Good morning good morning. Hello. Hi. What is up. My truck’s heater decided not to work this morning. Brrrr. Need to take that thing in before Ford forgets how to fix it. Lotta little things I’ve been meaning to address. Since I have to keep it forever since Ford stopped making them, bastards.

Related: Ford’s Axed Electric Pickup Is a Surprise Hit in the Used Market

I am bitter about them getting rid of the Lightning. I know that next year they will debut a new electric truck, built on a better platform, slightly smaller than the Lightning, which is probably better for me. But in the meantime, no electric truck from Ford. Shit there is not a single work-focused Electric truck in the American market: all we have is the Rivian for “adventurers” and the CyberTruck for chaods. Grr.

Hyundai, a nation turns it’s lonely eyes to you.

Hey question for you guys: WTF is Kratom? Anyone try it? A friend was recently telling me about “truck stop ecstasy.” Is that Kratom? Or is that something else? I haven’t been to a truck stop in a while but I do remember them rivaling Studio 54 in their pharmacalogical diversity. So many weird-ass stimulants.

Speaking of which, been meaning since I read that LSD book to check out what drugs were on Schedule 1 in the US: that is, the list of “highest regulated, most forbidden” drugs. And holy shit. I thought this list was, like, 5 drugs: heroin, crack, fentanyl, pot, acid, MDMA. BUT NOPE: It is like 200 drugs long. Jesus, man, chill out, Daddy DEA. WTF are these things. Let’s click on a random one.

N-Ethyl-3-piperidyl benzilate: is an anticholinergic drug related to the chemical warfare agent 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate. N-Ethyl-3-piperidyl benzilate is less potent and shorter acting than 3-quinuclidyl benzilate, but like 3-QNB its effects on the central nervous system predominate over peripheral effects. It produces deliriant and hallucinogenic effects similar to those of plants such as datura and may be used recreationally at low doses; however, unpleasant side effects such as dysphoria, nausea and vomiting, dizziness and extreme dry mouth tend to make abuse of drugs of this kind uncommon. In 1960, it was compared to LSD for its "atropine-like autonomic effects."

Hrm. Well, yeah, okay, pros and cons on that one. Let’s do one more.

4-Methyl-alphapyrrolidinopropiophenone: is a stimulant drug and substituted cathinone. It is structurally very similar to α-PPP, with only one added methyl group in the para position on the phenyl ring. 4-MePPP was sold in Germany as a designer drug in the late 1990s and early 2000s, along with a number of other pyrrolidinophenone derivatives. Although it has never achieved the same international popularity as its better-known relations α-PPP and MDPV, 4-MePPP is still sometimes found as an ingredient of grey-market "bath salt" blends such as "NRG-3". 4-MePPP is unscheduled in the United States, but could be consider an analogue of Mephedrone or another scheduled cathinone, which would make it schedule 1 when sold for human consumption due to the Federal Analogue Act.

Fun crushers, the DEA.

Man I got too much irregular shit to do this week. Got a job interview today. I stress about job interviews, even though I am the last interview and really mostly a rubber stamp. I remember when I was 24 years old having my interview at Ernst & Young with one of the managing partners of the Boston office. The graphic design department wanted me, this guy didn’t know me from Adam and didn’t really care, so long as whenever he dropped off a business card with a logo on it, he got a sweet PowerPoint (version 1!) presentation with a good-looking logo on it. Because that is how we got logos for decks before the internet: we fucking scanned them off of business cards and rebuilt them by hand in Aldous (RIP) Freehand. But I digress. Dude didn’t care at all about me, he was 100% a rubber stamp. Thing took 15 minutes.

But now me I can’t do that. I basically use the interview as a pre-indoctrination session. I make sure, above all, they’re kind. Ideally a little funny and empathetic and, preferably kind of smart and eager. I make sure I answer any questions they have, talk about the benefits. Make sure they understand the big strategic picture and that we are an ethical company so don’t do shady shit.

At Barbarian I had this whole speech I gave — I had “caught” an employee doing something that was vaguely shady. I mean, not illegal, a thing marketers do all the time, but we didn’t, because we were the “good ones.” But we were growing fast and they were a new employee and they weren’t, like, “citizens of the internet” and didn’t know much better. So from then on I gave every new employee the same speech: “don’t do shady shit. We don’t do that. If you find yourself doing it, come to me. If someone tells you to do shady shit, come to me. I am telling you from the top we don’t allow it, and if you get caught doing shady shit, I am going to remind you of this talk.” Worked great. Weird that I needed that in brand advertising but don’t do it now in the far shadier world of adtech. Hrm maybe I should bring that back.

