "content_html": "

🏈 I am excited about the Super Bowl but I am feeling very conflicted about football in general now. I skipped the entire regular season because I think the sport is dangerous and unethical. So I have a strange mixture of excitement and disgust today. 🤷‍♂️

\n", "date_published": "2018-02-04T12:04:14-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/02/04/i-am-excited.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/02/04/aint-misbehavin-at.html", "content_html": "

Ain’t Misbehavin' at NJPAC was absolutely wonderful tonight. The performers were excellent and the audience got really loose and into it after itermission. It was great fun to watch. My wife and I loved it and had a lovely time together.

\n", "date_published": "2018-02-04T00:31:55-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/02/03/aint-misbehavin-at.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/02/03/im-not-sure.html", "content_html": "

I’m not sure what the biggest headache was for me today: my actual migraine, or my trip to Wegmans the day before the Super Bowl.

\n", "date_published": "2018-02-03T17:04:25-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/02/03/im-not-sure.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/30/it-looks-like.html", "content_html": "

It looks like I will be working overtime this week. Things are crazy. I think I am involved in getting two or three new practice lines off the ground.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-30T18:09:41-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/30/it-looks-like.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/30/every-font-on.html", "content_html": "

Every font on all my devices somehow looks different to me today. What the heck happened to my eyes?

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-29T23:09:53-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/29/every-font-on.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/29/today-was-unexpectedly.html", "content_html": "

Today was unexpectedly full of proposal work for me. I think I need to help revamp how we write proposals at my firm. It was so hectic and we could have done better if we had more time.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-29T19:58:27-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/29/today-was-unexpectedly.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/29/the-new-york.html", "content_html": "

The New York Times crossword puzzle app and, of course, Micro.blog, have now taken over the time I had previously allotted to Twitter. My mental state is much better, though I am starting think of all words in terms of how many letters are in them.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-28T22:11:42-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/28/the-new-york.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/27/f-and-mph.html", "content_html": "

60° F and 20 MPH winds have made it both too warm and too cold for a proper Winterfest for us today.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-27T16:26:50-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/27/f-and-mph.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/25/im-back-to.html", "content_html": "

I’m back to Access database work today. It looks like I will have to do even more Access work for exam procedure automation in the future, because the work will be portable and transferable to our clients that way. It’s kind of a bummer, though, because VBA is terrible. Native Python support in Office can’t come soon enough for me.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-25T10:32:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/25/im-back-to.html", "tags": ["Journal","Programming"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/24/im-heading-home.html", "content_html": "

I’m heading home after two good, productive, and ultimately exhausting days in Baltimore. It will be great to be home, but I think working alone in my home office tomorrow will feel a little strange after so long with my team.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-24T19:47:35-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/24/im-heading-home.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/24/we-had-a.html", "content_html": "

We had a nice team dinner at Aldo’s in Baltimore last night. They have the best limoncello I’ve ever had. And cannoli. And great entrées. 🍴

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-24T09:17:50-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/24/we-had-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/24/i-was-not.html", "content_html": "

I was not thrilled that today’s New York Times mini crossword’s first word contained numbers. I didn’t know crosswords puzzles could contain numbers. It bamboozled me completely! 😅

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-23T22:51:52-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/23/i-was-not.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/23/im-heading-out.html", "content_html": "

I’m heading out for a team dinner. Maybe I should loosen my belt now rather than later. 😀

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-23T18:17:12-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/23/im-heading-out.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/23/oh-thank-goodness.html", "content_html": "

Oh, thank goodness for ☕️. I’ve got 15 minutes to down another cup before I head over to the office. It is nice to have a later start than usual today.

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-23T09:18:13-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/23/oh-thank-goodness.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/23/baltimores-inner-harbor.html", "content_html": "

Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is nice. I’m glad I recognize the area in which I’m staying. My morning destination is a short walk away.

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-23T00:12:45-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/22/baltimores-inner-harbor.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/23/im-on-my.html", "content_html": "

I’m on my first Amtrak ride in about five years. I forgot how much lateral motion there is as you go. My iPad is bouncing back and forth on the tray table as I watch TV on it. It’s nice to not be driving, though.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-22T20:41:19-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/22/im-on-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/22/im-all-packed.html", "content_html": "

I’m all packed for my business trip to training in Baltimore. It’s been a while since I’ve had to overnight apart from my family. At least I don’t have to fly, and can take the train there.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-22T17:46:37-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/22/im-all-packed.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/22/we-had-a.html", "content_html": "

We had a fun weekend, full of seeing actual people, either at our home or theirs. I should remember this kind of thing, as it goes against my general nature, but is good for me and the whole family.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-21T23:08:30-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/21/we-had-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/21/cleaning-the-house.html", "content_html": "

Cleaning the house for a 2-hour play date is very intense and takes about 3 hours!

