- A few weeks ago, I made an appointment for the whole family to visit the Pittsboro post office so that my children could apply for new passports. Their previous passports have expired and because those first books were issued when they were under 16, they can't get new passports by mail. #
- So, we drove the 25 minutes to Pittsboro and arrived 15 minutes early to our 9 a.m. appointment, only to be told that the person who handles passports wouldn't be arriving until at least 9:15 and anyway she'd need to attend to the pile of mail that came in over the weekend, so we'd just have to wait. #
- Oliver had a math test to get to and Malia had a class assignment to turn in, so we couldn't wait.#
- The family piled back into the minivan and we drove northward, crossing the Haw River and back to schools and home and work. We voiced our frustration with the U.S. Postal Service, and made a new plan: we'd get each of the kids into an individual appointment at the post office closest to us. #
- Fortunately, we have not international trips planned.#
Can't recall what I did to shake Drummer to display my latest Radio3 items in the Links tab. #
Home again, and cleaning out our suitcases after the late-night arrival. Last night we watched most of the UNC-Duke Final Four game in the Charlotte airport, and celebrated the thrilling final minutes just as the next airplane was up off the runway and ascending toward RDU. (The American Airlines app streamed the game for free.) Now I'm watching the Tottenham-Newcastle match, having just completed the routine back-from-the-islands washing of the hammocks.#
- We're on a family spring break trip, again visiting Dad and Dot, enjoying the glorious West End of the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands. We've already been on Sandy Point for the final public Sunday (hot, sunny, stunning) and then the next night (cool, starry, calming) to accompany Kelly Stewart (the subject of my Duke Magazine story) on she and her research crew monitored the beach for sea turtles. #
- Alas, no turtles that night, but today we did sea green turtles as we snorkeled above the wreck of a tugboat. We were on a morning sail along the coast, just the six of us and the crew of the Jolly Mon catamaran, enjoying cool drinks and the expansive views of the island. #
- We'll be back to Sprat Hall beach in an hour after we've rested by the swimming pool (the house next to Dot's has an amazing guesthouse that we've rented for few days), and maybe will walk over to Rhythms at Rainbow Beach for more mojitos. #
- Erin and I were at Rhythms for fish tacos and key lime pie yesterday after we had massages at the Fred, a boutique hotel on the Frederiksted strand.#
- It feels good to be on vacation and to be relaxed#
My Drummer blog at http://storian.org has been quiet and slow, though it's always a joy to use. And I wanted to let @davewiner know that I use Electric Drummer every day to outline my day's tasks, meeting notes, and more.#
Reading about the large Joro spiders that are moving up the East Coast of the U.S., I'm reminded of similar spiders, like this one, that were on Paama Island (in Vanuatu, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer). When we visited Paama in 2018, Reddy took us for a hike up to the family garden, and he snagged a giant spider and let it walk up his arm.#
Making red beans and rice for family meal, and new classic brownies. Recipes by Pableaux Johnson and NYTimes.#
In college, one of the guys on the floor played a rockin' guitar instrumental on his stereo. I knew the musician's name then, but forgot it in the intervening decades. Every so often I would try to search the music catalog or streaming services but never could find the tune. Until today, when I got in the car (our new hybrid RAV4) after work, turned on That Station, and heard the unmistakable licks. On the radio console: Eric Johnson | Cliffs of Dover. A good tune, and now a favorite.#
A good friend who is a coffee expert has started his own specialty brand: Playmaker Coffee. I ordered my first bag last night (Pre-Season #25) and met him at a local cafe this morning. Can't wait to brew these beans later this week for my in-laws who will be visiting.#
Paul Farmer died today. Here's the NYTimes obit. I met Dr. Farmer once at a book signing (I wrote about that in this 2004 post), and he walked past me on Duke's campus once; he was on his way to a Board of Trustees meeting, and I was on my way to get coffee. His books were part of my reading for my thesis project in medical journalism. Farmer inspired my ScienceOnline efforts, and he's continued to inspire in my work. What a terrible loss. What an amazing life.#
I updated my What I'm doing now page on the Zuiker Chronicles blog. Long ago I paid for pro account at Font Awesome, and I figured I'd see how easy it is to add icons to that blog. I put a house and a soccer ball on Now. Next I'll look to connect Font Awesome to my Drummer blog.#
I've lived in or around Chapel Hill for more than 20 years now, but yesterday was my first time to Merritt's Grill, where I enjoyed a most delicious BLT.#
