Good morning to you too! The backdrop is gorgeous, but I'm sad to see your pristine wilderness is also infested with purple loosestrife in the foreground... Do you have the loosestrife beetle there?
Managing to be a father, husband, engineer, reader, gamer, runner, cyclist, Michigander, atheist, and a progressive... simultaneously!
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Good morning to you too! The backdrop is gorgeous, but I'm sad to see your pristine wilderness is also infested with purple loosestrife in the foreground... Do you have the loosestrife beetle there?
*Sale price is $13 or $1 per dam.* Are we taking bets on whether or not Hull Street Energy, LLC is going to actually maintain these things, or just profit from the electricity and then turn out empty pockets like Boyce Hydro at Edenville and Sanford?
Haven't read any of the others in this post (yet) but the presence of that favorite lends a lot of credibility to your other recommendations...
I loved reading "There Is No Antimemetics Division" for free on the author's website, so much so that I bought hardovers of "Ra" and "Fine Structure", which were also great. I'm excited to be able to hold a physical copy of TINAD in November!
The experience was type 2 fun crossing into type 3 - I'm definitely going to be more intentional about hydration and electrolyte intake on longer races in the future.
Spent 60 long seconds at about mile 31, upside down in a patch of poison ivy, with my knees hyperextended because I was physically incapable of releasing my quads - they just would not listen. But they were too tired to stay locked for long, I'm proud to say that I got up and eventually finished!
Crashed (literally) and burned (figuratively) at #LordOfTheSprings bike race at Yankee Springs, MI on Saturday. First 25 miles went great, but I messed up my hydration/electrolytes and suffered the worst cramps of my life for the next 12 miles.
I pushed it to the limit Monday and Tuesday in order to be ahead today, taking it slow and steady for a while.
In spite of the emergency, United had the gall to call for an on-time departure for UA5650 to Chicago at 6am... disgraceful! The doors are closed and there are empty seats on what should be a full flight that has a long list on standby.
Busy start to the week at #GRR airport....Fire alarm emptied the entire terminal building until 5:05am, resulting in a line for security like I've never seen before, backed up all the way to and even beyond the doors!
Farthest I've been: N: Houghton, MI, US E: Boston, MA, US S: Aguascalientes, MX W: Shanghai, CN
Unfortunately, I'm double-booked tomorrow (volunteering with GR Parks, come join us at Pickerel Lake Park if you can't get in at Mallory's event) so there's a spot available. Email Isaac at mcmorrowformichigan dot com if you want to talk to a real human instead of a web form.
I also felt that was in poor taste and did not donate, but filled out the form anyway. To my surprise, I got the confirmation by email this morning!
Here's the unabbreviated link: act.mcmorrowformichigan.com/signup/MAM-2... See you there!
Oh, is that what those are? I found what I thought to be a large box turtle with unusual yellow polka dots instead of their usual mottling at Rogue River Park in Belmont last week. Didn't have my phone on me at the time, but it was a big guy, almost 10" long! It's encouraging to see them doing well!
That much is obvious! But the real question is "are there better office locations?"
It doesn't appear to be right now, there's only myself and my son here that I've seen.
Chuck and I are here, where's everyone at?
It makes me sad that you're probably right. Those models were under the equivalent of $40k at one time, but now they can't let them undercut the more profitable SUV market.
The stack height of these 'new' maximalist shoes always takes me by surprise. The heel-toe drop is still a reasonable 8mm, but you're basically running on 44mm stilts! I did recently run a 25k PR in some new Vaporflys (I'm a Nike guy...), and can attest that cloud shoes work, but wow!
On that page, click Subscribe-> Login-> Add or Change-> Geomagnetic Storm Products and check the boxes for alerts on K8/G4 K9/G5 and watch for G4 or greater, and get 3-4 notifications a year of the best aurora opportunities!
Few clouds and a crescent moon here in the lower peninsula, should be a good chance! More details on the NOAA site here: www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/...
Isn't the closest BigInt just "3"? Or are you proposing a pair of constants BigInt.PiNumerator and BigInt.PiDenominator for enhanced precision - *that's* a proposal I could get behind!
Set your calendars for Food Truck Fridays at Riverside Park! It was magnificent tonight. We enjoyed the community atmosphere and live music from www.harrydeandustyboys.com while we ate delicious sliders, fries, and paella.
