Dear Journal

Daily, public journal by Alex Recker

Today’s Post

Tuesday, July 14 2020 | wings, doctor visits, shots, and smoothies

Entries

        Total Words: 388,549
Average Words: 1,039
Total Entries: 374
Consecutive Entries:  324

      

2020-07-14 - wings, doctor visits, shots, and smoothies
2020-07-13 - rodney’s party 2
2020-07-12 - rodney’s party 1
2020-07-11 - cleaning, super hero masks, and hy-vee pickup
2020-07-10 - paella, shipping, and copyright law
2020-07-09 - rodney’s birthday
2020-07-08 - curbside pickup, poached fish, and practice cake
2020-07-07 - shredhead, ebay police, and french sauces
2020-07-06 - swatch mad, sourdough choni, and hamilton hot takes
2020-07-05 - swatches, steak, the s-word, and fireworks
2020-07-04 - school, cousins, jojo, and candy land
2020-07-03 - axes, dinosaur bites, garbage, and online groceries
2020-07-02 - dead shrimp, super powers, and scary paintings
2020-07-01 - a dead car battery, hash, and bread in bed
2020-06-30 - ebay scams, cleaning the kitchen, and blue tape
2020-06-29 - movies, chilean food, and the burpee rag bin
2020-06-28 - pizza drama, rock pavers, and krang bread
2020-06-27 - paella, llama meat, and ghost pictures
2020-06-26 - american psycho, super hero poses, and network outages
2020-06-25 - farts, over-proofing, and working out with french food
2020-06-24 - alarm clock songs, hooks cheddar, and dinner prayers
2020-06-23 - quarantine blues, calzones, and my discover card
2020-06-22 - father’s day, navigation, and willy wonka
2020-06-21 - hy-vee, pull-ups in the wash, a story about my dad
2020-06-20 - skate, javascript, toothpaste dessert, and chardonnay
2020-06-19 - marshmallow incentives, refunds, and sweet potato gnocchi
2020-06-18 - coffee messes, skateboarding, and Dr. Ben Parks
2020-06-17 - snacking, sleep sounds, and the beercha store
2020-06-16 - clown fish, imitation crab, and shots at avatar
2020-06-15 - goals, expectations, and weird hobby people
2020-06-14 - a new ball, paella, and beach
2020-06-13 - a second burner, spit on the window, and the biergarten
2020-06-12 - driving, lunch in sparta, and tapeworms
2020-06-11 - super heros, phones, wrestling, and black lives matter
2020-06-10 - new phones, mussels, and spicy drink
2020-06-09 - bruno
2020-06-08 - power outages, yardwork, and video editing
2020-06-07 - social distancing visits, sock hands, and the three logos rule
2020-06-06 - groceries, the oven, and recorder music
2020-06-05 - the sandbox, sink or float, and police funding
2020-06-04 - jets, pull-ups, and salt water siphons
2020-06-03 - drinking coffee, ants on a log, and french food
2020-06-02 - skin markers, anger paintings, poached trout, and walks
2020-06-01 - looting, water testing, and high altitude goat farmers
2020-05-31 - riots, picnics, baby ducks, and half-dead shrimp
2020-05-30 - grocery shopping, new plants, and poulet creme champignons
2020-05-29 - the green dinosaur, facebook, and pooping michael jordan
2020-05-28 - the print server, types of cheese, and frozen milk
2020-05-27 - bench presses, french nachos, and the fish tank incident
2020-05-26 - new phones, skate boarding, and bad cooking
2020-05-25 - driving, gifts, the poop book, and bad movies
2020-05-24 - the quesomelette, the fishtank, and little brownie squares
2020-05-23 - saturday morning cartoons, re-opening, and bottle feeding
2020-05-22 - blippi, running guy, and a story with mimi
2020-05-21 - nicknames, shaving, quiche, and our terrible hose
2020-05-20 - fart talk, the target parking lot, quiche, and enrichment
2020-05-19 - breakfast burritos, puff pastry, and the last dance
2020-05-18 - krang, mise en place, and big fleshy bag pipes
2020-05-17 - bread success, grass seed, and quarantine anger