Over on the Zuiker Chronicles, I finally finished a blog post about the family trip to Hawaii last month.#
My web host, Opalstack, made it easy to install Nextcloud, so I'm testing that platform as an alternative to Dropbox (like Gruber, I "can't wait to eliminate" that from my subscribed accounts). #
The quality of the football in the English Premier League is not great this January. Really boring games.#
We got more wintry weather Friday night, and yesterday dawned clear, bright, and the ground covered in fluffy white snow. It was cold, in the 20s, but we spent much of the afternoon outside around a big fire, with family and friends talking and making s'mores, and the dogs chasing the ball in the woods. It felt good to be outside and away from the computer and phone screens. I slept well, and late. #
The snow is falling, tomorrow is a holiday, so we'll be hunkered down inside the cozy house. I plan to relax, read, bake. Maybe I'll go out for a run on the icy roads, and perhaps Erin will also bundle up and we'll walk out back to evaluate the site where the new house will soon be built.#
Finally linked my SiriusXM account to the radio in the van, and now I can listen to the Grumpy Pundits and the Football Show on my phone and laptop, so my soccer obsession can follow me everywhere.#Archiving outlines and asking Daytona to index them. I believe I followed Dave's lead correctly. I have monthly archives on GitHub, and I had Daytona clear and then ping. My searches on Daytona seem to be working well.#
Beautiful morning, sunny and clear and cold.#
I updated the About tab to include a link to the December archive.#
I wanted to play soccer this morning, but my brother was visiting and it was raining, so I slept in instead.#
Last night, before we crashed for a full night's sleep (after the red eye from Honololu), we watched Don't Look Up. It was as good as Dave's been saying for the last couple of weeks.#
Home again in North Carolina after a grand vacation on O'ahu. A long post to come over on the Zuiker Chronicles.#
I noticed that my rivers and PagePark sites weren't resolving. Something must have happened to the server while I was on vacation. I've restarted them all.#
I'm on vacation, staying at my dad's apartment in Honolulu and the internet connection is poor (might be his service, my new laptop, my three children streaming videos, or a combination of the three) so this may be my only post for a bit. Today was an epic day on the Waianae coast for whale watching and sitting on the stunning Makaha Beach. Highlight was jumping off the Zodiac into 700 feet of blue water and hearing the loud singing of a couple of male humpback whales somewhere nearby. Wow.#
Another new header image, found on the SD card in the underwater camera we took on our trips to Vanuatu, Australia, St. Croix, and Lake Erie. This image is the airplane that got us to Paama Island for our reunion with our adoptive family from our time in the Peace Corps.#
New header image of a rat snake found on Hawk's Landing earlier this year.#
It was a beautiful morning, chilly but sunny, and so I went to play soccer. I ran and kicked and passed for two hours, scored a goal and fell down a few times. So much fun, the first time in nearly a year since I've been out with the guys (a wide range of ages and accents). On my way home through Chapel Hill, passing people coming out of the churches on Franklin Street, I realized that soccer is my religion.#I searched my Zuiker Chronicles blog (using the built-in Textpattern engine) for 'Vanuatu' and got 24 articles. A search of The Coconut Wireless, the Textpattern blog I wrote at mistersugar.com for 15 years, has even more mentions of Vanuatu, 123! If I could convert my Texpattern archives to opml outlines and do these searches in Daytona, perhaps there'd be a way for me to make a list, sort and categorize, and get closer to writing a memoir about my time as a Peace Corps Volunteer there.#
The kids and I drove to Smithfield to meet my mother, who drove up from Wilmington. We had a nice lunch, opened some gifts, and hugged. When we got home, Erin was ready for us to decorate the Christmas tree. After that, I went out to the fire pit and split firewood for an hour. Now it's raining outside, but the wood pile is covered and dry.#
Dave unveiled Daytona, a search engine for outlines. I can use Daytona to search this blog. For instance, I searched for Vanuatu and found five docs that include that name (of the country in which I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer). I wonder if there is a way for me to convert my Textpattern blogs (zuiker.com and mistersugar.com) into opml so that I can use Daytona to search those archives. Back in August I wrote about when Beck and I talked about finding themes in my blogs.#
We watched the first episode of Welcome to Earth, the National Geographic series with Will Smith. This first episode is about sound, and it starts in Vanuatu at Tanna's Mount Yasur. So cool to see this volcano again, and to hear it's explosions and rumbles. Erin and I took our kids to Vanuatu and up to Yasur in July 2018 for a memorable family adventure (recounted in this blog post).#- A few weeks ago, I made an appointment for the whole family to visit the Pittsboro post office so that my children could apply for new passports. Their previous passports have expired and because those first books were issued when they were under 16, they can't get new passports by mail. #
