iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Looks like one of my neighbors is approaching retirement

A stack of four unmounted, stickered automobile tires sits on the floor of an apartment mailroom.

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Say you’re in an Irish pub in New Jersey without saying you’re in an Irish pub in New Jersey

100

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

I tried to ignore the Maine Senate race since I didn't think there was much I could do about it, but enough is enough. I'd like to suggest a candidate who can beat both Collins and Platner and is ready to kick some ass in Washington.

The L.L. Bean Bootmobile parked in a strip mall outside a new L.L. Bean store.

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Not the greatest subway ride this morning as my car had first a loud preacher dude, and then a woman blaring rap music at maximum volume from her phone. But this little guy made it more tolerable.

A small beagle sits on the floor of a subway car at the foot of their human. They’re looking to their right. They are a very good dog.

090

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Without downloading anything new, where are you mentally?

A shelf in a bookstore with the book "The Usual Desire to Kill" by Camilla Barnes featured. The cover has a red background with white and black lettering, and features the silhouettes of two llamas.

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

When I search for “hell” nearly all the photos it returned were of commuting in NYC. This one seems most fitting. (Probably because I’m in Hell’s Kitchen.)

This photo shows the departure board at Penn Station, New York. Nearly all of the Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains are either delayed or on standby

010

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Don’t pay any attention to that groundhog. This is the surest sign that Spring will soon be here!

The photo shows a wall of 2 liter bottles of Coke and Diet Coke at the supermarket. They all have yellow caps, indicating that they are Kosher for Passover and were made with real sugar instead of corn syrup.

020

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

This is my grandnephew Ace, a 100+ pound golden ponydoodle pup, showing off his favorite Christmas present. Later on he couldn’t understand why he had to stay outside while the rest of the family ate dinner. Ace is a very good (and very large!) boy, but definitely the chaotic kind of good.

A large dog sits on the grass in front of an enormous rawhide bone. The dog is light brown in color, very fuzzy, and looks off to the left with a goofy expression on his face. It’s difficult to just scale in the photo, but the bone is roughly 3 feet in length and 6 inches thick. In front of the bone lines a green rope toy with something red attached to it. This is all that’s left of a “Christmas lights” toy he got earlier in the day. Behind Ace is a pale yellow, banana-shaped toy.

A kitchen scene. In the rear is a door leading to the backyard of the house. The door has glass windows, and in the bottom window can be seen the head of a large light yellow dog.

A closeup of the door in the previous picture. Ace is on the other side of the door with his tongue sticking out. Despite sitting down like a good boy, he comes halfway up the door, maybe 3-4 feet high. At the bottom of the door can be seen some damage, but it’s impossible to say who or what might have caused it.

030

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

The only king I recognize is the Egyptian King #nokings

A picture of Liverpool striker Mo Salah with his arms raised after scoring a goal

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

It’s a beautiful day for a bike ride. I’m doing ham radio support for the MS 150 in South Jersey

040

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore!

The other day I noticed sunflowers looking very out of place in the median at 168th and Broadway. The big ugly beige building in the background is New York Presbyterian Hospital.

The other day I noticed sunflowers looking very out of place in the median at 168th and Broadway. The building in the background has been there since at least 1912, when the hospital site was a baseball field called Hilltop Park. It was the original home of the New York Yankees, back when they were still called the Highlanders. It currently houses a Starbucks and a bagel shop.

020

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

One of the downsides to going to a sports bar in enemy territory

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

I met Theodore this morning. Theodore’s human says he brought that sneaker from home, and totally didn’t pick it up off the street or tear it off the foot of one his neighbors in Washington Heights. Theodore is a very good dog who would never do such a thing.

A dog and 2 humans are standing on a street corner in Washington Heights, New York. The dog is a small but stocky white and brown bulldog with a sneaker in his mouth. His human stands to the left holding his leash. To the rear a bald man with a gray goatee stands in front of a trash can holding a broom and dust pan.

Theodore is facing the camera. We can now see that his sneaker blue and white. I’m told that it’s an Air Jordan.

140

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

I’m down in the Philly area today for a ham radio club event. Afterwards I swung by my condo and then stopped by the coffee shop to stock up on beans. These two young men just came in, passed a number of cans of Red Bull to the cashier, and then each placed an order for coffee. I’m still buzzing.

Two young men, each with a cylindrical Red Bull bag over their shoulders, wait for their order in a coffee shop.

021

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

Spotted today outside a BBQ place in Central NJ

A blue Ford Edge with the license plate TOOKUS

140

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

I saw this beautiful old #radio yesterday at a brewpub in Port Jervis, NY.

An old radio, which looks like it was once a nice piece of furniture about the size and shape of a bookcase, is now being used to sell souvenirs.

This is a close up of the radio in the other photo. We can see that it was made by Admiral and it appears to have three bands: AM, FM (which is spelled out as “frequency modulation”, and short wave (written as “short”). There is an analog dial in the middle and 10 preset buttons, 5 on each side of the dial. The case for the radio is faded beige plastic, and is embedded in darker wood. In front of the radio is set of wooden cubbyholes with a variety of souvenir patches to chose from. A paper sign at the top left says that the stickers, patches, and pins range in price from $3 to $4.

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

For all the #newjersey haters out there, this morning I confirmed that we now have a drive-through pot dispensary in Metuchen!

The side of a suburban building is shown, surrounded by a parking lot. It used to be a bank, but is now a pot dispensary named Honey Stash. The paint scheme is heavy on neon purple and green. On the left (really the rear of the building) the headlights of a car can be seen in the drive through.

