Brian Fitzgerald

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 23:15:33 -0500

Finished reading: There is No Antimemetics Division by Qntm 📚

One of those books that leads you to immediately want to know what others think happened in the book. Christopher Nolan could have some fun with it.

Waffle Time

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 10:23:58 -0500

I feel that I spend a lot of time watching AI think and know that I should be doing other things while it processes. We have a guy here in town who will show up and make waffles for church fundraisers and such. He doesn’t wait for one waffle to finish, he lines up a couple dozen waffle makers and gets to work. I need to treat AI like a waffle maker, I guess.

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 11:00:23 -0500

I keep thinking about how much the playing surface comes into play with the Winter Olympics, while struggling to come up with similar situations in the Summer Olympics. Whether it is on snow or ice, the most athletic, most prepared athlete can find themselves far off the podium because they found a bad spot on the surface or conditions deteriorated. Maybe that’s part of the fun of the Winter Olympiad — as long as they can stay upright, nobody is ever completely out of it.

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 19:24:20 -0500

Why do we have interleague games and why in the heck are we opening the season with it?!?! Been waiting since fall for baseball. Let’s start with a great division game!

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 15:00:01 -0500

Throwing away some old discs…

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 08:59:55 -0500

Our radio club’s education chair said he expects over 40 people for a free one-day technician (entry-level radio license) class this weekend. That’s awesome, but it’s been causing me to wonder what’s driving people to attend? Science? Public service? Weather Prep? General uncertainty about things?

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 09:19:15 -0500

Radio is amazing. Despite a small geomagnetic storm yesterday, I turned it on for a few minutes before dinner and immediately had a short chat with someone from São Paulo, Brazil—5,500 miles away. Nothing between me and him but two transceivers and nature.

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 09:03:18 -0500

While I’ve traveled the public transit a lot here over the years, a recent YouTube video I saw mentioned the PedWay which I guess I’ve seen signs for but never checked out. It was the perfect way to explore the loop area without going outside on a frigid morning! We started at Macy’s, went through the Cultural Center and ended up at Millennium Park. It reminded me a lot of downtown Lincoln when we had things like The Atrium and Centrum connected by skywalks, passing smaller stores and restaurants as you moved between the big department stores. It seems the PedWay’s heyday is long in its past also, but it’s still a nice option for getting around.

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 08:59:19 -0500

I brought a meshtastic node to Chicago and it was fun to see how many nodes were in place here. There was a little chatter on it last night.

Tue, 30 Dec 2025 10:14:10 -0500

In Chicago for a couple days to celebrate NYE and I’m liking our 23rd floor hotel room view

Sun, 28 Dec 2025 21:13:17 -0500

2025 Holiday Nebraska Beer Tour complete! We drove 185 miles west to Cozad for “The Frontier Frau” and enjoyed their German brews and sausage/kraut pizza! We followed that up with Lost Way Brewing in Holdrege and finished at the Liederkranz in Grand Island.

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 12:22:00 -0500

The latest Google Year in Review is out and they just get lamer every year — at this point it feels like something they put out because they feel they have to. These were at their best nearly 15 years ago.

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 10:52:09 -0500

Old debate: Is Steam Deck a console or a PC? It runs Windows games, so it is a PC. It is a known spec that developers target, and it has a simple interface to minimize friction in launching and running games, so it is a console. Both terms attract and scare would-be buyers.

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 11:49:40 -0500

My kids are both involved in band and choir, and I love this time of year with the end-of-semester concerts. Throw in some choirs and carols at church, and it makes the 0º temperatures and icy surfaces just part of the fun :-)

Black Friday Prep

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 15:23:47 -0500

My kids (high school and college) have brought up going out for some early Black Friday shopping, as we have done many times in the past, but I’m increasingly asking them and myself, “Why?” Black Friday specials start days, if not weeks, before Friday. Stores aren’t open as early. The mall is less crazy than it used to be. I don’t even care about shopping for anything, but I always enjoyed the craziness of it, and it just isn’t anymore. I wish that, even if there weren’t going to be insane deals that day, the mall and stores would bring in a band, maybe some food trucks or pop-up bars, and find ways to make it an event that people wanted to show up for.

Flu-season = mask-season

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 09:35:47 -0500

While I hate wearing a mask, I am PRO-mask. That said, I can’t help analyzing people’s mask choices and how they should guide my interactions with them. The thin blue masks that come in a box of 100 tell me that you may be ill and trying to protect others — I would go near you at my own peril. An N95-style mask tells me that you need to avoid illness — and I’ll probably stay an extra step or two back from you to aid you in that. Black/colored cloth masks seem like more of a security blanket to me, and I might feel you have some anxiety that I should consider. I’m sure I’m overanalyzing this, but I’m wondering if I’m alone in that :-)

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 21:47:11 -0500

Just finished: DIGITAL FORTRESS by DAN BROWN 📚

Only Dan Brown book I hadn’t read, and I probably should have just left it that way. I’m glad I can check it off and move on to something else.

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 16:12:28 -0500

I spend a lot of time just doing the necessary things for keeping our sites up to date and functional, but every once in a while, I get to spend a few hours doing something really fun, like creating an underwater environment for this science fair site :-)

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 13:02:43 -0500

I’m VERY excited that Drum Corps International is coming back to Nebraska. It has been many years, during which we’ve primarily gone to Fort Collins to see it. Troopers, Phantom… It’s going to be an excellent show.

Nuremberg

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 10:28:26 -0500

Watched: Nuremberg 🍿

I took my birthday off and saw this. Based on the book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai, I expect it should get some attention for the Oscars. You don’t have to see between the frames to get its warnings for the political situation today. The movie’s last scenes emphasize that this could happen anywhere.

Rami Malek and Russel Crowe are fantastic in it. Colin Hanks is also excellent, but I’m always pulled out of what I’m watching when I see him, just mesmerized by how much he looks and sounds like his dad. I was also happy to see Wrenn Schmidt, Margo from For All Mankind.

Does this need to be seen in the theatre? Probably not, but I was glad to have the focus that a theatre movie demands. There are a lot of dark scenes in small rooms, with people talking, and watching it at home without getting distracted by other screens and stuff would have been a challenge.

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 22:18:15 -0500

Welp. My 50th trip around the sun is complete. It’s always fun to hear from family and friends to celebrate the beginning of another orbit. 🎂

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 17:06:19 -0500

I’ve wondered about the gap bisecting a building here in town. It looks neat, but it seems it would hurt the functionality of a covered pick-up/drop-off area when it’s raining. I figured I was missing something — but nope. It creates a waterfall right where folks are getting in and out of cars.

Sat, 15 Nov 2025 14:38:27 -0500

Working audio for Saturday worship so being a good Lutheran by enjoying a German beer to prepare my heart, mind and liver.

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 21:35:39 -0500

Watching: Death by Lightning S1E2, Party Faithful 🍿

”Music! Fighting! Sausages!”

Nick Offerman as Chester A. Arthur

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 17:57:09 -0500

Pluribus Apple TV Series Gets Humorous ‘Bloodsong of Wycaro’ Book Tie-In

Will Carol record the audiobook version? Dr. Ricken Lazlo Hale, PhD did the narration for his “The You You Are” 🤣