Tiff Hudson
@tiffhudson.com
Writer, maker, inactive pilot, weird skills accumulated over decades. Heavily vaccinated
"I've been called 'Tiff' all my life. It's a long story."
"I've been called 'Tiff' all my life. It's a long story."
Ni izvestia v Pravda. Ni pravda v Izvestia.
November 23, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Ni izvestia v Pravda. Ni pravda v Izvestia.
Ah, that moment when someone says something dumb in the comments, but you can't fix the stupid with a sound bite. If it takes more than 300 characters to explain the complex flaw in their rationalization, I'll let someone else have a turn.
(Reminder to self: "You are not the jackass whisperer.")
(Reminder to self: "You are not the jackass whisperer.")
November 23, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Ah, that moment when someone says something dumb in the comments, but you can't fix the stupid with a sound bite. If it takes more than 300 characters to explain the complex flaw in their rationalization, I'll let someone else have a turn.
(Reminder to self: "You are not the jackass whisperer.")
(Reminder to self: "You are not the jackass whisperer.")
I recently bought a window punch from a fire department supplier. Now my feed gets lots of ads for axes, helmets, and other protective gear. Some of the gear is posed on mannequins that give off a seriously 70's B-movie SF vibe.
November 23, 2025 at 8:14 PM
I recently bought a window punch from a fire department supplier. Now my feed gets lots of ads for axes, helmets, and other protective gear. Some of the gear is posed on mannequins that give off a seriously 70's B-movie SF vibe.
I forget what book I'm waiting for. "The Winds of Stone"? "The Doors of Winter"? Something like that.
November 23, 2025 at 8:07 PM
I forget what book I'm waiting for. "The Winds of Stone"? "The Doors of Winter"? Something like that.
An airplane just throttled down near my house. Every time it happens, I check flightaware. www.flightaware.com/live/airport...
A drop in RPM is usually a flying lesson (several flight schools nearby), but sometimes it's my idiot neighbor preparing to buzz his house.
A drop in RPM is usually a flying lesson (several flight schools nearby), but sometimes it's my idiot neighbor preparing to buzz his house.
November 23, 2025 at 8:05 PM
An airplane just throttled down near my house. Every time it happens, I check flightaware. www.flightaware.com/live/airport...
A drop in RPM is usually a flying lesson (several flight schools nearby), but sometimes it's my idiot neighbor preparing to buzz his house.
A drop in RPM is usually a flying lesson (several flight schools nearby), but sometimes it's my idiot neighbor preparing to buzz his house.
I just caught myself editing a Bluesky post on my desktop while reading a Bluesky post on my phone...
I should be editing.....
I should be editing.....
November 23, 2025 at 7:57 PM
I just caught myself editing a Bluesky post on my desktop while reading a Bluesky post on my phone...
I should be editing.....
I should be editing.....
Digging back into 80s television, we're watching the "Father Dowling Mysteries." We've only seen two so far, but it looks like Hollywood said, "What if we team up Father Brown with an adult Punky Brewster?"
November 23, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Digging back into 80s television, we're watching the "Father Dowling Mysteries." We've only seen two so far, but it looks like Hollywood said, "What if we team up Father Brown with an adult Punky Brewster?"
<cranky-old-man-yelling-at-sky>
There was a time when I could go to intuit's website and see all the options for buying turbo tax. Now when I go there, they obscure the download options and push their online/live service. Screw that. I'll buy from Costco.
</cranky-old-man-yelling-at-sky>
There was a time when I could go to intuit's website and see all the options for buying turbo tax. Now when I go there, they obscure the download options and push their online/live service. Screw that. I'll buy from Costco.
</cranky-old-man-yelling-at-sky>
November 21, 2025 at 9:42 PM
<cranky-old-man-yelling-at-sky>
There was a time when I could go to intuit's website and see all the options for buying turbo tax. Now when I go there, they obscure the download options and push their online/live service. Screw that. I'll buy from Costco.
</cranky-old-man-yelling-at-sky>
There was a time when I could go to intuit's website and see all the options for buying turbo tax. Now when I go there, they obscure the download options and push their online/live service. Screw that. I'll buy from Costco.
</cranky-old-man-yelling-at-sky>
"Oh, no! The Market's collapsing!"
No, it isn't. Stop licking the minor fluctuations of a random process. It'll give you brain cancer.
And quit licking your guns while you're at it.
