Dan Callahan @callahad@wandering.shop

I'm bad at posting on Mastodon, but I read a lot and I appreciate all y'all doing your thing, offering little windows into life in this strange time. ❤️

Y'all all stocking on up toilet paper, while I'm sat here seeing our cloth baby wipes in a whole new light...

Just finished the second book in The Wheel of Time. Enjoyed it well enough.

...but how the heck does the story maintain its momentum for another *12* novels?

Two questions:
1. Should I read the Wheel of Time series?
2. Will I be able to finish it before George R.R. Martin releases The Winds of Winter?

(Semi-related: Jeff VanderMeer's unsettling Southern Reach Trilogy was my favorite read of 2019; I would highly recommend it, along with the movie Annihilation, to anyone. Very, very disquieting. In a good way.)

UK friends: Any recommendations for travel health insurance when visiting the USA on holiday?

European friends: what American candies should I stock up on for Trick-or-Treating this year?

Is there anything you or your kids know and love that you can't get here?

One downside: despite holding an American license for over 15 years, I'm still treated as a "new driver" here, and can't go faster than 45 MPH for a full year.

So that's cool.

Didn't want no motorways anyways.

Despite stalling all over Belfast for the past week, I'm really proud of myself for learning how to drive a manual transmission since we've moved here.

It's been super cool to feel that transition from complete lack of control to early mastery. Like, suddenly I have new intuition and muscle memory that didn't exist at all a few months ago! In a real, tangible domain! It's been a long time since I've learned a genuinely new physical skill.

...Northern Ireland is really strange this time of year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleventh_Night

Y'all, this cemetery offers graveside resurrections and only scores like 4/5 stars on Google.

...Just finished submitting all (I think!) of my documents to a tax preparar for my first return as an American expat. Next up is figuring out my UK Self Assessment.

Thoughts and prayers for my wallet and sanity. 😰

Alright y'all, time to pick a new headshot for when I speak at tech conferences.

Which of these should I use?

Got some professional headshots made.

Reviewing them has convinced me that I cross my arms in an atypical manner. Now I'm Google Image Searching "crossed arms."

Way to go, brain. Thanks for noticing. Definitely don't have better things to do.

Seriously, how do British people keep a straight face when shopping?

Dad Hacks: Baby monitor too blindingly bright at night? Create a filter with brake light repair tape! #parenting

Bonus points for using electrical tape to make a hinge for the filter.

Still haven't figured out how to fit duct tape and/or WD-40 into this plan...

I'm confused:

1. Hot dogs do not / should not come in cans.
2. The American Style can is the same size, but has fewer dogs and costs twice as much as the normal can.
3. WHY ARE THEY IN CANS?

#BritishGroceries

I... what?

Upgraded my laptop to #Fedora 29 last night. Took the better part of an hour unattended, but went smoothly.

Still, starting to feel itchy given the #IBM / #RedHat #Linux acquisition. Spent a few hours over the past two days re-reading #NixOS docs.

NixOS seems like the only thing different enough from the status quo to be worth the effort of switching, but I'm not sure if I'd see real benefits or if I'm just looking for some kind of procrastination that feels productive...