Alex Catalano

Underwater view at Silver Springs, clear water with submerged plants
2025-12-18 [mode: field]

Silver Springs

Kayaked Silver Springs today with a small group from the college. Clear water, long quiet stretches, and good conversation on the drive down. Ordered filament tonight — ready to start iterating again.

[domain: explore]

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Kayak gear laid out: camera, compass, snorkel mask, knife, and water shoes arranged on a dark surface
2025-12-17 [mode: prepare]

Kit

Quiet day at the office. Lunch with a coworker. Evening walk. Spent the rest of the night laying out gear and prepping the kayak for tomorrow. Not polished — just ready.

[domain: field]

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Handwritten sign reading 'Next Door Please' outside a hackerspace, with a faint reflection in the window
2025-12-16 [mode: step]

Next Door

Long day at work. A holiday parade passed the building in the morning. In the evening, I went to the Gainesville Hackerspace for the first time in years. I talked through a microcontroller project I've been developing and was invited to present it next month.

[domain: tech]

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Single amber-lit apartment among dark windows at night
2025-12-15 [mode: low]

One Window

Quiet day. Campus deserted. The town feels quieter.

[domain: day]

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GoPro mounted to an extended monopod on a work desk, with tools and instruments in the background
2025-12-14 [mode: make]

Reach

Built a simple camera extension for an upcoming kayaking trip. Tested clamps, poles, and reach until it felt right. Sometimes the work is just finding the simplest version that holds.

[domain: tech]

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Coffee cup on a wooden table in a quiet coffee shop with a lit Christmas tree in the background
2025-12-13 [mode: inhabit]

Morning Coffee

Walked to a coffee shop without a laptop and sat for a while. Later: Target for a few house things, yard cleanup, painted the exposed columns, set up the Christmas tree. A day of putting space back together and being part of the room.

[domain: home]

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Graduation crowd gathered near the stadium, people lining up for photos with a gator statue
2025-12-12 [mode: observe]

Graduation Friday

Graduation crowds filled the campus today — loud, temporary, celebratory. I threaded through on my way out, back to quieter work.

[domain: place]

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Cafeteria dish conveyor with trays moving through a stainless steel system
2025-12-11 [mode: integrate]

Midday Loop

Worked through a simple photoresistor circuit in the morning. Lunch with coworkers at the dining center. Walked the neighborhood in the evening and watched planes cross a clear sky.

[domain: systems]

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Container of holiday cookies with a handwritten note in an office break room
2025-12-10 [mode: steady]

Office Cookies

Brought holiday cookies to the break room and most of them disappeared by afternoon. Finished a big site migration, took a short walk at lunch, and kept the evening simple: dishes, a cleaned bedroom, and a quiet reset.

[domain: social]

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Holiday cookies on a table at a neighborhood exchange
2025-12-09 [mode: connect]

Cookie Exchange

An evening of cookies and conversation. New faces, easy laughter, and a little warmth on a cold weeknight.

[domain: social]

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Campus flyer with a duck sticker covering the speaker’s face
2025-12-08 [mode: connect]

Sticker on the Speaker

A campus walk with a colleague. A surprise gift card on my desk. A kayak invite confirmed. Even this stickered flyer — small signs that the day wasn't lived indoors.

[domain: social]

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Mechanical keyboard with switch housings removed, mid-cleaning
2025-12-07 [mode: rebuild]

Switches

Rainy Sunday. Further organized the guest room as a studio. Began clearing long-term storage. Swapped switches and cleaned cables. Small repairs moving things forward.

[domain: tech]

${hard-drives: 545GB moved to Drive 5; “white” fully cleared; archive 46TB @ 70/30 used/free}

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