No, it isn't. Stop licking the minor fluctuations of a random process. It'll give you brain cancer.
And quit licking your guns while you're at it.
November 20, 2025 at 9:56 PM
"Oh, no! The Market's collapsing!"
No, it isn't. Stop licking the minor fluctuations of a random process. It'll give you brain cancer.
And quit licking your guns while you're at it.
No, it isn't. Stop licking the minor fluctuations of a random process. It'll give you brain cancer.
And quit licking your guns while you're at it.
Argh! It's another one of *those* wordles. In the second row, I had 4 greens out of five. (Yes, luck was involved.) I only needed to guess one letter, but there are at least 7 possibilities, and I didn't guess the right one in my four remaining tries.
November 20, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Argh! It's another one of *those* wordles. In the second row, I had 4 greens out of five. (Yes, luck was involved.) I only needed to guess one letter, but there are at least 7 possibilities, and I didn't guess the right one in my four remaining tries.
Uncle Sam has changed the timetable for updating my pension payments for next year. There's no explanation. Is it a mistake? Is it an unadvertised policy change? Who knows? I could ask, but by the time I got an answer, it'll either be fixed or fixed. (Gotta love the English language.)
🤷
🤷
November 19, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Uncle Sam has changed the timetable for updating my pension payments for next year. There's no explanation. Is it a mistake? Is it an unadvertised policy change? Who knows? I could ask, but by the time I got an answer, it'll either be fixed or fixed. (Gotta love the English language.)
🤷
🤷
Well...
Tonight we watched The Phoenician Scheme.
It was.... well.... <trails off:gets drink>
Tonight we watched The Phoenician Scheme.
It was.... well.... <trails off:gets drink>
November 19, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Well...
Tonight we watched The Phoenician Scheme.
It was.... well.... <trails off:gets drink>
Tonight we watched The Phoenician Scheme.
It was.... well.... <trails off:gets drink>
Today's PSA: When you meet an idiot or when someone who goes out of his way to misunderstand you, just block 'em. Life is just too damn short.
November 18, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Today's PSA: When you meet an idiot or when someone who goes out of his way to misunderstand you, just block 'em. Life is just too damn short.
This xkcd cartoon makes a good point, but in my case it was two weeks screwing around with PostScript (on the company's dime) after getting my Ph.D. (They got their money's worth in subsequent years with the some surprisingly automatable data presentations.)
November 17, 2025 at 8:19 AM
This xkcd cartoon makes a good point, but in my case it was two weeks screwing around with PostScript (on the company's dime) after getting my Ph.D. (They got their money's worth in subsequent years with the some surprisingly automatable data presentations.)
We've been watching Alfred Hitchcock Presents and pausing to look up actors. Tonight we saw one who died in 1960 at age 28 in an apparent 'locked-bathroom' suicide. He requested cremation and complained of money worries despite having steady work. There's more.
My Columbo senses are tingling...
My Columbo senses are tingling...
November 17, 2025 at 1:50 AM
We've been watching Alfred Hitchcock Presents and pausing to look up actors. Tonight we saw one who died in 1960 at age 28 in an apparent 'locked-bathroom' suicide. He requested cremation and complained of money worries despite having steady work. There's more.
My Columbo senses are tingling...
My Columbo senses are tingling...
There are days when I catch whiffs of "something going on" on Bluesky and in the wider world, and one my shoulder angels (or "personality sprites", if you prefer that term) suggests that I comment. Another angel says, "No, study this more before commenting." Yet another angel says, "Don't!"
1/
1/
November 14, 2025 at 4:15 PM
There are days when I catch whiffs of "something going on" on Bluesky and in the wider world, and one my shoulder angels (or "personality sprites", if you prefer that term) suggests that I comment. Another angel says, "No, study this more before commenting." Yet another angel says, "Don't!"
1/
1/
Churchy Lafemme let out a WHOOP!! this morning when he realized that Friday The 13th came on Thursday this month, which is a very close call!
November 13, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Churchy Lafemme let out a WHOOP!! this morning when he realized that Friday The 13th came on Thursday this month, which is a very close call!
After deciding not to eat any more cinnamon bears, I bought two bags today. They were on top of the pile in the candy basket at Tractor Supply. I was weak.
November 12, 2025 at 1:35 AM
After deciding not to eat any more cinnamon bears, I bought two bags today. They were on top of the pile in the candy basket at Tractor Supply. I was weak.
