@paul@montereybay.social
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

paul

@paul@montereybay.social

(he/him) Santa Cruz local since 2001 | montereybay.social admin | Sr Technical Program Manager @ AWS Nonprofits

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Gargron, to BelieveInFilm
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Redwood trees in Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

📷 Canon AE-1 Program
🎞️ Kodak Vision3 250D
🔭 Canon FD 28mm

paul,
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

@mgerdts @Gargron My friend Eric created a short film, “Big Basin Will Never Be The Same”, that shows the effect of the CZU Lightning Complex fires on his favorite running trail through the park. The before-and-after view of his run is mind-blowing. #SantaCruz

https://youtu.be/dTIRHixcG68

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Of course. Via Alejandra Caraballo:

Oh my god. The entirety of the Epoch Times was a giant money laundering operation.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/chief-financial-officer-multinational-media-company-charged-participating-scheme

paul,
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

@GottaLaff Ahahaahahaaaha! Glorious!

Two years ago, I was in Washington DC for work when the Dobbs decision was leaked. I took the day off, made a poster that read, “Abortion Is Healthcare”, and stood in front of the Supreme Court building along with a handful of other like-minded folks. Around mid-morning, a young man asked if he could interview me, saying he was from the (mumble-mumble) Times. I answered his questions about why I was there and gave him permission to take my picture. 1/2

paul,
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

@GottaLaff
A couple of days later, I started wondering if anything was going to be published. A Google search revealed that the reporter worked for the Epoch Times. I found his article on the protest and was amused to see that I was described as one of a “small group of pro-abortion protestors whose numbers were reduced by the rain”. He did quote me accurately, to his credit, but the article was laughably biased towards the anti-abortion (excuse me, “pro-life”) folks who showed up that day. 2/2

paul, to random
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Finished the Trailquake half marathon this morning in 2:53, which is pretty respectable for a course with 3,000’ of climbing. Took third in my age group and hopefully improved my standings in the Brazen Racing Ultra Half series (https://brazenracing.com/races/ultra-half-series/).

paul, to random
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

Kali insisted on sitting in on meetings today. #DogsAtWork

paul, to random
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Last Friday, we saw Ringo Starr and the All-Starr Band at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga. As expected, Ringo kicked off the show with some Beatles and some of his own material, then handed the reins to Steve Lukather from Toto, who kicked off “Africa”. Then Hamish Stuart from Average White Band called “Pick Up The Pieces”, followed by Colin Hay from Men at Work leading “Down Under”. Holy cats! What a fun, eclectic night that was. #RingoStarr

kel, to random
@kel@mastodon.online avatar

This is an incredible read, please make yourself a nice cup of your favourite beverage, make yourself comfy and have a good read of Aria's story.

If you care - please boost far and wide!

#VCVRack #Synth

https://aria.dog/barks/why-i-will-never-create-modules-for-vcv-rack-anymore/#quitting

paul,
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

@kel Aria is most definitely on Mastodon at @woof. She’s expressed doubts about Mastodon, though. Personally, I would love to have her stay because I really appreciate her point of view and have learned a fair bit from her about #synthdiy.

malcircuit, to random
@malcircuit@thingy.social avatar

What's a good enby-friendly replacement to "mom", "mama", "dad", etc?

paul,
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

@malcircuit Our family uses “bapi”, which the very young kids have no problems pronouncing. It does have some connotation with “father” in Bengali, though.

douglasvb, to Toyota
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

I caught the start of a #rodent nest in my #Toyota #Tacoma engine bay. They were using the insulation from the underside of the plastic engine cover and stuffing it between the intake runners and the top of the engine.

What are people using as rodent deterrents these days?

The start of a rats nest
The start of a rats nest

paul,
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

@douglasvb We started hanging Fresh Cab botanical rodent repellent sachets in the engine compartments of our cars a few years ago after some nibblers got to our firewall insulation. Seems to keep them away, though we have to change them every month or two.

garygouldsberry, to random
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New sign appeared on the closed off section of #WestCliffDrive #SantaCruz . I know bicycle and pedestrian, but what is an abutter?

paul,
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@garygouldsberry Abutter is what you spread on atoast, of course! 😁

paul, to random
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Work brought me to Chicago for the first time in about 30+ years. I always appreciate transit that connects the airport with the business district. Being a fan of the Blues Brothers, I had to check out Daley Plaza (“That where they got the Picasso”) and City Hall (“Hut! Hut!”). Ray’s Music Exchange is for lease, if anyone wants to get in on my idea for a live music venue slash BB movie tour company…

Chicago City Hall as seen from Daley aplaza. There are two medium, wide trees with light green foliage in the foreground. The building is about ten stories tall and made of stone, with columns across ten front and vertical windows. There are no SWAT officers rappelling down the columns, sadly.

napalousa, to random
@napalousa@pagan.plus avatar

Coastal US people do you use any special words for a sea fog that rolls inland during the summer? I grew up calling it haar but not sure if people in America call it that. A hermitforhire grew up in a landlocked state and can’t help me with this.