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Listening to Mineral today, new Numero Group box set, entitled Might as Well Be Here. I bought the “saddest star” variant. It is my third copy each of these records I own, after the originals and the reissues, I did not need to buy this thing, but Mineral were one of Annie’s favorite bands and I miss her and I felt like I needed a good cathartic depressing listen to the entire recorded output of Mineral and I guess I don’t own these, like, four alternative versions at the end of LP3. Man I saw these guys so many times. Mostly with Annie, saw the reunion without her. I saw it in Greenpoint at St Vitus, she saw the Boston show and I think a couple more? I can’t remember. We texted a lot about it at the time. Oh shit, I am forgetting things about Annie fuck fuck.

Really is the worst thing about when someone passes. You remember the vitals, but the little things, some of them start to fade.

Oh god. This band. So fucking good. Ow ow ow.

I finished watching that latest Spider-Man film. It was… fine. The weird tonal dichotomy of having the Punisher hanging out with Spider-Man was real weird and I did not especially like it, and it detracted from the profound emotional intensity I recall in whats-his-name’s performance, John Bernthal? in The Punisher series. Man, that guy can act pain. I didn’t care for the endless fight scenes, I am completely at a loss about the Hand continuity between the TV shows and the movies, but I guess that’s just Marvel now, they had us sold on a comprehensive cinematic universe and lol, never mind. But it was pretty good, I suppose. I was not super-bored through it. The villian totally killed people, though, which is fine were you not trying to redeem them. But, then, redemption’s always been iffy for that particular character so maybe that is all part of the plan we will withhold judgement on that for now oh god why do I still watch these things I am 54 years old. At least I don’t pay for them or go see them in the theater anymore can I get the tiniest reward for that please?

My email clean-up journey continues apace. I have decided that shopping and news need to be broken out from “apps” because “apps” was getting to be too many things, and it felt like you could make a real profile for me from that email account. So it gets split. I may continue this for the rest of my life. It is crazy that no email newsletter lets you change your email address. And how many other platforms just.. don’t let you. WHY. It just makes me delete the account and half the time I don’t bother making a new one. I swear we really have given up on decent UX. One day my enshittification and dark patterns will cover the earth.

Jane was great again yesterday! Great in the morning, great at dinner, great at daddy time great at mommy time bedtime all great yay yay yay. She has school photos today she looks very cute in the new dress grammy gave her I should have taken a photo this morning. She has her root canal part one Thursday, we are both dreading it. She really wants the general anesthesia but it’s $2k a pop and there are two of these procedures and I love her so much but I cannot spend $4k on her drug habit at the age of eight man wouldn’t it be funny if she turned into some sort of cute girl juvenile version of Frank from Blue Velvet? Rolling around an ether cannister yelling “don’t you fuckin look at me!”

Oh god speaking of “don’t look at me,” she is starting to feel embarrassment in awkward situations and it is so sad and I do not like it it’s just the worst. I am trying to teach her that most embarrassment is useless but, you know, I am still profoundly embarrassed about something pretty much every day, so who the fuck am I to tell her that. But I have gotten pretty good at not being embarrassed about things that aren’t worth being embarrassed about, like forgetting a name or making a small mistake. So. I try to tell her it doesn’t matter but she doesn’t want to hear that from me.

But I will continue to try.

She did take a hug, though. That was nice.

Oh sweet look at that we got a smoooooth playlist for you today. Let me lay you down by the fire, baby. Relax. Let’s have a good time. Ew. Don’t be creepy Chef Rick. Man I do not know if anyone but Craig is going to get that joke does anyone even remember early South Park with Isaac Hayes anymore? Luckily most of these smoothsters on this playlist are ladies. Ladies know smooth. Oh shit there are two Sault songs on here. Well. Sorry. I am too invested now to go back. And they are from different albums.

Can we talk about how great Carly Rae Jepsen is? She is so great. I wish I could have gone to that Irvine Plaza show the videos look amazing.

Okay I miss you love you talk tomorrow byeee.