Nostr notes by Douglas

Sweden's approach (not needing an agent) sounds superior.

2026-04-21T06:07:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…eted
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Sweden's approach (not needing an agent) sounds superior.

Winter is not over at Forked Meadow. ...

2026-04-12T14:29:11Z

Winter is not over at Forked Meadow.

Nice sunrise this morning in Monterey ...

2026-04-01T14:17:45Z

Nice sunrise this morning in Monterey

A few photos from the mountains ...

2026-03-29T22:52:29Z

A few photos from the mountains

Still haven't heard from my buddy who got rerouted through ...

2026-03-27T02:58:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…hgwp
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Still haven't heard from my buddy who got rerouted through Dubai 😬

I hope my buddy is on a plane in the air right now because ...

2026-03-26T14:30:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…ct3k
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I hope my buddy is on a plane in the air right now because he's not responding to texts 😬

A friend is flying from Manila to Chicago. He was supposed to go ...

2026-03-26T12:10:59Z

A friend is flying from Manila to Chicago. He was supposed to go via Seoul. Somehow the airline rerouted him via Dubai 🤯

So now he's stuck in Dubai and having to take shelter because quite predicably there are certain events happening.

How does an airline screw up so badly that the solution is to route people the other direction around the world knowing the layover might become indefinite?

It looks like it'll be another hot one in Monterey ...

2026-03-19T13:42:56Z

It looks like it'll be another hot one in Monterey

I know people micro dosing glp-1s of various manufacturers. They ...

2026-03-04T14:33:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…yr9a
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I know people micro dosing glp-1s of various manufacturers. They at least seem to think it's helping. I'm guessing it's a placebo effect but if so it's a powerful one for some people.

My own glp-1 experience has been quite positive as I'm using it off label for inflammation reduction.

Dat sunrise ...

2026-03-04T14:25:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…ze9h
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Dat sunrise

More sunrise. My phone camera doesn't do it justice. ...

2026-03-04T14:21:54Z

In reply to nevent1q…xzc8
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More sunrise. My phone camera doesn't do it justice.

The sunrise continues ...

2026-03-04T14:13:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…ffr2
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The sunrise continues

It's fixing to be a great #sunrise in #Monterey #California ...

2026-03-04T13:59:55Z

It's fixing to be a great #sunrise in #Monterey #California

the closest place with a cell tower is on the other side of a ...

2026-03-04T03:26:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…zd0p
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the closest place with a cell tower is on the other side of a large mountain range to the vehicle. I doubt BMW's cell provider reaches out there 😬

does that go via cell network or satellite? If it's ...

2026-03-04T03:11:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…ygq7
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does that go via cell network or satellite? If it's satellite, they would have been able to get a connection 😅

Not so much on the cell service out there 😮‍💨

oh that's interesting that there's no spare tire and ...

2026-03-04T01:22:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…6qr3
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oh that's interesting that there's no spare tire and they're run flats.

Those tires are hella toast. And the rims.

I've gotta wonder how many different warning lights and sounds were going off on that dashboard when that BMW got stuck.

these days AAA says they'll tow if it's within 100 feet ...

2026-02-26T00:02:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…uhmp
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these days AAA says they'll tow if it's within 100 feet of pavement but I think they only will pay if they arrange for the tow.

That Toyota 🤣🤣🤣

They thought they were going to have a great time mudding but they didn't!

Have you seen the recovery videos from the various playas in Nevada? It's epic what they have to do to drag people out.

it appeared that the airbags were damaged and the rear driver A ...

2026-02-25T22:09:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…p80s
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it appeared that the airbags were damaged and the rear driver A arm may have been broken. The car actually powered up when I touched one of the door handles but the pump wasn't able to charge the suspension system.

the BMW was pointed away from civilization. I don't think ...

2026-02-20T19:44:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…lpk7
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the BMW was pointed away from civilization. I don't think they tried to turn around.

huh I never heard of that camp before! ...

2026-02-20T19:34:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…h8xy
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huh I never heard of that camp before!

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/incarcerated-japanese-americans-at-death-valley.htm

I can confirm that its blinker was NOT on 🤣

2026-02-20T05:47:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…jvmr
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I can confirm that its blinker was NOT on 🤣

maybe you can find wherever these incidents get logged and follow ...

