This dog is tired of visitors and disruptions to his routine.

Sit down with your favorite holiday beverage and enjoy.

https://defector.com/the-2024-haters-guide-to-the-williams-sonoma-catalog

We had the pleasure of joining our good friends in Paso Robles, California last week. We had to arrange this trip close to the holidays, when the oldest was out of college and could help at home with driving and dog responsibilities as work and dog walking and bathroom schedules were melded together into a multi-page todo list for the kids to tackle. They did great and did not burn the house down, microwave plasma issue notwithstanding.

I knew of Scott from Born to Run and have heard of him in various podcasts. He sounds like an absolute machine when it comes to endurance. Adventure books have a place that strikes a mood for me. I am finding as I get older, the adventure for me is in right in front of me. The idea of travel feels more and more like escapism. The idea of challenging myself in a big way like this feels like removal from real life. Maybe I don’t have what it takes. I did enjoy the book and do find it inspiring when I don’t want to get out of the house and put in some miles.

Spent this week visiting Austin, Texas. Second time I have been there this year. Austin always strikes me as a city that didn’t get enough hugs when it was young and needs a lot of attention. I did take some time to walk about 12 miles around the city. Visited some of the sites, drank some of the drinks, and enjoyed their finest Texas brisket. It did not disappoint with above average people watching and some of the characters I met.

I watched a gift giving guide and was impressed by the KNIPEX pliers mainly because of their parallel clasping and smooth finish contact. They are pricey, but this is a tool I use often around the house. When they arrived I was even more impressed with how well they are made. They are manufactured in German and are quite exquisite. I call this Werkzeugvergnügen or tool pleasure.

Inside the War Against Headlight Brightness by Nate Rodgers

On a recent episode of the_ Carmudgeon Show_ podcast, auto journalist Jason Cammisa described a phenomenon occurring with some LED headlights in which there are observable minor spots of dimness among an otherwise bright field of light. “With complex arrays of LEDs and of optics,” he said, “car companies realized they can engineer in a dark spot where it’s being measured, but the rest of the field is vastly over-illuminated. And I’ve had now two car companies’ engineers, when I played stupid and said, ‘What’s the dark spot?’ … And the lighting engineers are all fucking proud of themselves: ‘That’s where they measure the fucking thing!’ And I’m like, ‘You assholes, you’re the reason that every fucking new car is blinding the shit out of everyone.’”

It is day three of 15 degrees mornings and my excuses to not run are familiar and consistent.

Found this as I was browsing the New York Times. I can’t even imagine what convoluted process this must be a part of.

In 2020 we had to convert the dining room into a recovery area for the Mother in Law. Shortly after that, we converted it into my spouses permanent office space. It was pragmatic to put in a better light than a chandelier and one with a fan made sense.