Welcome to the year 2025! This is my annual report on the year and a refocus on the upcoming year. This post is about my life and, therefore, is personal and not scientific. The past year (2024) was both excellent and challenging. It’s awesome because I got to start working with one of my favorite people again, and it’s challenging because I’m asked to do a bunch of new things at work, and the world around us has shifted in a way I wouldn’t prefer. ...
I have had several vehicles in Rhode Island since I moved here in 2020. I drive my vehicles everywhere, from Vermont to Florida to California and Washington. I put a lot of miles on my cars. The easiest way to go through tolls is with an electronic transponder, which is an EZ Pass in this state. The EZ Pass system in RI is supposed to be simple and easy to use, but I have found it anything but. The system requires you to manage a complicated account, track the battery life of your transponder, and often try to visit the EZ Pass office, which is only open on select days from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. ...
One of my goals this year is to give back more through writing and knowledge. It is laughable that I haven’t published my 2025 blog post yet, but there has been a lot going on, and I’m not quite there yet. A post will come. In the meantime, I’m preparing to take a road trip to California, and part of that is preparing my van to drive across the country. When I got ready for the journey, I found the van had a water leak around the fan area. The work around this was done six years ago, and the fact that it has held up this long is beyond impressive. Still, this work needs to be fixed before I head out. ...
My Local Coffee Shop got an Onyx advent calendar for $200. Each day, it comes with enough coffee to brew about two cups (it is not designed for espresso). It’s an exciting idea, but after looking around, I could not find a Coffee Calendar for Hanukkah. In typical Zack fashion, I decided that meant it was time for me to make one. To make this happen, I’m trying to gauge interest. My goal is to make between 10 and 20 calendars this year. They will be essential, as I don’t have time to make them overly elaborate. Hanukkah starts December 25th (yes, on Xmas this year), so I have limited time to get this to people. ...
I don’t know how I became obsessed with paper and notes. I remember having an excellent Electrical Engineering teacher who talked about a lab notebook as a resource for all your learning that you could refer to in the future. At the time, I wouldn’t say I liked several rules about notebooks: all pages had to be numbered, and you had to use a pen because you didn’t want anything to get erased or removed. ...