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3 weeks in CO, Golden-Fort Collins-Breckenridge-Boulder, Colorado
As a higher elevation followup to our 3 weeks at the beach earlier in the year we planned a 3 week trip to Colorado for late fall this year, and we just got back.
My company has instituted a pilot program which officially allows remote work outside of your home state for 2 weeks per calendar year. Actually this was extended to 4 since planning the trip but I digress. When this was announced I jumped on it telling my group I’d be elsewhere for November before we had the trip planned. Most of the details came together pretty quickly and we booked stays in all our past locales. And with the expectation of a full week off for Thanksgiving from my job, we were able to stay for more than three weeks.
Continue reading “3 weeks in CO, Golden-Fort Collins-Breckenridge-Boulder, Colorado”
Max, with help from gpt-2
This post is written with the assistance of GPT-2. Sections written by me are used as model prompts, and the model output is then modified or curated and able to be used again in following prompts.
Beginning of post
August 23, 2021:
[P1] Megan woke me early in the morning around 3am and said it was time to go have a baby, her water had broken an hour earlier. We sprung into action, though with a tiny bit less apprehension than the first time with Jane. After a long day but mostly typical delivery Max Thomas Cosgrove was born. Birth specifications are as follows:
Length: 50.8 cm (1′ 8”)
Weight: 3.15 kg (6 lb 15.1 oz)
Head Circumference: 36 cm (14.17”)
Apgar One: 9.0
Apgar Five: 9.0
Gestation Age: 39 2/7 wks
[S1] Having another baby was the goal, so that we could round out the family and give Jane a sibling. There are a lot of factors that go into any pregnancy. Luckily for us Megan didn’t have any issues getting pregnant. Recently I’ve noticed that it’s really hard for many to get pregnant. This one was a little different than Jane, mostly because we are so busy keeping up with Jane already. The pregnancy passed quickly and even since Max has been here life just keeps rushing on by. Continue reading “Max, with help from gpt-2”
Culinary week a la Omnivore’s Dilemma a la Caffe Macs
Four things happened recently
- Covid – I gained 10 pounds
- I read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma
- Caffe Mac’s reopened partially for lunch
- I came across a git repo of 700+ Caffe Mac’s recipes
A bit more context…
Continue reading “Culinary week a la Omnivore’s Dilemma a la Caffe Macs”
Camping, Winter to Spring 2021
As of last January, we had 4 camping trips booked. Our goal was to get out and use the new VAN and enjoy some travel despite the pandemic. Looking back I think we did well to anticipate and beat at least part of the reservation rush since in November I was able to easily find spots for all our trips through May which was the end of the 6 month window allowed for bookings. For later bookings we are limited to the few days that come available at each morning at 8 AM, 6 months out.
Our 2021 camping season didn’t start well. The first trip in late January to Calpine Fire Lookout was canceled due to state COVID restrictions. We’re thankful the Forest Service protected us by canceling our solo stay in a one room fire lookout station in the middle of nowhere with no other camping facilities within a few miles. The fire lookout is open for use now, alas dozens of subsequent attempts to find an available reservation have failed, until today, so we’re now reschedule for a two night stay the week of Thanksgiving.
3 weeks at the beach, Capitola, CA
Since the pandemic began, I watched my coworkers’ locations change throughout the year. Some moved permanently out of state to places like Montana, Michigan, New York and Texas. Others have moved within the state but out of the Bay Area, also for the long term. And most seem to have done some extended traveling. It was nice this past summer to have some routine going to work in the labs and having a normal workday again, but after talking to another engineer on the project who doesn’t do lab work and who spent three months working from Hawaii it’s hard not to get a bit jealous. He told me because of the time zone he was off work by 3:30 PM every day and spent the afternoons surfing.
My current job will never be fully remote, although I can do much of it from anywhere, and Megan’s clinic days mean that for now at least, we can’t easily move to Hawaii. But I’ve been feeling all along during this pandemic that I don’t want the opportunities it presents to pass by unnoticed since it is (hopefully) a very unique situation and time. So with this as context, when Megan asked for some input on a weekend beach rental for my birthday this year, I asked why not go for a month instead.
2021: Goals
Similar to previous years, here are my goals for 2021.
There is no update for 2020. Between buying our house last year in January and February and then covid I’m calling it a total loss in terms of goal achivement.
Maybe a total loss is a bit harsh, but very little was achieved: very little reading, too much eating, muscle atrophy…. it goes on.
2020, so far
It is hard to put this into words…
Year end update…
Time off, 11/23/2019 – 01/06/2020
Two weeks into my planned company shutdown / paternaty / sick leave I started to really feel checked out from work. The first week off was company shutdown for the week of Thanksgiving and between the holiday and some other activites it still felt busy. The second week when everyone else was back at work I was still checking in daily and getting a few texts and calls for support. After this though, work communication slowed down and I really got into the swing of being away from work.
A colleague of mine (Foo Hooi Lee) reguallary takes all of his vacation between Thankgiving and the New Year in order to travel back to Malasia for a few weeks each year. In years past I haven’t had the nessesary time banked to pull this off but thanks to Jane and Apple’s paternaty leave policy this year I had the hours. I talked to Behnam about my plan for this back in July and he agreeded provided the AS platform was stable and I had a good software release process established which Hesam or Dan could take over while I was out. The big 2019 demos were planned in mid Decemeber and early January so it would be hard to justify leaving if we still had a fragile software platform. So over the course of the fall I worked a lot with this in mind and in early Novemeber we agreeded things were in a good enough place for me to take the whole block of time.
S is for San Francisco, Bay Area, CA
8/24/2019 – 9/1/2019
For summer vacation this year we planned a local trip to San Francisco and Bodega Bay. Leading up to the trip we considered a few other options including Hawaii, Yosemite, and a more involved Northern California roadtrip but decided on the simplest itinerary:
- 4 nights at home with a day trip to Santa Cruz
- 2 nights at Presidio Lodge in San Francisco
- 2 nights at an ocean side rental North of Bodega bay
- 1 night back at home to recuperate
By the time we made up our mind the trip was only about a month away and we nearly missed getting our desired locations due to their occupancy getting booked. Luckily it worked out though. Continue reading “S is for San Francisco, Bay Area, CA”