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-21T11:54:41-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/21/cleaning-the-house.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/20/i-drew-and.html", "content_html": "

I drew and colored this under the expert tutelage of my 5-year-old daughter, just before we played together with Wellie-Wishers. 🎨

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-20T15:52:17-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/20/i-drew-and.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/20/this-afternoons-docket.html", "content_html": "

This afternoon’s docket for my family includes lunch with the in-laws and a rare visit to the brother- and sister-in-laws to see them and their baby boy.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-20T12:33:03-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/20/this-afternoons-docket.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/20/good-news-i.html", "content_html": "

Good news! I can hear as well as I ought to at my age. I just hear a ringing that isn’t there: my own, one-note personal soundtrack. I was cleared to listen to music or white noise to drown it out. That’s OK, I guess.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-19T20:08:37-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/19/good-news-i.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/19/for-some-reason.html", "content_html": "

For some reason I am really nervous about my ENT appointment today. Hearing tests are nerve wracking for me, due to a bad experience several years back.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-19T12:18:19-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/19/for-some-reason.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/19/i-brought-my.html", "content_html": "

I brought my daughter out to the school bus today, which I don’t normally do, due to my work schedule. We shared a nice little moment in the bracing cold.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-19T10:08:34-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/19/i-brought-my.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/19/i-pulled-a.html", "content_html": "

I pulled a bunch of samples in ACL today for work, and have to do it again tomorrow. I caught up on podcast listening all the while (Reconcilable Differences and Security Now). It is nice to have a normal workday sometimes.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-18T20:55:11-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/18/i-pulled-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/15/chicken-sausage-and.html", "title": "Chicken Sausage and Escarole Soup Recipe", "content_html": "

Notes

\n

This is a hearty, pasta-free soup, fit for a winter meal. Lots of vegetables, sausage (either chicken or pork sausage can be used), and cooking liquid from cannellini beans (canned or homemade) lead to a chunky, filling soup with a rich mouth feel.

\n

Developing a fond while cooking the sausage will add an important foundation to the soup’s flavor. Deglazing this fond early, before cooking the vegetables in the same pot, will prevent it from burning.

\n

Ideally, the vegetables should be soft but not browned; if they are not softening sufficiently during the sauté, simmer them longer in the broth, rather than extending the sauté.

\n

You can substitute your preferred herbs for the Italian seasoning that I use. If using fresh herbs, add them at the very end, or just before serving.

\n

If you wish to add pasta, ditalini works well. Cook the pasta separately, and add it just before serving, to avoid the pasta absorbing too much of the broth during cooking or storage.

\n

Ingredients

\n\n

Directions

\n

In a large pot or Dutch oven, brown the sausage in 1 tbsp of olive oil for 4 minutes per side over medium heat. This will likely not cook it through, which is fine; it will cook through later in the soup. Remove the sausage and set it aside.

\n

Deglaze the pot with 1/2 cup water or chicken broth. Retain this liquid in a cup or bowl; it will be added back to the soup later. If the retained liquid contains any solids, strain it to remove them.

\n

Once the par-cooked sausage is cool enough, cut it into coins and set it aside, to be added back to the pot later.

\n

Dry out the pot and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Sauté the onion, carrots, and celery over medium heat until they are soft but not browned, about 10 minutes. If the vegetables are not completely soft after the sauté, that is OK; they can be softened after the liquid is added. Add the escarole and Italian seasoning and stir everything to combine.

\n

Add the chicken broth, and add back the retained liquid from deglazing. Raise the temperature to high until the broth starts to boil; then lower the temperature to medium or medium low, to maintain a low simmer. Simmer until the vegetables are soft, which can take 5 to 10 minutes.

\n

Add the cannellini beans, including their cooking liquid, and the sausage. (These ingredients are added later to avoid overcooking them, which would lead to split beans and tough sausage.) Continue to simmer until the sausage is cooked through, which will take only a few minutes.

\n

Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. If, at this point, the soup tastes dull, add some fresh squeezed lemon juice, little by little, until the broth tastes as bright as you want it to.

\n

Serve topped with finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-16T00:00:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/15/chicken-sausage-and.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/16/my-wifes-and.html", "content_html": "

My wife’s and daughter’s strawberry swirl mini muffins turned out nicely, but bedtime had to be pushed back quite a bit. It’s a fair trade-off, I suppose.