2020-05-16 - coffee upgrades, dressing like spider-man, and the worst pizza ever
2020-05-15 - canada man, nun farts, and bags of dirt
2020-05-14 - social distancing, space jam, and a backyard picnic
2020-05-13 - writer’s block, diaper angels, and roasted chicken
2020-05-12 - charles mingus, hockey with Rodney, and french cooking
2020-05-11 - pickled goods, seinfeld theory, and beer & cheese
2020-05-10 - family photos, more oven problems, and bread on the porch
2020-05-09 - sidewalk chalk, sourdough starter, and biertje
2020-05-08 - routine, oven repair, and squirrels touching food
2020-05-07 - body fluids, handwriting narcissism, and big brother rodney
2020-05-06 - nurses, zoom calls, and portillo’s
2020-05-05 - miles
2020-05-04 - grilling, shopping, fire, and mutant eyes
2020-05-03 - a broken oven, a grilled pizza, and worms in the yard
2020-05-02 - keyboards, story time, chinese food, and power tools
2020-05-01 - candid photos, my last work day, naps, and bad soup
2020-04-30 - old essays, sweet potato gnocchi, and ben’s bread tip
2020-04-29 - scripts, baseball, ciabatta bread, and walks
2020-04-28 - automation, poop stress, and too much mustard
2020-04-27 - real life, catch, and knife skills
2020-04-26 - lawn mowers, marker spears, and bib mountain
2020-04-25 - problems with focus, hat stories, and growing up
2020-04-24 - excitement, real life, letters, and krenchins
2020-04-23 - good news, raw chicken hearts, and lights at the airport
2020-04-22 - my favorite painting, bodily fluids, and leftover beer
2020-04-21 - work output, time in the yard, cooking, and tv
2020-04-20 - grocery shopping, yeast, and go-bags
2020-04-19 - marissa’s gallery, food ruts, protests, and baking
2020-04-18 - stick collecting, remote meetings, and bread fails
2020-04-17 - being pregnant, rodney’s spring jacket, and making bread
2020-04-16 - work, bad chicken, and pooping in the potty
2020-04-15 - tv shows, parenting guilt, and speed bread
2020-04-14 - race tracks, french toast dinners, and things that make you happy
2020-04-13 - spicy jelly beans, spider hunting, and easter eggs
2020-04-12 - chicken stock, car trouble, and next year’s resolution
2020-04-11 - focus, chicken blood, fire lessons, and college friends
2020-04-10 - driving, kite flying, and cake
2020-04-09 - politics, quesadillas, sandwiches, and wrestling
2020-04-08 - good weather, walks, and mail-in ballots
2020-04-07 - insecurity, grocery shopping, and fajitas
2020-04-06 - trick plays, puzzles, and big bubbles
2020-04-05 - birth plans, playing outside, and setting things on fire
2020-04-04 - leftovers, catch, and eyeball touching
2020-04-03 - nightmares, markers, and waving at neighbors
2020-04-02 - blanket forts, fish bones, and tiger king
2020-04-01 - communion bread, cigars, backyard agility, and x-men
2020-03-31 - swirling oceans of garbage, home depot, and worm sauce
2020-03-30 - hash from leftovers, paint pickups, and caesar salad in the car
2020-03-29 - video games, motorcycles, and bacon (the french way)
2020-03-28 - physical distancing, public speaking quirks, and frozen pizza tasting
2020-03-27 - new desk, fish hash, and chinese food
2020-03-26 - boy shows, civil war flour, and grocery store etiquette
2020-03-25 - wednesday, donald trump, finger paints, and sunsets
2020-03-24 - balloons, breadvolution, happy hour, and creepy silence
2020-03-23 - hash, old medicine, and clothes folding hell
2020-03-22 - beer, car seats, and april o’niel - channel 7 news
2020-03-21 - over-focusing, pizza with Rodney, naps, anxiety, and optimism
2020-03-20 - skipping showers, space alien miles, and a new blog theme
2020-03-19 - sandwiches, water bottle bowling, and dolphin brain
