I'm getting excited about going to Montreal in a week and a half and went ahead and got my monthly Bixi membership (under $20 USD). That station density is just so beautiful.

She may not be a tiny kitten any more, but she's still an awfully adorable lap cat.

I certainly didn't expect @dropout.tv to start streaming the works of Don Hertzfeldt, but I'm very excited to revisit some of these incredible films and watch the few I haven't seen before! I'll be starting with the incredible "The Meaning of Life."

It's been the same story in far too many U.S. cities: entrenched homeowners think they should be able to keep out all new housing. They're often willing to spend huge sums on lawyers to file lawsuits to get their way. I'm glad this is finally being recognized as generational warfare.

Meanwhile, my nine year old is having a great time at Durham Bulls baseball camp, pitching with AAA relievers and attempting to hit scrimmage tosses from the outfield over the left field wall.

It was just my 12 year old and me tonight, so we got Ethiopian takeout and I introduced her to Game Changer and Make Some Noise. It was a good night.

In the past year, I've requested a lot of records from state and local governments. I was most impressed by the Dauphin County Register of Wills, who not only implemented a great online system to request a certified copy of the record I needed, but put her name on the envelope it came in.

"Trains operating every six minutes" means a ten-minute gap between trains on the Red line at rush hour, apparently. (The middle train was later removed from the board)

This is Cocoa. The wildfire smoke was irritating her eyes so much that she now has to wear these goggles on her walks.

I'm flying back to DC today, and there's just a bit of smoke.

I feel like this is the most Cambridge thing I can do while in the area. I hope Larry Summers attends!

I rode the C line in Brookline many years ago and didn't fully appreciate at the time how rare such trolley lines are in the U.S. I rode it again tonight and yes, it was annoyingly infrequent. But it's an awfully nice line to ride when you're in no particular rush.

I just had to make the strangest call to the front desk at a hotel that I've ever made. "My room doesn't have a bathroom," I actually had to say to this person.

For those just learning that FIFA is incredibly corrupt, I am sorry to inform you that this has been the case for many decades. FIFA Uncovered, a 2022 documentary streaming on Netflix, is a decent place to start learning more. www.netflix.com/us/title/802...

Watch FIFA Uncovered | Netflix Official Site

From power struggles to global politics, an exploration of FIFA reveals the organization's checkered history — and what it takes to host a World Cup.

netflix.com

"Soft" skills are definitely important in many fields, but screening for things other than quantifiable accomplishments has historically been used to exclude certain types. Often (to the quoted point) this has been class-related. This approach has also been used to keep out racial or ethnic groups.

rev. howard arson@theophite.bsky.social · last mo.

"hiring humanities majors" is notoriously a euphemism for maintaining a particular kind of class character in finance

I remember summer being this hot but that's because I grew up in NC, and now summers are very similar to that in the DC area. I suppose in my lifetime these awful hot, humid summers will migrate up to NYC and beyond.

One of the dumber impacts of the 2012 derecho: I closed on my first house that day, and then a tree on the property promptly fell onto the fence. Welcome to homeownership!

Capital Weather@capitalweather.com · last mo.

Around sunset June 29, 2012, DC was still broiling after a record high of 104. A wall of wind was inbound and would rock the region a few hours later. At least five killed, 1.3 million lost power, thousands of trees downed. Our historical account: www.capitalweather.com/weather-hist...

paraguayvamoskid.gif

My favorite part of World Cup matches is when they show the corrupt FIFA officials sitting in what must be phenomenal seats, looking joyless and miserable.

The kitten has grown up quite a bit, but she's still so cute.

I got @justupthepike.bsky.social to join me for a Pedro the Lion show at a distillery in Beltsville last night, which was great. They played Yellow Bike (also seen in the concert poster), which my wife put on the first playlist she ever made for me. I mostly kept it together!

Sometimes people wonder why the public holds negative views of economists, but it might be worth pointing out that many of the most publicly-engaged economists like to say stuff like this.

Robin Wigglesworth@robinwigglesworth.ft.com · last mo.

Hmmmmmmmmmm www.ft.com/content/bb04...

Contrary to some posts I've seen, the Reflecting Pool is not blocked off from view or pedestrian access. The water is somewhat clearer than last week, though there remain significant green patches (and treatment continues) Most strikingly, the blue paint has worn off in multiple places.

I'm rolling into summer keeping in mind these important reminders from the Amsterdam Taylor Swift show.

Repeats the hypothesis that videogames made men exit the labor force as truth? ✅ Trumpets NBER working paper as if it's peer reviewed? ✅ finance.yahoo.com/economy/arti...

Why men keep dropping out of the labor force: It starts in childhood, when kids see how males around them struggle, economists say

"Our findings suggest that experience effects can turn short-run declines in labor demand into long-run declines in labor supply."

finance.yahoo.com

This is not true at all. I was just there yesterday! The hydrogen peroxide appears to have wiped out some of the algae in spots, but the rest of the Reflecting Pool is very much full of algae.

Sky Marchini@sky.skymarchini.net · 2mo ago

they're baghdad bob'ing the reflecting pool btw

I walked over to the Reflecting Pool today, and it's definitely still very green.

I gave in and spent $20 for a month of Fox One to watch the world cup, and there's no apparent way to keep the app from suggesting awful right-wing programming when I just want to watch sports. I'm not looking forward to this extending to my Roku TV as well. www.cnbc.com/2026/06/15/f...

Aging in place is often a consequence of our gridlocked housing market. We should be building enough housing to lower housing costs, so that many more people can afford to move to where they want to live. A system that makes it difficult for us to move to houses that meet our needs is broken.

More Americans Want to Age at Home. How One Couple Plans to Make It Work.

Contractors, remodelers and consultants are increasingly helping older Americans age in place.

wsj.com