iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Did you ever get so fucking mad that almost every other fucking word you fucking type or fucking speak is a fucking expletive? Today was A Day. I am going to self-medicate with too much pizza with too many toppings (and yes, this is ME saying it).

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Kinda bummed that one of the last few active people on MeWe disabled or deleted their account recently.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Detroit style coney sauce, yellow mustard, raw onions. Or Chicago style (hold the peppers).

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

In mid-June they replaced a lot of our curbs, Monday they milled and ripped out our street, today they finished repaving, and tomorrow they plan to stripe (stop lines, parking space indicators in guest parking, and crosswalks). We should have access to our driveways again by tomorrow. 🤞

View of my driveway facing the cross-street, now with curbs removed. A 12- to 18-inch gap between the driveway and road remains filled with debris. Warning cones litter the street, which remains barely passable.

My street with all 4" of asphalt removed. The dust cloud at the cross street is from them clearing debris from the still-paved cross-street.

My newly-repaved street, blocked off by cones at the cross-street.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

There may not be a cure for those summertime blues, as the song says, but fresh ripe cherries and nectarines come pretty darned close.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Back at mom's following the Quadfest cocktail party (5:00–8:00), class photos (6:00–6:15), private(ish) dinner (7:00-8:30), and afterparty (8:30–11:20). Ready to fall over now. Family brunch in the morning then I head back home.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Got to Union Station, checked in for Red Cap assistance, grabbed lunch... and now my outbound train (#Amtrak352) is delayed indefinitely because the inbound equipment (#Amtrak353) allegedly derailed. No word on injuries or when we might get out of Chicago.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Awake, showered, packed (mostly), and breakfasted... with three hours to kill until my next scheduled thingies.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

OK, I'm both tired and sore enough that I'm likely in my room for the evening. Plans: Sleep, shower, breakfast buffet, finish packing, say Bye to friends, check out (by 12), cab, lunch @ Union Station, lounge, redcap, train to car, drive home (maybe via dinner), and collapse.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

With the rain this morning, I'm glad I have the last of the leftover pizza in my fridge so I don't have to go out for breakfast. With luck, it'll stop raining by lunchtime so I can go out as planned.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Trout, salmon, mahi-mahi...

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

At my conference breakfast this morning, I saw someone wearing a company-branded shirt. Between the viewing angle and the way it bunched around his shoulder, though, it looked like he worked for "Gloomberg." #SREcon26

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Woke up around 3am and gave up trying to sleep more. Got to the airport, bag drop, and security by 4:30. Hiked to the gate at the end of the terminal (literally: A4). Caught up of my magazine backlog. But….

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Some venison on the hoof this morning in my backyard.

Photo of the grass-lined retention pond with four deer

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Another year, another repost: Roses are red, Gender is performative. Mass market romance Is heteronormative.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

I have successfully adulted: I slept in until 7am (late for me), filled up the car's gas tank (yes, with gasoline), ran into Costco to get some stuff to replenish the pantry, and brought the emptied garbage and recycling cans back into the garage. I am now done adulting for the day.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

The First 4 Words (Or if you're gonna be pedantic and say "4" is a number and not a word, then "The First Words You.")

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Well, that was annoying: I went to the dentist to get my permanent crown. We got about 90% of the way through the procedure... and then they realized they needed to remake the damned thing due to a defect. They're closed for the holidays, so I'm stuck with the temporary crown for another two weeks.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

(1/3) Yesterday (Saturday) afternoon I drove 100 miles ish out to my father's widow's place to pick up "a box of stuff" that was really four smaller boxes, and the stuff was mostly but not entirely photos. Instead of heading home I went via Lansing to have a late dinner with a friend.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

Something is definitely off: Saturday afternoon, nap. Saturday night, ~11 hours of sleep (and in socks because I was shivering without 'em). Sunday morning, another nap. Now? I'm tempted to nap again.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

"I: You out of luck today: banks closed. C: Oh? Why? I: Columbus Day. C: Uh, we going out on that joke? I: No, we do reprise of song. That help. C: But not much. I (overlapping): Not much, no." — Stan Freberg

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

Productive morning: By 7:30am I'd showered, started a load of laundry, had maple bacon for breakfast, and did the dishes. When I went to pull the clothes out of the dryer, its light didn't stayed dark and my generator started (for about three minutes). Thanks for the outage, @dteenergy.bsky.social

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

The bruising is finally visible about 72 hours after my fall. It doesn't hurt (and hasn't since about 12–16 hours after). but it sure looks pretty nasty.