2020-03-18 - box forts, difficult conversations, and my trump impression
2020-03-17 - stockpiling, decorative letters, and a hole in a diaper
2020-03-16 - the paint store, mac ‘n cheese, and deflating balloons
2020-03-15 - drag racing, windshield wipers, and alex’s painting tips
2020-03-14 - podcaster spirit animals, pizza sauce therapy, and guilt
2020-03-13 - apple crappies, water bottle flips, and a note on hoarding
2020-03-12 - team lunches, remote work, and putting apple sauce on things
2020-03-11 - pizzas, dragon ball z, and the computer case
2020-03-10 - chili, legal training, and ollie the office dog
2020-03-09 - ollie’s birthday, lunch on the patio, and planning
2020-03-08 - skateboarding, new friends, and taco bell
2020-03-07 - remote work, mattress store stories, and new shoes
2020-03-06 - pizza, ninja turtles, and our european friends
2020-03-05 - training sessions, ninja swords, broken computers, and crunchwrap supremes
2020-03-04 - work, shyness, and our basement pot farm
2020-03-03 - planning, packages, tacos, and growth spurts
2020-03-02 - church from home, crass bumper stickers, fish posters, and schlepman
2020-03-01 - blueberry muffins, remote control cars, jackpots, and bad waiters
2020-02-29 - moving out, moving in, portillo’s, and carrot soup
2020-02-28 - locked doors, special treatment, and poop in the window sill
2020-02-27 - coffee shops, soup from a bag, and a beer with rodney
2020-02-26 - sandwiches, soup, groceries, and routines
2020-02-25 - canine sports zone, madison, and feekle’jams
2020-02-24 - moving out
2020-02-23 - dog movies, salmon patties, and parasite theories
2020-02-22 - demos, goals, and movies
2020-02-21 - dreams, boy energy, and free time
2020-02-20 - 4 am, trips to the dump, and baked beans
2020-02-19 - todo lists, banana peels, grilled cheese, and concrete
2020-02-18 - wallpapers, blacklists, and snowballs through windows
2020-02-17 - morning drama, hangriness, paint, and errands
2020-02-16 - coffee in church, groceries, and nasi goreng
2020-02-15 - pinkeye, back-up plans, and white rice
2020-02-14 - subway stories, omelets, and the valentine’s game contest
2020-02-13 - midwestern manners, potato hype, and pictures of my sink
2020-02-12 - mac ‘n cheese, trick shots, and indian food
2020-02-11 - de-scaling, shipping, eating out, and haircuts
2020-02-10 - paintings, snow, and goulash
2020-02-09 - alice’s party and the resin tent
2020-02-08 - skeleton crews, pbs canvassers, and new independence
2020-02-07 - work talk, pan sauces, ginseng, and youtube binges
2020-02-06 - friends on the computer, po’boys, and swinging axes
2020-02-05 - funk, sausage, and bus stories
2020-02-04 - quesadillas, backpacks, chicken soup, and picking up toys
2020-02-03 - church coffee, marinara samples, and the super bowl
2020-02-02 - crafty fair, grocery shopping, and a good cleaning tip
2020-02-01 - work, super heros, chicken, and taylor swift
2020-01-31 - ginseng, ramen, and bonsai trees
2020-01-30 - dumplings, rodney’s favorites, and the blanket game
2020-01-29 - ramen, realignment, and king of the hill
2020-01-28 - sick day, clippy, and tequila in tea
2020-01-27 - exercise, the grammys, pizza, and planning
2020-01-26 - cousin water slide day
2020-01-25 - dog parties, cloudmigos, and kelly and jeremy
2020-01-24 - cashiers, seafood stew, and kids code
2020-01-23 - bullshit, dirty water, and working late
2020-01-22 - work, football, steamed fish, and jenga
2020-01-21 - snuggling, cleanliness, energy, and pinball
2020-01-20 - bbq, naps, projects, and something crazy
2020-01-19 - cookbooks, snowballs, and bowling parties
2020-01-18 - deep dish, taxi driver, and high maintenance sore back guy
2020-01-17 - january, runbooks, roux, and waterboarding
