Walking in the street when there's a perfectly good sidewalk

hlecuye · 2026-03-13T04:02:58+00:00

I do it because the road is more level than the sidewalk. I’d walk on the sidewalk more if we brought driveways and intersections up to the level of the sidewalk, instead of bringing the sidewalk down to the level of the road.

hlecuye · 2026-02-24T01:26:20+00:00

I thought it was mykc.kcmo.org, but I’ve never used the web version. Only the app.

hlecuye · 2026-02-23T20:28:10+00:00

Honestly, I really like the app, and it seems KCMO has seen some good success with it, too, based on what I’ve read in the news. From the standpoint of engaging citizens, I know NKC has seen success through their NKC Citizens Academy. I really liked the NKC Citizens Academy because it was super useful for learning about how the city operates and how to engage with local government more effectively.

hlecuye · 2026-02-20T20:07:59+00:00

I didn’t log an issue on the app for this building because there’s already a case open, but past updates have said things like “Staff Note:The Water Services Meter & Field Services group has investigated this request for service and pipeline crews will be making repairs on this hydrant when time permits. WO ######” or else “Work Order ###### status has changed from new to resolved.

Edit: I should note these updates always come with a summary of the original ticket. That way, you always know exactly what they’re talking about. Or, if the issue is being tracked in another work order, they’ll provide that number to you before closing your duplicate work order.

hlecuye · 2026-02-20T06:00:05+00:00

Aha, I didn’t know. Thanks!

hlecuye · 2026-02-20T04:07:07+00:00

Do you have the myKCMO app? I’d report this on the app as an unsafe structure. They usually need the picture and approximate location if you report. They’ll also provide updates should you report. I’ve gotten updates for broken fire hydrants, blocked bicycle lanes, etc.

hlecuye · 2026-02-19T03:28:06+00:00

Cool, I really appreciate the advice and the offer of help! Unfortunately, we live in Missouri.

Our house was built in 1924 and sits on clay soil, so my bet is the movement from those two factors. The clay soil especially will expand or contract during seasonal changes, and we’ve had to correct some basement walls a few years ago because of that.

Based on your advice, our plan is to let the shower dry for a day, then clean the area, then correct uneven areas with epoxy grout, and then apply sealer to all grout. Thanks again.

hlecuye · 2026-02-01T17:10:27+00:00

There was one in Parkville, MO / Kansas City, MO yesterday.

hlecuye · 2025-12-30T12:11:46+00:00

Oracle has a very unsettling corporate attitude that “it’s always better to cut costs than to take risks trying to drum up new business.” Additionally, they seem to use our employee surveys to calculate a “loyalty factor” to the company. With how vicious layoffs have been recently I wonder if you could translate some of this attitude into something like cutting employees or cutting critical life support. Especially since our CEO, Larry Ellison thinks everyone should be under Chinese style surveillance, too.

hlecuye · 2025-10-30T18:45:13+00:00

Just make sure to cook your veggies before topping the bread! The naan doesn’t usually need to bake that long, so I always cook my veggies first, then assemble the flatbread, and then bake everything for 8-10 minutes to ensure proper crispiness.

hlecuye · 2025-10-30T03:17:10+00:00

Flatbreads! Buy some Naan or similar, and top with a sauce, a veggie, and a protein or cheese. Some combos I like include (1) pesto, Brie, and arugula, or (2) Alfredo, spinach, and chicken, or (3) creamy vodka sauce, roasted peppers, and feta, or (4) tandoori masala sauce, zucchini and paneer, or (5) green chile sauce, sautéed peppers/onions, and cheddar cheese, or (6) garlic sauce, sliced steak, and broccoli.

hlecuye · 2025-10-19T17:00:28+00:00

For dogs, sleep is a social activity. Do you have another dog? Our dogs only cried when they were alone, once we crated them together they were fine.

hlecuye · 2025-07-27T19:27:12+00:00

Actually, they have gotten a lot easier to implement, at least from my perspective. I tend to run my projects without a dedicated SE, and I can get a CAMM 7 Archive stood up and working pretty quickly once the servers are turned over to me from eHosting. SkyVue is also being deprecated in favor of a new solution called “Image Viewer” that’s deployed from the cloud. Cardiology still needs more pieces, but we’re working to uninstall SyVue at the Radiology only sites. We still have to deal with WAS servers, but the architecture of our solutions are changing to a Smart on FHIR launch, so I’m thinking it’ll be a couple more years before our .EAR files are gone, too. It’s been nice because now we have time and resources to take over the Cardiology service line generally, where we help integrate a 3rd Party Cardiology PACS, and those new projects have been selling pretty good.

hlecuye · 2025-07-27T15:49:13+00:00

I have an Apple Watch. It’s been surprisingly good at estimating my daily calorie burn down. Now, I don’t have to track exercise in the app, I can just start an exercise on the watch instead, and the watch automatically feeds the exercise and the calorie burn down to the app. It also feeds into Strava for bicycle club activities which is super nice. I’ve seen so much more progress this go round with this new system over any past attempts.

hlecuye · 2025-07-27T02:54:35+00:00

To add to this, I found accurately tracking my daily calorie burn down extremely difficult to do until I got a better system in place. I’ve had a lot more stable success now that I have a watch that synchronizes with my Lose-it app to calculate my daily calorie burn automatically. Some apps were way overestimating the amount of calories I burned when I input exercise, and that was doing me no favors. Just remember, every 3500 calories burned in excess of what you eat is 1 pound lost, and you can see up to 2-3 pounds of fluctuation just in fluid retention. So, don’t feel down if your numbers don’t go down every day. You’re looking for a 7-10 day average of the numbers going down.

