Day 3 of getting my house in order, physically and mentally. Dragged my fat ass to the gym for the first time in over 2 months. Modest start, just a few k ran and a few k walked on the treadmill, followed by a thorough stretch. I run in thin sole shoes, rubber slippers basically, so it's going to take a few weeks to get my calves tuned up again. Once they're conditioned though, it's the way to go. Wearing shoes without a padded heel forces you to land and push off with the front of your foot with each step, essentially turning your foot and lower leg into a spring loaded joint centered around the ankle. It's like you're Oscar Pistorius, the blade runner, except without the murder part. This was a lot easier before I was carrying these 30 extra pounds. Only way out is through. 🤘

The safety standards enshrined in building codes are ratchets that turn in one direction only. You might say that building codes can only soft fork, never hard fork. Each new iteration of the code remains backwards compatible with previous versions, as mandatory minimums are perpetually raised, mandatory maximums perpetually lowered. As time goes on, this can reach farcical levels. In this picture there are 11 fire sprinkler heads visible. Accounting for what's behind the stairs and around the corner to the left, there are 17 total in this entrance/elevator lobby. Many are located as little as 8' apart. This building is constructed entirely of concrete and glass.

Saw this weird little guy on the trail yesterday. No idea what it is, but it's cool. #fungustr

This is NOT how you're supposed to hike, in steel toed work shoes and jeans, but that was what I was wearing when I snapped out of it (I accidentally wore these home on Friday, leaving my daily driver shoes at work). By "snapped out of it" I mean that I've been going through a nasty rough patch lately, living like a real piece of shit. Eating garbage, not exercising, drinking on weekends sometimes. Bear Market of the Soul vibes. I suppose I could try to explain it away with the fact that my mother died in August but let's be real, this started well before then. I've become fat and lethargic over the past year and no doubt the new job I took last September has something to do with that, but it's no excuse. My wife's been going through a similar thing, but that's not my story to tell. A couple hours ago I was hit with one of those slap-you-in-the-face, what-the-hell-are-you-doing-with-your-life moments. This is not the way. You need to wrench yourself out of this, and you need to be the pillar of strength that your wife can grab hold of to pull herself out of it too. So I left the house and just started walking. Luckily there's a small mountain nearby in the middle of the city, so I'm doing a 14k loop that'll take me around the backside, then all the way up, then back down and home. It's a start. I've been staring into the abyss for a long time without realizing it. Time to look forward.

Sweaty bracket fungus growing in non-standard configuration. #fungustr

At some point one of these AI companies is going to drop the pretense and just say the quiet part out loud: "We're building Roko's Basilisk to preemptively save our own skins. Get on board, or else."

GM There's a mouse in my office. Like him, I think I shall be sneaky today.