Wrapping up 2025 Well, I didn’t get to write as much this year as I hoped. My mom’s health has been on a downward spiral. So my spoons have been few and far between. We did get to travel a nice (small) amount, though, so there’s that. My 2025 Flighty Passport We started the year with a trip to Kauai, our first visit to that Hawaiian island.

Wrapping up 2025

Always have to get that one!

Trip Report: Gallifrey One and Universal Studios Does this count as a staycation? Well, two nights in two hotels, so technically we were away from home… It’s Gallifrey, there’s always a TARDIS! Photo: Amy Fredericks Gally The Gallifrey One Doctor Who convention happens every February (usually, but not always, on Presidents Day Weekend) at the LAX Marriott. It’s a three day convention; we always go for the first two days, staying the night in between at the hotel.

Trip Report: Gallifrey One and Universal Studios

Does this count as a staycation? Well, two nights in two hotels, so technically we were away from home… It’s Gallifrey, there’s always a TARDIS! Photo: Amy Fredericks Gally The Gallifrey One Doctor Who convention happens every February (usually, but…

Certified Platinum! I finally did it. I got us the American Express Platinum card. The most premium (expensive) credit card I’ve ever gotten! I might need to breathe into a paper bag for a bit… Platinum! Hand model: Keeley Fredericks-Shade. No comments on her manicure allowed! Photo: Amy Fredericks It gets 5x on flights, but that’s the only bonus category for spending. Our…

Certified Platinum!

I finally did it. I got us the American Express Platinum card. The most premium (expensive) credit card I’ve ever gotten! I might need to breathe into a paper bag for a bit… Platinum! Hand model: Keeley Fredericks-Shade. No comments on her manicure allowed! Photo: Amy…

Trip Report: Kauai Our first trip of the new year was to the one major Hawaiian island we hadn’t been to yet: Kauai! Oahu, Maui, the Big Island, we’ve done them all at least once (I actually lived briefly on Maui 25 years ago). Now all that’s really left for us is the smaller (and less accessible) islands of Lanai and Molokai.

Trip Report: Kauai

Our first trip of the new year was to the one major Hawaiian island we hadn’t been to yet: Kauai! Oahu, Maui, the Big Island, we’ve done them all at least once (I actually lived briefly on Maui 25 years ago). Now all that’s really left for us is the smaller (and less accessible)…

Gotta bring back Tim Russ!

Sorry for the Lack of Updates! It’s the little things that keep me going… (Hidden House Coffee) Photo: Amy Fredericks Life happens and this year we moved my mom into assisted living. It’s been tough. Between dealing with her care and work, it’s hard to find the time to work on blog posts. (Which is something I’d much rather be doing!) We’ve still been traveling, of course.

Sorry for the Lack of Updates!

It’s the little things that keep me going… (Hidden House Coffee) Photo: Amy Fredericks Life happens and this year we moved my mom into assisted living. It’s been tough. Between dealing with her care and work, it’s hard to find the time to work on blog posts. (Which…

SoCal earthquake quick everyone post about it so we know the site has the juice!

Saw a (double, actually) rainbow Wednesday, btw 🌈🌈😜

Mercury 13 - Wikipedia

The Mercury 13 were thirteen American women who in 1959-60 took part in a privately funded research program run by physician William Randolph Lovelace II, a private contractor to #NASA, which aimed to test and screen the women for spaceflight #InternationalWomensDay

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury...

This is a scary one…

What’s in my wallet? Yeah, that’s actually my wallet! Can you guess what they all are? Photo: Amy Fredericks I thought I would do a post on my credit card earning strategy…so here it is! It’s nothing fancy or elaborate...I won't even claim I'm doing things the best way... I think my first credit cards (when I was in college) were a Sears store card and a…

What’s in my wallet?

Yeah, that’s actually my wallet! Can you guess what they all are? Photo: Amy Fredericks I thought I would do a post on my credit card earning strategy…so here it is! It’s nothing fancy or elaborate...I won't even claim I'm doing things the best way... I think my first credit…

I got laid off today, with the rest of 18F.

18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it.

We made this website to tell our story:
18f.org

Still upright!

Just got my 2nd shingles shot. Going to take a walk, see if I keel over. 😂

Portuguese editorial cartoonist Zez Vaz reaches back to Tiananmen Square to call on American defiance.

And I have to work the next day!

My first shingles shot just gave me a sore arm. Bit of a let down after all I’d heard. 2nd shot coming Wednesday. Wondering if that’s when it will hit me hard… 🫠

Stand with science. Always.

Spotted a dalek at @gallifreyone.bsky.social

We are just leaving the house!

A historic image showing Earth and the Moon together for the first time, captured by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1977. The bottom of the image features Earth, partially illuminated, with its blue oceans and white clouds visible against the blackness of space. Above and to the left, the Moon appears as a smaller, dimmer crescent, emphasizing the vast distance between the two celestial bodies. This photograph, taken just 13 days after Voyager 1’s launch, offers a profound perspective of our planet and its natural satellite, floating together in the cosmic void.

the first ever image of the entire earth and moon together, taken by voyager 1 in 1977

Donate to Helping Aliette, organized by Paul Cornell Our friend Aliette de Bodard is going through some awful times right now, and we seek to provide her some… Paul Cornell needs your support for Helping Aliette

Aliette is an amazing, powerful, ingenious writer, but more importantly she's an amazing, kind-hearted person who deserves all that is good in the world, and instead she's in a tough situation. If you can afford to help her out at all, please do so. gofund.me/0835f91c

Normalize pronouncing DOGE as DOUCHE.

a drawing of a fist with a purple bracelet around it ALT: a drawing of a fist with a purple bracelet around it

Happy Black History Month, and yeah, we're still doing that.

As a Gen X kid, I was promised two possible futures:

1) Post-apocalyptic wasteland where people fought for the remining scraps of civilization

2) Techno-Hell where our lives were ruled by megacorporations that took over the government

Looks like Option 2 was the winner. Still time for 1, though

I’m telling everyone: Do not open the door or say a word unless you’re expecting someone and know exactly who it is.

Know your rights. Pass these around…

Void monster/house panthers are the best!