Adrian’s Microblog

From this year’s Christmas haul:

  • “The Good, the Dad, & the Punny” by Logan Lisle of Dock Tok fame

  • A Teflon “bone folder” from the folks at Dry.Inc

  • MLB.tv subscription for next year ⚾️

😀

Merry Christmastide to all! - Let’s keep the celebration going all 12 Days! 👶🏽🌟🎄

“Who are you when you do not exist?

“… When the question presents itself as an alien chill, it is saying something important: it is an accusation. It is telling me I am too concerned with trivialities. That life is losing itself in trifles which cannot bear inspection in the face of death. That I am evading my chief responsibility. That I must begin to face the deepest of all decisions — the “answer of death” — the acceptance of the death sentence – and with joy, because of the victory of Christ.

—Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

Not the news wanted for this area:

Landlord drop investment in Montgomery and Prince Georges County as new rent control laws take effect

‘An 80% drop in multifamily transactions in these counties, while investment in northern Virginia up 155%’ … Remains to be seen how permanent or temporary, but clearly a shift.

Insurance and Taxes Now Cost More Than Mortgages for Many Homeowners

In September, 32% of the average single-family mortgage payment went to property taxes and home insurance,

Kirby Ferguson’s (of Everything is a Remix fame) list of apps he uses, a.k.a. “Tools of the Trade 2025”

Includes things like free video editors, notation app, affordable image editors, favorite niche browser, YouTube video downloader, and more.

If you’re looking to do something you can’t do now, this can be a good place to check. :)

How Maryland found its way into a $3 billion budget crises via Baltimore Sun

Comes down to:

  • Bluerprint for Maryland’s Future unfunded for 2028 - 2030
  • Other spending commitments: $1b in public school construction, $1.2b in stadium renovations, $400m into Pimilico & training grounds
  • Increase in costs, especially Medicaid program, prison health care, childcare, & developmental disability programs
  • No new revenues other than digital advertising taxes (which under judicial review)
  • Lagging state economy (e.g., 1.6% from 2016 to 2023, compared to 13.9% nationwide), including lagging labor force participation
  • Over dependence on federal workforce, federal contractors without incentives around private industry

Missed this one the first time around: The Minimum Wage Loses via WSJ

California, yes California, voted 51% against increasing the minimum wage from $16 to $18/hr. (This arising from a period Sep 2023 through Apr 2024 [when the change went into effect] where fast-food prices climbed more than 10% and the industry lost more than 4,400 jobs since January.)

And Massachusetts, yes, Mass., 64% voted against switching tipped workers (at $6.75) to match that of nontipped workers ($15) by 2029 – primarily due to the opposition from the workers themselves.

Interesting.

Had a friend recommend the UFL’s DC Defenders as a very reasonably-priced way to get to see a football game 🏈 – around $20 a ticket (and perhaps a way to actually afford to get a family there).

He also shared that for the WWE matches in Vegas, the front row of seats go for something like $40k each and the 8th row is something like $10k each. Still trying to figure out in which world that makes sense. 🤪

The Great Evernote Reboot with David Pierce of Verge and Federico Simionato, lead developer at Evernote.

Good to see innovative and fresh life breathed into this app – I know my use of it has resurged this year as I take advantage of new features and updated old ones that make the app a great side-kick to wrangling everyday life. :)