2020-01-16 - clinics, pinball machines, and cardboard boxes
2020-01-15 - taco tuesday, pasta disagreements, and bath time dancing
2020-01-14 - salmon, poop talk, and vice president of cable management
2020-01-13 - back spasms, egg yolks, pork chops, and ethernet cables
2020-01-12 - water slide videos, snow balls, and types of bowlers
2020-01-11 - jazz hearts, snow, and a game of catch
2020-01-10 - frustration, fake seasoning, and coding
2020-01-09 - cleaning the basement, goulash, and art scams
2020-01-08 - coffee, sushi, ironman, and sorting books
2020-01-07 - old scallops, peppermint chocolate, and a glass of water
2020-01-06 - dutch grammar, projects, work, and bowling
2020-01-05 - christmas lights, cheap seats, and the sunday scaries
2020-01-04 - french toast, rodney stories, and back problems
2020-01-03 - colds, computer parts, and dinner failures
2020-01-02 - nesting, folding dirty laundry, and our awful basement
2020-01-01 - 2019
2019-12-31 - sneezing, bowling, and joker
2019-12-30 - moon, champagne, and taco t-rex’s
2019-12-29 - oh the humanity
2019-12-28 - pho, cards, and sherpa socks
2019-12-27 - gold rush, takeout, gifts, holiday spirit and clickbait
2019-12-26 - naps, nvg’s, bowling, and fried plastic
2019-12-25 - christmas
2019-12-24 - sons, grandparents, and pictures
2019-12-23 - grant, bears, travel plans, and doctor’s appointments
2019-12-22 - mixtapes, errands, roasted chicken, and splinter cell
2019-12-21 - breakfast, work, zoo lights, and sleep
2019-12-20 - corn dogs, mall santas, chinese food, and healing
2019-12-19 - work, focus, meditation, fish stew, and mussel puppets
2019-12-18 - tiredness, restaurants, good moods, and baking hell day
2019-12-17 - emotions, blame, rigatoni, and football
2019-12-16 - the gauntlet, the bears game, oil disposal, and snack menus
2019-12-15 - boogers, superstition, reocurring fights, and broken laptops
2019-12-14 - fire alarms, bubble gum dares, shakes, and christmas lights
2019-12-13 - sickness, breakfast, pair programming, and the usual suspects
2019-12-12 - boots, pizza, drowning nightmares, and eggnog addiction
2019-12-11 - confrontation and cabbage
2019-12-10 - sick days, refunds, homemade marinara, and video editing
2019-12-09 - analytics, turkey sandwhiches, cyan pepper, and recording music
2019-12-08 - chicago pop-up gallery
2019-12-07 - packing, monster trucks, traffic, and chicago
2019-12-06 - bears game
2019-12-05 - new computers, pork chops with soup, and dumb jokes at home depot
2019-12-04 - friends, idle time, and vegan food
2019-12-03 - garlic, christmas lights, and dinner at the bar
2019-12-02 - art, rest, and my mother the engineer
2019-12-01 - wet christmas trees, frozen 2, and tiny metal hooks
2019-11-30 - pancakes, driving, mixtapes, and rodney’s computer fiddling
2019-11-29 - thanksgiving
2019-11-28 - coffee, brine math, hy-vee envy, and noisy dinosaurs
2019-11-27 - buckwheat, brine, domino’s, and mr. bean
2019-11-26 - replacement coffee makers, target groceries, and kanye conspiracies
2019-11-25 - museums, grapefruit, and the dog that dies in remember the titans
2019-11-24 - late church, madison restaurants, and surgeon jenga
2019-11-23 - sexy chicken fingers, rodney’s gibberish, and turkey brine
2019-11-22 - staycations, bars, toothless santas, and mixtapes
2019-11-21 - male morning sickness, homemade popsicles, and bbq youtube videos
2019-11-20 - corporate wisdom, phineas gage, and communist jenga
2019-11-19 - dave & buster’s
2019-11-18 - practice turkeys, deep fried onions, and benching mitch
2019-11-17 - video games, dinosaurs, recycling, and mushrooms
2019-11-16 - puffy pancakes, robot dinosaurs, and naps before bed
2019-11-15 - computers, evil ai, bad cgi, and kidscode
