252: On the wall

I always keep cables like that, it is the only way that I can find the right one when I need it. Especially when dealing with some stupid crap like those non-standard USB cables that Nikon and Sony like so much. The bag is used for holding little bits and pieces like connectors and stuff that will disappear quickly if I just leave them on my desk.

251: (a mess) made by me.

250: White

249: Getting ready ...

For caturday !

Either that, or those two are plotting. Plotting for what? I don't know, but they look like if they are plotting.

248: Here Forever.

Or so it seems ...

247: Alone

246: Lines

In honor of PJs first day of high school, here's a sheet of composition-ruled notebook paper.

245: My name begins with...

Roasted (P)eanuts at Five Guys. If you are within their service area and haven't tried them, they make the best old fashioned burgers you can find anywhere. They'll serve the kind of burger that you would make from scratch and serve to your own family, it is that good.

The peanuts are free, they are Five Guys' way of thanking you for waiting while your food is cooked.

Today was also my first time ever having a bun-less burger. Instead of bread they simply wrap the burger in lettuce. It was great, but it after the first bite I resigned myself to using a fork. So it was two firsts: first burger without a bun, and first time I use a fork and knife to eat a burger. 

244: Together

As usual, PJ decided to play the too-cool-for-his-parents teenager.

243: Dangerous

"Programmer's Kitty," masterfully using his environment for maximum concealment (notice the Amazon box), stalks the Most "Dangerous" Game (aka "Caustic Kitty").

Once Caustic Kitty realized what was going on, she stared him down until he decided to walk away and try stalking something a little less dangerous, like for example, PJ.

Happy Caturday!

242: Clutter

Of course, I misread my prompt, so I thought I was looking for "cluster."

Then I got sidetracked, we were shopping and I just *knew* that there are some cereals with the word *clutter* in the name. What I didn't count on was the 500,000 different cereal types that they sell at Walmart.

Then it went from silly to truly stupid: frustrated because I couldn't find the cereal with the wrong words in it, I decided to google for it. And I found it. And as soon as I put the phone away and looked RIGHT IN THE SHELF 6 INCHES FROM MY FACE was this cereal.

At that time I decided I was done for the day. It still took me two more hours to figure out that I had the wrong prompt.

241: Lucky

At least in this particular shopping center, this Nissan Leaf driver was lucky to actually find an open parking slot at the EV charging station. 99% of the time none of the cars parked in these marked spots are EVs, and this always happens with hundreds of empty spots just a few yards away.

240: Corridor.

We live in the "Dulles Corridor," a semi-flat suburban hell roughly located between the Washington DC beltway and Washington Dulles International Airport. It is a technology corridor that houses an inordinate amount of telecommunications companies, mostly because the Pentagon and all of the Alphabet agencies are a few miles away and well, it's nice to be close to your richest customer. It is also the center of the Internet universe, the root servers that are the basis of what we call the Internet are housed here, so are the headquarters of the companies that control an incredible amount of the Internet's infrastructure.

Still, it is a semi-flat suburban hell where everything is painted in some kind of earth-toned palette, distances are measured in time, not in miles, and multi-million dollar homes don't have enough yard space to throw a ball around. And don't even dream of painting your multi-million dollar dream home of a color that isn't part of the color palette approved by your homeowner's association, not unless you are willing to go to court (and lose) over it.

239: "10 minutes from home"

I have no idea about the purpose of that hellish contraption, so I am going to go ahead and assume it is for some kind of sinister domestic spying plan that I can #blameobama for.

238: (entrance) The Lair of the Caustic Kitty.

No Programmer's Kitty allowed. Seriously, if he ever gets within paw's length that's a slapping she'll give him. BTW, this is under my desk, it is her "safe" place where PJ can't "bother" her, where bother is defined as "any attempt at socializing." 

237: Culture.

I almost feel bad for the archaeologists of the future trying to figure out WTF we were thinking when we covered the planet in concrete boxes. Almost.

236: In the background.

In a few years most of this sight will be blocked by high-rise developments. None of the buildings that you can see in the background were there when we moved here in 1997.

Actually, the parking lot will be gone too.

235: Yellow.

This is my punishment for falling behind two days, so now I am one day ahead.

234: A Room.

233: Slow.

This is the slowest food counter at our closest mall, but it is also the only one that serves restaurant quality fares, everyone else are just average performing fast food franchises. If you are willing to wait for it, the food is fantastic.