Brian Fitzgerald

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 :-)

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.

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 :-)

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.

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 :-)

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.

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.

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. 🎂

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.

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

Watching: Death by Lightning S1E2, Party Faithful 🍿

”Music! Fighting! Sausages!”

• Nick Offerman as Chester A. Arthur

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” 🤣

Paramount Skydance is working on a new Star Trek movie

Are we going to have a third timeline?!

My son is at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) — the world’s biggest gathering of people who like to hit things with sticks. It’s been fun to follow social media around the conference. I’m sure it’s a pretty different vibe from the technology conferences I’ve been to.

Planning to watch: Death by Lightning Season 1 🍿

Have been a long-time fan of Candice Millard’s books and checked Amazon to see if she has one I haven’t read, and only a week ago a brand-new limited series came out on Netflix based on one of her books. I can’t wait to watch it!

It’s hard to cheer for billionaires, but it’s impossible not to get excited for scientists and engineers who create something that does exactly what it was designed to do. Congrats to everyone at Blue Origin. That was awesome!

YouTube Video

Casey’s pizza is gold, I guess.

I’ve been a subscriber to Font Awesome at $99/year for about a decade. I considered canceling and they reduced my annual fee by $20 — forever. That now shows up as a “Loyalty Discount”. What the heck is up with that?! I’m only considered loyal after I’ve threatened to leave?

Watched: Zero Dark Thirty 🍿

I saw The Hurt Locker, but after House of Dynamite, I realized that I had never watched this. I didn’t realize how messy the operation at Bin Laden’s compound was, with a downed chopper and all. I felt like I was watching Black Hawk Down. I figured it was some added drama for the movie, but it appears to be what really happened.