What color are my teeth supposed to be? According to Crest’s YouTube ads, the same color as a kleenex.

We have a law in our house that I think should be a universal law:

A person who stops a kitchen timer bears the responsibility for resetting the timer (if additional time is required) or taking the item out of the oven.

Have you ever heard a story about a veteran software developer who decides a major change in their field of technology is enough, and it prompts them to retire?

This is how I feel about my regular grocery store rearranging the aisles, but instead of retiring from a tech career, I’d be retiring from buying food ever again.

My experience with COVID isn’t special or particularly severe, but I did experience two mild side-effects I hadn’t considered: fear and loneliness.

A few days ago I tested positive for COVID for the first time. I’m fine. I feel lousy and it hurts to swallow, but I’m OK.

My entire immediate family had gotten COVID back in 2022, somehow I didn’t at the time (or at least I was asymptomatic and never tested positive).

My symptoms are typical (head cold, sore throat, body aches, foggy head, chills/fever) and not particularly severe — but bad enough, thanks.

I’m sure many (most?) of you have already experienced this, but it was new to me. After living under the cloud of COVID for years, like everyone else, when you actually see those two lines in a COVID test, it feel surreal. It’s a bit scary.

I’ve been vaccinated with every booster available to me, and I realize the risks are relatively low. I’ve also heard the horror stories of long-COVID, hearing loss, permanent head-fog, weeks of low-energy, etc.

I’ve also mostly been alone in a (very comfortable) room for about three days. I miss hanging out with my family.

The isolation and fear also feed each other. It’s scary to be alone and sitting alone in a room is a good time to spiral about unlikely worst-possible outcomes.

So, my brilliant insight on COVID: it is bad and it makes me feel bad.

With all the press the Canadian Conservative party are getting for rhyming Axe with Tax, it’s unfortunate that there’s no similarly quippy counter-rhyme for those that support a Canadian carbon tax.

Nobody likes being taxed, but taxes are a useful tool for our society. I can simultaneously not want to pay more tax, and also support everyone (including myself) having to pay more tax. I don’t see this as an inconsistency.

So, let me add my tiny voice to the din: I do want a Carbon Tax – especially if you give that money back to me in rebates.

Thanks to Chris & Dave for answering my nerdy question on their great web-dev podcast, the ShopTalk Show. The question is brought up around the 10min mark of episode 608 (but you should listen to the whole thing!).

My question was: What are your most and least favourite parts of building websites these days.

My answers:

• Least favourite: Setting up build process and tooling (it’s important, but I don’t enjoy or excel at it).
• Most favourite: Basic styling of core elements, like links, buttons, form inputs, etc.