01: things lost at Montezuma Beach - Using a primitive bacteria-fighting technique, the surf and a thief strips away a couple possessions.
02: basilisks in the Montezuma River Gorge - I end up playing a little hooky this afternoon after allm, but only Gretchen goes to the Montezuma Waterfall.
03: watermelon in Tambor - Flying back to San Jose and then Newark at the end of a month in Costa Rica.
04: my brother's expensive drone habit - He's now been living by himself for over a month.
05: happy Stalin's death day - My brother starts a phone conversation with a pop quiz.
06: burn a shrunken version - First experiments with a laser cutter.
07: $1800 later - Oscar gets his bad teeth removed.
08: accidental 200 mg of diphenhydramine - Not a good thing to do before driving two hours to the airport, but it worked out anyway.
09: USB-C revolution - The existence of such generic charging technology.
10: ChatGPT vs. StackOverflow - The former gives me helpful (if slightly wrong) answer cheerfully, while the latter is sullen and, today at least, gives me nothing at all.
11: cabin encased in snow - The reason the cabin has transmitted no data in two months.
12: a month of dog shit - Computer chores and cleaning up before Gretchen comes home.
13: enormous for a laptop - A new laptop with lots of storage.
14: carriage shed in the Rondout - Our housesitter's new place and Gretchen bakes her a birthday cake.
15: roast vegetables and vegan meatballs - Maybe Gretchen is a little depressed. Also, I shouldn't've had that red wine before bed last night.
16: Ashokan Reservoir never froze - Gretchen drives past it several times a week she's noticed that it never once developed a surface of ice.
17: a couple things that counted as wins - A painful debugging task at work and a new monitor for my monitor array.
18: Lithuanian rye bread and banana bread - One we bought only because it was expensive and the other was devoured by a dog before I ever even saw it.
19: endless cycle of failure - Powerful is reminding me of the bad-luck stories told by internet romance scammers.
20: we get more glory by building shoddy things - Because we crow about our successes (fixing things) more than we admit our failures (building things that need fixing).
21: this thing with the AIs isn't going to end well - Today I realize that they're a harbinger of horrifying things to come. Also, getting the Brewster Street house ready for a fire safety inspection.
22: unburdening me of the troubling thoughts - If there is an unpleasant thing going on in your head, write it down. You'll feel better. Also, neckbeards not wiping their asses for fear of turning gay.
23: wasabi-breaded crimini mushrooms - Burning vintage firewood for a small dinner party.
24: partially turned into a pumpkin - After a dinner of purple pie, we arrive at Adams when it is in the process of closing.
25: gin &tonic and AI image manipulation - Also, a fancy lunch meal at home and a walk in the cold rain.
26: the urinal is working again - After a year of procrastinating flushing it out. Also, a pair of young Jehova's Witnesses.
27: Playtime in Saugerties - We see a classic movie in belated honor of Jeff's birthday.
28: gas spill sensors and the danger of lightning - Evidently the rules of gas-powered hot water heaters are stricter these days.
29: first dough in decades - I make a pizza from scratch.
30: merry indictmas - Donald Trump is indicted in New York and Lester the Cat is a complete tear down, it turns out.
31: a porous gender barrier in blue state public schools - It seems that when kids are allowed to be gender-fluid, a surprising number of them are included to identify that way.