Photo of my left arm showing significant deep bruising from the elbow to about halfway up to the armpit. Barely visible in the background are my gray t-shirt and beard.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

My trip is starting out in regular Amtrak fashion: my train is 4 minutes late out of Troy, 12 out of Royal Oak, and 17 out of Detroit. It’s currently at Dearborn and we’re the stop after that.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

In other news, my annual dryer vent cleaning is scheduled for next week. They offer our community a 40% discount off their regular (fair) pricing so it's pretty much a no-brainer. I made two phone calls today. I'm done adulting.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Yesterday one of the tension cables for my garage door failed. I moved the car to the driveway and carefully closed the (no longer level) door. Today I called the folks who replaced the springs ~15 years ago. They can come out tomorrow morning to replace the failed cable (and possibly its sibling).

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Happy workiversary to me: Seventeen years ago today I started working at my current employer. In my tenure I've had five presidents (including interim appointments), six deans (including interim appointments), and five different supervisors. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

Generally successful CLAW, both of my classes went well (though with very light attendance at both), didn't spend too much at the market, and haven't had too much food (yet; dinner's still on the horizon).

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

One time password Two factor authentication Three times a lady Four score and seven years ago Five golden rings Six flags tickets Seven Nation Army Eight. Miles. High. Nine Inch Nails

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

I didn’t know the conference venue was Baptist.

An 8.5x11-inch sign on Santa Clara Convention Center letterhead reading in all caps “No dancing, no rehearsing, & no outside food or beverages allowed.”

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

As the sun rises over the Bay Area, it's time to get dressed and head down to breakfast at day two of #SREcon. (And I'll be giving my conference talk in about five and a half hours, too.)

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Want to get a better understanding of writing and testing disaster recovery plans? I'm talking about that in "Running DRP Tabletop Exercises" on Wed Mar 26 at SREcon25 Americas in Santa Clara! www.usenix.org/conference/s... will have slides and video after the fact.

usenix.org

Running DRP Tabletop Exercises | USENIXusenix_logo_notag_white

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

(1/2) Roses are red, Violets are blue, That's what they say, But it just isn't true. Roses are red, And apples are, too. But violets are violet. Violets aren't blue. An orange is orange, But Greenland's not green. A pinky's not pink, So what does it mean?

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Roses are red, Gender is performative. Mass market romance Is heteronormative.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

Finished the leftovers from Hanukkah for breakfast so dinner tonight is going to be cioppino. The mise en place is almost done and I don't need to start cooking for another two hours.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

Last night was dinner with the family: Shrimp cocktail with homemade cocktail sauce, honey baked ham with a mustard dipping sauce, crispy parmesan potatoes, fruit-stuffed acorn squash, baked apples, and a strawberry trifle. (I have leftovers of everything except the shrimp and squash.)

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

A friend was kind enough to take me out to dinner tonight. We each had miso soup and salad, then we split a sushi deluxe and four rolls (California, spicy salmon, spicy tuna, and one with baby shrimp, crab, avocado, and eel, with spicy tuna on top).

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

I got some work done that I wanted to do yesterday but couldn't, then clocked out for breakfast (two scrambled eggs and four strips of maple-cured bacon). In an hour I have to head up to campus for the Winter Innovation Expo where (among other things) I'm presenting a poster.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Mom's butcher had a sale on maple-cured bacon so she picked me up a pound. I baked some of it off this morning for breakfast alongside a couple of microwave-scrambled eggs with cheddar and mozzarella. My brother was right; that bacon is addictive.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Welcome to my new followers, many of whom have known me (and vice versa) for longer than I want to think about.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 27/10/2024

I spent much of today deep cleaning the house: Bathrooms (hall and master), dining room, kitchen, laundry, library, living room, and master bedroom all got dusted, vacuumed, and sanitized as appropriate. Did a load of laundry. Remade the bed with clean sheets.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 27/10/2024

This morning at 3:30am, the bedroom smoke detector tripped (not the low-battery chirp but the full on alert triggering all the other wired-in detectors to go off). It’s not that old — I bought and installed them all in September 2023, so just over a year — and it’s only the one detector tripping.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 30/09/2024

I just watched a video where the speaker thought "Nostradamus" was "Nosferatu."

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 26/09/2024

This afternoon they tore out my front walkway, the bottom of my driveway, and some sidewalk. And the city has yet to pour concrete for the street repair.

City street awaiting concrete pour... someday

Front walkway framed but not tamped and pre-rebar

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 22/09/2024

Got the call: My driveway repair could start as early as tomorrow, so I've moved my car out to the neighbor's driveway (with permission) for probably a week. I wish it weren't raining though.

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 21/09/2024

"On the twenty-first day of the month of September, in an early year of a decade not too long before our own, the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence." HAPPY LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS DAY!

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Josh Simon @jss1113.bsky.social · 16/09/2024

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #373,612! First 4%!

Bluesky's "Celebrating 10M users" image with my ID number, 373,612, and join date, 2023-07-25.

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