Categories
Florida It Happened to Me Tampa Bay

Every year, my conversations with my neighbors become more “Florida”

Seminole Heights’ seal, which depicts a two-headed alligatorLast year, we had a problem with a household who in addition to keeping chickens in their yard, also kept a rooster. I have no problems with neighbors keeping chickens, but the rooster was a big problem at the crack of dawn, for reasons that should be obvious if you’ve ever been to a farm or rural town. That problem was solved by identifying the household and going through the appropriate City of Tampa code enforcement channels. Urban chickens are legal, but a roosters aren’t.

Over the past few days, we’ve been woken by a rooster again, and this time, we think it’s a free roamer, which isn’t uncommon here in the Sunshine State, and part of the scene in Ybor City, just a couple of miles south of our neighborhood.

Anyhow, all this had led to the most “Florida” conversation I’ve ever had on Facebook chat with my neighbor Jennifer, as pictured above.

Categories
It Happened to Me Slice of Life

Last night’s dinner

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We were too hungry to photograph the end result, but we cooked it in macadamia nut oil, dried lemon peel, truffle salt, lemongrass and pepper. It turned out quite well.

Categories
It Happened to Me Slice of Life Work

New year, new office

The home office, a work in progress. Tap to view at full size.

I’m a remote employee at Auth0, and as such, I fell under their home office expense and reimbursement policy. It was the perfect opportunity to upgrade to a standing desk and ergonomic chair, which I bought as a package from Autonomous during their Black Friday sale.

The desk and chair were delivered in early December, but I decided to wait until the holidays to put them together as part of my project to turn our guest room into my office (which can still double as a guest room when the need arises).

My only complaint about the Autonomous MyoChair is that it comes with bog-standard plastic office chair casters, which would turn the lovely hardwood floor into a scratched-up mess. Luckily, we live in an age of wonders, which includes these wheels and the ability to have them shipped to me in very short order:

Okay, so it’s not a iPhone box, but it’s still a lot nicer than the sealed bag of plastic replacement wheels you normally get. Tap to view at full size.

I’ve enjoyed a chair with Office Oasis rollerblade wheels before, and they’re worth the little bit extra. They won’t ruin hardwood or laminate floors or leave black scuff marks like some rubber wheels do. They glide over floor or carpet, and they look pretty sharp. They’re so good, they almost make rollerblading seem cool.

Even the way they’re packaged is nice. Tap to view at full size.

Next task: Find something to put up on those walls.

Categories
It Happened to Me

What we’ll be drinking from tonight

These were a lucky find at Peterbrooke chocolatier, who’ve recently opened a store in downtown Tampa.

Have a happy new year!

Categories
funny Geek It Happened to Me

I’ll bet you didn’t know that Home Depot had an “escape room” section

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Categories
It Happened to Me Slice of Life

Ready for Christmas and Life Day, we are!

Set up, our front porch is for Christmas, from a distant point of view.

Also set up it is, if closer you look, for Life Day!

Categories
Internet Finds It Happened to Me

Thoughts upon seeing an ad for a “Saturn Devouring His Son” yoga mat

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My thoughts, in order:

  1. That’s a bit gruesome to bring to yoga class.
  2. On second thought, if you wanted to give off a “Don’t mess with me” vibe at yoga class, this would be the way to do it.
  3. Does the headline mean that Saturn’s son was named Yoga Mat? That name doesn’t sound like classical Greek.
  4. “Yoga Mat” would be a good Star Wars character name. Definitely better than the one they gave Baby Yoda.
  5. I’m sure there’s a dude named Matthew in the hipster part of town who goes by “Yoga Matt”.

Here’s the link if you’d like to buy the mat.