2019-11-14 - bad days, burnt rice, and the culinary gods
2019-11-13 - french cooking, missing burners, and the case from hell
2019-11-12 - late night pages, ki gong, and deep-dish pizza
2019-11-11 - driving, bears, and my chicken caesar salad
2019-11-10 - rochester, coffee, and forager
2019-11-09 - french fries, cheesesteak, and ice cream
2019-11-08 - serverless, home goods, and relaxing
2019-11-07 - power outages, rodney’s terms, and Intel woes
2019-11-06 - snow, cleaning, and timezones
2019-11-05 - movember, ki gong, starbucks, and fire extinguishers
2019-11-04 - daylight savings, it, and nesting
2019-11-03 - groceries and gumbo
2019-11-02 - french toast
2019-11-01 - halloween
2019-10-31 - costumes and fudge
2019-10-30 - strongbad, halloween, green potatoes, and calendar hell
2019-10-29 - typos and kanye
2019-10-28 - groceries, bears, and pizza
2019-10-27 - squash, movies, sauce, and giraffes
2019-10-26 - sleeping, kanye, bowling and blankets
2019-10-25 - photos and debugging
2019-10-24 - home, sfincione, movies, and quesadillas
2019-10-23 - weather, tea, letters, flowers, and anger
2019-10-22 - incidents, cheeseburgers, and salads
2019-10-21 - bears, burgers, instagram, and bowling
2019-10-20 - houses, orchards, cooking, and games
2019-10-19 - hawks game
2019-10-18 - podcasts, games, and rest
2019-10-17 - strongbad, charcuterie, and drinks
2019-10-16 - surveying, stress, shyness, and hitler
2019-10-15 - cookies, land, wisdom, and laughing
2019-10-14 - tacos, orchards, nightmares, and steaks
2019-10-13 - sheds, pizza, and company
2019-10-12 - beer, ribs, movies, and games
2019-10-11 - rob, rigatoni, troubleshooting, and apple
2019-10-10 - outages, pizza, and bugs
2019-10-09 - locks, hutspot, neighbors, fences, and bladerunner
2019-10-08 - oversleeping, frustration, soup, giraffes, and chores
2019-10-07 - cooking, bears, caterpillars, and code
2019-10-06 - unpacking and movies
2019-10-05 - wedding 2
2019-10-04 - wedding 1
2019-10-03 - cars, tomatoes, movies, and weddings
2019-10-02 - coffee, hotsauce, kale, cables, and frosties
2019-10-01 - energy and bestbuy
2019-09-30 - golden birthday
2019-09-29 - groceries, chicken, anger, and wine
2019-09-28 - kanye, movies, and pictures
2019-09-27 - kidscode, tacobell, and contentment
2019-09-26 - sleep, naps, chores, and stats
2019-09-25 - writing
2019-09-24 - bears, code, and bean
2019-09-23 - kubernetes, ottomans, stickers, and birthdays
2019-09-22 - basketball, lunch, and movies
2019-09-21 - chaos, moving, arguments, and potty
2019-09-20 - staring, holograms, and hitch
2019-09-19 - outages, soup, music, and hitch
2019-09-18 - outages, restaurants, groceries, and rigatoni
2019-09-17 - coffee, fish, butterflies, and work
2019-09-16 - bears, wings, tv, and work
2019-09-15 - servers, chores, projects, and wings
2019-09-14 - outages
2019-09-13 - thunderstorms, bulgogi, and pto
2019-09-12 - oversleeping, blogging, and journaling
2019-09-11 - coffee, ideas, and music
2019-09-10 - coffee, football, code, and tacos
2019-09-09 - soup, anger, podcasts, and quiet
2019-09-08 - reunion
2019-09-07 - coffee, reunion, ramen, and pastries
2019-09-06 - bears
2019-09-05 - mixtapes, steak, and baking
2019-09-04 - cookies, training, and discipline
2019-09-03 - palmiers, tv, coffee, and planning
2019-09-02 - toddlers, oversharing, cleaning, and code
2019-09-01 - groceries, biergarten, and ribs
2019-08-31 - cops, cars, breakfast, and ribs
2019-08-30 - firedrill, gravy, sleep, and handmaids
2019-08-29 - home, eating, chores, and organization
2019-08-28 - filler, rice, mayflies, and spiderman
2019-08-27 - weather, goodfood, cheesesteak, software, and tv
2019-08-26 - gnocchi, work, and philly
2019-08-25 - nostalgia, market, and gnocchi