- So, we drove the 25 minutes to Pittsboro and arrived 15 minutes early to our 9 a.m. appointment, only to be told that the person who handles passports wouldn't be arriving until at least 9:15 and anyway she'd need to attend to the pile of mail that came in over the weekend, so we'd just have to wait. #
- Oliver had a math test to get to and Malia had a class assignment to turn in, so we couldn't wait.#
- The family piled back into the minivan and we drove northward, crossing the Haw River and back to schools and home and work. We voiced our frustration with the U.S. Postal Service, and made a new plan: we'd get each of the kids into an individual appointment at the post office closest to us. #
- Fortunately, we have not international trips planned.#
Can't recall what I did to shake Drummer to display my latest Radio3 items in the Links tab. #
Home again, and cleaning out our suitcases after the late-night arrival. Last night we watched most of the UNC-Duke Final Four game in the Charlotte airport, and celebrated the thrilling final minutes just as the next airplane was up off the runway and ascending toward RDU. (The American Airlines app streamed the game for free.) Now I'm watching the Tottenham-Newcastle match, having just completed the routine back-from-the-islands washing of the hammocks.#
- We're on a family spring break trip, again visiting Dad and Dot, enjoying the glorious West End of the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands. We've already been on Sandy Point for the final public Sunday (hot, sunny, stunning) and then the next night (cool, starry, calming) to accompany Kelly Stewart (the subject of my Duke Magazine story) on she and her research crew monitored the beach for sea turtles. #
- Alas, no turtles that night, but today we did sea green turtles as we snorkeled above the wreck of a tugboat. We were on a morning sail along the coast, just the six of us and the crew of the Jolly Mon catamaran, enjoying cool drinks and the expansive views of the island. #
- We'll be back to Sprat Hall beach in an hour after we've rested by the swimming pool (the house next to Dot's has an amazing guesthouse that we've rented for few days), and maybe will walk over to Rhythms at Rainbow Beach for more mojitos. #
- Erin and I were at Rhythms for fish tacos and key lime pie yesterday after we had massages at the Fred, a boutique hotel on the Frederiksted strand.#
- It feels good to be on vacation and to be relaxed#
My Drummer blog at http://storian.org has been quiet and slow, though it's always a joy to use. And I wanted to let @davewiner know that I use Electric Drummer every day to outline my day's tasks, meeting notes, and more.#
Reading about the large Joro spiders that are moving up the East Coast of the U.S., I'm reminded of similar spiders, like this one, that were on Paama Island (in Vanuatu, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer). When we visited Paama in 2018, Reddy took us for a hike up to the family garden, and he snagged a giant spider and let it walk up his arm.#
Making red beans and rice for family meal, and new classic brownies. Recipes by Pableaux Johnson and NYTimes.#
In college, one of the guys on the floor played a rockin' guitar instrumental on his stereo. I knew the musician's name then, but forgot it in the intervening decades. Every so often I would try to search the music catalog or streaming services but never could find the tune. Until today, when I got in the car (our new hybrid RAV4) after work, turned on That Station, and heard the unmistakable licks. On the radio console: Eric Johnson | Cliffs of Dover. A good tune, and now a favorite.#
A good friend who is a coffee expert has started his own specialty brand: Playmaker Coffee. I ordered my first bag last night (Pre-Season #25) and met him at a local cafe this morning. Can't wait to brew these beans later this week for my in-laws who will be visiting.#
Paul Farmer died today. Here's the NYTimes obit. I met Dr. Farmer once at a book signing (I wrote about that in this 2004 post), and he walked past me on Duke's campus once; he was on his way to a Board of Trustees meeting, and I was on my way to get coffee. His books were part of my reading for my thesis project in medical journalism. Farmer inspired my ScienceOnline efforts, and he's continued to inspire in my work. What a terrible loss. What an amazing life.#
I updated my What I'm doing now page on the Zuiker Chronicles blog. Long ago I paid for pro account at Font Awesome, and I figured I'd see how easy it is to add icons to that blog. I put a house and a soccer ball on Now. Next I'll look to connect Font Awesome to my Drummer blog.#
I've lived in or around Chapel Hill for more than 20 years now, but yesterday was my first time to Merritt's Grill, where I enjoyed a most delicious BLT.#
