Author: doug

One of the few benefits of leaving the house while it’s still dark this time of year is when the crescent moon is as eye-catching as it was this morning.

These eyes were installed on the side of the Hyatt hotel in Boston today, directly across the street from my desk. I suspect they’re part of Boston’s Winteractive winter art installation for 2026. Maybe there’s more to it that’s not installed yet, but as of now my comment in the office today was that this artwork is so cringe it’s rolling its own eyes at itself.

I’m making homemade pizza for dinner tonight. I guess I miscalculated the bowl size to rise the dough in.

Hauling out the big guns on this dreary winter evening.

I volunteered as a fix-it guide at our library’s Fix-It Clinic today, guiding people to try to fix about 10 lamps, 3 flashlights, and an electric teakettle, with varying degrees of guide-vs.-do and varying degrees of success. Here are my tools at my workstation.

I installed a string of color-changing lights on our front porch. I can change up the colors & animations to suit the season. On this rainy, wintry evening I hope our neighbors appreciate a pop of color.

Gandalf is helping!

A helpful woodpecker pointed out a soft spot on our house’s trim this fall, and we’re having a carpenter in to fix it. Turns out the previous painters used a nonstandard way to fix this section: jam a rag in the hole, caulk it, and paint over the whole thing. Sharpie for scale.

I went out with colleagues to a great restaurant in Carlsbad, CA and for dessert you can make your own s’more.

Tell me without telling me that there was no line at security and now you’re 90 minutes early for your flight.