Changed the oil in my car today. As much as I hate screwing around with jacking the car up onto stands so I can get under it, I've gotten tired of going to shops that screw it up. (The winner was the maroon who drained the transmission instead of the oil.)
November 11, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Changed the oil in my car today. As much as I hate screwing around with jacking the car up onto stands so I can get under it, I've gotten tired of going to shops that screw it up. (The winner was the maroon who drained the transmission instead of the oil.)
Two back-to-back anniversaries this week: The Edmund Fitzgerald and the Oregon Dynamite Whale. Both happened in my childhood, but in those days, that kind of news only spread in the nightly national network news (think Walter Cronkite) or the big newspapers. I didn't know about either event...
1/
1/
November 11, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Two back-to-back anniversaries this week: The Edmund Fitzgerald and the Oregon Dynamite Whale. Both happened in my childhood, but in those days, that kind of news only spread in the nightly national network news (think Walter Cronkite) or the big newspapers. I didn't know about either event...
1/
1/
It snowed a little in upstate South Carolina today, within 20 miles of the Georgia border. It was weird. And it didn't come down as proper flakes or hail or sleet. It was more like little pellets of furry ice 1-2mm across. Microscopic ice tribbles.
November 10, 2025 at 10:14 PM
It snowed a little in upstate South Carolina today, within 20 miles of the Georgia border. It was weird. And it didn't come down as proper flakes or hail or sleet. It was more like little pellets of furry ice 1-2mm across. Microscopic ice tribbles.
In a similar vein, if you work out the whole 1st cousin, 2nd cousin thing, you realize that your siblings are your 0th cousins.
Even better, you are your own -1th cousin.
Even better, you are your own -1th cousin.
November 10, 2025 at 3:20 AM
In a similar vein, if you work out the whole 1st cousin, 2nd cousin thing, you realize that your siblings are your 0th cousins.
Even better, you are your own -1th cousin.
Even better, you are your own -1th cousin.
25 Dec is the 1st day of Christmas, ergo the 24th is the zeroth day of Christmas and the 23rd is the minus 1th day.
My neighbor's tree is up already, on this lovely minus forty-fifth day of Christmas.
Or maybe it's the 320th day of Last Christmas.
My neighbor's tree is up already, on this lovely minus forty-fifth day of Christmas.
Or maybe it's the 320th day of Last Christmas.
November 10, 2025 at 3:17 AM
25 Dec is the 1st day of Christmas, ergo the 24th is the zeroth day of Christmas and the 23rd is the minus 1th day.
My neighbor's tree is up already, on this lovely minus forty-fifth day of Christmas.
Or maybe it's the 320th day of Last Christmas.
My neighbor's tree is up already, on this lovely minus forty-fifth day of Christmas.
Or maybe it's the 320th day of Last Christmas.
Friday night high school football. I was in the marching band.
Sunday afternoon pro football. My grandfather always fell asleep in his chair.
But the football memory that always surfaces when I think of the game is Hot Lips Houlihan chanting "We got a safety! We got a safety!"
Sunday afternoon pro football. My grandfather always fell asleep in his chair.
But the football memory that always surfaces when I think of the game is Hot Lips Houlihan chanting "We got a safety! We got a safety!"
November 9, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Friday night high school football. I was in the marching band.
Sunday afternoon pro football. My grandfather always fell asleep in his chair.
But the football memory that always surfaces when I think of the game is Hot Lips Houlihan chanting "We got a safety! We got a safety!"
Sunday afternoon pro football. My grandfather always fell asleep in his chair.
But the football memory that always surfaces when I think of the game is Hot Lips Houlihan chanting "We got a safety! We got a safety!"
TIL: Having Neanderthal DNA increased the risk of severe COVID-19.
I mean, I knew that we were making great strides parsing DNA, but wow!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I mean, I knew that we were making great strides parsing DNA, but wow!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The major genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19 is inherited from Neanderthals - Nature
Risk of severe COVID-19 is conferred by a genomic segment that is inherited from Neanderthals and is carried by around 50% and 16% of people in south Asia and Europe, respectively.
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:18 PM
TIL: Having Neanderthal DNA increased the risk of severe COVID-19.
I mean, I knew that we were making great strides parsing DNA, but wow!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I mean, I knew that we were making great strides parsing DNA, but wow!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...