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-15T22:32:43-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/15/my-wifes-and.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/15/its-a-speed.html", "content_html": "

It’s a speed run in our kitchen tonight. My wife and daughter are rushing to make mini muffin batter and put it in the oven before bath time—in 20 minutes total. That would be a speed record for them. 🏁 And…the muffin mixing method just got kicked by the wayside. 😂

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-15T19:53:14-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/15/its-a-speed.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/15/we-had-a.html", "content_html": "

We had a good friend over for dinner tonight, which we don’t do as often as we should. It was really nice. It seems so hard to do, but it doesn’t really have to be.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-14T23:01:37-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/14/we-had-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/15/this-eye-round.html", "content_html": "

This eye round roast came out magnificently, too. Am I starting a food blog now? (Is that annoying?)

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-14T20:58:17-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/14/this-eye-round.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/14/my-chicken-sausage.html", "content_html": "

My chicken sausage escarole soup came out so delicious that I’m thinking of posting my recipe. Do people still post recipes to their personal blogs? I originally did not want to start doing that again, but now I feel like I might as well.

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-14T15:11:58-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/14/my-chicken-sausage.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/14/the-crayola-experience.html", "content_html": "

The Crayola Experience was…OK, I guess. My daughter said she liked it. The rest of the day was a lot more fun, I think.

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-13T21:44:18-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/13/the-crayola-experience.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/13/in-my-s.html", "content_html": "

In my 20s I only drank Manhattans straight up. Now, deep into my 30s, I prefer them on the rocks—but only when homemade. It’s been quite a week for me and now it is time to unwind. Cheers!

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-12T22:09:38-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/12/in-my-s.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/12/the-budget-i.html", "content_html": "

The budget I was working on is complete, and soup I made on my lunch break is cooling in the kitchen. Phew! I am looking forward to the weekend.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-12T14:35:50-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/12/the-budget-i.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/11/i-feel-like.html", "content_html": "

I feel like I’ve been editing and formatting this Excel budget spreadsheet since the beginning of time.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-11T17:40:51-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/11/i-feel-like.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/09/the-dining-room.html", "content_html": "

The dining room is looking better now, too. I can’t believe we didn’t put anything up on that wall for 7 years.

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-09T13:01:38-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/09/the-dining-room.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/08/i-posted-some.html", "content_html": "

I posted some photos I took in my son’s room. I hope he likes flowers. (He’s a baby.)

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-08T18:34:52-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/08/i-posted-some.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/07/i-am-lazily.html", "content_html": "

I am lazily cooking salsa chicken thighs for either lunch or dinner.

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-07T12:40:31-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/07/i-am-lazily.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/07/my-wife-and.html", "content_html": "

My wife and I took our 5 year old daughter to “Disney on Ice” this afternoon. She loved it. It was worth the trek out into the cold.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-06T21:10:11-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/06/my-wife-and.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/04/so-far-the.html", "content_html": "

So far the snowfall hasn’t been so bad—only a few inches so far. It is windy, though, and very cold. My daughter, home on a snow day, is watching “Frozen”, which is apt. I am turning my attention to hot tea and (less hot) database programming.

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-04T11:16:32-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/04/so-far-the.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/04/we-are-bracing.html", "content_html": "

We are bracing for a blizzard tonight, which is expected to snow us in all day tomorrow. School is canceled already. (Work isn’t.) I feel like it is a metaphor for what’s going on in my life right now. (Photo is historical.)

\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-03T22:35:25-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/03/we-are-bracing.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/03/it-looks-like.html", "content_html": "

It looks like I will be doing some C# coding for work this month. That stuff is more interesting than the database stuff I do, and far more rewarding than the VBA stuff I have to do sometimes. I wish I could use Swift instead, though.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-03T12:08:00-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/03/it-looks-like.html", "tags": ["Journal","Programming"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/02/it-must-be.html", "content_html": "

It must be January 2, because I just created a literal “Laundry List” in Reminders.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-02T14:21:13-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/02/it-must-be.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/02/its-back-to.html", "content_html": "

It’s back to work for me today, and I a digging out of my email inbox. Sometime later I will add a new “2018” folder to my “file system for life”, the filing system I wrote about in Plaintext Productivity several years ago. It feels good, each year, to marvel at how many project folders I created last year, leave them behind, and to prepare a clean space for new work.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-02T11:11:32-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/02/its-back-to.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/02/i-cooked-a.html", "content_html": "

I cooked a New Years Day feast for my family today. I ate so much I feel food drunk right now. That’s probably not the wisest way to kick off a healthy new year.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-01T20:43:22-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/01/i-cooked-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/01/reading-peoples-new.html", "content_html": "

Reading people’s New Years Day posts has been both electrifying and chilling. 2017 was a tough year for everyone’s mental health. It seems that a lot of people plan to limit Twitter and Facebook and the ridiculous daily news cycle this year. Me too.