> pabulum New word of the day, thanks! It's been a few years since I've used mine, but have you tried setting up a Google Voice number? It worked great for me while traveling overseas without international roaming.
This is true if by "America" you mean the current administration and the subset of Democrats that have taken AIPAC funding. There are millions of Americans who (ineffectually) oppose this and cannot be blamed for it.
Jealous of that cadence! It takes conscious effort for me to keep mine above 165, even during short, high-effort intervals, and 190 is simply unimaginable for now. But I'm working on it! #runsky
Oh wow, those are edible? I have a ton of those growing on box elder trees by me! Will need to do more research...
Link to Garmin activity: connect.garmin.com/modern/activ... Race results page: runsignup.com/Race/Results...
Crushed my race in the 2025 Grand Rapids Riverbank Run! I was faster than anticipated just patiently holding threshold heart rate. I started to wear out at ~11 miles, gradually pushed harder, but didn't crash and burn - I finished with exactly nothing left. #riverbankrun #grandrapids #rungr
As far as running shoes go, I've got a pair of Pegasys trainers for 80% of workouts, spike flats for speed work on the track, an old pair of actual spikes for trails-only 5ks, racing flats for 5ks and tempo stuff on the road, and now a new pair of Vaporfly road racers.
My problem isn't running shoes - it's the retired running shoes that become everyday shoes, and not-quite-retired shoes for muddy trails, and comfy indoor shoes, and lawnmowing shoes, and lawnmowing when it's extra green shoes, and painting shoes, and work shoes, and... hm, maybe 6 is too many.
A mile west of the shoreline and you're in deep water down here! Haven't seen many mayflies on our inland lakes and rivers here, they're not too common by the big lake due to the strong, consistent on-shore winds. -- a troll
WE DID IT! We won REI's board election!! REI just confirmed the news in their annual member meeting, and we couldn’t be more thrilled and empowered! This victory is a massive step forward for our movement and for the future of our Co-op.
How many zeros are there after that decimal point % - four?!? US population 330 million * 0.00001% * (1/100%) = That is only 33 people. It's appalling that 33 billionaires have 2% of the wealth, but I think reforms should aim at a much, much bigger cohort - the 0.1% or the 1%.
Claude 3.5 can work with up to 200,000 tokens, which is closer to a long paper, but it's a proof of concept.
If he did it for a lengthy paper, it would probably exceed the context window/working memory. GPT-4o via ChatGPT only allows ~8192 tokens, it would discard most of a longer paper and just work with the conclusion.
Next week, the 12th-16th, is national bike to work week for the adults... let's see if we can match that energy!
Full rack of bikes on #NationalBikeToSchoolDay. There's some hope, the kids get it and they love it!
That is a super-nice mushroom. We found some morels this morning too! *Point!* We're still working on teaching the dog to sniff out morels like a truffle pig, she's clueless so far. But it's a great excuse to take the dog for a walk in the woods!
Knowing dogs, Reggie still thinks he's about Pearl's size, still able to fit under that table, in that bed he used as a puppy, or snuggle on your lap. Conversely, Pearl probably thinks she's as big and intimidating as Reggie: She'll stand up to any challengers, be they dog, man, or bear.
I'm not David, but links to a similar topic are all over the Internet, so here's a link to the open-access paper "Reversible reduction in brain myelin content upon marathon running" by Ramos-Cabrer ey al: www.nature.com/articles/s42...
It's been a drought of almost exactly 2 years since BOM uploaded some Project Binky that wasn't just half a job on some overcomplicated dashboard gauges, but today, they've finally uploaded... the completion of the gauges: youtu.be/G9Wqh7KxgdM
Welcome to the club! It's a marvelously invigorating way to start and end the day, instead of anxiously and stressfully piloting an expensive 4500lbs steel cage.
Personally, I feel a tablet with connectivity would desecrate the aesthetic. I want analog gauges (real analog gauges, not analog gauges on an LCD), big chunky toggle switches/buttons I can feel and operate while wearing gloves, and indicator lights. Nothing else on the dash. A map in the glovebox.
Those are either really big eggs or really small avocados!
As an Android user, those are crazy numbers! The most I've spent on any of my 4 phones in the last 12 years was $400. A bog standard Motorola is enough for 99% of users!