Over on the Zuiker Chronicles, I finally finished a blog post about the family trip to Hawaii last month.#
My web host, Opalstack, made it easy to install Nextcloud, so I'm testing that platform as an alternative to Dropbox (like Gruber, I "can't wait to eliminate" that from my subscribed accounts). #
The quality of the football in the English Premier League is not great this January. Really boring games.#
We got more wintry weather Friday night, and yesterday dawned clear, bright, and the ground covered in fluffy white snow. It was cold, in the 20s, but we spent much of the afternoon outside around a big fire, with family and friends talking and making s'mores, and the dogs chasing the ball in the woods. It felt good to be outside and away from the computer and phone screens. I slept well, and late. #
The snow is falling, tomorrow is a holiday, so we'll be hunkered down inside the cozy house. I plan to relax, read, bake. Maybe I'll go out for a run on the icy roads, and perhaps Erin will also bundle up and we'll walk out back to evaluate the site where the new house will soon be built.#
Finally linked my SiriusXM account to the radio in the van, and now I can listen to the Grumpy Pundits and the Football Show on my phone and laptop, so my soccer obsession can follow me everywhere.#Archiving outlines and asking Daytona to index them. I believe I followed Dave's lead correctly. I have monthly archives on GitHub, and I had Daytona clear and then ping. My searches on Daytona seem to be working well.#
Beautiful morning, sunny and clear and cold.#
I updated the About tab to include a link to the December archive.#
I wanted to play soccer this morning, but my brother was visiting and it was raining, so I slept in instead.#
Last night, before we crashed for a full night's sleep (after the red eye from Honololu), we watched Don't Look Up. It was as good as Dave's been saying for the last couple of weeks.#
Home again in North Carolina after a grand vacation on O'ahu. A long post to come over on the Zuiker Chronicles.#
I noticed that my rivers and PagePark sites weren't resolving. Something must have happened to the server while I was on vacation. I've restarted them all.#
I'm on vacation, staying at my dad's apartment in Honolulu and the internet connection is poor (might be his service, my new laptop, my three children streaming videos, or a combination of the three) so this may be my only post for a bit. Today was an epic day on the Waianae coast for whale watching and sitting on the stunning Makaha Beach. Highlight was jumping off the Zodiac into 700 feet of blue water and hearing the loud singing of a couple of male humpback whales somewhere nearby. Wow.#Another new header image, found on the SD card in the underwater camera we took on our trips to Vanuatu, Australia, St. Croix, and Lake Erie. This image is the airplane that got us to Paama Island for our reunion with our adoptive family from our time in the Peace Corps.#
New header image of a rat snake found on Hawk's Landing earlier this year.#
It was a beautiful morning, chilly but sunny, and so I went to play soccer. I ran and kicked and passed for two hours, scored a goal and fell down a few times. So much fun, the first time in nearly a year since I've been out with the guys (a wide range of ages and accents). On my way home through Chapel Hill, passing people coming out of the churches on Franklin Street, I realized that soccer is my religion.#I searched my Zuiker Chronicles blog (using the built-in Textpattern engine) for 'Vanuatu' and got 24 articles. A search of The Coconut Wireless, the Textpattern blog I wrote at mistersugar.com for 15 years, has even more mentions of Vanuatu, 123! If I could convert my Texpattern archives to opml outlines and do these searches in Daytona, perhaps there'd be a way for me to make a list, sort and categorize, and get closer to writing a memoir about my time as a Peace Corps Volunteer there.#
The kids and I drove to Smithfield to meet my mother, who drove up from Wilmington. We had a nice lunch, opened some gifts, and hugged. When we got home, Erin was ready for us to decorate the Christmas tree. After that, I went out to the fire pit and split firewood for an hour. Now it's raining outside, but the wood pile is covered and dry.#
Dave unveiled Daytona, a search engine for outlines. I can use Daytona to search this blog. For instance, I searched for Vanuatu and found five docs that include that name (of the country in which I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer). I wonder if there is a way for me to convert my Textpattern blogs (zuiker.com and mistersugar.com) into opml so that I can use Daytona to search those archives. Back in August I wrote about when Beck and I talked about finding themes in my blogs.#
We watched the first episode of Welcome to Earth, the National Geographic series with Will Smith. This first episode is about sound, and it starts in Vanuatu at Tanna's Mount Yasur. So cool to see this volcano again, and to hear it's explosions and rumbles. Erin and I took our kids to Vanuatu and up to Yasur in July 2018 for a memorable family adventure (recounted in this blog post).#