\n", "date_published": "2018-01-01T15:35:49-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/01/reading-peoples-new.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/01/we-are-at.html", "content_html": "

We are at my neighbors' house for a simulated 7:30 PM ball drop. Fun NYE party!

\n\n", "date_published": "2017-12-31T20:04:56-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/31/we-are-at.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/31/my-daughters-cookie.html", "content_html": "

My daughter’s cookie decorating skills are advancing! I’m so proud of her. 😀🍪

\n\n", "date_published": "2017-12-31T12:56:28-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/31/my-daughters-cookie.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/30/it-was-a.html", "content_html": "

It was a really close game!

\n\n", "date_published": "2017-12-30T11:10:36-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/30/it-was-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/28/the-news-cycle.html", "content_html": "

The 2017 news cycle has worn me out. I am looking for something purely escapist to read. I’m considering “Ready Player One” and “The Last Unicorn”.

\n", "date_published": "2017-12-28T14:41:54-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/28/the-news-cycle.html", "tags": ["Journal","Books"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/28/i-am-vacillating.html", "content_html": "

I am vacillating between being lazy and productive today. It is a vacation day, so I shouldn’t be too hard on myself.

\n", "date_published": "2017-12-28T12:09:36-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/28/i-am-vacillating.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/27/after-an-eventful.html", "content_html": "

After an eventful trip to see family, we are back at home. Today is a rebuilding day: unpacking, grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, dishes, etc.

\n", "date_published": "2017-12-27T12:07:08-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/27/after-an-eventful.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/25/merry-christmas-everyone.html", "content_html": "

Merry Christmas everyone!

\n", "date_published": "2017-12-25T14:02:47-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/25/merry-christmas-everyone.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/24/we-are-heading.html", "content_html": "

We are heading off to see family for Christmas today.

\n", "date_published": "2017-12-24T11:42:30-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/24/we-are-heading.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/24/i-made-banana.html", "content_html": "

I made banana bread, too.

\n\n", "date_published": "2017-12-23T20:50:40-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/23/i-made-banana.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/23/i-baked-snickerdoodles.html", "content_html": "

I baked Snickerdoodles for the family today. They are really, really good!

\n\n", "date_published": "2017-12-23T15:16:46-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/23/i-baked-snickerdoodles.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/23/i-made-a.html", "content_html": "

I made a batch of Christmas cookies tonight with my daughter. Such fun! She pressed chocolate chips on top of sugar cookies that we rolled out together and cut—about 100 chips per cookie, I think.

\n", "date_published": "2017-12-22T20:09:05-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/22/i-made-a.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/22/a-long-lunch.html", "content_html": "

A long lunch with the family was a great way to complete my work week.

\n", "date_published": "2017-12-22T15:18:23-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/22/a-long-lunch.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/22/i-am-up.html", "content_html": "

I am up too late. What exactly is happening right now? 🙃

\n", "date_published": "2017-12-22T01:13:05-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/22/i-am-up.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/22/according-to-dark.html", "content_html": "

According to Dark Sky, a Christmas morning snowstorm may interfere with my holday travel plans. I am crossing my fingers that it doesn’t happen.

\n", "date_published": "2017-12-21T20:54:15-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/21/according-to-dark.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/21/im-relieved-to.html", "content_html": "

I’m relieved to have finished all my billable work for the week already. It was a tough week, and thankfully it is starting to wind down now. I am looking forward to a holiday break next week.

\n", "date_published": "2017-12-21T15:37:53-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/21/im-relieved-to.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/20/its-the-last.html", "content_html": "

It’s the last work week of the year, and the busiest I’ve had in about six months. I had to work late tonight. (I’m still working, in fact.) It’s making me think of this bleak article I read earlier this evening: eand.co/what-do-y…

\n", "date_published": "2017-12-19T23:07:25-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/19/its-the-last.html", "tags": ["Journal"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2017/12/20/im-happy-to.html", "content_html": "

I’m happy to join the micro.blog community today!

\n", "date_published": "2017-12-19T21:06:33-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2017/12/19/im-happy-to.html", "tags": ["Journal"] } ] }