• Back to work after the 26 day vacation. Returning to work after this break was more taxing than returning after a sabbatical. I have theories to explain why, mostly revolving around expectations of catching myself up vs being caught up by others, and the generative nature of new year aspirations. My days were long and my todo list grew longer. Lots of good and exciting things to consider in those working hours! As an achievement-society male, I gotta work hard to keep those things inside the boundaries of working hours.
• The DNS on https://www.danott.co has been completely unwieldy. I want to make sure my old URLs forward here, but something in propagation has been bonkers. I think it’s back to a baseline now, and I can reintroduce changes in the coming days.
• The kids’ return to school was disrupted by winter storms and insufficient clearing of roads. I have big feelings about NTI (non-traditional instruction) as an escape hatch for administration. We have it pretty easy, relative to other families in our community. On principle, the (admittedly uncharitable) sentiment of “hey parent, facilitate my teaching curriculum, you’ve got no other obligations or responsibilities” irks me. I know it’s not as simple as that, and there are real tradeoffs seen and unseen—even so, I feel like it should either be a snow day or a school day. The Covid-era NTI protocols should be reserved for unprecedented circumstances they emerged from.
• Severance Season 2 started. We hosted a small watch party. We missed the opportunity to create a menu of melon bars and waffle parties. The smoked pork shoulder as taco protein was a good substitute.
• The kids did return to school on Friday. Emily and I drove to Buc-ees for inefficient and absurd reasons. In a world of efficiency and productivity, it felt like an act of rebellion to take an inefficient drive for an inkling of an idea that I wanted to buy Buc-ees brand peppermints. They’re very good.
• Snow returned on Sunday. Just as my solar panels shed the ice that prohibited them from producing, their production was stifled again. I’m ready for winter to be over.
• I was surprised with a Boox Palma for my birthday. I spent a few hours setting it up, and the time since then has been engrossed in reading. I’m a big fan in the honeymoon period, and I’m sure there will be more to say about this device.
• I assembled some legos. EVE & WALL•E BrickHeadz. All time favorites.