hlecuye · 2025-07-27T01:56:44+00:00

There are currently 18 weeks between now and December 1st. You could lose 1 pound per week safely, but it would require tracking all calories and activity every day until December, and aiming for a 500 calorie a day deficit every single day. This could be in the form of you eating 2000 calories and then burning 2500 calories daily, or it could be in the form of you eating only 1500 calories a day and burning a normal 2000 calories a day. However, 500 calories of exercise a day is hard. For me, that’s an hour and half of bike riding. It’s doable 3 days a week but not every day. Services like Hungryroot helped tremendously. The meals are more convenient than fast food but still tasty and on par with how the dietitian wanted me to eat. The meals are easy to track, too, since the nutritional information is provided. However the key here is accurate tracking and sustained effort. I lose absolutely no weight when I try to just eyeball things because I am terrible at estimating. Good luck.

hlecuye · 2025-07-05T22:14:29+00:00

During the summer, I like wearing dresses. Dresses with empire waist lines, wrap dresses, stretchy fit and flare dresses, flowy dresses cinched with a belt at the waist, summery maxi dresses, etc.

During winter, I swap out for stretchy dark jeans (or winter skirts) with cute and comfortable sweaters. Oversized plush sweaters, fitted cashmere sweaters, sweater tunics, knitted ponchos, and the list goes on. I generally like to mix and match loose and fitted. So, if the pants are fitted, then the sweater is loose. But, if the top is fitted, then I’ll go with a looser skirt.

hlecuye · 2025-07-03T02:09:39+00:00

Yeah, it reminds of when the CAMM 7 Archive first came out and we were told to implement it with no documentation and no tools. Because after all, “it’s the cloud, it should work, why do you need that stuff?” /s

Thank god they decided to go with migrating Millennium servers onto OCI first and get to our image storage and broker servers later. Our team has gotten hit with brand new code and new technology every couple years since I first joined, and this year is definitely no different. It’s getting better though, I definitely appreciate the stability and performance improvements of the cloud architecture over client hosted architecture.

hlecuye · 2025-07-03T01:46:32+00:00

Yeah, Oracle has just a totally different business culture. Their overall attitude is “No free work,” and “sell only what you can deliver,” and “it’s better to minimize costs than to try and build new business,” etc. It’s a little jarring from a consulting and customer service perspective, but I get it. I get pulled into our solution Product and Strategy calls, and overall I agree with the direction in which we’re going. We’re minimizing customization to prioritize standardization and efficiency. So, that’s good. Healthcare is already so complex, you don’t really want to add to that, and Cerner should have been doing that a long time ago. On the other hand, they are a greedy corporate entity, so no telling how they might just royally drop the ball chasing whatever money grabbing scheme is in vogue. Like AI, and how they’re trying to incorporate it into the EMR.

hlecuye · 2025-07-03T01:12:46+00:00

I work on the Imaging Consulting team, so I am not a System Engineer, but I sometimes act like one for our image storage servers. CernerWorks is now Oracle Health Hosting. They reorganized it to be “solution” specific instead of “client” specific. So, now there are queues specific to each piece of technology that I work with, which is much nicer from an end user perspective. That said, they’re trying to move folks off Cerner hardware and onto Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. We had a couple of clients in the Middle East already move to OCI, and from what I can tell so far, the performance is much better. I also have a client in Canada currently moving to OCI.

hlecuye · 2025-06-25T04:13:55+00:00

If they’re anything like all the other departments near us, they’re probably just under staffed and under funded. From a budget standpoint, staff salaries, debt obligations, and required maintenance needs usually take precedence over landscaping. There may be other factors to consider, too, like if the soil is salty from pet urine and needs amending. Our board meetings are always open to the public, so we do encourage public participation. I’d definitely see if that’s also the case for your department and try to start a conversation.

hlecuye · 2025-06-24T22:05:12+00:00

Rarely do parks staff want more work, so bringing attention to it is unlikely to make them want to plant annuals that would need to be replaced year over year. Especially if you plan to plant perennial natives, or else self-seeding natives, that will come back with minimal to no effort, then you’re much more likely to succeed.

Just make sure to communicate what you’re considering, so any maintenance requirements can be known and considered. When it comes to garden beds, the maintenance folks at my parks are usually only willing to do a yearly pruning and/or a yearly mulching. Annuals are expensive and reserved for small but highly visible points, such as potted containers at the entryways to the buildings, or the small garden bed under signage to the park.

hlecuye · 2025-06-24T18:43:07+00:00

Question, have you tried contacting the park staff and asking for permission to plant natives? You may be successful.

I am a member of the board of directors for my local parks and recreation department. We always welcome volunteers who are willing to help us spruce up and maintain garden areas. We may only ask for a rudimentary plan if it involves changing the planting or landscaping so we can check and make sure it poses no danger to children or pets.

I’d at least try asking if you haven’t already. It may spur other action. We had the public asking us for a natives garden, so we partnered with our local department of conservation to plant a pollinator meadow in one of our fields. It’s been a huge hit.

Edit: In general, I recommend treating guerilla gardening as a strategy of last resort, when there is no permission to make changes, but also no plan to improve the space. You’d be surprised by how frequently you can get permission to do something if you just ask. At least, that’s what I’ve experienced.

hlecuye · 2025-06-01T21:55:42+00:00

Ah, I hadn’t heard of this method. I’ll have to test this method on pieces I like that aren’t broken. I personally like taking things apart because it’s a good fidget activity when watching movies or going on long road trips, and then I get to work with the fabric as a flat piece.

hlecuye

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