2019-08-23 - typing, errands, sauce, and chess
2019-08-22 - kigong, interns, busses, and chess
2019-08-21 - burgers, chores, interns, and vancouver
2019-08-20 - calendar, velcro, minecraft, and batter
2019-08-19 - minecraft, files, carbonara, and plans
2019-08-17 - picnic, pizza, photos, minecraft, and spiderman
2019-08-16 - naps, pizza, walks, drinking, and wrestling
2019-08-15 - salad, turnovers, youtube, and catch-up
2019-08-14 - computers, gravy, weekend, and agile
2019-08-13 - morning, stirfry, projects, and gravy
2019-08-12 - cooking, youtube, and being busy
2019-08-11 - cribs, files, and games
2019-08-09 - plex, cables, and strongbad
2019-08-08 - headaches, computers, and naps
2019-08-07 - salad, reunions, and time
2019-08-06 - computers, naps, and work
2019-08-05 - computers, cars, and leftovers
2019-08-04 - wandering, groceries, and puff pastry
2019-08-03 - relaxation, cartoons, and dutch babies
2019-08-02 - seinfeld, pizza, and spiderman
2019-08-01 - interviews and smalltalk
2019-07-31 - chance
2019-07-30 - chores, chicken, and routine
2019-07-29 - driving, rest, and email
2019-07-28 - hayward 2
2019-07-27 - hayward
2019-07-26 - bring your kid to work day
2019-07-25 - yaks, margaritas, and chores
2019-07-24 - beer, toothpaste, and labels
2019-07-23 - palm pilots and free software
2019-07-22 - bugs, phones, and weather
2019-07-21 - explosion, cleaning, and church
2019-07-20 - nazi zombies, lion king, and paposa
2019-07-19 - disney, sega, and lion king
2019-07-18 - sleeping in, interns, and frenchcooking
2019-07-17 - concert on the square, castiron, stuffing, french toast
2019-07-16 - anger and patience
2019-07-15 - work, busy, hotsauce, and productive
2019-07-14 - kalahari
2019-07-12 - fish, kibbeling, and brussel sprouts
2019-07-11 - books, reading, and comics
2019-07-10 - cooking, babish, wednesdays, and concert on the square
2019-07-09 - strangerthings, blippi, zoo, work, and biergarten
2019-07-08 - strangerthings, automation, and edgar
2019-07-07 - birthday, party, and hangover
2019-07-06 - party and cooking
2019-07-05 - july 4th, breakfast, python, stranger things and chores
2019-07-03 - dumplings, ruby, and concert on the square
2019-07-02 - party, dumplings, and blogging

Other Writings

Anxiety - Hoping to inspire a new attitude toward medication and mental health, my wife bravely shares her personal journey of discovering her anxiety disorder.
Our New Sid Meier’s Civilization Inspired Budget - My wife and I were inspired by Sid Meier’s Civilization to look at our finances differently. Here is our new system. Featured in lifehacker.
Clockwork Orange - My wife and I review the movie Clockwork Orange.
Eyes Wide Shut - My wife and I review the movie Eyes Wide Shut.
Full Metal Jacket - My wife and I review the movie Full Metal Jacket.
Jane - I interview my mother, Jane Recker.
Linux - Let’s talk about Linux. Where did it come from? What can it do for you? How long does your beard need to grow before you can get it to work?
Noah - A tender look back on the life of the best little brother I’ve ever had - my dog Noah.
Rockford - Farewell, Rockford. It was a pleasure being your citizen for two years.
San Francisco - My company sent me on a trip to San Francisco.
Seinfeld - The early seasons of Seinfeld - are these episodes evidence of a Sitcom finding its stride, or a prologue to the lives of the four people that surrendered to a life about nothing?
The Selenium Bus Pass - A brief tutorial of my new favorite Selenium script.
My Corgi - My wife takes the blogging soapbox from me this week as my very first guest writer. She reflects on the top five lessons she has learned in owning a dog.
Uhh Yeah Dude - A long overdue written tribute to my favorite podcast.