super tall lover of life
The purpose of fun at work
In art, science and business, creativity is the engine that drives progressBruce Goldman, Stanford MedicineRecently our team has been spending a bunch of time...
It's time to connect your repo to Claude Design
I've been a Figma user for the last five years, and before that I was competent with Illustrator and Photoshop. Based on what I'm seeing while building The...
Something new!
After 10 years as a software engineering manager. I've decided to set down my very busy calendar and instead focus on being a builder of things that matter at...
Advice isn't to stop people from failing, but to remind them that failure had an alternative.
Carving with AI
I've recently been trying to describe how working deeply with AI as a process leads to desired outcomes. My children have asked me if they can build games with...
Time for a change...
I've decided to transition back from management and become an IC. The work out there in the world for AI-driven engineering is too tempting and too interesting...
The Hollowness of AI
My kids always want to talk to me about anime. So many stories start with a character who's completely overpowered. They arrive in a new world, already...
Why budget software is backwards
I spent the last 20 years trying to understand how to budget and continuously failing. I'd put together an excel spreadsheet, go through my bank statements and...
Easy Web App Building with AI
HistoryI've been cranking out apps for my family whenever I have a small need. What was once built using spreadsheets or paper on a fridge is now an app that...
Iteration is the New Planning
As we start building more and more with AI, the temptation is going to be to plan more and more. Planning has always been a key part of every process, and...
AI is the New UI
We’ve been talking about artificial intelligence and LLMs a lot at work lately. As we are being pushed to become more and more fluent in AI, one of the things...
Wednesday is the Best Day Off
Years ago I was working too much and burning out as a software engineer. I had been working solo on a multi-quarter project, and the sense of loneliness,...
Full-Balance Auto-Pay: The Holy Grail of Credit Cards
Imagine if your credit cards were paid in full every month automatically, and you never accrued any interest.Credit cards can be amazing tools. They offer...
How to Budget for Big Expenses Like Property Taxes
When we sit down and talk to Spend users, they always tell us, “my finances are a little wonky right now.” For example, I just sat down with someone recently...
J Curve Growth and Investing in Everything
I recently read a Mandy Musing called, “Why aren’t you doing better“ and one of the parts I focused on was a lesson I learned from starting and running...
Instant Pot Corn on the Cob
You're not going to believe me that this is the best corn you've ever had. You're not going to believe me that it's good because it's so easy. Despite all of...
Smart is a Good Start
When I'm looking for good phrases to tell to my kids, they have to be short and meaningful, and if they rhyme, it's a huge bonus. "Smart's a good start" is one...
Instant Pot Smashed Yukon Gold Potatoes
Some recipes are too good not to share. My family complains when I don't make potatoes this way. 2 cups water 2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes 1 stick butter 3...
Vue 3 CLI Awesomeness
How cool is it that I can just type vue create newproject cd newproject vue use pug vue use element-plus and I have a working vue 3 system, complete with pug,...
Vue.js CLI 3 API URL Environment Variables
I recently converted a project to use vue cli version 3. This change has helped with consistency across my app, but a few things that used to work don't...
Everything is a Sandwich, Probably
There’s constant debate about the definition of sandwiches. Questions around hot dogs, tacos, sushi, etc. are all valid, but I’ve come to believe that based on...
Nginx Docker Reverse Proxy
I've been working on a basic setup to host a number of sites through docker on a local machine. The theory goes: Port 80 traffic hits my router and is...
Square Parents Community Newsletter
I’m writing to you from a desk in my house that has fruit snack wrappers, hand-made cards from my kids, and more empty yerba mate cans than I care to admit....
How to get an interview with me
I've been in tech for more than 20 years, and I've seen any variety of techniques trying to get me to interview with companies. Ultimately I want to know that...
A Brief Message for Recruiters
I'm very selective with writing back or paying attention to recruiting messages. I believe finding a job is similar to dating, and that we should have...
Being polite costs nothing and is worth something.
Slow polyphasic adaptation
It’s become tradition that when the due date of a child approaches, I start going Polyphasic again. It’s been about a week since I started acclimating, and I’m...
Day Two: The Reckoning
The feeling is intoxicating. The knowledge that even though your day is packed and that you’ve spent 1:20 sleeping through the course of it, you have at least...
Smart is a good start
Arizona!
Over the river and through the woods to Grandma Gale and Grandpa Richard! The trip read mostly uneventful, though Malcolm thought it would be fun to extra poop...
New Mexico
Charlie had a lot of fun running to and away from Roscoe. He's a nervous about all that dog coming at him for kisses, but first thing in the morning he tried...