010

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

I had to leave that train due to mechanical difficulties and board the train across the platform. Here’s the engine on my new train!

This is a shot of a commuter train engine seen from an angle as I’m walking past it on a train platform. It has the Tuscan red and yellow paint scheme of the old Pennsylvania Railroad.

031

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

TIL that you can (apparently) get beer in to go cups at New York Penn Station!

A middle aged man is sitting on a commuter train. Only the middle of his body is visible, and he is wearing an orange short sleeved shirt and olive green slacks. In his right hand he is holding a cellphone. In his left is a half full clear plastic cup with a red plastic straw sticking out of the lid. Inside the cup is a pale amber beverage with a white foamy head.

310

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

I hear the mayor is also a #Mets fan, but hey, nobody's perfect. #starwars

This is a screenshot of a Facebook post from the mayor of Metuchen, New Jersey, Jonathan M. Busch. The text reads as follows:

It’s not every day you get to officiate a wedding from a galaxy far, far away but that’s exactly what happened this afternoon at Borough Hall. ✨

When I spotted the Star Wars emblem on the ring boxes of new residents Thomas Burns (known as “Pob”) and Breanna Schad (“Brea”), I had a feeling something special was coming and sure enough, their Jedi and Sith lightsaber-inspired wedding bands brought balance to the force and the ceremony.

As a fellow Star Wars superfan, I was proud to let them know they settled in the right community.

May the force be with Pob and Brea: Metuchen’s newest married couple!

(End text.)

Below it is two photos. The one on the left shows the mayor, wearing a dark blue suit, standing next to young couple in casual summer attire who are holding out their hands. The one on the right is a close up of their wedding rings. It's hard to tell, but they look a bit like lightsabers.

At the bottom one comment is visible. It reads "The force is strong in the Borough of Metuchen".

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

The only king I recognize is the Egyptian King.

A photo of Mohammed Salah in his Liverpool kit

010

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

I always joked about it living in Pennsylvania, but in New Jersey it actually turns out to be legal to vote early*! * But not often

An white oval sticker with the words “I voted” and the image of an American flag is stuck to a yellow shirt

010

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Beyoncé was in town this week.

Two young men are shown from behind while walking along one of the New Jersey Transit platforms at Penn Station. They are dressed identically with black cowboy hats, black bandannas around their necks, black vests with black frills on a white sleeveless shirt, black trousers, and white sneakers. They’re on their way to Secaucus, where a connecting train will take them to MetLife Stadium.

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

I just saw somebody sculling on the Passaic River outside of Newark!

A picture of the Passaic River in Harrison, NJ, taken from the window of a commuter train. In the foreground are train tracks. Behind them is a narrow river flowing through an industrial area. On the left a rower in a single-person scull can be seen.

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

As pot has been decriminalized, dispensaries have started to pop up all over Eastern PA and NJ. Most places seem to go for such a subdued look that at first glance you might think that they're a doctor's office. The new place in Metuchen looks like they're taking a different approach.

A young man with a ping baseball cap, black shirt, purple pants, and dreadlocks down to his waste is standing on some painting tarps with his arms stretched out. Behind him is a psychedelic mural of flowers in pastel colors. To his left is a ladder, and to his right is a door (in the same color purple as his pants) and an orange traffic cone. The implication is that he is the artist who painted the mural behind him.

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

The MTA thoughtfully had both the old and new subway maps in my car this morning to keep everyone happy.

An old school paper New York subway map mounted of the wall in the corner of a subway car. Very retro!

The new New York subway map, displayed on a video screen mounted on the wall of the car. Very chonky!

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

That didn't take very long at all!

A screenshot saying "Cardinals pick is in" from last night's NFL draft. Above it is text that reads "We have a new Pope".

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Are rock stars these days actually good at “controlling spend”? 🧐

A subway poster reading “SeatGeek controls spend like a rock star with Brex.”

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

I just saw this flying over downtown Metuchen NJ ⛷️ 🥨

A small airplane is flying over a residential neighborhood. The sky is blue with some puffy white clouds. The plane is trailing a large banner reading “SKI YA IN PA”.

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

The main NJ Transit departure boards at Penn Station are having a bad week. If only there were some technology to show departing trains that didn’t depend on unreliable computer screens …

The is one of the two main departure screens. The bottom middle section is flickering and unreadable.

This is the other main departure screen. Is is completely offline.

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

If you see this repost with something red from your gallery

A red Kia decorated for the Christmas holidays with a red nods and huge smiley face on the hood, two Santa heads on the roof, and antlers sticking out of the side. There are also Christmas lights strung across the front of the car. It was quite the thing, and even more so at night when it was all lit up.

010

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Sitting across from me on the NYC subway tonight

A person sitting on a subway car wearing rollerblades. The photo is cropped to show them from the waist down. The wheels on their right foot are pink and those on their left foot are lavender.

100

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

There’s really no limit to the variety of exotic international foods that can be found in Central Jersey!

010

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 19/10/2024

Well, I didn’t see the #comet tonight, but my iPhone did!

A photo of the night sky with a few trees at the bottom. A faint comet is just barely visible about 1/3 of the way from the left. I turned up the contrast so the sky appears much brighter than it actually was.

000

Walt Mankowski @wmankowski.bsky.social · 06/10/2024

Most people don’t appreciate how diverse and multicultural the Central Jersey food scene is. You can find ethnic restaurants from all over the world here! 🇨🇦