Family bike ride with Dairy Queen in the middle! πŸ¦πŸš΄πŸΌβ€β™‚οΈπŸš΄β€β™€οΈπŸš΄πŸΌβ€β™‚οΈπŸš΄β€β™€οΈ

Family of four in bike helmets taking a selfie outside a Dairy Queen and Regency Inn on a sunny day.
Logo for Dennis Watkins The Magic Parlour featuring bold vintage lettering over a decorative spade card suit symbol

Last night we enjoyed Dennis Watkin’s Magic Parlour at Home show. We’ve seen his amazing magic in Chicago, and this live experience over Zoom was awesome! It is super engaging, and a great example of online entertainment! Highly recommended! 🎩

TV and tablet displaying Dennis Watkins The Magic Parlour at Palmer House logo, on a rustic painted wood media console

Delicious pork butts on the Big Green Egg! 🀀πŸ”₯πŸ–

Two smoked pork butts resting on the grill grate of a Big Green Egg kamado cooker outdoors in a green backyard.

This Warpigs Foggy Geezer Hazy IPA is one of the coolest looking cans of beer I’ve seen. 🍺

Black can of Warpigs Foggy Geezer Hazy IPA on a wooden table beside a floral paper cup, with food and people in the background.Black Warpigs Foggy Geezer Hazy IPA can with detailed warrior artwork beside a floral paper cup on a wooden table outdoors.

I got my Peloton Century Club shirt yesterday! Like it!

Smiling man wearing a black Peloton Century Club t-shirt standing in a living room with a fireplace and colorful artwork behind him.

Very impressed with Decadent Saint Ultimate Mixer! Just add water and it’s a delicious refreshing drink for a summer afternoon!

Two bottles of Decadent Saint passionfruit mixer beside a large drink dispenser filled with orange beverage and a stemless glass, poolside with children swimming.

We capped off #TeamSPS TechJam 2020 with a keynote from Casey Rosenthal on resilient systems and the practices that enable and support that transition. He filled it with fabulous stories relating the core resiliency topics to historical problems. πŸ™Œ

Zoom recording of a man in a dark red shirt and glasses presenting a slide about the Evolution of complex system operations covering CI, CD, and Continuous Verification to 171 participants.

Jim Crow of the North

Tammy and I watched Minnesota Experience: Jim Crow of the North tonight. It was incredibly eye opening to one form of systemic racism that I have been surrounded by for over two decades and was not aware of.

Jim Crow of the North Title Image

Racist real estate covenants were pervasive in Minneapolis and the surrounding suburbs. In fact, the last house that we lived in on Morgan Avenue includes one.

no person or persons other than of the white race shall be permitted to occupy said premises or any part thereof

You can see the relatively small enclave of these racist covenants right off of Minnehaha Creek. Then a huge grid of them further south.

Racist Covenants in South Minneapolis

I was curious about our current home on the East side of Pamela Park in Edina. Somewhat surprisingly, none of the properties on the East have covenants, but the Western side of Pamela Park is littered with them.

Racist Covenants in Pamela Park Neighborhood

If you are curious you can spend some time exploring yourself at Mapping Prejudice. Kevin Ehrman-Solberg, one of the co-founders of the project, also did a TEDx Minneapolis talk on these racist covenants.

I’m left with the data that 75% of White families in Minneapolis own their own homes, and only 25% of Black families own their home. The generations of wealth built and restricted from so many families has massive impact still today.

Love the enthusiasm and passion that Dr. Venkat Subramaniam is sharing with #TeamSPS during TechJam! β€œSpearheading the Future of Programming” His love for the craft of programming is overflowing! πŸ‘©β€πŸ’»πŸ‘¨β€πŸ’»

Middle-aged man with mustache and glasses seated outdoors with rocky mountain peaks and pine trees behind him

SPS TechJam 2020

Today we kick off #TeamSPS TechJam 2020! We have 31 presenters leading sessions that “follow the sun” with our teams around the world! The event is framed in with a Hackathon and Deep Racer competition! We are embracing remote with all activities online! πŸ™Œ

Tech Jam Disrupt 2020 logo with a roaring green T-rex dinosaur wearing a small backpack