---
title: "Dispatch #10 (December 2023)"
date: 2023-11-27T22:43:47-05:00
draft: false
tags:
- dispatch
---

We spent the week of Thanksgiving with my sister near Albany, New York.

It was great for Nevie to get some extended time with her cousins.

<!--more-->

<div class="image-set">
  {{<thumbnail IMG_9217.jpg "400x" />}}
  {{<thumbnail IMG_5088.jpg "400x" />}}
</div>

In what's now I guess an annual tradition, I ran a 10K the morning of Thanksgiving, this time the [Troy Turkey Trot][1]. I felt great, and I'm happy with my time ([results][2], [certificate][3]). Claire joked that someone once told her that after you run a marathon, a half-marathon becomes your favorite race distance. That's how I feel about 10Ks -- it's like the first half of a half-marathon, before it really starts to suck.

[1]: https://troyturkeytrot.com/
[2]: /journal/dispatch-10-december-2023/ttt-result.pdf
[3]: /journal/dispatch-10-december-2023/ttt-cert.pdf

I spent few evenings building a tool to keep Markdown links in order, which I've called `mdrenum`. I documented the process thoroughly in a [separate post][4]. Super fun to make and quite useful for writing these posts. It's up on [GitHub][5] if you're interested.

[4]: /journal/keep-markdown-links-in-order-with-mdrenum/
[5]: https://github.com/dce/mdrenum

I bought a [201 Pocket Piano][6] after seeing it on [Bonobo's gear list][7] so that I could make some music while we were traveling. This thing is cool! Great sounds and patterns, MIDI in/out, battery powered and a built-in speaker. The company that makes it releases new synths pretty regularly, and it's super straightforward to swap them out -- just plug it into your computer, hit a couple keys, and it shows up as a drive.

[6]: https://www.critterandguitari.com/201-pocket-piano
[7]: https://equipboard.com/pros/bonobo

Here's a new track I made with it, called "Cirrus" (keeping with the cloud theme):

<audio controls src="/journal/dispatch-10-december-2023/Cirrus.mp3"></audio>

I published a few other things this month: ["Maintenance Matters: Good Tests"][8] on my company blog ([mirrored here][9]). I also had to do a company-wide presentation and ended up just doing a gift guide of things we own and recommend. Doesn't seem worth a standalone post (this is not that sort of website) but I did [copy the list into a note][10].

[8]: https://www.viget.com/articles/maintenance-matters-good-tests/
[9]: /elsewhere/maintenance-matters-good-tests
[10]: /notes/2023-holiday-gift-guide

This month:

* Adventure:
* Project: [Nev art table][11]
* Skill:

[11]: https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/flisat-childrens-table-30298419/

Reading:

* Fiction: [_Title_][12], Author
* Non-fiction: [_Title_][13], Author

[12]: https://bookshop.org/
[13]: https://bookshop.org/

Links:

* [Title][14]
* [Title][15]
* [Title][16]

[14]: https://example.com/
[15]: https://example.com/
[16]: https://example.com/