Petya from Chicago

For the first time in five years of living in Chicago, I ran into a line at the entrance to the subway

It’s like a whole multiverse of Andreys.
She even has a theory that it’s the same Andrey in different states.

My best friend is named Andrey. And in Chicago, I also have a friend named Andrey.
When we were about to go to Haifa, I told Olesya that I had a friend living there.
She asked, “What’s his name?”
I said, “Andrey.”
She replied, “I didn’t even need to ask.”

Asked Grok to make a badge photo

We went to the Chicago Auto Show, and the car market still feels kind of depressing.
Most cars are various shades of gray, many don’t have modern features like a 360° camera or memory seats.
Not to mention that, for some reason, not every car even has a hybrid version yet.

My wife just bought me an apartment.
How's your day going?

I somehow ended up at a hackathon where you’re supposed to vibe-code an AI app.
The perks of being unemployed.

Seems uneven to me

I’m getting ready for the citizenship exam.
Division of powers between the federal government and the states:
- the federal government has the power to print money and declare war
- states have the power to issue driver’s licenses and provide schooling

Haifa has this absolutely unreal vibe.
The last time I felt something like this was five years ago in Berlin.

Who are these Jews trying to fool?
I’ve watched SpongeBob.

Israel gives off a strong militaristic vibe right away

I went to New Orleans with my mom.
Great food and music on every corner — it never disappoints.
And +25°C after Chicago’s near-zero weather is just amazing.

Funny that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building was surrounded by Family Dollar and similar places.

Today we had our biometrics appointment (fingerprints and photo) for citizenship.
For the first time, they didn’t just take fingerprints but also rolled them left and right.
Overall, though, the process was very quick.

I found out that in New Orleans it’s customary to mix chicory into coffee (something about coffee availability during the Civil War).
So now my favorite espresso martini now comes with chicory :3

I like the book selection at a New Orleans hostel

I’m looking at the mortgage agreement and getting scared - people don’t live that long

The city is also extremely car-centric, which immediately gave me the feeling that living there wouldn’t be very pleasant.
But the coastal sea lions wandering back and forth are adorable, and I’d come back just for them.

At the end of October we took a trip to San Diego.
And it turned out that the “best climate in the world” comes with side effects: very little humidity and, consequently, pretty sparse southern vegetation.

Afternoon project: JPEG DCT text lossifizer Answering questions that ought not to be asked.

This is so cool — I regret that I didn’t think of it myself.
Lossy text compression:
lcamtuf.substack.com/p/afternoon-...

Am I an old man already, or not yet?

First they came for the graphics cards, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a gamer.

Then they came for DRAM, and I did not speak out
— ...

I just realized that “911” sounds a lot like “9/11.
But the number was introduced in 1968, 33 years before September 11.

The job market’s gotten pretty rough these days.

Casio ring watch

Joined the watch club

Thank you.
Sounds like a plan.

I’ve been feeling pretty bad this week — feverish and totally useless.
Do you guys get sick often too, or are you the lucky ones?

A short summary of what the algorithms think about me:
Levi’s stopped sending me clothing ads and started sending me job postings.

What does it actually mean?
What's the plan?