Got it done! 12x400m at 79s on the track, with intervals 4, 8, and 12 fast. Felt tough but I pushed through, because it's one of my last quality workout opportunities before a light taper for the big race on May 10.
Challenge for the season is to bike to the ice cream shop with my son and split a single until we've tried every flavor on the menu. #goals
Opening night at Trailside Treats Ice Cream of Belmont! Felt like summer. tticbelmont.weebly.com
I've got the book "Supernormal Stimuli" by Barrett in my to-read list: it basically describes this phenomenon, how the instincts and desires that worked to encourage animals and primitive people to survive are being corrupted to sell ads and junk food.
Every day is a chance to invest in our planet. On #EarthDay, we're reminded that protecting our #GreatLakes and other natural resources isn't just about the environment — it's about public health, equity and the future we're building together for all Michiganders.
Happy Earth Day! 💚
Issues with engineering, materials science, and technology are solveable, given time, but just consider the physics/energy requirements. The rocket equation is cruel and reactionless thrusters don't exist in this universe, so moving 80kg of human to LEO much less Mars is prohibitively expensive.
Seniors have even *fewer*, and they know that! Come on, Steve! :)
Any time I do a workout on the local high school track, I finish with barefoot strides on the grass infield. It feels so good, especially after turning left on perfectly flat track for dozens of laps!
Not yet, but I have had customers report nonsensical problems that cause me to lose faith in humanity and to wish they would switch to a competitor...
Tariffs xkcd.com/3073
I have Minecraft, Skyrim, Civ IV, TF2, and Stardew Valley on PC, and a Wii with Mario Kart. Do I really need Switch 2? I don't think so.
We can go from "complaining about prices" to "stop running on this hedonic treadmill and buying stuff we don't need". And by going up to that level it might have a measurable effect!
Listening to Eragon with my 8yo... What a great quote!
“Books are my friends, my companions. They make me laugh and cry and find meaning in life.” ― Christopher Paolini, Eragon #booksky
There might be a bird out there! Or a ball! #gsp
Why post this on April 2nd, just to break my heart with the footnote? 💔
It does get rotated, it's just that a place like Oregon, at about 120 degrees west, is actually pretty closer to 180 degrees west (which is the new equator), it's not just distant from the prime meridian at 0 degrees longitude. The surface of a sphere is not a rectangle!
Thanks for doing the work, but man...this timeline is the worst.
Yeah, but $80? Ridiculous! Also a shame that it's not backwards compatible with Switch 1. I've got an OLED Switch and don't plan to upgrade.
Booker's gone on for more than 24 hours straight now. There are about 45 Democrats in the Senate, if all of them had Cory's energy and stamina (I acknowledge many don't) they could take turns, he could take a break for a month and a half and stop the destruction of our government indefinitely.
I’ve taken the Senate floor and will speak for as long as I’m physically able to lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed and not being heard in this moment of crisis. Watch here:
Here in Michigan, our state wildflower the Dwarf Lake Iris has started blooming in my yard! We had a couple come early three weeks ago during a warm spell, but the majority are appearing now. Huge thunderstorm tonight, let's hope March showers can bring April flowers.
Same here, we're in the clear now save an occasional rumble of thunder but those sirens lasted a long time!
Just finished reading a MeLCat book... UoM had the only public copy of an esoteric academic book, it arrived in Comstock Park a week later, and I learned some things: some from the book, and some about our awesome library systems! Don't let them take this away!
Eye contact at stop signs?
I don't know? But the flag isn't for the actual selection of the language, this is so that if someone who doesn't read Chinese somehow lands on the Chinese page, they can realize that it's in Chinese and get to their language.
Mexico's flag, 🇲🇽 or "es-MX" locale would be typical - it has the largest population in the region by far, but you're right that even still it's a minority of the total sum of Spanish speakers in the region. It's a hard problem!
I agree that national flags *ought* to be distinct from languages, and feel free to use a Union Jack to indicate (British) English if desired, but in practice lots and lots of others have tried to solve the same challenge and the pragmatic consensus I've observed has been country flags.
Disclaimer: I'm an English user first, and barely competent in Spanish anymore - you should probably weight the opinions of native speakers over mine by at least a factor of 10.