Made It To Laughlin!
Not much to add here.. Had too much of a nice steak dinner, Chuck and Macs are asleep in the room with mom, while Aunt Cat gets a tutorial on gambling!
First Trip With Malcolm!
... And it's a doozy! 4 states in 2 weeks. We are starting from home heading to Nevada and New Mexico, then over to Arizona, and back to California to hit 29...
Engel Family Update 2014
For a couple years now, our family has produced a little update letter around the close of the year. For those of you who didn't receive a physical copy,...
Inbox -1
I’ve read about how keeping your inbox at 0 is a major life accomplishment and that many people have a daily struggle with it. Having had my email well in hand...
Waiting for Malcolm
Today we had our 20ish week ultrasound. Everything looked great: two arms, two legs, brain, face and heart. All there and working as expected. All we need now...
The Smallest, Easiest Life Hack is the Best Life Hack
I’m a sucker for life hacks that save time and effort, and I consider this one of the easiest to implement. When I use the microwave, I prioritize my button...
The Wedding
The point of the trip was to come out and join Alyson and Matt as they got hitched out here near Torch Lake, Michigan, and we were finally settled in at the...
Rehearsal Dinner
The first stop after arriving in the beautiful rural town of Torch Lake, Michigan was the rehearsal dinner. We freshened up at the cabin, then Matt and...
Road Trip
We arrived in Chicago around 4pm and got a ride from Steve and his family at the airport. We decided to brave the cross-town rush hour traffic to go visit...
Albuquerque 2013
We headed to Albuquerque to visit site Charlie’s grandparents on Eli’s side. The drive has been good so far, and we’ve spent 6 hours on the road already since...
Understanding Express Middleware in Node.js
Middleware is one of those interesting concepts that once you get it is very helpful. I learned this from making an autominify middleware for express. The...
Reflections on 2012
I’ve always found that even-numbered years are usually more fun, looking back, than those of odd years. I’m not sure why that is, if it’s psychological, or if...
Changing Table Plans
With our son on the way in less than three weeks, and with a pair of reasonably successful bookcases under my belt, I’ve decided to tackle making a changing...
Hasta luego, Costa Rica, y gracias por todos los peces
We spent the last couple of days driving back up the coast. We broke it up into smaller chunks of driving, which allowed us to take our time and have a really...
Last Night in Zancudo
The last two days have been all about relaxing, which means they’re not so much about things that we’d usually blog about. Most of our experiences that we want...
Panama? Close enough.
Well, after our last experience, we decided to try Panama again with our neighbors who go every once in a while themselves. We figured that they would know how...
Panama?
Last Monday we decided to try to make the trip to Panama on our own. We had heard that the prices were much lower than in Costa Rica, and we thought we’d do...
Osa Wildlife Sanctuary
We woke up early this morning because we had a tour of the Osa Wildlife Sanctuary scheduled for 9am and the boat would take 45 minutes to get there. We...
Life’s a beach
Every day during Morgan’s lunch break we go down to the beach for a little swim. The water is so nice, but the waves are kicking my butt, I’m so ungainly! It’s...
Usual life in Zancudo
We’ve been here in Costa Rica for about a week now and we’re starting to get a routine. One of my favorite things about staying so long in a foreign country is...
At the Beach House
Saturday was a day of hanging out, napping, and more napping. There were dozens of monkeys hopping through the trees at around 7 or 8 am. We didn’t get any...
Working from the Costa Rica
Tomorrow, I begin my week of work in Costa Rica. I still feel like I planned this whole thing pretty well. By working this first week then having the next two...
We found a toad
On our way home in the car, the headlights show the way in front of us and this excites the frogs who have been waiting to be able to see well enough to hop...
State of the Morgan 2014
I loved having birthdays when I was a kid. I’m pretty sure this doesn’t make me unique, but I carried this a bit too far into my adulthood. I held dear the...
An Entire Month of Good Mornings
Fearless month has proved to be one of the most difficult to stick to. The entire notion that I face my fears seems simple enough, but where do fears have a...
February Monthly Resolution – Fearless Month
The plan: February is Fearless Month. Many of you know that I occasionally do Monthly Resolutions instead of yearly. This means less of a commitment than...
Holidays Down South
Today we are headed back up the coast. We are coming from a holiday trip to visit family in Southern California. We spent Christmas Eve and Day In Costa Mesa....
Souveniring
We cut out of work a little early on Friday to see the downtown of San José and get some lunch and souvenirs for the trip home. We headed to a little cafe...
