So I did my first and probably only Sprint Triathlon yesterday at the Grand Rapids Tri. I've been pool swimming for about 1.5 years, decided to try and do one, and Tracy and Lucy suggested this one as a good beginner one. Lucy had signed up for the Olympic distance. Looking back, I probably should have started with a Super Sprint like a normal person would. Anyway, only started some open water swims at Ohio St. beach maybe 3 weeks ago. I was using probably the cheapest wetsuit I could find on Amazon (so definitely not an expensive tri specific or open water specific wetsuit, and it was a full suit, arms and legs). Anyway, never did complete a full 750m open water swim in training, which was bad. I did a couple mock tri trainings, once in the pool, and at least was able to complete it all. But still I was pretty scared of the swim part. And rightly so. We went over on Saturday, did packet pickup, got a bike cable lock (because I forgot to bring one), had dinner. Up early on Sunday, nervous. Kelley and Hudson came and watched, along with Tracy and Jackson. Watched Lucy do her swim. Then it was my turn. And I did horribly at it. Had to take multiple breaks with lifeguard floaties. Could only do 50m or so freestyle before having to stop, kick on my back, mostly made it through by doing breaststroke. Never could seem to catch my breath. I wonder how much of that was poor training vs. bad wetsuit. And water was around 72, so I probably could have tried without a wetsuit, but I have no idea if I could have made it that far or not. Oh, and forgot to start the Multisport workout on my watch until my first rest on the swim, so missed the first part of my swim. Eventually got out. Thought it would be 30 min, but actually somehow managed to do it in 22 min. I did just walk the 750m to transition, and walked the bike out. Biking was definitely easier. Managed that in 47 min. Fairly smooth going there. Then had to finish with the run. I'm guessing that was more like a 50/50 jog/walk for me. Hudson and Jackson ran with me for the last 1km or so. That was 36 min. Survived, so happy I did that. Also never planning on doing that again. So tired. Overall finished in 2:01:41. If I had known how close I was, I would have pushed during the run to get under 2 hours. Overall 342/378, Male 202/218, Age Group (45-49) 18/18. Lucy on the other hand? Finished her Olympic in under 3 hours at 2:55:42, Overall 92/246, Female 17/91, Age Group (19 and under) 1/3. She got a medal. Finished her swim, twice as far as mine, in 24 min. Anyway, now that I've got that under my belt, not sure what I'm going to do. I'll keep up the swimming. Probably keep up the biking. Might as well keep up the running too. At least while the weather's nice. Might even do some open water swimming. I do want to get better at that, but without the wetsuit, and probably only when it's calm out on Lake Michigan. Never actually had doing a triathlon on my bucket list, but hey, at least I can say I survived.

Still swimming. Still Monday, Wednesday, Friday for about 90 minutes. Depending on the workout, somewhere between 2,500-3,000m. Started running as well, following the Couch to 5K program again, although jumped into week 4 because I was behind. I do have to find some time to do some bike rides in the next month. I started using Home Assistant more. Moved to self contained hardware platform (Home Assistant Green). Have a nice little setup for the washer/dryer for notifications when it's done. Just have to figure out to mount sensors on the doors. Found out I needed glasses when I got a RealID and I couldn't quite make out the vision test. I was good enough though. Turns out I have astigmatism, might have always had it after the LASIK, but not sure if I just managed it. I wonder if the swimming aggravated the dry eyes which brought the astigmatism back or made it worse? In any event, glasses are amazing, went with Zenni because they're so cheap, and I needed sun glasses clip ons, because I was only planning on using them for driving, but I think I want them for all the time, so I ordered another couple pairs, try out some progressives and some readers. They're just so relatively cheap. Even got Zeiss lens inserts for the Apple Vision Pro, and they also seem to make a difference. Did a big network upgrade, made a surprising difference for security camera stability. Added a camera to the hallway too so I can see just how late Lucy goes to bed now. It's late. Also installed a patch panel, so networking looks a lot neater in the data center. Found a new favorite pair of jeans that also got discontinued (Levi's 505 Performance Warm). Tracy upgraded to an iPhone 17 Pro. I switched to using Oh Snap Snap Grips, both on my iPhone 15 Pro and the iPad mini 7. Went to New York City for spring break. I understand it a little better now. Also the name Second City for Chicago makes sense to me. The Ubiquiti Travel Router was pretty handy for that trip. Finally watched the Before trilogy. Wow that was good. Got introduced to a new podcast team because of it, Next Word. Almost caught up with the MCU, including TV Series. Daredevil: Born Again, Ironheart, and Wonder Man were all really good. Found a new backpack/bag line I like, which is also discontinued (Mystery Ranch District). Only available color was Hummus. Started with a District 4 (standard handbag) and an 18, and completed the set with a 2 and an 8. Jackson didn't get into LTAC. He's playing pretty well for Northwind, and is actually practicing and playing with P3 and P4 this spring, so he's getting lots of time on the ball. Had a little drama when he originally got placed on P3 for next year when they switched to level by grade instead of birth year. But all squared away when he then got moved up to P2. Should be a good challenge for next year. We even went as far as a Chicago City tryout, but that would have been a lateral move. Jackson's 6th grade NBL team also won their division. That was pretty cool. Started the 100 pushup challenge, fell off, and trying to start it again. I think that covers the big things in the last 5 months or so.

