Thankful to get out of the house after the blizzard and do some winter hiking and snowshoeing with the Mrs.

Day after the blizzard. Local grocery store is open and queued up to buy groceries. Feel apocalyptic today.

Mother Nature knows how to do it: we crushed the blizzard record in Buffalo (since at least 1950): 37 consecutive hours of blizzard conditions. ‘85 was 16 hours and ‘77 was 12 hours. Glad it’s over! Mid 50’s and thunderstorms forecasted for next weekend. 🤪

Whelp this blizzard has been something. It’s been insanely windy since Thursday overnight (70 mph gusts), constant whiteouts since Friday AM, -10 windchill, and we’ve gotten about 2 ft of snow - with drifts over 5 feet. Thankfully we are home, safe and warm. Hoping it ends soon!

Tired boy

Thanksgiving observations

Some observations from today:

  • I am so thankful my dad made the trip to share dinner with us. Our first holiday since my mom passed at the end of the summer. ❤️
  • Really thankful for the wife and kids. They are great all of the time, but they really made today an enjoyable day all around. 🥰
  • I am firmly on Team Sides. Wasn’t into turkey this year and enjoyed the taste test of the vegan “turkey” breast we got from Aldis. Maybe it’s time to go full vegetarian.
  • I think I am done watching any non-Buffalo Bills football. The refs are so bad - it is really hard to watch blatant holding and pass interference like every play. The game is a joke.

The sweetest pitty. Watson wedges himself behind me every single workday.

Mr. Robot and the compounding effect of tiny changes

I just completed a re-watch of Mr. Robot and it stands up (and still very relevant) 7 years later… it’s probably one of my favorite TV series of all time. My favorite scene of the series is one of the last – Elliott’s realization that changing the world requires more than one-off, big interventions:

What if changing the world was just about being here, by showing up no matter how many times we get told we don’t belong, by staying true even when we’re shamed into being false, by believing in ourselves even when we’re told we’re too different? And if we all held on to that, if we refuse to budge and fall in line, if we stood our ground for long enough, just maybe… the world can’t help but change around us.

I can’t help but think of the impact of compounding – whether it’s financial or building habits or any social justice issue. Tiny improvements over a long period of time can equate to big changes on the macro scale. As much as the current state of the world makes me very worried, especially as a parent of two young ladies and a transgender son, I have to believe this is true – for their sake.

For me, it’s a good reminder to double down on that approach in my every day life:

  • default to kindness, acceptance, and positivity
  • small daily efforts toward my projects and goals
  • small, better daily health choices

A little better, each and every day.

Beautiful fall day for a hike at Artpark

My assistant is being a little oppressive today. 🥰