Finally, minor Spanish translation nit: both "mapa" and "mnemotécnica" begin with M, and while the ordering is "mapa mnemotécnica" instead of "mnemonic map", the acronym "MMAcevado" still works in Spanish, so you could clean up that critical first sentence by removing the mention of English.
Maybe some had a UI like yours, but I browsed away because I never found it - I can do flags. It's also typical to translate the UI itself, switching "select language" or "current locale" into, well, the words for that in the selected language.
I end up on lots of German and Chinese sites for work, and I'm thoroughly accustomed to finding the English site by scanning for flags like 🇩🇪 and 🇨🇳 or ASCII of zh-Hans or de-DE. I can't read kanji or Cyrillic for "select translation", so I imagine they'd have trouble with English!
I'd add a flag emoji 🇺🇸 or ISO locale abbreviation like "en-US". It can be hard to locate the English phrase "select translation" to get to your own language if you don't know how to read English!
The venerable @dcrainmaker.com had a similarly pessimistic take, his blog is basically mandatory reading for any Garmin release:
I've had a Garmin on my wrist 24/7 for tens of thousands of miles over more than a decade, but looked at Suunto, Coros, and Polar today for the first time. In 2012, Garmin was the only game in town, but now the other manufacturers have some pretty compelling offerings!
It always starts as a minor thing, but AI-powered paid insights enshittification is a slippery slope that ends with unhappy users and all the decent features behind a paywall. Recently, Garmin also enshittified their InReach subscriptions with more fees for letting your subscription lapse.
Big reveal from the Garmin newsroom today - they'd been a stalwart of the old model of selling great hardware with decent, free, mostly offline software to accompany it, but now succumbing to the temptation to monetize their users with monthly "premium" subscriptions:
I'd forecast that by 2055, a burger will be $32, a vacation $25k, and a basic car $130k. How hard we work to shape the future will determine whether houses, college, health care, and so on grow faster or slower than healthy background inflation.
All of those things are true, inflation has about doubled prices in the past 30 years. The surprise, though, is that a median house then cost $110k, now it's not $220k but $420k! Tuition was $2865, now it's almost $12k!
Next week I will have a more accurate HR strap. Should I do the same but a bit faster (and maybe more consistent :P lol) or shorten rests/swap to jogging rests between all of them to increase VO2 max effectiveness? Hmm...
Crushed 12x400m in speed work on the track tonight! Alternated 3 a little over 5k pace and 1 near "all out". Felt faster than I've been in years, bodes well for summer race season!
I've also overtrained just about every time that I've had the opportunity to travel to a national park. If I've got a week in a place like the Great Smoky Mountains, I'm hitting every peak that my legs will carry me to, regardless of training effectiveness!
Oh, I know how to train, but sometimes hard runs are more fun than slow runs. Just try and tell my brain it can't have those endorphins!
Leaf gen 2 (ze1), Leaf 2026 Leaf, Bolt gen 2 (2022), or Bolt gen 3? That is the question! Excited for news of the 2026 Bolt to make the decision! Ready to sell my old rust-bucket ICE and go EV... though budget considerations probably mean a used Bolt is the only option really on the table.
I fear that the most damning evidence the special counsel that ought to investigate this admin (sadly, likely not until January 2027 or 2029) can find will merely be the number of conversations that must have happened but which are conspicuously absent from the official records.
Maybe this Signal chat seems normal to you if you're a student collaborating on a group project or a group of friends trying to plan the next game night... but it's not normal for a small business, or a school board, or a city council, much less the federal government's cabinet.
FWIW, as a lowly engineer at a tiny systems integrator building mundane manufacturing equipment, we do better than the current administration at respecting NDAs and maintaining documentation.
For completeness, here's Monday's article:
Here's a gift article link to today's metaphorical bombshell describing literal bombshells that were dropped, courtesy of the Atlantic. Yesterday, the news was all mudslinging on whether the Signal messages were important. Here they are, decide for yourself.
(Joke credit @dennisfarrell.bsky.social on the other site circa 2017)
Imagine being held captive (bear with me) by a literate animal, and the only hope of rescue (BEAR WITH ME) is posting a coded message on Bluesky.
I'm not all that surprised that Senate Republicans backed Trump's cabinet picks. I remain shocked that Democratic senators, including my own in Peters and Slotkin, backed many of his cabinet picks in misguided, naive bipartisan cooperation as if that would be reciprocated.