From Mark Gurman's mastodon post (https://mastodon.social/@markgurman/115657311502006405), Alan Dye leaving Apple for Meta. My first thought: great! Good news! And so soon after Liquid Glass. And there's all sorts of other posts that better describe how good it might be for Apple, which isn't surprising because of all the Apple pundits that I follow. But what I haven't seen is anyone lauding Meta for hiring Dye. Because apparently Zuckerberg and Meta saw Liquid Glass and was like, yes, give us more of that, that's the good stuff, that team knows what they're doing. So, I guess, wait and see what happens with whatever the Dye creative studio is actually going to be responsible for, and how much influence he'll wield, and what, if anything changes in the Meta world. I guess Liquid Glass and the theory is applicable to AR. I mean controls overlaid the real world is pretty much what it is. So maybe that's where we'll see real Liquid Glass applied.

Took a big trip. Went to Bali for 3 weeks. Met up with the Cases on tail end of their Southeast Asia Tour. Flew out 2 days after school ended, more like 1 day (we left at midnight via EVA Air). 15 hour flight was uneventful. Had a 5 hour layover in Taipei. Airport food there was amazing. Bodes well for the 22 hour layover we're doing on the way back. Another 5 hour flight and we're in Bali. It's hot. Have to find our transportation, and we join up with 4 british kids (reminds me of Skins), and we van it to the camp. We did 2 weeks of The Mighty Roar Bali Marine Conservation Volunteer project. Usually it's gap year British kids, just finished their A levels. But it's a 3 hour drive from Denpassar up to Tianyar. We were expecting rustic accommodations, something like camping structures, open air, mosquito nets. What we're greeted with instead, besides the Cases waiting up for us at 10pm, is something like a resort. Turns out they're renovating it, and it's been open for like 3 weeks. And it's got an infinity pool. A very nice surprise. Still no A/C or hot water, but that wasn't that bad. Volunteer work was actually pretty taxing, although the 6 of us (Ryan, Lisa, Zoe and Tracy, Lucy and myself) did scuba training that first week, so we mostly missed out on the structure construction that Jackson and Tayton did. The basic idea of the program is creating an artifical reef structure to replenish the local coral reef. So we make basically small tables out of concrete in the morning, then a day later have to dig them or others that have dried out of the ground and move them closer to the beach, then the next day move them onto boats to get dropped into the ocean, and then the last day diving down and arranging them on the sea floor. That was M-Th. We did training dives in the morning, and actually did a couple to a shipwreck. So we're certified divers now. All that work was only really an hour or so each morning and afternoon, and otherwise spent time in the pool or playing games or catching up and talking. That first weekend we went to Amed Beach. That weekend I got sick, first the flu, then Bali Belly, but I recovered by that Tuesday. But it was nice to have air conditioning and a hot shower. Best dive was that 2nd Thursday deployment. I forgot my GoPro, so I could just enjoy, and the conditions were clear, and not that rough. The second friday we went to Kintamni for a night, staying at a place with hot spring fed pool. On the way out we stopped at a coffee plantation that served Luwat coffee (the one were the cats eat the coffee berries and the beans that come out the other side are used). It's nothing special. Then we moved on to Ubud, staying at a really cool AirBnb, a real oasis in the middle of the city. Nice to eat some different foods. Although the first couple of days Jackson got Bali Belly, so he was bed and bathroom bound, but it wasn't all bad because he was in A/C and had good WiFi. It was pretty relaxing there, started watching Happy Endings. After 4 nights there, moved on to Nusa Penida via a ferry. Accomodations were pretty cool, up in the hills, each cottage had an outdoor bathroom with shower. Again a nice pool. Only 1 real restaurant though, but good enough. Fed a cat there each time we went. Went snorkling the morning of the only full day, and pretty rough going but we actually saw manta rays and a sea turtle. So that was pretty cool. Then a car to a ferry to another taxi to the airport and a final meal with the Cases before we went to Taipei and they went on to Japan. Got to Taipei, got a taxi, odd hotel (random 9th floor of a structure). Got some sleep and then tried to eat our way through our stay, which was difficult because we didn't have any cash (NTD) and the ATM card was locked because of suspicious activity on it, so had to stick to places that took credit card. Also it was really hot. But we managed best we could and still got some good stuff to eat. And then we made it back to the airport with another 4 hours to spare and ate some more good food in air conditioning. Then another 15 hour flight home home. The actual travel parts were all pretty smooth and uneventful. Taxi home from O'Hare was only 29 minutes. So that was Saturday night, and then Sunday we went out to the in-laws because Gabe and his family were in town. And now back to normal, albeit severely jet lagged. So that's the last 3 weeks. Before that, was pretty consistently swimming for exercise. Lots of driving for Lucy's practices, less driving for Jackson's because his team got a slot at Lakeview High School (walkable). Lucy got a new/used road bike for her triathlons. School ended.