paul,
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@napalousa In Santa Cruz, CA, we call it the marine layer or “June gloom”. 😁

kaflurbaleen, to random
@kaflurbaleen@mastodon.social avatar

is the subaru mechanic at the dealership bad or is our car just dumb (and in need of increasingly expensive repairs)

paul,
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@kaflurbaleen Our 2010 Outback was solid, until it was destroyed by a rogue wave on West Cliff. The 2021 Ascent has had some expensive non-drivetrain issues, thankfully covered under warranty. Both were serviced at the dealer. Need a recommendation for another repair shop for a second opinion?

paul,
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@kaflurbaleen We loved that Outback… 😁 Here’s the video of the incident that Heather shot from inside the car: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CnC11p3J0qq/

We have had good experiences with Mick’s Automotive, for future reference.

paul, to random
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One year ago today we brought home this majestic beast. She was underweight and had terrible GI issues, and for a while we didn’t think she would make it. Today, she’s healthy, loving, and energetic. And flatulent. But nobody’s perfect, right? :cowdog:

A medium sized red bulldog sprawled on her back on a couch. She appears to be smiling, and her rear feet are wedged up against a person’s thigh.

paul, to random
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

If someone asked you to write a song based on the word “between”, what would it sound like? A tough question, but fortunately my friends and I came up with 40 answers to choose from last week during the 26th Two Hour Album Challenge. You can listen to the results for free on Bandcamp, and ponder your own liminality. #2HAC

https://2hac.bandcamp.com/album/between-2hac-volume-26

LostNetizen, to random

I have a new obsession: OpenStreetMap. It’s like the perfect open world game where you improve the real world by playing.
You can go outside and play “on the ground”, be the first one to add a new bikeway or fix the opening hours of your favorite bakery. Or you can map from the couch by analyzing aerial images. At https://www.hotosm.org they always need volunteers for some humanitarian mapping. It can be as easy as “spot all the buildings in this image.”

#OpenStreetMap

paul,
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

@LostNetizen @blaise +100 to HOTOSM. My employer sponsors mapathons for them and I’ve learned that the information they get from these sessions is critical to delivering aid in the event of disaster. Humanitarian mapping is easy, and you can make a difference by spending just an hour volunteering, any time you like.

deirdres, to random
@deirdres@aus.social avatar

Introducing the kid to another classic

paul,
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@deirdres Filmed locally! (Santa Cruz, CA)

paul,
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@deirdres Hah, that’s a good question! My wife went to UCSC in the late 80s/early 90s, and she remembers the guy dressed as a monk who briefly appears in the opening montage. I intend to visit the trestle where they filmed the “Michael just let go” scene.

paul, to random
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

Ran the Diablo Trails Challenge Half Marathon this morning. Ironically, the race course doesn’t summit Mount Diablo. Who knew? Anyhow, I finished in 2:45, good for 4th of 7 in my age group and 38th of 111 overall. Very happy with my time given the 2,400’ of climb.

Time to rest up for the Surfer’s Path Half Marathon on 4/14. That one is basically a Wharf to Wharf round trip. 😁 It’s mostly flat and all pavement, which hopefully will mean an PR for the distance. 🤞

seb, to random
@seb@sfba.social avatar

We are thinking hard about the non-profit we want to start to fund services. (After OCF’s shutdown announcement this has become our number one priority.)

If you know of online communities that run such a model successfully, please give us a hint!

If you have ideas about things to consider when planning non-profit memberships, governance, votings, etc. please tell!

We want to keep overhead low, so we can focus on our community and don’t get buried in bureaucracy. We want to continue focusing on the San Francisco Bay Area.

paul,
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

@seb Once the 503(c) designation is in place, check out TechSoup (https://www.techsoup.org/nonprofit-software). They offer steep discounts on software and cloud services. For example, you can get $1000 in AWS service credits for a $95 admin fee. Might be other offers that help with your hosting…

BegoniaArizona, to random
@BegoniaArizona@montereybay.social avatar

Former Shangri-La Industries CFO accused of using Project Homekey money to pay for private jets, exotic cars and large parties, lawsuit says
https://kion546.com/top-stories/2024/04/01/former-shangri-la-industries-cfo-accused-of-using-project-homekey-money-to-pay-for-private-jets-exotic-cars-and-large-parties-lawsuit-says/

paul,
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

@BegoniaArizona My wife @Heather ran several shelters under the related Project Roomkey program, and had this comment: “There’s a SPECIAL hell for those people…”

historyofpunkrock, to punk
@historyofpunkrock@sfba.social avatar

47 years ago today
The Talking Heads performing at CBGB in New York City on March 31, 1977
L-R Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz, David Byrne, Tina Weymouth

Ramones were also on the bill that night

Photo by Ebet Roberts

paul,
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

@historyofpunkrock Man, if time travel were possible, I’d be in the front row of that show (probably with several thousand others, I suppose).

paul, to random
@paul@montereybay.social avatar

The Universe was determined that we not go camping this weekend. Starting on Friday, we overcame the following obstacles:

  1. Sick rabbit, nursed back to health
  2. Found stray dog, 2 hrs looking for home, dropped at shelter
  3. Violent rainstorm, waited ‘til Sat to leave
  4. Exploding water bottle
  5. Given wrong address for the Hipcamp
  6. Exploding coffeemaker
  7. Hail at the campsite. Retreat into trailer

Currently awaiting the inevitable locusts or rain of frogs.

paul,
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@minceyfresh Took me a day to get caught up on the news. Wow. https://newsie.social/@Bigsurkate/112198339882711361

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