Tag Archives: Bentley

Friday Notes (Apr 19, 2024)

Often, the hardest part of Friday Notes (and, in fact, most) posts is writing the lede. Very soon after I began back in 2011, I settled on a three-part opening structure consisting of (as my template puts it): Intro… More… Punchline… followed by the page break that divides the lede from the body of the post.

That page break comes into play when WordPress lists a bunch of posts as well as in the notification emails (except in the double-damned WordPress Reader, which corrupts everything in the name of sameness). And while I’m on the topic of WordPress, I’m getting really fed up with it.

But that’s a post for another day. For now, I’ve got Notes…

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Resurfacing

I’m in a post again?

Most online sources define resurfacing firstly as having to do with floors, roads, ice rinks, kitchen counters, and even skin. Only secondarily do they define resurfacing as returning to the surface. But Wiktionary puts that latter one first, and it’s in that sense that I mean it (bravo Wiki!).

It feels as if it’s been a long time since my last post, but in fact it’s been less than a week. It just seems long because it has also been a productive week filled with new things as well as a week of some long hours on a project. Enough hours to have burned me out a bit. Now I have some catching up to do.

But it’s nice to know I can still pull off a coding all-nighter at my age.

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Walking the Dog

Moar Treats? Moar Walks??

I had the unmitigated pleasure of spending last Thursday through last Sunday with my opinionated little canine “niece” Bentley. Fortunately, her opinions all involve walks and treats rather than politics (which she thinks is what happens when your parrot swallows a watch).

On the other hand, her opinions on walks and treats tend to be rather definite (and rather on the greedy side). She knows what she wants (all) and when she wants it (now). My giving in to her opinions on walks led to some unexpected yet interesting results Saturday morning.

Sadly, I didn’t have my camera with me to document those results but did take it along on two other walks to document the beauty of some local parks.

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Friday Notes (Apr 28, 2023)

Last month I put out two editions of Friday Notes, and this month I almost missed posting any (today being my last chance). To some extent, that’s just normal ebb and flow, but it’s also that I’ve been distracted by Real Life™ (such as it is).

I’ve been doing a lot of (in many cases rather interesting) reading lately — words going in rather than out — and I think any writer will tell you that’s the easier direction. Sometimes the much easier direction.

But I do have some notes (and pictures)…

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Friday Notes (Mar 24, 2023)

I don’t usually write two Friday Notes posts in one month, but I was dog-sitting my funny little “nephew” Bentley for a week, and every time I don’t post for a while it’s hard to get back into blogging mode. In fact, it’s harder each time. I increasingly find social media less and less interesting or rewarding.

Some of that is on me, but more of it is disappointment and disgust with social media and technology companies in general. A bit more on that below.

Mostly, though, I wanted to — at long last — post the last two notes that have been lingering on my Apple Notes app for years (in one case, since 2018).

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2023: I’m Not Ready!

So. Here we are in 2023. Weird. Very weird. As I’ve said many times, I remember wondering whether the year 1984 would turn out to be anything like its infamous eponymous book. And the year 2001, also famous but more from the movie than the book, once seemed like the very distant future to me.

And now I find myself two decades beyond the very distant future. (And still no flying cars or Moon vacation resorts.) Down here on Earth, in Minnesota, our mild winter finally got its act together and gave us a proper winter snowstorm. (Oh, boy, did it ever.)

I’m still recovering from all the shoveling plus a full week with my pal, Bentley!

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2022: It’s a Wrap

This is my last post of 2022. I’ll be picking up my little pal, Bentley, tomorrow and dog-sitting over the New Year’s weekend and maybe a little into the week. So, my annual look back and look forward posts will be a little late.

In the meantime, remember New Year’s Eve is amateur night, so best to stay at home and off the roads. Have a safe and happy New Year’s! Go forth and spread beauty and light!


Friday Notes (Jul 1, 2022)

The worst of it is the three posts in my Drafts folder that I can’t seem to move forward. They sit there, woefully incomplete, mocking me while other posts spring forth, quietly get dressed, and move on out the virtual door.

They’re stuck, in part, by a need for diagrams, and I’ve been stuck between whether to load my increasingly obsolete graphics app onto my new-ish laptop or invest (time, money, effort) in something new.

And life keeps happening, and that leads to another edition of Friday Notes.

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It’s (Not) 2s Day

Drat! A day late and a dollar short, as the saying goes. I started off this morning writing a post to commemorate the 2/22/22 date but quickly realized I’d need a time machine to pull that off. Between yesterday’s blizzard and working on an upcoming post about Plato and geometry, I lost track of the date (a peril of being retired — dates don’t matter much anymore).

Not that I had anything date-specific to post about, and plenty of other bloggers did post, so no great loss. But having started, I may as well keep going.

Even if all I have are some very tiny treats.

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Big Yawn!

They say you’re supposed to let sleeping dogs lie. Personally, I’ve always thought a sleeping dog was pretty honest — I’m not exactly even sure how anyone could lie in their sleep. Tell fibs in your dreams? (Some old sayings just don’t make any sense.) I don’t think we should let anyone get away with lying, sleeping or otherwise (especially Presidents).

I do think there is something extra sweet about a sleeping dog. Maybe it’s a matter of the trust they’re showing — how they feel safe with you. Next to you, they can relax and fall into a deep snoring sleep. Dogs can have concerns about being left home alone, and if they are in your lap they know right where you are.

In any case, from the terminally cute file…

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