Thanksgiving in Arizona with the Pre-In-laws
Arizona is about a 12 hour drive from our place in Oakland.. We left after I finished work, (and finished packing) at around 7or 830pm.. We drove all night. I...
Jet Blue, Thy Name is So-So
Well, that was an experiment in futility. I decided that because I’d never flown JetBlue before that I’d give it a shot. The people weren’t the nicest, the...
Costa Rica, the Co-Star I Can’t Ignore
About 4 months ago, my company came to me and said, “How would you like to go to Costa Rica to help us teach a company to use the software you write?” After I...
Work Work Work All the Time
So many things around me are in English that it’s easy to forget I’m in a foreign country, and not just in Hawaii or San Diego. The differences can be subtle,...
City of Angels
We left SF last night and drove through the night to Hollywood. We narrowly missed an accident in San Jose, then took 152 to the 5. Traffic was decently light...
The Adventure Continues
We got through security support fast and easy.. didn’t even have to take our shoes off, but then! Customs! I got through okay, but they room Morgan into the...
United Airlines – Best Airline Ever
When we landed in Chicago, we had a big carry on full of liquid, and we had to go to another terminal and so had to go back through security . But, you can’t...
End of the Road
Here we are camped out in our last hotel, right next to the airport. I can’t believe its almost over ! :c we are having a quick bottle of humid foreign extra,...
Clontarf
Hello, hello! Yesterday we drove all the way back into Dublin, to a little place called clontarf. We tried to stop in a couple malls on the way to do some...
Giant's Causeway
Was absolutely my favorite scenic location so far. We tried to go to the Bushmills distillery, but we were 5 minutes too late. They wouldn’t even let us in the...
Belfast
At first we thought Belfast was kinda boring. Not a lot of shops.. we got a nap in. Then we went out for Thai food (sticky rise dessert!) and found a club of...
Sligo!
Today! Horseback riding over beaches, bogs, and freeways! ! It was so great, then we checked in to the beautiful castle Markree. It is PHENOMENAL. Just to get...
Galway Squared!
Two days in Galway! At the Eyre Square Hotel. It was an okay hotel... Like many of the places we stayed, it had a double bed and a twin. Galway is similar to...
Blarney Rubble
The thing that always catches me off guard is that castles, while living spaces, are about more than the castle. there’s always a massive amount of land that...
Thinking about traveling... reminds me of traveling
Travel planning can be stressful! I’ve taken on the responsibility of putting this trip together, since it was my idea in the first place. Phileas is along for...
Sep 28, 2011
When I was about 15 years old, I woke up and decided that I should definitely go to Ireland. I’m not sure why or what sparked it, but all the research I’ve...
Nearodesic Polyhedron Hexayurt Dome
Burning Man 2011 has come and gone, and I’m pretty happy to report that the conceptualization, execution, and result of building this type of dome was almost a...
Scale Models of Nearodesic Polyhedron Hexayurt
I’ve been going to Burning Man for a while now, and I, like pretty much everyone else out there, am enamored of the ideas of large-scale projects on the playa....
Raspberry Pie Filling
Nothing more special than a raspberry pie, except maybe for a strawbertry basil pie, but then, some people think that's weird. Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 3–4...
Best Pie Crust Recipe Ever
This Recipe comes from Kimberly Flower, who got it out of an issue of Cook’s Illustrated, Nov 1, 2007. Vodka is essential to the texture of the crust and...
Strawberry Basil Pie Filling
This is a take on a pie that was inspired by a trip to a local brunch spot that put basil and strawberries on french toast and my life has never been the same....
Polyphasic Sleep—A Primer
Polyphasic sleep is a catchall term for sleeping on a schedule more than once a day. Since the term’s inception, the polyphasic community tends to agree that...
Where I am today
Living in your friends' guest room provides interesting introspection on what you find valuable about yourself. You realize what you want, what you'd do to get...
Politics
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.Thomas JeffersonThis quote seems to be coming to the front of my...
Update
So the last 2 months have been pretty interesting, life-wise. I went from feeling rather hopeful to being pretty depressed to feeling rather hopeful again in...
Burning Man 2007
Man, what a week. it's going to take me a lot longer to process this one than most, I think. I've got a lot of emotions, thoughts, decisions, hopes, fears,...
Twenty Seven
It's been an odd year. I now most years are odd in their ways, but some years are more odd than others. This year has seen a number of subtle changes that,...
Elizabeth and more
So it's been a while since I've posted. I've been a busy little bee, not the kind who longs for his sister and seems to be solely responsible for the downfall...
Dinosaur Comics
I just can't help myself. This is awesome.https://qwantz.com/index.php?comic=815