2026-02-20T05:34:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…x9cm
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maybe you can find wherever these incidents get logged and follow its progress tonight and into the next few days 😅

That BMW is only coming out on a flatbed wrecker.

I called Inyo County dispatch but they only had one person ...

2026-02-20T05:30:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…gm2x
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I called Inyo County dispatch but they only had one person working tonight and they had an involved 911 call so they asked me to call CHP up in Bridgeport to report the vehicles. I dutifully did so and hopefully the CHP dispatch relays that information to DVNP tomorrow.

They've got my call back number. I wouldn't be surprised if I get a confused call from a trooper tomorrow morning wanting more details.

I was specific that they didn't need to send anyone out tonight to those vehicles. If anyone was out with them, they're probably already dead at this point 😬 No point in having some troopers get stranded in the snow overnight.

and occasionally other lost things

2026-02-20T05:02:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…ted7
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and occasionally other lost things

they couldn't have made it in since the snow so I think ...

2026-02-20T04:39:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…xv4w
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they couldn't have made it in since the snow so I think it's been there at least two days. Maybe more.

I didn't find the owners and regional dispatch isn't ...

2026-02-20T04:36:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…d0ux
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I didn't find the owners and regional dispatch isn't going to tell me anything. So hopefully someone found them and hauled them out a day or two ago.

I would suggest against it on Lippencott Road. We found an ...

2026-02-20T04:11:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…qkuu
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I would suggest against it on Lippencott Road. We found an utterly destroyed BMW SUV abandoned about a mile from the intersection with Saline Valley Road. I'll post photos of that later.

But assuming no snow you could absolutely do Saline Valley Road.

Oo I think we will do Barker Ranch on Saturday. Any tips for that?

lol no I knew about that days in advance. Anyway we didn't ...

2026-02-20T03:21:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…zkv9
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lol no I knew about that days in advance. Anyway we didn't even drop down to Furnace Creek or Stovepipe Wells. Or even Panamint Springs. We went on the ultra back roads today 😅

I think we're going to go to Manzanar tomorrow if it's ...

2026-02-20T03:15:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…2elx
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I think we're going to go to Manzanar tomorrow if it's open.

It was raining pretty good today at Badwater Basin in ...

2026-02-17T00:37:34Z

It was raining pretty good today at Badwater Basin in #DeathValley National Park.

#CaWx

That's the dream ...

2026-01-30T15:08:27Z

That's the dream

We saw an absolutely massive flotilla of sea otters today off of ...

2026-01-26T00:28:54Z

We saw an absolutely massive flotilla of sea otters today off of Point Pinos in Pacific Grove. I've never seen one this large this far out. I'm not sure I've seen this large of a flotilla outside of Elkhorn Slough at least down here in California.

I'd estimate there were about 50 otters all hanging out together.

Holy shit a committee member for a dissertation fed the ...

2026-01-23T18:14:27Z

Holy shit a committee member for a dissertation fed the dissertation draft into ChatGPT and asked it to decide if it was good enough. Without permission from the student.

Pretty sure this is really bad for several reasons. I'm mainly concerned that the student just got screwed because suddenly his unpublished work is out in the wild and without his consent or permission.

ChatGPT said it was a good dissertation so I guess the committee member will vote yes now.

But wow. This dude shouldn't be a professor anymore.

We recently got a 40" Samsung TV (2017 production year) from ...

2026-01-17T16:29:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…xrfs
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We recently got a 40" Samsung TV (2017 production year) from my parents for similar reasons. It's SOOOOOO big compared to our old 28" TV (2007 production year). And we just plugged the HDMI cable from the Roku into the new TV and it worked perfectly.

We'll probably use this TV for the next decade at least. And if it breaks, we have our old TV in its original box in the basement. It still works fine other than being power hungry and a bit smaller.

Woah dude I think the USA is going to capture the leader of the ...

2026-01-12T03:02:30Z

Woah dude I think the USA is going to capture the leader of the Federal Reserve and put troops into each of the twelve regional reserve banks.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/powell20260111a.htm

"This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings. It is not about Congress's oversight role; the Fed through testimony and other public disclosures made every effort to keep Congress informed about the renovation project. Those are pretexts. The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.

This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation."

