Year: 2024

It's 05:30 local time on the third day of my work meetup in Tulum, on the Caribbean Coast of Mexico, and I was just woken by incredibly heavy rain. I got up and stepped out until it, and was surprised to discover that it's almost as warm as the shower in my bathroom. In the distance, beyond the palm trees and over the hill, the booms of thunder are getting closer. Beautiful weather for a beautiful place.

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Tropical vegetation under stormy skies. Long exposure in pre-sunrise light.

Something I've long enjoyed about Automattic gatherings is the opportunity to meet some the most diverse characters you'll ever find in one place.

But today was the first time I've ever been at a beachside disco that was attended by a foraging racoon.

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A slender long-tailed racoon stands on wooden decking in front of lush tropical vegetation.

Max props to my employer for providing pronoun pins not just in a diversity of options but also offering blank ones for people not represented by any of the pre-printed options.

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Boxes of pin badges representing various pronouns, plus blank ones and a sharpie.

Well this is a sight to wake up to. 😍

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Sun rising over the sea as seen from a tropical beach.

It took almost twenty hours of travelling but I made it to Mexico!

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Dan, looking tired, in a hotel room.

Think I blew Ruth's mind this morning when I set off for a week in Mexico with only a medium-sized, underseat-suitable backpack.

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Selfie of Dan in a tunnel walkway wearing a backpack.

But since working for Automattic five years ago I've totally been bitten by the travelling-light bug. Highly recommended!

Harry Segell's 1938 play Heaven Can Wait went on to inspire such an extraordinarily long legacy of follow-ups.

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Chart showing relationships of various films and a play. Down To Eath (2001 film) is a remake of Heaven Can Wait (1978 film), but takes its name from a 1947 film upon which Xanadu (1980 film) is based. Down To Earth (1947 film) is a sequel to Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941 film), of which the 1978 Heaven Can Wait is a remake. Here Comes Mr. Jordan is based on 1938 play Heaven Can Wait, which lends its name to the later remakes.

I've only seen the most-recent few and my experience is that the older iterations are better, so I probably ought to watch Here Comes Mr. Jordan, right?

This morning's actual breakfast order from the 7-year-old: "A sesame seed bagel with honey, unless there aren't any sesame seed bagels, in which case a plain bagel with honey on one half and jam on the other half, unless there aren't any plain bagels, in which case a cinnamon and raisin bagel with JimJams on one half and Biscoff on the other half."

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Dan, looking confused, next to a cinnamon and raisin bagel with JimJams on one half and Biscoff on the other half (and their respective jars).

Some day, this boy will make a great LISP programmer. 😂

At work, we recently switched expenses system to one with virtual credit card functionality. I decided to test it out by buying myself lounge access for my upcoming work trip to Mexico. Unfortunately the new system mis-detected my lounge access as being a purchase from lingerie company loungeunderwear.com. I'm expecting a ping from Finance any moment to ask me why I'm using a company credit card to buy a bra.

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Screenshot from expenses system indicating that a purchase was made at loungeunderwear.com, with a photo showing an example of something sold at that website - a lacy bra - overlaid.

One might ask why our expenses provider can (mis-)identify loungeunderwear.com from a transaction in the first place. Did somebody at some company that uses this provider actually buy some ladies' briefs on a company credit card at some point?

We made it! This young furbaby managed to pose a bleppy picture every single day of Bleptember. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

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Behind a handwritten sign with the words 'Happy Bleptember!' and a pawprint, a French Bulldog lies in a soft basket with her tongue stuck out.