As of yesterday morning, I've gotten my first shot of the ModeRNA¹ COVID-19 vaccine!

I'd been trying to get an appointment since Berkeley opened them up to all adults on April 9th, and had no luck until 3am on Friday morning, when I managed to get one of the spots released by the CVS near my house (they were all gone a few minutes later). I was surprised to find when I arrived at CVS that, despite the intense competition to get vaccinated, supply is so tight that they were only being issued 10 doses (one vial) per day …

I went into my office yesterday for the first time in a few months to pick some stuff up. We got notified a couple of days ago to get any personal property out of the office before Thanksgiving or else it'd be thrown out, so I guess we're moving out of the office¹. It was a pretty eerie place to be; even now, 8 months later, most people haven't been back and it kind of looks like the entire office was abducted by aliens in early March.

Despite how weird it is, I still miss working out of the …

It's 9:45am on a cloudless Wednesday morning here in summertime California.

My light meter reads 14 lux pointed directly at the sky — about as much as the middle of the night (with local light pollution), or about 1/1000 as much as a normal morning. They tell me that the skies are this apocalyptic shade of red due to the smoke from the 16 major wildfires currently burning in California¹. Local news has plenty to say on the cause if you want to read up. Damn if it isn't disconcerting to live through, though.

What world did I …

Hello hypothetical readers; sorry for my absence, but I've spent the last weeks pretty well busy – as I foreshadowed in May, I have a son now!

It's been quite an adjustment. Isaac was born on August 7, 2020 after a very long¹ labor, but he's happy and healthy now. I got 3 weeks off of work, which I spent with my wife doing intensive child care. Let me tell you, I have a whole new respect for single parents. Caring for an infant with just the two of us (since none of our families or friends can visit or …

PSA for folks in the Bay Area: The University of California Botanical Garden has re-opened for limited, outdoor-only visits. Seems like a nice (and reasonably) safe place to go during the pandemic. It's July, so not much is in bloom, but it's still beautiful.

As every company I've ever bought a product from has been reminding me all morning, today is my birthday. 32 revolutions around the sun. Still ticking.

Obviously it's been a pretty busy year; most of that is in my post from last month. According to the accelerometer on my wrist, I've walked 2,904,398 steps in the last year¹ but I'm mostly still in the same place as I was. Probably by the time I hit 33 revolutions around the sun, it'll be a very different story. Still got that baby on the way (another ~6 weeks to …