In the wise words of an Internet meme about Warren Buffet, panic and sell everything 😬

I wonder if Powell will get put in the same track suit as Madero for his trip to the federal courthouse in NYC.

I've been surprised by some of my colleagues who seem to not ...

2026-01-10T18:17:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…52w7
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I've been surprised by some of my colleagues who seem to not know about libraries and how subscriptions work. But maybe that's why they've got pretty low h indexes 😅

Nostr event nevent1qqsp8g0qq0frqm65d4awk4vlqncu5ylnh7xwt7mp855sue7pste3emczypwhyn45sc9nmnqvf22qfxnauzdanvx54lf7pxqngdy3zvrp4pjzyw3qnsg

2026-01-08T23:53:20Z

There's a lot of pizza being ordered tonight.

yeah that was in northern Greenland in early February. Extremely ...

2025-12-27T17:19:36Z

In reply to nevent1q…d5kx
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yeah that was in northern Greenland in early February. Extremely cold with high winds. No issues with the multi layer glove approach.

that's what worked well for me in extremely cold conditions. ...

2025-12-27T16:25:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…ual5
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that's what worked well for me in extremely cold conditions. The challenge is finding a waterproof/windproof over mitten that's large enough because I've got absolutely huge hands.

But if you do, it's very cozy and also it's great to be able to have a thin mitten that I can keep on when I need some additional dexterity for a few minutes but without getting frostbite.

that's a sexy wedgetail.

2025-12-25T03:10:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…au7r
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that's a sexy wedgetail.

there are some great photos in that set!!

2025-12-24T04:35:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…3ygp
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there are some great photos in that set!!

it's hard to beat the Philippine Mars for air photos this ...

2025-12-24T04:18:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…h289
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it's hard to beat the Philippine Mars for air photos this year.

It's a pretty cold and gray day this morning in #Monterey ...

2025-12-15T15:00:26Z

It's a pretty cold and gray day this morning in #Monterey #California. We've got a thick marine layer which is a bit rare for this time of year.

#CaWx

Quick intro post for the new server. I came to 🐘 in November ...

2025-12-13T04:41:59Z

Quick intro post for the new server.

I came to 🐘 in November 2022. I was on the biggest server until Dec 2025 (so a couple days ago) when I moved over to this server because it's run by a good admin and fearless leader.

I'm doing the academic thing but in a rather unique institution in California. My specialization includes risk and failure analysis, engineering for resilience, mission engineering, and a few other things all within systems engineering. I'm mainly working on projects involving energy systems, uncrewed systems in all domains, and occasionally some work in implementing post-quantum cryptography across systems of systems.

My 👸 and I have two cats. We do a lot of scuba diving and traveling in the region. I ride an obscure Japanese motorcycle and I enjoy 4x4ing in various Toyota vehicles. We've got waaaaay too much wine in our cellar considering we don't drink much (like... several hundred bottles. I think my 👸 may have a 🍷🍾 hoarding problem). We're about to buy a rack and power lifting equipment to get back into that.

I'm an amateur radio operator with a technician class license for about 20 years. I mainly focus on 2M simplex voice but I keep threatening to get into CW and 10M with radios I inherited from my grandfather.

I spend a lot of time in the Sierra Nevada around the Dinkey Creek and Shaver Lake area.

We're thinking of getting fresh water fish tanks again. That's almost certainly a bad idea.

So yeah that's me.

For those wondering, I'm going through my followers list to ...

2025-12-13T04:31:05Z

For those wondering, I'm going through my followers list to weed out bots and I'm finding many delightful accounts I didn't notice following me before that I'm now following. So if I just added you, that's what's going on.

And here's a photo of #sunrise this morning in #Monterey #California to add a little color to this toot.

Following on what I was posting on my old account a few minutes ...

2025-12-11T02:11:26Z

Following on what I was posting on my old account a few minutes ago, I've got a few more positions I should apply to this week.

I haven't seen any department chair positions that really fit me yet come up this cycle. I think they're still to announce. Maybe in January I'll see them. It feels a bit late this year.

Meanwhile one of my coworkers announced her departure today. And today was her last day. Tomorrow is going to be full of paperwork and meetings about that departure. And that means I have another project getting dumped onto me unless I can pawn it off on someone else. And also two of my PhD students now need a new committee member.