The other day, (e:paul) and I spent an hour trying to get the WS2801 LEDs working with the Arduino. They kept glowing on one LED, either full brightness or red and green. We thought it might have been library we used or the LEDs being defective, but it turns out there is an input and output side of the strand and we had it reversed. I seriously can't believe we missed that. Now they're working, fully addressable and ridiculously bright. For future reference - make sure you're always inputting into the right hole.

Side note these LEDs outgas so bad they make me sick.

After the half-day and shopping, I scrambled to think of gifts for Mary and Daniel. I ended up giving Emily a sock monkey scarf, Daniel an Arduino so I could teach him and 3D lion painting, and Mary a super soft blanket with candy. I went to my parents for my family's Christmas party. The usual family was there for a good time and a lot of good food/cookies. The best part probably was playing Cards Against Humanity - my great aunt Shirley would say absolutely anything while Emily would make other people read cards for her.

The next day, (e:paul) and (e:terry) and I woke up and exchanged gifts. Paul got me a bunch of fancy peanut/almond/cashew butters, and Terry got me a cheese club subscription and these awesome red corduroys. I am going to die of clogged arteries looking good. I got Terry some new paddles for the canoe (that are long enough for us to use), and Paul a fox handled serving tray plus a dog bed to lay in front of the fire.


After that I went to my parents house again to do Christmas there. My mom gave us and all the siblings a really cute photo frame with these old postcards of Buffalo in them. We have the Peace Bridge, city hall and an aerial of downtown.


I also got this 90's puffy ski vest that I love. We napped and ate the rest of the day before watching Silver Linings Playbook for the 10th time. I feel ridiculously full right now. I'm back home and the living room smells so bad right now. I called Sarah and we are catching up on the phone a bit before bed.

Today was a half day at work for Christmas Eve. I loved being able to ride home while it was still light out. On top of that, I started on new project today involving wastewater treatment plant upgrades that I'm actually looking forward to.

After I got home (e:paul) and (e:terry) and I headed out to iron out last second gifts. I'm such a bad gift giver, which I thinks stems from me hating shopping so much. I almost didn't have anything for my siblings but I kind of lightbulbed in the last hour on what I wanted to do for them, which I think will work out great.

The pumpkin continues to decay especially after (e:mike) deflated it by stepping on it. There's a weird trail of pumpkin juice down the porch now and it just keeps flattening further. I wish we took a timelapse of it, it would be amazing.

The party the Monday night at Natasha and John's was real fun. It was awesome meeting them. (e:terry), (e:xandra), (e:Heidi) and (e:Dianne) walked over together. I don't remember the names of all the people I met but I'm sure I'll see some again.

The food was so good, especially the mac and cheese, vegan chili and of course the cookies. (e:terry) brought this 8% beer which made the night a little crazy but that is okay. We finished the night with a walk back and a stop at Nietzsche's before Terry and I made it home.




Erin's baby/picnic basket

I had lunch today with some of my coworkers at Rachel's Mediterranean on McKinley Parkway in Hamburg. The topic of today's lunch revolved mostly around sack-tapping weirdly enough. I always saw the Rachel's on Delaware near Chippewa but had never been there. This new location was a lot like a Chipotle-type restaraunt but with kebobs, wraps and rice bowls.





I got the falafel wrap which had good falafel and tahini, but almost too much of pita compared to the filling. It was around $7 bucks. I'd definitely get it again, but I'd rather go to Shish Kebob Express or somewhere cheaper for the same quality I think.



The weridest part were these three bros who came in with open Four Lokos. First of all who drinks Four Lokos on a weekday noon and second of all brings them out to lunch?
Maybe I'm just jealous (not of the four lokos).