My new job requires me to be in the office 3x per week, so I drive 160 miles each way to and from Lincoln. It’s been nice being in an urban environment (Lincoln is no New York or Chicago but compared to Lexington, NE where I currently live it is certainly more expansive). I’ve been enjoying the food scene there, checking out music shops and other local stores (I had some great pho the other day for lunch). The Nebraska State Capitol building is visible from a lot of areas in the town, the UNL campus is pretty to take walks through and my favorite parts have been the historic buildings and architecture still being preserved and actively in use.
My wife and I have been considering whether moving makes sense in the near future. The fact is that at my current pay it would not be economically feasible to uproot the family and after my layoff experience in the summer and the shakiness of the economy, job uncertainty still runs high in my psyche, though I enjoy my new gig and company very much and have a small sliver of hope that I can turn it into something truly long lasting and meaningful in the future.
In other news, my friends sent me a rough track for a new song they are working on and they’ve asked me to record some drum parts for it. I’ve been diving in and mapping out parts during my drives (an upside to the long commute, lots of music listening and quiet thinking which I haven’t had time for really since my son was born 5 years ago).
All in all, sitting with the gratitude I feel is enough.
Difficult to believe, 30% of the people in my town will be unemployed by end of January: ruralradio.com/maxcountr…
Another older drum cover video snippet, Falling to Pieces by Faith No More. I need to find some time to record some new ones.
A couple of weekends ago I went to Kansas City for a drum event at a friend’s jazz club. The event was a clinic by WFLIII Drums, owned by Bill Ludwig III, grandson of Bill Ludwig of Ludwig drums (B3 used to manage artist relations at Ludwig). Anyways, I met the man, and he signed my snare.
Testing the new micro.blog video feature. Video is of a drum cover I did of Aqua Regia by Sleep Token.
Tinted glass
I commute to work three days per week, about 160 miles each direction. I wake up at 5 am and am out the door between 5:30 am and 6 am, putting me in the office around 8:30 am. The irony of me spewing carbon all over the place while working for an organization that is also combating the effects of climate change has not gone unnoticed by me. I don’t say this with any cynicism, I work with incredibly smart people doing incredibly smart and impactful things under tight budgets, and I’m willing to try and solve this commute issue and certainly commit my time to continue being a part of this.
Economics plays a big part in this arrangement: at my current salary it is cheaper for me to continue living where I live and pay for the gas vs. relocating to Lincoln and incurring debt and significantly increased costs to reduce my commute distance. Over time as I build my relationships and more importantly, trust, I suspect I will be able to switch to a different model. In parallel I am researching hybrid options (I don’t think I can justify fully electric in Nebraska winters) to trade my current vehicle in for. Emotionally immature me doesn’t want to do that because I stupidly love my car and I know it will last 500k plus miles.
Being on the road a lot I haven’t been online very often, which is refreshing. Over the last ten days, give or take, I have come across a few interesting tidbits.
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America is getting more and more burdened with rising energy costs. I know I’ve seen our utility bills rise significantly, our usage patterns certainly haven’t changed. AI and the data centers that can’t get enough energy of course is becoming a primary driver (and the increased cost gets passed down to households).
“Working families are already on the brink—with millions forced to skip meals, dip into their savings, and turn to credit cards and other risky financial products and practices just to get by.”
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I think I had seen this earlier but the Light Phone 3 received a best invention of 2025 by Time Magazine in October of this year. I can’t speak to how relevant Time is anymore.
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Speaking of the Light Phone, someone has made middle layer of services accessible via SMS for dumb phones.
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AI CEOs keep telling us that their companies will wipe out humanity if someone doesn’t intervene. I suspect the Enron style funding timebomb may be the intervention they are looking for.
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The Federal Government is now running its kidnapping operations in Charlotte.
Staying away from a regular internet consumption habit has been good for me. When I do dabble, I see the tinted glass everything tries to put on our eyes, rose or other shades, and I’ve felt my responses be more pragmatic vs. reactive with one exception, I downloaded the 26.1 iOS update to my phone and enabled the “Tinted” setting for liquid glass and I find things to be much more useable.
I have just completed my fourth week in my new job with the Arbor Day Foundation, and I’m happy, nay, fortunate to say I’m really enjoying it there. I really had no clue where my post-layoff road would take me.
Reading about the Principles of Calm Technology from the Calm Tech Institute:
I. Technology should require the smallest possible amount of attention
II. Technology should inform and create calm
III. Technology should make use of the periphery
IV. Technology should amplify the best of technology and the best of humanity
V. Technology can communicate, but doesn’t need to speak
VI. Technology should work even when it fails
VII. The right amount of technology is the minimum needed to solve the problem
VIII. Technology should respect social norms.
via Coté:
“Be yourself,” they always tell me. Yes, but, if I was being myself, I would not have shown up.