June 2024 – snand.org

weekend accomplishments

this is for me, I need to acknowledge my progress.

replaced primary sump pump
1st coat of mud on basement walls
swept and cleaned basement
installed water heater recirculator and figured out settings
weeded under the deck
birthday gifts and plans for J

all while not feeling super great.

we did also get out of the house, went to the mall o’ ‘merica with the kiddos. that reminds me, we have chocolate, now if I could just settle my stomach.

update- also tested sanding the drywall; I got this! and I did some more cleaning, organizing and hauling trash. ugh, I need to take it easier when not feeling well. I suppose mental health is health though and with all this work in front of me, I just gotta be productive..

this score is legen…wait for it…

happy father’s day.

this is a fine gift for today: https://www.space.com/nasa-voyager-mission-engineers-documentary

I figure there’s a fair few other dads out there who might also find this interesting. hopefully they stumble upon it as well.

happy anniversary M!

16 years! where did it go? it’s been wonderful though.

thank you M for 16 years of marital bliss. I’m honestly not kidding, I truly love being married to you. I love you, I love our family, I am a lucky man.

noodling a new project.

I’ve got a couple years left with my former garbage skow (finally cleaned it last weekend). the plan was to buy a new car, keep it for 10 years, until the kids start driving, then buy Dad something new and make the exploder the extra family car. I’m on year 8 right now and I’ve been thinking about my next vehicle.

M recently picked up a Mazda CX-90 PHEV, and I’ve got to admit, I really like it. I like the electric range because it gives me the ability to gamify my driving experience; see how far I can get on pure electric, fiddle with climate controls and other power functions to see how they impact it, etc. what I don’t like is all the connected technology. I don’t want or need 229 notifications from my car!

so, it’s just an idea right now, but I am thinking about looking for something old and making it my own. I love station wagons, else I could sure use the utility of a truck. the plan in development is to start looking for something in good condition and cheap that I can buy for cash (or a stupid low price), then spend a year or so fixing it up and making it mine. I’m thinking a bit of a sleeper with a decent stereo is my dream. I don’t need to go nuts but I’m an old man, I deserve a little fun.

we’ll see what happens, just a pipe dream for now.

it doesn’t stop…

went downstairs to turn on the hose today and another flood welcomed me. this time the water heater ruptured.

thankfully it’s much, much smaller, the thing is 50 gallons, not 15,000 so quite a bit less to cleanup. unfortunately it was in the room where all the stuff was stacked from the first flood so now most stuff that had survived, is now soaked (including a 3D printer I was going to try to repair).

I guess I have been looking for a reason to upgrade to a tankless. never ends though, does it?

well this comes as no surprise…

…https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/05/agile_failure_rates/?td=rt-3a

now, take this with a grain of salt because the study authors are pushing their own, new framework. I can’t say I’m the least bit surprised though.

I can hear them now, the agile purists telling me that I just haven’t seen agile done right. agile, waterfall, kanban, etc. can all work, the thing that is always missed is the need for requirements up front. I know we can get working without them, but what are we working towards without them?

in the end, I can get to work in any framework, so long as I understand what we’re building.